Chapter 938: Ge Tianfeng

"... That Guanjuren's house is stuffed with grain, yet he never brought any out for everyone to eat. Maitreya Buddha has already issued a decree, commanding our holy sect to slay these demons and monsters..."

Someone proposed it, others echoed it, and caught up in the crowd, he went along in a daze. When he thought about how dizzy and stomach-achingly hungry he was, how his family members had sickened and died or dropped dead from exhaustion one by one because of starvation, while that Guanjuren's house was full of grain — and word was they could even eat meat every few days — thinking of this, Ge Tianfeng felt a fury that bordered on madness.

They all went off in a noisy mob, but halfway there, Ge Tianfeng began to panic. That Guanjuren kept dozens of stout fellows at home, and had some weapons instructor who'd come out of a proper sect — they were fully equipped with blades and spears. With everyone just clutching wooden clubs and farm tools, could they really win?

By the time they reached Guanjuren's manor, the household guards and such were all up on the walls, looking ready for a bloody fight. Quite a few people lost their nerve right then and there.

Unexpectedly, the incense-head who preached the scriptures and burned the incense really knew his business. He'd long since had people tear down door panels, thatched sheds, and the like, holding them overhead as they charged forward. Once they got close, they just leaned them against the wall and had people clamber up.

A juren's estate — how could they ever have imagined an assault like this? They'd assumed no one could get over the walls, but who'd have thought they couldn't hold them back. On top of that, the mob below was seething with fury. The household guards and village braves all lost their nerve. The weapons instructor had meant to kill a few to cow the crowd, but he never expected that among the starving refugees, one man would charge forward, wielding a podao, and cut him down in a few strokes. The rest scattered like birds and beasts, and the estate was smashed open just like that.

Though Guanjuren pleaded piteously, not a single soul in his entire household, young or old, survived. The stored grain and hidden cellars were smashed open and divided up on the spot. Some, driven mad with hatred, even set fires, burning up quite a lot of the grain.

Ge Tianfeng finally ate a full meal. He ate until tears streamed down his face, feeling this was the most satisfying deed in all his life. To eat his fill just one more time — he'd die content.

Around Daijiaba, Guanjuren's was the only wealthy household. The mob of rebels and disaster refugees that had gathered was too large; after smashing it open, many still hadn't eaten their fill — they could only say they'd barely stuffed their bellies. Their thoughts were exactly the same as Ge Tianfeng's.

"Take the county seat, and we can all eat our fill!"

That's what the incense-head who preached the scriptures and burned the incense said. Before they'd smashed open Guanjuren's house, many had been meek, obedient, decent common folk. But after seeing blood and eating their fill, everyone's courage swelled. They'd been starving far too long — eating their fill was better than anything. And that feeling of reckless, unbridled pleasure — when had they ever tasted that before!

Just as with the siege of Guanjuren's house, Ge Tianfeng had his misgivings. The county seat's walls were so high, and inside the town there were so many ferocious, fiendish officials — its defenses were far stricter than Guanjuren's place. How could they possibly storm it?

But when he saw the thousands upon thousands of refugees and common folk, a dark, crushing mass, and saw the city wall already half-collapsed, the fire in Ge Tianfeng's heart blazed up again. This really might be possible.

No one treated their own life as worth much. They simply drew lots with grass stems — whoever drew the short one went to the front to charge...

Though the walls were much higher, and many more men stood guard bearing weapons, and there were bows and arrows and rolling logs and stones above, everyone still charged forward, holding door panels and thatched sheds over their heads.

Just as expected, there were screams, and they saw heads cracked open and blood flowing. By the second round of drawing lots, those who drew the short straw began to fear. Someone threw away his grass stem and, heedless of everything, tried to leave — only to have his head chopped off with a single blade stroke. It was at that moment that many noticed: the ranks now included figures wielding weapons, vicious and murderous characters.

Before such cutthroats, they were still just a loose sheet of sand, still just insects and ants. No one dared disobey. Driven forward from front and rear, they charged.

Ge Tianfeng began to tremble with fear. Though he'd been lucky — he hadn't drawn the short straw either time — who knew if his turn would come next? But what he never expected was that, just as this second wave charged forward, the defenders on the wall scattered in panic like that — and then the defending troops on the wall fell into chaos among themselves.

When they saw their comrades clambering over the rubble of the earthquake-shattered wall and scaling the ramparts, the entire mass of refugees outside the city went mad. At that moment, there was no fear or dread — howling and shouting, they surged into the city.

The stores in the county seat were extremely limited as well. Though somewhat more than Guanjuren's manor, the people besieging the county seat were far more numerous than those who'd besieged Guanjuren. After looting the government granaries and the storehouses of the great households, they didn't spare the common folk who'd been barely scraping by either.

This time, Ge Tianfeng ate several half-full meals with great dissatisfaction. The grain in the county seat had already been nearly eaten up. Everyone had more or less a little private stash now.

"... Everyone, head to Jining! There's more grain there — they store a fraction of all the grain under heaven there. Once we get there, we can eat our fill year after year..."

At first, some still spoke of gods and Buddhas, but now they only talked of eating their fill. This feeling of being able to act with reckless abandon, without toil or labor, and still get grain to eat — for refugees who'd been starving for years, on the verge of death and despair, it was simply too alluring. Many were stirred up by this.

"... Whose hands aren't stained with blood? We've killed the yamen people of this county, we've breached this city — do you think there's any chance left for regret? If anyone quits now, when the authorities come knocking, it's a dead end..."

When they were reveling, it was pure revelry. But thinking of the things they'd done, thinking of facing the king's law, whatever hesitation they had vanished in this terror. By this point, there was no road back.

As for those whose hands weren't stained with blood, who at this juncture still wanted to leave — there were even more naked methods.

"... Anyone who wants to leave, ask my blade here whether it agrees or not!"

"He must be a government spy, a demon, someone who's been hiding among us eating meat and drinking blood — burn him to death!"

After a few were beheaded, and a few more were trussed onto pyres and burned alive, everyone trembled in terror. No one dared speak of leaving anymore. The only choice was to obediently follow along.

From Wenshang County to Jining Prefecture, though there were many prosperous villages and hamlets along the Grand Canal, for the ever-swelling horde of starving refugees, these supplies were just a drop in the bucket. The private spoils each person had snatched were quickly exhausted. They hadn't eaten their fill for more than a few days before they tasted the pangs of hunger once again.

There was one refugee who'd studied a few days at a private school — he was sharp and saw many things clearly. After they smashed open a village, Ge Tianfeng heard him say that the village had plenty of grain, but what was divided among everyone wasn't much. The missing portion — no one knew where it went.

Ge Tianfeng didn't dwell on it. The refugee who'd said that died on the road the very next day, and no one paid it any mind. People died every day, and not a few — no one's death was anything rare.

On this journey south, Ge Tianfeng knew nothing else, only that the people around him grew more and more numerous. Once, when he was called over to help and stood on high ground, all he saw was a dark, crushing mass of people everywhere, stretching beyond the horizon.

In the column, there were men and women, old and young. The elderly soon couldn't hold on and, unsurprisingly, died along the road. The women and children, however, faced a different fate.

Ge Tianfeng noticed that as the column swelled in numbers, it no longer consisted only of refugees and the starving. Though some still looked ragged and tattered, they were hale and robust. These types always carried weapons. And whenever the great host halted, figures in bright, fine clothes would arrive. They'd pick out suitable children and women and take them away. Anyone with a bit of worldly experience knew these were human traffickers, but no one thought it was wrong. To be bought and sold away, even into a living hell, was still better than starving to death. Besides, in this chaotic mass of tens or even hundreds of thousands of refugees, utter lawlessness reigned. Women were often violated, and even comely young boys frequently met the same misfortune — better to go to the living hell after all.

Everyone felt that being taken away was a blessing. Ge Tianfeng could understand that reasoning too. But he occasionally discovered that those traffickers who came to pick people out paid money — silver was given to those incense-heads and the figures even higher up. Could it be that someone was treating everyone as goods to be sold? What kind of thinking was that? But Ge Tianfeng wisely kept his mouth shut. Say less, live a few more days — he clearly remembered his father's words.

The closer they got to Jining, the more everyone sensed something different. They were all still on Shandong soil, everywhere was desolate, everywhere the people couldn't make a living — so how did this Jining area present such a scene of prosperity and good order?

One by one, villages and market towns were smashed open, their supplies looted clean. The surviving common folk were swept up into the refugee horde. The column grew mightier and mightier. The traffickers who came to buy and pick out people grew more and more numerous. And the people in the column who were different also began to multiply.

Besides those robust ones carrying weapons, men on horseback appeared. Many no longer concealed their identities, wearing decent clothes, bearing all sorts of weapons. Even carts, horses, and sedan chairs appeared.

It was different from before. Before, it had just been the scripture-preaching incense-heads speaking on their own. But now, with such massive momentum, there were gongs and drums and clanging percussion instruments, banners and colorful streamers, incense, candles, and offering tables. There were even special carts hauling divine statues. Every day they held worship, every day they preached scriptures, and divine miracles frequently manifested.

Moreover, the attitude of the incense-masters and incense-heads toward the faithful and refugees had changed. Ge Tianfeng clearly remembered that the local scripture-preaching incense-head had been very amiable with him, and had even given him a few salted bran-and-vegetable cakes — a delicacy he still dreamed of. But the further south they went, the worse the attitude became. First it was cursing, then beatings, growing more and more high and mighty. Ge Tianfeng even saw one incense-head forcibly seize a certain believer's wife...

But no one dared say anything. This incense-head was still considered decent — in other places, they'd already started using blades to kill people outright.

"Open up Jining City, and everyone eats their fill, everyone eats meat, and there'll be beautiful women to sleep with!" This was shouted every day. And every day, people went around distributing talisman water and scattering incense ash, claiming it warded off all disease. They also hollered, "The great tribulation is nigh! The earthly immortal kingdom is descending! Whoever contributes their strength, whoever risks life and limb, can enter the Blissful Homeland and be sheltered by the gods and Buddhas!"

Compared to the gods and Buddhas that came after, the eating their fill and sleeping with women that came first stirred the heart far more. But Ge Tianfeng also noticed one thing: those who were truly devout, those who were strong and sturdy, all seemed to find good placements. Those who knew a bit of martial skill always got extra rations. Many just stopped marching with the main host like that, and only days later would you discover they'd already joined the ranks carrying the flags and banners — or else the wood and stone in their hands had been swapped for iron weapons.

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