Hyper-Dimensional Player

When she lifted her head again, the woman's forehead was bruised, and with her last bit of strength, she raised the child and held him up to Duncan, wanting to speak, but her throat was damaged, unable to emit a sound.

She just held the child up, her eyes full of pleading.

Duncan didn't take the child, only glanced at the blood at the corner of the child's mouth.

Just drank human blood, the stomach is already full, the child sleeps soundly.

Seeing Duncan unwilling to take the child, the woman's eyes turned ashen as death once more, and she silently lowered her head, clutching the child tightly, without saying a word.

A piece of hardtack wouldn't save her and her child.

But she didn't know, the man in front of her, if he wished, could save her, and could save all the people.

Duncan stood up.

He came to the bodies, lifted the straw mat for a look; the corpses were mutilated, chunks of meat from the thighs had been cut away, exposing white bone. He turned to look at the woman, beneath her was a short knife, but it was meant for self-defense. If she'd eaten human flesh, she shouldn't be this weak.

Duncan squatted before her again, looking at the woman ashen as death, and asked once more, "Do you still want to live?"

He drew out his wooden sword, swung it lightly, and a burst of sword energy sliced through the air; screams of agony came from outside.

The woman's eyes regained some color, she nodded vigorously, then lifted the child again, holding him up to Duncan with effort. Seeing Duncan's Daoist attire, she wanted to ask him to take in the child.

"It's enough if you still want to live."

Duncan rose with his sword, leaving behind the water jug and hardtack, calmly said, "Stay here."

Lü Zu advised him to wander the world, never expecting to see such a scene before even leaving Guangxi.

The young man holding the wooden sword looked at the wailing man outside the house. The man wasn't frail, only his eyes were muddy and yellowed. Seeing Duncan, he knelt down and begged for mercy, repeatedly kowtowing, "Daoist, spare my life! Daoist, spare my life!"

Duncan stomped and broke the man's other leg bone, said expressionlessly, "Speak."

"What happened here?"

The man, his face full of fear, stammered out a long explanation.

Liu Chang indulged in luxury and pleasure; during his reign, Southern Han had as many as 47 types of taxes, historical records state Liu Chang even imposed absurd taxes such as bat tax and toad tax.

In the generation of Meichuan, primarily the 'pearl for life tax'.

Daily quotas were imposed; those who failed to meet them were subjected to the punishment of "stones crushing ankles", resulting in many drowning deaths.

Anyone who dared to resist had their families executed and property confiscated.

In a time of chaos, commoners were like livestock.

This world never belonged to the commoners.

Duncan only asked a few questions before stopping, looking down at the man kneeling before him, calmly said, "Did you cut the thigh meat off those bodies?"

The man trembled all over, afraid to speak.

Duncan sighed regretfully, "So close to the sea, do you still need to eat human flesh to satiate hunger?"

"Or is it that?"

"You've grown accustomed to eating human flesh?"

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, a time plagued by systemic cannibalism.

At times, commoners were worse off than livestock.

Historical records noted.

Qin Zongquan's army used salted human flesh as military rations, causing the Central Plains to be overgrown with thorns and devoid of human presence.

Yang Xingmi's army consumed human flesh during their march, the remaining flesh processed and preserved for sale by the pound.

Zhao Siwan enjoyed consuming fresh human gall bladders with wine, claiming "eating a thousand gallbladders makes one unbeatable in courage."

Gao Li hunted pedestrians at night, drank human blood as if it were wine.

Wang Jixun (brother-in-law of Zhao Kuangyin) specifically feasted on the tender flesh of young girls, brutally killed hundreds of women.

After Han, Prince Cai Liu Xin forced prisoners to eat their wives and children, observing the dismemberment process throughout.

Post-Tang General Zhang Fang seized palace maidens in Luoyang as military provisions, committing "kill by day, molest by night" during marches.

Even after the establishment of the Song Dynasty, Northern Song's army, to intimidate Southern Han enemies, publicly consumed prisoners and released marked survivors, causing the enemy camp to collapse.

There are many other scattered accounts.

But history always belongs to the nobles and generals, hardly anyone asks about the bottom-tier common people; their existence signifies being exploited to the bone and marrow, not just metaphorically, but physically.

From the Late Tang till now, the wheat has ripened only dozens of times, yet the human world has completely changed.

Huang Chao slaughtered the Li-Tang clan only to leave behind a mess.

These warlords were even harsher than the aristocrats.

The man shivered all over, unable to resist Duncan's mental pressure, spilling all he thought, "Human flesh is a hundred coins a pound, dog meat five hundred coins a pound."

"I cut it to sell at the market, to get some money for fun."

"That woman stopped me from cutting the meat."

"I raped her, then she found a knife. I dared not approach, only waited for her to exhaust her strength, and then send her to the market together."

Good! Good! Good!

Duncan, enraged, laughed and brought down his palm, causing the man's head to explode instantly.

He didn't know much about the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, only knew it was a time of great chaos, no less than the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China.

When he entered this world, it was on the border of the Later Zhou and the Southern Tang, the Jiangnan region still relatively prosperous.

Probably during the reign of Liu Chengyou in Later Han, famine in North China led to civilians using "salted corpses as grain", the trade of human meat became public, even termed as "human shop human jerky", with the lowest prices, semi-acknowledged by local markets.

This happened just a decade ago.

Duncan rose and returned to the woman, crouched down, calmly said, "Head south, there's a way out."

"I've recently acquired a Grotto Heaven Blessed Land called Bao Xuan Cave."

"No one lives inside."

"But if you're willing to go, at least you won't starve."

The woman barely understood, but knew this was a path to life, directly bowed down, her head knocking with a loud thud, raising it again, blood overflowed.

Her throat was already mute, only able to emit faint sounds.