We're not really told why Kwan-Si first changes their
walls into the shape of a pig, but the messenger bringing the news seems to think that
by doing so, they have made themselves the more powerful town. A pig will eat an orange,
and so it looks like they are the town of strength. So, the Mandarin immediately orders
the shape of the walls changed to look like a club, to beat the pig away.
The towns prolong this competition because the town with the "strongest"
wall shape would be the winner, and therefore the more prosperous and successful
town. Think of it as a giant game of "Rock, Paper,
Scissors".
Because of this competition, the
townspeople have no time to tend crops or run businesses; instead they are constantly
building and rebuilding the walls. So, they fall ill, lose
money, and begin dying. Even the Mandarins are sick and weak at the end
of the battle. Because of their greed, and refusal to work in cooperation rather than
competition, their towns have suffered greatly.
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