Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 422 - 419: All Beings Suffer, Vegetable People Market

Chapter 422: Chapter 419: All Beings Suffer, Vegetable People Market

Yizhou Prefecture, Tanshan City.

Under the dull twilight mixed with the scent of earth.

A young man clad in the short coarse clothes of commoners, with a large frame but now somewhat gaunt, was carefully making his way through the streets and alleys.

He was not only vigilantly looking around but also subconsciously covering the bulging front of his shirt.

Completely disregarding the fact that his face, bruised and swollen, was exposed out in the open.

"I went out of the city today to dig for grass roots, and I even fought with someone over a spot of land. It was with great difficulty that I managed to keep these gains.

With this bag of grass roots, my wife and I will be able to hold out for another two days."

The hands full of calluses weren’t protecting just grass roots, but the hope for survival for both him and his wife.

"I heard yesterday that King Jing of the neighboring Dengzhou Prefecture issued a ’Civilian Notice.’

As long as you’re in Dengzhou Prefecture you won’t have to worry about starving to death, and if you have a skill, you can even earn a wage.

Not only am I a renowned blacksmith known far and wide, but I can also read and write, and Xiao Fu’s needlework is second to none. If we could escape to Dengzhou Prefecture, we would surely make something of ourselves.

But the Yizhou Government has set up checkpoints everywhere; adults have to pay three thousand coins for passage, and children two thousand. If you try to flee without paying, and you’re caught, the punishment is death."

Some time ago, to buy the expensive grain from the government granary, my family had already spent all of our savings from over the years. How could we possibly escape?

I can only hope that King Jing, who is said to have already taken over Dongchang, can make it to Yizhou Prefecture sooner."

Through the eyes of Xu Wenkang, an honest and simple commoner,

This Divine Deceit World had no soaring through the skies or mystical divine skills; there was only daily life, the bare necessities, and two meals a day.

But even such humble wishes could not be fulfilled.

Last year, there was a great flood; this year, a severe drought, an especially harsh one.

With the fields yielding nothing all year, for common farming households without any food reserves, it was a catastrophic blow.

Artisans like blacksmiths and weavers were unavoidably affected as well; they couldn’t remain untouched by the chaos.

Hastily proceeding through an alley,

"San’er, San’er, where are you, my San’er? Come out, don’t scare your mother...."

A deranged woman happened to brush past him, repeatedly calling out a pet name, seemingly having lost her child by accident.

But Xu Wenkang distinctly saw that she was carrying a child in her arms, one with purplish skin, clearly long dead, surrounded by swarms of flies buzzing noisily.

Xu Wenkang didn’t have much fear of corpses; instead, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of compassion.

In these chaotic times, everyone suffered; this woman must have been unable to accept the reality of her child’s death and had completely lost her mind.

He watched as she gradually walked away.

But just as that woman passed by a small alleyway, several burly arms suddenly reached out from the pitch-black entrance and dragged her in.

After a few muffled cries, there was no trace of her anymore.

"Stop..."

Xu Wenkang stretched out his hand, but his feet seemed to have been filled with lead, and in the end, he couldn’t take the step needed to save her.

Clenching his teeth in resentment, he turned and walked away.

"These past few days, the wealthy Cui family’s daughter has been distributing porridge at the West City gate, and Xiao Fu and I have had a couple of bowls of it too.

Not only is she beautiful, but she’s also kind-hearted, having saved countless people.

But such a good person, just because she returned to the city a bit later than usual last night, has since disappeared without a trace.

By this morning when she was found again, her whole body had already been devoured by a group of beggars afflicted with scabies!

Mrs. Cui, who had spent her lifetime in vegetarianism and Buddha recitation, instantly fainted from shock.

All because that blind fortune teller at the West City gate had once said that the flesh of a good and virtuous person was a cure-all, the best remedy to drive away illness.

After hearing this, those beggars became consumed by wicked thoughts.

In this world, one must not play the good person. My wife is waiting for me to return home. I can’t afford to be a good person, I can’t!"

Xiao Fu, his dutiful wife, was Xu Wenkang’s greatest pillar of support to persevere until now.

Pure of character, well-read, and well-mannered, Xu Wenkang considered marrying her to be the fortune of his lifetime.

If he were gone, he couldn’t imagine how his wife would continue to survive in such a world.

Yet,

As he hugged the bundle of hard-earned grass roots, carefully passing through the shabby lanes and returning to his home,

Triumphantly calling out for his wife a few times, but unexpectedly receiving no response,

Xu Wenkang suddenly felt panic rising within him.

"Xiao Fu, Xiao Fu!"

He rushed into their bedroom only to find three thousand Jianming Tongbao neatly stacked on the table, with a letter pressed beneath them.

Seeing those three thousand coins made Xu Wenkang’s heart lurch once more.

His hands trembling, he picked up the letter and read his wife’s final note, still damp with tear stains.

"Reading your letter is like seeing your face. My lord, having received your love and care, I am content in this life, but I deeply know I must not drag you down. We can only meet again in the next life...

Husbands and wives starve together in times of famine, I’d rather go to the Vegetable People Market. With three thousand coins to aid my husband’s journey, a cut of flesh can sustain him for a mile.

My lotus-like skin exudes a fragrant scent when boiled, my flesh turned into dumplings that people scramble to taste. My arms will be severed first and hung in the butcher’s shop, my thighs sliced and stewed into a broth.

Not letting a single breath escape, wanting only fresh meat, piece by piece feeding the bellies of the starving. Buried within their guts, how many will sate their hunger, fortunate that the crows and kites did not peck at it sooner..."

Instead of us starving together, I’d rather go to the Vegetable People Market, earn some money to support my husband’s departure for a chance of survival. Perhaps a piece of my flesh can aid you for a mile’s travel.

In three days, my flesh will be buried in people’s intestines, leaving behind only a ghostly soul, hoping we can meet again in the next life.

After reading the letter, Xu Wenkang’s vision suddenly goes dark as a cry like blood weeping escapes his lips:

"Xiao Fu, without you, what meaning is there in life, even if I can survive on my own?

You must wait for me!"

Without reservation, he discards the grass roots from his arms, grabs the three thousand Copper Coins wrapped around his waist, and like a madman, he rushes toward the deepest corner of the city market — the Vegetable People Market!

...

At almost the same time, Wang Yuan and Huang Wu gracefully entered Tanshan City as if riding in a carriage.

Having activated their "Dharma Body of Both Realms," they seemed to wander in a different domain, where ordinary Yellow Seal Mages couldn’t detect their presence.

This time, they passed through the Ghost Gate and returned to the Great Yan Realm from Dushuo Mountain.

The journey made them question whether they had come from the Immortal Mountain to the Mortal World, or whether they had stepped from the Immortal Realm straight into Hell!

It was unimaginable that within just a brief month, the situation in some places had deteriorated to such an extent.

They had thought that Tanshan City, at least, would be a bit better than other places, yet they found the misery within the city worse than outside.

The Government Office not only failed to provide relief to the disaster victims but was instead each busy with their rapacious extortion, sucking the marrow from the bones, striving to wring the last bit of moisture from the commoners’ bodies.

The pedestrians on the street resembled walking corpses, their eyes devoid of luster.

Upon arriving here, Huang Wu could not stop cursing her useless brother:

"What a good-for-nothing, it’s been nearly a month and he’s only just taken Dongchang Mansion. When will he make it here to slaughter all these dog officials to the last?

I’ll send that damn Old Black here when I get back, let them all see what real efficiency is!

It’s so infuriating!"

Wang Yuan could only pat the girl’s back to calm her, but he dared not speak a word in defense of Big Cousin.

Indeed, this matter couldn’t be blamed on him.

The Great Yan recorded its citizens in households based on classifications such as agriculture, kitchen, scholarship, medicine, Yin Yang, craftsman, military, and so on.

As of the fifteenth year of Jianming, when the Court still maintained some degree of control over the nation, it counted about sixty million people on the yellow registers.

The Immortal Officials possessing unfathomable Power within the "Nine Soldiers" have, however, tabulated even more accurate figures.

The populace recorded and taxed by the Dynasty, plus the various types of hidden households, meant that in total, there were actually about two hundred million people living in the nine provinces of Great Yan.

The one hundred forty million that did not pay taxes were essentially the "Dragon Energy" that had been seized by various local warlords, scholars, Tao Lineages, and temples.

From public to private, they continued to leech blood from the nation.

The remaining sixty million naturally bore increasingly heavy burdens, bound to collapse completely sooner or later.

Now, as chaos unites all as equals, amidst the turmoil of troubled times, one is tossed by the waves, with no control over their fate.

As the disasters persisted and escalated, the death toll had to balance with food production before a respite could be found.

Only then could they persevere until the end of the Little Ice Age and a new warming cycle began.

Even the "Corpse Dissection Immortal" could not avert this.

Just then, Huang Wu suddenly exclaimed in a low voice.

"Xiao Yuan, do you smell that? What is so fragrant? Who’s stewing meat?"

Wang Yuan turned his head and saw a bustling corner in the otherwise desolate market, starkly contrasting with the rest of the area.

With Ghost Ear Listening instantly relaying the scene there back to him, his face also changed slightly.

Big pots stood over stands, with a thick soup boiling and rich aroma spreading.

But the flesh rolling in the pot was not pork or lamb, but... ugh!

This was the very "Vegetable People Market" where commoners were sold for their flesh!

A Yin God Shrine was brazenly placed at the entrance to the market.

Whenever someone died, their soul was immediately refined completely, with no chance of Reincarnation.

In these chaotic times, humans were as insignificant as ants, and lives as worthless as weeds.

Bloody scenes that were once only seen in places like the "Wealth Qi Tower" were now shamelessly presented in the midst of the bustling market.

The world is muddled, and the divine is indistinguishable from the deceitful.

Just as Wang Yuan was uncertain how to react to such horrific sights, he suddenly saw a man holding a large string of copper coins, rushing into the Vegetable People Market like a madman, his eyes red and screaming wretchedly:

"We won’t sell anymore, stop the sale, give Xiao Fu back to me!"

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