The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 278 Bottom Line
In his previous life, Wu Chengyu had read many novels, and later various films, television dramas, and anime, many of which depicted a world where people ate each other.

However, the "cannibalism" mentioned here is clearly an exaggerated metaphor, referring to class oppression or the greed of capitalists; there is no actual cannibalism involved.

While studying history books, I learned that there were indeed instances of cannibalism involving exchanging children in ancient China, and it was not uncommon, especially during times of natural disasters and man-made calamities when people were suffering.

History books only tell you that such things happened and why they happened, but they don't describe them in detail or tell you how those people who were eaten felt. So readers don't get any direct impressions.

So when the three children shouted that they wanted to eat me, Wu Chengyu found it hard to accept, because he could tell that the three children genuinely believed that people could eat each other, and that eating or being eaten was normal. This was the greatest cruelty of the world.

In Wu Chengyu's mind, cannibalism completely crossed the bottom line of being human. No matter the reason, the person, or their gender and age, once someone eats the flesh of their own kind, they are no longer human, but a demon fallen into the world.

Wu Chengyu's eyes immediately turned cold as he looked at the three children who had been subdued, a murderous aura emanating from him.

Wu Chengyu ignored the fiercest little wolf cub, simply pressing his pressure point to silence him. Then, with a light tap of his toe, he immobilized the child who was still cursing and stomping on his foot.

His attention was focused on the child who kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, hoping that Wu Chengyu would spare them. Of the three, this child looked the weakest.

He crouched down, very close to the child, staring at him coldly, his voice low and low, carrying a barely perceptible sonic vibration.

"You must be very hungry. Judging from your appearance, you haven't eaten anything proper for several days. I can even feel something in your stomach."

"So tell me, when was the last time you ate human flesh? Did you find it delicious? If I cut open your stomach right now, would I still see human flesh?"

Upon hearing Wu Chengyu's words, the child's eyes went blank. Being young, physically weak, and under extreme fear, the child's subconscious was unable to resist Wu Chengyu's persuasive words, even more so than when controlling Qiu Qianchi's love-struck mind.

"I'm so hungry, I've only eaten some grass roots. But the day before yesterday, we all ate half a field mouse together, it was so delicious."

Human flesh? No, you can't eat human flesh. My mother said when she was alive that even if she died, she couldn't eat human flesh. If she did, there would be no going back, and she would go to hell.

Believe me, I really didn't eat human flesh. Otherwise, cut open my stomach; there's definitely no human flesh inside. I'd rather be eaten than eat human flesh.

As the child spoke, Wu Chengyu's hand had already touched his neck, and he began to apply pressure little by little. However, upon hearing his words, he immediately withdrew the pressure from his hand.

"Then tell me, have those two ever eaten people?"

"No, we all swore that we would never eat people, even if it meant death. It's those guys who want to eat us. They've taken a lot of us, and one day they'll eat us all. We don't want to eat people, and we don't want to be eaten, but people are going to be eaten after they die."

Wu Chengyu slowly withdrew his hand. What a line: "Even the dead are eaten." Yet a child already has such an awareness. What does that mean?
This was just like what those refugee children interviewed on TV in my past life said: "Here, we can't grow up." Wu Chengyu used the same tactic on the remaining two children, saying basically the same thing: both of them had a strong aversion to cannibalism, but subconsciously accepted the fallacy that all people would be eaten.

The only thing that surprised Wu Chengyu was that the little wolf cub had a very strong will. Despite being physically weak, he showed great resistance to Wu Chengyu's persuasive talk. It took Wu Chengyu almost twice as long to control his consciousness.

This kid is incredibly ruthless. He's not all bark and no bite; he'll pounce on you and bite your throat at the slightest provocation. Of the three kids, he's the only one whose eyes don't show fear, but rather a desire to take everyone down with him at any moment.

What pleased Wu Chengyu the most was that this little wolf cub had a particularly strong resistance to eating people. Even though he seemed to be the wildest, most ruthless, and coldest of the three children, when asked if he ate people, the boy almost broke free from the control he was under in his subconscious.

Wu Chengyu's expression softened slightly, and the murderous aura around him dissipated. He had been genuinely afraid; he was afraid that these children would utter words about eating people.

So no matter how old these guys are, Wu Chengyu has no choice but to get rid of them. He doesn't want to kill these kids, but if they cross the line of basic human decency, if he doesn't act now, is he going to let them grow up slowly by eating people?
Wu Chengyu released the three of them and sat back down by the fire. He noticed that the steamed buns he had just baked had turned black from the delay, but no one would care. He casually used his inner energy to release the pressure points of the three children.

"Are you hungry? If you are, come and eat something. These steamed buns got burnt because of you guys. I'm not eating them; they're all yours."

The three children looked at each other. After Wu Chengyu controlled their subconscious and confirmed that the three children were still human, he added some suggestions to their subconscious, so that the three children no longer had such great hostility towards him.

But this hint couldn't change the fact that they lived in this cannibalistic world, and the sense of vigilance they had developed from living in constant fear of death. They just didn't run away immediately, but watched Wu Chengyu cautiously, especially the little wolf cub, whose hand secretly reached behind him, trying to pick up that piece of broken iron.

However, even burnt bread was something they longed for; they couldn't remember the last time they had eaten proper food.

One of the children swallowed hard as he looked at the steamed bun, then cautiously glanced at Wu Chengyu, and after hesitating for a long time, asked a question.

"Is it really meant for us to eat? Can we really eat it?"

"Of course, it's already blackened to a crisp. I don't eat this stuff, so it's a good deal for you guys. If you don't take it soon, it'll be completely roasted to ashes."

As soon as he finished speaking, the little wolf cub, still warily watching Wu Chengyu, made a hoarse sound in its throat, like a young wolf ready to hunt at any moment.

Wu Chengyu's psychological suggestion had the least effect on this kid, and his vigilance was the strongest.

The other two children, however, could not resist the temptation and, disregarding the raging flames, tried to reach directly into the fire to take the food. It was Wu Chengyu who couldn't bear to watch, so he flicked his fingers twice and pushed the blackened steamed buns out of the fire and in front of them.

(End of this chapter)