Chapter 81: The Common People of the World

……

"Sorry to have kept everyone waiting."

Nan Feng scanned his surroundings, spotting many familiar faces; even the old fogies from Wuhun City had come.

"Thank you all for being willing to come to Tiandou City. Although quite a few of you were 'voluntarily' coerced, I know many of you are itching to rush up here and hack me to death."

"Because you could have been lying in your own manors, sipping wine, holding the little maidservants you just spent money to buy, and indulging in whatever whims took your fancy."

"But just because of a few words from me, you were forced to leave your little courtyards, leave your warm beds, and be sent by your ancestors to Tiandou City to die."

"You hate me, don't you?"

"No response? Then I'll take it that you don't hate me," Nan Feng said.

"……"

The group of young nobles, who were just about to start cursing, glared at Nan Feng in the center of the plaza, gritting their teeth.

Did you ever give us a chance, you bastard?! "Elder Nan Feng! Do you know what you've done!"

In the guest seating area, a young noble stood up, his face looking somewhat haggard; it seemed he hadn't been having a very good time lately.

"What have I done?" Nan Feng asked.

"You are inciting war!" the young noble raged.

"Because of you, the Heaven Dou Empire has fallen into civil strife! Because of you, the Star Luo Empire's armies are pressing on our borders! Because of you, the continent is about to be plunged into misery!"

"If it weren't for your inexplicable regulations, there would be no war in the Heaven Dou Empire at all!"

"You are the one who has harmed everyone!"

"You lunatic!!"

"He's right! It's all your fault!"

"Hurry up and retract those shitty regulations of yours! The Heaven Dou Empire doesn't need the Spirit Hall interfering!"

"The common people of the world have all been harmed by you!"

"……"

Once someone took the lead, the young nobles at the scene erupted one after another.

They didn't have to come here to die; it was all forced by this lunatic!

"In the end, it was still impulsive," Ning Fengzhi sighed.

Public anger is hard to defy. Even if one wants to change things, it should be done step by step, like boiling a frog in warm water, rather than pouring a pot of boiling water directly over them, or even flipping the pot over and pushing everyone into a sea of fire.

"Fengzhi, he is smiling." Gu Rong looked at Nan Feng, who was bowing his head and chuckling in the plaza, with a grave expression.

"Smiling?" Ning Fengzhi's expression stiffened, and he turned to look.

A lunatic!

This guy really is crazy! Does he really think the Spirit Hall will support him? Even if Pope Bibi Dong went crazy along with Nan Feng, the Elder Hall and that massive crowd of Spirit Masters in the Spirit Hall would absolutely not give up their comfortable lives to engage in this kind of self-destructive behavior with Nan Feng!

A war between the two great empires isn't just about a few deaths; with a battle involving millions, the continent will soon be littered with corpses!

"What are you laughing at!"

After cursing for quite a while, someone finally noticed that Nan Feng was not only not ashamed, but actually laughing.

"I'm laughing at you all," Nan Feng stopped his laughter.

"To be honest, I always thought I was shameless enough, but I didn't expect you all to be even more valiant than me!"

"Do you all think you have the qualifications to stand on the moral high ground and point fingers at me?"

"I incited war? Why would you think that? And by what right do you say so?"

"Did I order you to mobilize your troops? Or did I order the Star Luo Empire's border armies to press in?"

"Isn't this something you wanted to fight yourselves?"

"If it weren't for those shitty regulations you made, how could everyone be preparing for war!" the young noble cursed.

"My regulations?" Nan Feng looked puzzled.

"Did the four kingdoms prepare for war because of my regulations? Did the Star Luo Empire press its armies in because of my regulations? Did your fathers send you to Tiandou City to die because of my regulations?"

"Isn't that the case!" the young noble raged.

Nan Feng couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Fine, blame me, it's all my fault."

"It's good that you know you're wrong; hurry up and retract those shitty regulations!" the young noble said.

"I can retract them, and I can apologize to everyone; this was merely a moment of impulse on my part," Nan Feng said.

"But I hope everyone will answer a few questions for me."

"If a robber steals your wallet, and you take the wallet back, then, are you also a robber?"

"Of course not!" the young noble said.

"That was my property to begin with!"

"Well said, that was your property to begin with," Nan Feng clapped his hands.

"Then may I ask, where did your money come from?"

"Did you earn it yourself?"

"I……" the young noble was stunned.

"That was given to me by my father."

"Then where did your father's money come from?" Nan Feng asked again.

"Of course, it was the salary paid to him by the Heaven Dou Empire," the young noble said.

"Where does the salary come from?" Nan Feng asked.

"Taxes, you don't even know that?" the young noble said, somewhat impatiently.

"Where do taxes come from?" Nan Feng continued to ask.

"Of course it's……"

"From the farmers, from the merchants, from all kinds of trading activities," Nan Feng said. "You know, so why ask?" the young noble was getting angry.

"Then may I ask, why do they have to pay taxes? What is the purpose of paying taxes?" Nan Feng asked.

"Of course it's……" the young noble was stunned.

"Does this need a reason? Isn't paying taxes a matter of course?"

Nan Feng glanced at the young noble with an expression as if looking at a moron, then turned to look at Ning Fengzhi, "Sect Master Ning, why don't you tell him the answer to this question?"

Ning Fengzhi, being watched by everyone, felt a bit uncomfortable, but he still answered Nan Feng's question, "The empire maintains social order, defends against foreign invasions, and provides help to citizens when disasters strike, including but not limited to distributing grain, disaster relief, and providing shelter for disaster victims. Every citizen has the obligation to pay taxes because they are born enjoying the stability brought by the empire."

"Did you hear that?" Nan Feng looked back at the young noble.

"So what if I heard it? What does this have to do with today's events?" the young noble said indignantly.

"Of course it has to do with it," Nan Feng said.

"Rights and obligations coexist. There is no right without obligation, and there shouldn't be any obligation without rights. Paying taxes is the obligation of every citizen, and they have fulfilled their obligations, but now, you robbers want to take away the rights they deserve!"

"For your own interests, you want to start a war, but not to defend against foreign invasion, but to hold onto those interests you've stolen!"

"Commoners have the obligations of commoners, but what about the obligations of the nobles?"

"Why are there nobles? Where did the first nobles come from? Is there a race born called nobles?"

"No! Nobles are born from the commoners whom you idiots look down upon!"

"When you look down on commoners and treat them like pigs, dogs, cattle, and horses, have you ever thought that your ancestors were once among them?"

"What you idiots look down upon is not others, but your own ancestors!"

"Disrespecting one's ancestors is unfilial!"

"The Heaven Dou Imperial family granted you noble titles, hoping you would contribute to the strength of the Heaven Dou Empire, yet you want to turn around and destroy this empire; that is disloyal!"

"As nobles, you only know how to enjoy yourselves, unaware of your own responsibilities, treating the people like fish and meat; that is inhumane!"

"The Star Luo Empire's army is pressing on the border, yet one by one you are still thinking of internal strife; that is unrighteous!"

"A bunch of unfilial, disloyal, inhumane, and unrighteous mongrels! What qualifications do you have to talk wildly about the common people of the world in front of me!?"

"Just for the interests of those mongrels, you want to let countless people go to their deaths, and you! You idiots! Still think that I am the one who took your things!"

"You don't even know who the enemy is, yet you dare to open your mouths to question me?"

Speaking to this point, a red light flashed in Nan Feng's eyes, and his voice became increasingly cold.

"I want to take back everything they deserve for those whose things were stolen!"

"But these ignorant people, they still want to help those robbers and point their blades at their own compatriots!"

"Soldiers of the Heaven Dou Empire! Do you know what you are doing!?"

"……"

"What's going on?" Ning Fengzhi was stunned.

How did it get to the soldiers of the Heaven Dou Empire?

Gu Rong pointed to the giant conch shells placed around the plaza, "If I remember correctly, those are Sound-Transmitting Conches, a type of sea spirit beast with powerful mental strength. If they receive some special stimulation, they will transmit the sounds they receive to their kin far away, and then, the Sound-Transmitting Conches that receive these sounds will continue to transmit the sounds they hear."

"If I'm not mistaken……"

"Right now, the Heaven Dou Empire's army, the garrisons of the kingdoms below, and even most of the densely populated areas of the Heaven Dou Empire can hear Elder Nan Feng's voice," Salas said.

"To collect so many Sound-Transmitting Conches, the Spirit Hall spent nearly three years, but I didn't expect him to use them for this."

The corners of Ning Fengzhi's eyes twitched, "But how can you ensure that these words won't be blocked after they are transmitted? And how can you let so many people hear them?"

"Of course, it's the Spirit Douluo bishops and Titled Douluo elders of my Spirit Hall who are personally guarding the Sound-Transmitting Conches at those key locations, and adding spirit power to amplify those sounds so that people within several kilometers can hear them clearly!" Salas said.

"Sect Master Ning, you don't really think Elder Nan Feng was acting on a whim, do you?"

Ning Fengzhi gave a dry laugh.

Who the hell could have thought of this!? And who would have thought that Nan Feng would actually think of relying on language to incite the entire Heaven Dou Empire! This guy really dares to play like this!! "Before today, many people advised me, saying that public anger is hard to defy, but I don't think so. Public anger? Is that the anger of those mongrels?" Nan Feng asked.

"No! They don't deserve it!"

"The real public anger is your anger! It is the anger of the Heaven Dou citizens!"

"See clearly who your enemy is!"

"Who should your blades be pointed at! And what are you fighting for!"

"Do you want to point your butcher's knives at your own families for the sake of those unfilial, disloyal, inhumane, and unrighteous mongrels!!"

"Answer me! You idiots who can't even tell who the enemy is!!"

"No! No! No!"

"……"

"This……" Ning Fengzhi looked bewildered.

Where did that sound come from?

"It's the Forbidden Army of Tiandou City commanded by General Ge Long," Xue Qinghe said.

"However, the place where the army is stationed is far from here……"

How many people must be shouting? The sound has reached here?

"See clearly who your enemy is! Don't let this group of sleazy and greedy mongrels destroy this country! Destroy your lives!"

"Find these black sheep! Expel these plagues from the Heaven Dou Empire!"

"I know that my speech today will soon be forgotten by you, but I hope you see clearly!"

"Who is inciting war! Who is betraying the Heaven Dou Empire!"

"Who plundered your wealth! And now, who wants to take away your lives! Leaving you with nothing!"

"For the Heaven Dou Empire! And for yourselves!"

"Find them! Kill them!"

(End of chapter)