The old woman's violent vomiting sounds seemed to have some magical power.
The moment she heard the sound of vomiting, the enthusiasm and excitement that had hovered over all the surrounding villagers instantly cooled down.
Whether it was Konnosuke standing next to Ogata or the villagers standing at the outermost edge of the crowd, they all looked at the old woman who was still vomiting violently with horror on their faces. Some even had expressions on their faces. She also broke out in cold sweat.
It wasn't just the villagers headed by Kinnosuke who looked horrified.
Ogata and others' expressions also changed at this time.
Because Ogata and the others clearly remember one characteristic of cannibals - living people can suddenly turn into cannibals.
The sign that a living person turns into a cannibal is violent vomiting.
"Quick!" The first person to react was Konnosuke, "Bring the fishing net over quickly! Move quickly!"
Both Kinnosuke and the other villagers seemed to have been used to this scene for a long time.
Following Kinnosuke's order, all the villagers immediately took action.
Everyone immediately moved away from the old woman who was still vomiting.
Several young people brought two large fishing nets from unknown places, and then covered the old woman tightly with these two large fishing nets.
Their movements are quite skillful and can almost be described as smooth and flowing.
After trapping the old woman with a fishing net, the young men who had just brought the fishing net began to use tug-of-war movements to drag the old woman who was trapped in the fishing net somewhere. .
The old woman's face was full of fear since she started vomiting violently.
She seemed to want to say something, but because she couldn't stop vomiting, the sounds she made after opening her mouth were all vomiting sounds, and she couldn't utter even a complete sentence.
Although she could not speak, she could still move her hands and feet.
After the young men threw the fishing net over her head, she struggled hard, as if trying to get rid of the net's restraint on her.
However - those young men threw two large fishing nets onto her body.
These two fishing nets are quite strong. The people responsible for dragging the fishing nets are still several young and strong young people. How could this old woman break open the fishing nets?
The old woman was dragged bit by bit towards the outside of the village by the young men in full view of everyone.
Everyone could clearly see the look of fear and despair on the face of the old woman trapped in the fishing net.
She cast a look of help at Konnosuke and others, as if hoping that Konnosuke and others could help her.
It's a pity that the look of help she cast towards Konnosuke and others was destined to be a useless effort.
Everyone who was caught by the old woman's pleading gaze looked away one after another, not daring to meet the old woman's pleading gaze - including Konnosuke.
Looking at the old woman who was being dragged out of the village bit by bit like a dog, a look of unbearability appeared on Machi's face.
She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something.
But Oufang, who was standing next to her, raised his hand to hold her shoulders before she could speak, and then shook his head at her with a look of helplessness on his face.
…
…
The young men responsible for dragging the old woman out of the village acted quickly.
Their skillful movements announced a cold reality to Ogata and others: they had done similar things countless times.
Under the gaze of everyone, the old woman and the young men responsible for dragging the old woman out of the village gradually disappeared from their sight.
Even though the old woman who was about to turn into a cannibal had been dragged away, the villagers headed by Kinnosuke still had a heavy look on their faces.
The joy of the villagers because Ogata saved their companions and defeated the arrogance of Sotaro and others had completely dissipated at this time.
No matter who it was, they all had a heavy face at this time.
A few people even sobbed secretly.
As for Ogata and others... this is the first time they have seen a living person turn into a cannibal.
After witnessing with their own eyes the process of living people turning into cannibals, and the methods that the villagers of Fenghe Village used to deal with the living people who were about to become cannibals, all of them were stunned in place.
No one knew what to say or do.
"Everyone..." Konnosuke said softly to Ogata and others, "It is already late at night, so you can spend the night in my mansion today..."
"Well..." Ogata, whose face was also not very pretty, nodded, "Then I'll help you..."
…
…
Konnosuke walked in front, leading Ogata and others towards his mansion.
While leading the way, Konnosuke introduced Ogata and his party behind him:
"You must have heard from Sokai and the others at Tenmanji Temple... Not only the dead will turn into cannibals, but even the living will turn into cannibals."
"There are no rules for a living person to turn into a cannibal."
"Regardless of gender or age, anyone may suddenly turn into a cannibal at the next moment..."
"The next person who becomes a cannibal may be you, or it may be me..."
"Over the years, we have been living in fear of not knowing when we will turn into cannibals."
"Originally, after the wooden wall was built, there were still 312 people alive here."
"And now, there are only over 100 people left...the rest have all turned into cannibals..."
"How do you deal with those people who become cannibals?" Ogata asked, "Throw them outside the wall?"
"No, we have opened an open space in the northwest corner of the wall. We have dug many deep pits one room deep there. Once someone turns into a cannibal, we will trap them with fishing nets and drag them to the
Throw them there into these deep pits we dug, and then cover the tops of the pits with planks of wood.”
"Ogres have no wisdom at all. As long as you throw them into a pit deep enough and prevent them from seeing any living people, they won't climb out."
"I see..." Mamiya muttered, "No wonder there are almost no cannibals around the wooden wall... It turns out that you have sealed all the cannibals you have turned into this year inside the wooden wall...
"
"Alas..." Konosuke sighed, and then smiled bitterly, "Everyone, after spending the night here tonight, try to leave this island as soon as possible..."
"This island has become a dead island... Staying here will only lead to death..."
…
…
Turning back time to today's dusk——
In the coastal area across the sea from Butterfly Island, the shogunate army barracks——
Daomori, the general in charge of thousands of troops monitoring Butterfly Island across the sea, was leading all the senior generals in his army to stand outside the camp.
The reason why he led all the generals to stand outside the camp was for no other reason than to welcome the famous doctor who was finally arriving here—Hawaii Sogen.