Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3690 The grand banquet has just begun, bones are being used as fuel, and the city walls are stained with rotten eyes and ashes from a thousand gates (Bonus Chapter)

At the gate of the Wenxian County government office, Chen and Wu faced off.

If Cheng Yu hadn't died, and if Cheng Yu could still breathe or make a sound, Chen Wu would have dared to order Wu Cheng to be arrested, beheaded, and paraded through the streets.

The premise of "borrowing the tiger's power" no longer exists.

Chen Wu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He knew that the other party had come to force him to resign. He looked at Wu Cheng's undisguised ambition, at the eager soldiers behind him, and then at his own personal guards who, despite trying their best to appear fierce, could not hide their inner exhaustion and fear. A sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart.

He guarded the biggest secret, and thus became the biggest target.

How many more days can Wenxian hold out?

Chen Wu and Wu Cheng both knew that they couldn't hold on for much longer, but these last few days of false power were like maggots breeding on a corpse, attracting more greedy scavengers.

They didn't care when the city would fall; they only cared that before the city fell, they could gnaw on the last, most succulent piece of flesh from this rotting corpse named 'Cheng Yu'.

Faced with Wu Cheng's aggressive questioning and seeing the gleaming weapons behind him, Chen Wu's blustering but cowardly toughness finally crumbled.

That lie, propped up by cosmetics and stilts, proved incredibly fragile in the face of an ambitious person's blatant probing.

"Lord Cheng" was unable to see anyone, let alone give orders!
Chen Wu had no choice but to back down and try to "make peace" with Wu Cheng, seeking a new ally...

This is a logical chain etched into his bones, a natural guideline for his behavior!

In his mind, power is top-down; having lost his old master, he had to find a new one as soon as possible in order to save his own life and that of his henchmen…

And perhaps a few scraps.

"Captain Wu..."

Chen Wu forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, his voice pleading, "My lord...my lord is indeed gravely ill and unable to speak...but...the defense of Wen County is of utmost importance, and we must all work together to overcome this difficult time! Perhaps...perhaps Lieutenant Wu could temporarily assume command of the city's defenses? I...we will all follow Lieutenant Wu's lead!"

Chen Wu relinquished the tiger tally and the city garrison seal, which symbolized Cheng Yu's military power, his posture so humble as to be reduced to dust.

Wu Cheng snatched the tiger tally and seal, weighing the cold metal in his hand, his eyes gleaming with wild joy and burning greed!

He succeeded!

Even if it's the last few days of 'power' in Wen County, it's still 'power'!
Wu Cheng laughed heartily, "You're smart to know what's good for you!"

Wu Cheng, arrogant and overconfident, immediately used the pretext that "Prefect Cheng is seriously ill and has specially ordered me to take over the city's defense" to "invite" Chen Wu and his personal guards to a secluded barracks to "assist in military affairs," effectively placing them under house arrest. At the same time, he impatiently began "promising official positions," placing his cronies in key posts, and immediately dispatched men to "raise" provisions and military supplies within the city!
Under the guise of collecting military provisions, what they were really doing was unleashing their troops to carry out a final, open looting of the remaining wealthy households, shops, and even ordinary people with some savings in the city!
Fear, despair, suppressed hunger and anger were completely ignited at this moment, mixed with the most primal greed and bestiality of human nature.

The news of Wu Cheng's power grab was like pouring a ladle of ice water into a boiling pot of oil—

The first thing to happen is the doomsday feast of the middle and upper-level henchmen under the power vacuum.

Wu Cheng and his cronies, like a pack of hyenas smelling blood, eagerly pounced on the benefits that power brought.

Wu Cheng eagerly sat down in the main hall of the government office, simulating the scene that had played out in his mind countless times. Full of pride, he appointed his trusted confidants: "You, take over the defense of the western city! You, be responsible for requisitioning grain from the wealthy households within the city! You, lead men to appease the merchants and get them to 'voluntarily' donate military funds!"

His confidants understood immediately, and led their rabid soldiers to kick down the doors of gentry and wealthy households and smash open the warehouses of merchants.

With Wu Cheng's confidants leading the way, more soldiers, like hungry wolves released from their cages, smashed up shops, kicked down houses, looted grain and money, and dragged away any women they saw.

Under Cheng Yu's past white terror, they were henchmen and accomplices; now that they have lost their last restraint, they have become the most vicious thugs.

Gold, silver, valuables, grain, and cloth were roughly dragged out.

The cries of women, the pleas of the elderly, and the screams of children were drowned out by the sneers of the soldiers.

Wu Cheng didn't care about any of this; he simply pretended not to hear anything.

He sat in the main hall, stroking the table, the tiger tally, and the command arrows over and over again, a dazed smile on his face, a twisted satisfaction on his lips.

The taste of this 'power' gave him an instant mental orgasm.

Isn't what some people pursue just for that one moment of pleasure?

On the other side, Chen Wu and others were thrown into a remote barracks and placed under house arrest by Wu Cheng like trash.

When the commotion of looting outside reached them, and the soldiers guarding them couldn't resist their greed and their eyes gleamed as they looked at the valuables they carried, Chen Wu and his personal guards realized that they were also on the chopping block!

Chen Wu tried to reprimand Cheng Yu by using his name, but found it had no effect. He then tried to intimidate him by saying, "We are Captain Wu's men," but that also had no effect.

Who would listen to what the meat on the cutting board is muttering about?
Chen Wu wouldn't listen before, so now no one else will listen either!
Chen Wu and his group were horrified to discover that without Cheng Yu as their pillar of support, they, like vines, were less than dogs in the chaos!
Suppressing others with terror will ultimately lead to succumbing to terror itself.

Wu Cheng's unrestrained looting was like opening Pandora's box.

Fear and despair accumulated to their peak, transforming into destructive madness.

Several soldiers who had been brutally suppressed by Cheng Yu's personal guards discovered the location of Chen Wu and his men. Their pent-up hatred erupted, and with bloodshot eyes, they charged forward, howling, and beat Chen Wu and his henchmen to death with the most cruel methods, venting their long-suppressed resentment.

The violence spread like wildfire, and more and more people were drawn into private fights, vendettas, and indiscriminate venting.

In just one or two hours, in Wen County, not only his confidants, but also many lower-ranking soldiers who had been numbly following orders under Cheng Yu's oppressive rule, instantly broke free from all constraints. They no longer distinguished between "wealthy households" and "commoners," nor did they care who was a "gentry" and who was a "commoner." In their eyes, there were only "things that could be looted" and "those who tried to stop them from looting."

They stormed into any house that looked like it might have food and grabbed anything they could carry.

Any resistance would result in a white knife going in and another colored knife coming out.

A soldier, his eyes bloodshot, slashed down an old woman who was trying to protect a half-sack of corn, grabbed the sack, and pounced on a girl who was paralyzed with fear beside him. His eyes held no military orders, only the bestial lust unleashed by hunger and chaos.

As the violence of the soldiers spread, the people of Wen County, who had long struggled on the brink of death, finally erupted with their survival instincts and pent-up resentment suppressed by traditional ethics and fear.

Driven to desperation by hunger and hopelessness, some civilians, witnessing the rampant soldiers, the looting of their neighbors, and the atrocities led by Wu Cheng's "official" officials, saw their last vestiges of morality crumble. They too picked up sticks and knives, joining the looting frenzy, grabbing anything they could get their hands on…

A mouthful of grain, a piece of cloth, or even a broken pottery jar.

They didn't know why they were robbing; they only knew that others were robbing, and if they didn't, they wouldn't survive.

"If soldiers can rob, why can't we?"

"If you don't rob, you die!"

Such thoughts spread like a plague.

More and more people are being drawn in, and the old neighborly ties and moral principles have vanished in the face of desperate survival.

Chaos became the best cover.

A military academy officer had 'conflicts' with many of his soldiers. Under the original order, these conflicts could be explained as 'lacking attention to detail' or 'being crude and simplistic,' and the hatred could be suppressed. But now that chaos has broken out, the long-suppressed resentment has found an outlet!

The military academy student screamed and was instantly swallowed up by the angry crowd. He was hacked to death, and his body was not even intact; only a pile of minced meat remained.

A timid scholar, having his only half-cake stolen, was overcome by despair and rage. He picked up a blood-stained stone and furiously hurled it at anyone who came near him, uttering incomprehensible roars.

"Kill...kill you all...die, die..."

Establishing order takes a long time, but chaos... will produce results very quickly.

After the barriers of order collapsed, those who considered themselves "upper class" fell into the most helpless and vulnerable state.

At the outset of the chaos, the shrewd Zhang family, a powerful aristocratic clan, maintained a wait-and-see attitude, keeping their doors tightly shut, their servants armed and on guard, coldly observing the hellish scene unfolding within the city. They felt only sneer and relief: "Look! These lowly commoners and scoundrels, without the restraint of us aristocrats, are nothing but wild beasts! Once the cavalry breaks through the city, we will be the 'virtuous and capable' who bring peace to the region!"

However, they overestimated their own grand estate.

In the midst of riots, nowhere is safe.

When the rioting soldiers and mobs gathered, any servants and walls seemed pale and powerless.

Even the heaviest vermilion gate was shaken by the frantic crashing.

Figures of people climbing over the wall appeared, their distorted faces appearing on the wall.

The aristocratic Zhang family's face turned deathly pale, all traces of their previous composure and calculation vanished. He futilely screamed at his servants, "Hold on! Hold on! Throw them some money! Throw them some grain! Don't let them break in!"

However, once the gate was smashed open a crack and countless greedy creatures surged in, the servants' last bit of resistance collapsed!

The beautiful silks were trampled underfoot, and the treasured possessions were plundered in a frenzy.

Zhang scrambled to hide in a corner, huddled and trembling, watching his family's life's wealth vanish into nothingness, listening to the cries of his wives and concubines. His eyes were empty; he finally understood that he was not a player, but merely a pawn on the chessboard, ready to be crushed at any moment. His 'aristocratic status' and 'strategic planning' that sustained him were only valuable when order was restored; before this overwhelming public resentment, they were utterly worthless.

The same applies to Wu Cheng.

Command arrows and flags are only effective when the common people and soldiers acknowledge military orders. If the common people and soldiers do not accept them, it is meaningless for Wu Cheng to hold the imperial seal and hold up a lot of command arrows and flags.

Seeing the chaos erupting in the city, Wu Cheng tried to control it, but his trusted confidants who were sent to quell the unrest either never returned or came back complaining that they were completely unable to control the situation...

Wu Cheng instinctively wanted to mobilize troops to guard the government office, seemingly to protect his last remaining power and territory. However, he discovered that his soldiers had already scattered and were burning, killing, and looting throughout the city. There was no one left to protect him.

The tiger tally, which once symbolized power, is now tightly clutched in his hand, yet it is like a piece of trash, utterly useless.

Outside the mansion, flames soared into the sky, and shouts of battle and screams grew ever closer.

Wu Cheng was horrified to discover that the power he had painstakingly seized was only valid for a few hours!
Wen County descended into anarchy, bloody revelry and chaos.

Flames shot into the sky from all over the city, and cries, laughter, smashing, and screams mingled together to create a hellish symphony.

Power? Order?
Faced with the instinct for survival and animalistic instincts, they are as fragile as cicada wings.

All the power, all the dependence, all the waiting for reinforcements—all became the most laughable illusions.

Right now, all they want to do is escape!
Escape this city that has become a giant tomb!
Wu Cheng hastily took off his conspicuous brocade robe, changed into a servant's clothes, and tried to blend into the chaotic crowd to escape. In the panic, the tiger tally and command arrow that he had longed for day and night fell to the ground on the street...

These tiger tallies and seals, which Chen Wu, Wu Cheng, and others treasured, lay quietly on the chaotic street. Occasionally, they would be stepped on by the chaotic crowd, and then kicked into the gutter by someone's bare foot.

For the crazy people in Wen County, these exquisitely carved and beautifully designed tiger tallies and arrows are not as attractive as a whole grain pancake that can fill their stomachs.

The dead Chen Wu and the fleeing Wu Cheng may not have understood, even when facing death, that true power was never granted by a cold seal or tiger tally, but rather came from the millions of silent common people on this land, whom they regarded as worthless!
When the people are driven to the brink of despair and turn into a raging torrent of anger, any self-proclaimed "authority" will be torn apart in an instant!

Chaos spread uncontrollably.

The virus spread from inside the city to the city walls, and the will of the soldiers defending the city collapsed instantly.

When the soldiers on the city walls saw the towering flames and the frenzied crowds surging towards the city gates like a tidal wave, trying to escape from hell, a mix of mobs, soldiers, and civilians trying to flee, the last shred of their sense of duty vanished.

"Defend my ass! The city's already fallen! Run!"

Someone shouted, and the Cao army soldiers guarding the city dropped their weapons and rushed down the slope, even pushing and shoving each other and drawing their swords to fight for the escape route!

They fled like stray dogs, desperately searching for any opening to escape, seemingly trying to crawl into even the smallest crack in the ground!
But among the chaotic fleeing crowd, there was a veteran going against the tide...

Veteran Wang Laoshuan trudged through the mess on the ground. Neither the discarded weapons nor the tattered flags seemed to stop him or give him a second glance. He pushed aside the terrified faces in front of him, his face expressionless, only showing a numbness and deathly stillness that seemed to have seen through everything.

He arrived at the city garrison's office, then walked through the courtyards and corridors to the backyard.

This once bustling government office, where one had to bend over to show off one's status, has now become a playground for revelers.

Veteran Wang Laoshuan found Cheng Yu.

The corpse, already badly decomposed, had been abandoned there by Chen Wu and others.

Nobody wanted the body, so it was preserved in its decay.

Wang Laoshuan didn't say anything. He silently used a broken knife he had picked up to cut off the surrounding curtains and a door. Then, still silently and laboriously, he dragged Cheng Yu's heavy, soft, maggot-infested, and constantly dripping corpse onto the door, as if he were dragging a diseased pig or a large rat from the field, out of the government office and towards the city gate.

When they encountered Wang Laoshuan's other soldiers and civilians, they were like zombies who had been suffocated by garlic; they covered their noses and made way for him.

The chaos and clamor in the city, the howling wind on the city walls, all seemed irrelevant to the old soldier Wang Laoshuan at this moment...

Wang Laoshuan found some ropes, and he forcefully looped them around the corpse's swollen neck. Then, noticing that Cheng Yu's head was almost falling off, he changed his approach, tying the ropes to Cheng Yu's body and securing the other end firmly to the edge of the stack.

Then, he suddenly flipped and pushed!
Cheng Yu's rotting corpse, dressed in a tattered brocade robe, was hung outside the city wall of Wen County like a huge, filthy sack!

The corpse swayed slightly in the night wind, and a strong stench of decay instantly filled the air.

His face, plastered with cosmetics and gnawed by maggots, faced the burning hell within the city, seemingly silently confronting the apocalyptic scene he himself had created.

*Pfft...*

With a soft yet chilling sound, an already rotten and deformed eyeball detached from its socket due to the shaking of the corpse and the pulling of the rope.

It was like a murky ball of mud, covered in blood and pus, or a punctuation mark of an end, tracing a filthy parabola before falling into the scalding, blood- and ash-mixed soil at the foot of the city wall.

It seemed that Cheng Yu could no longer bear to watch, or perhaps he finally understood everything before him!
This system, built upon feudal power, is destined to eventually descend into a cycle of decay, collapse, and bloodshed and madness!

On the city walls hang the decaying corpses of former rulers.

Beneath the city walls, a destructive inferno, born from the despair of countless oppressed, devours everything.

Outside the city, cavalrymen marched in formation, raising their battle flags high...

Wenxian County, a spring squeezed to its limit by internal and external pressures, finally snapped in the most thorough, insane, and ironic way.

All order, all pretense, all authority were swept away by the surging torrent of destruction that night, leaving only towering flames, acrid stench, and endless, suffocating darkness.

Madness reigned both on and below the city walls, while order prevailed outside the city.

The night wind howled, and flames rose.

The hanging, decaying corpse and the fallen eyeball were merely a silent and sordid footnote as this immense tragedy came to an end.

The greatest tragedy of humankind is the separation between the material and the spiritual, and the alienation of the soul caused by the excessive pursuit of material things. Nietzsche, through the words of Zarathustra, tells the world that living a mediocre life is not true living, and once a person loses the noblest thing in his soul, he will be no different from livestock.

Cheng Yu was the same.