"Fuck them! I'm a proper heir to a noble house, too! Each of you is a lord on your own turf, so why the fuck are you acting like Zhang's grandson? Damn it, what gives him the right?"
Duan Tiandai shouted himself hoarse, and his words finally set the whole crowd alight.
The South Academy had appeared out of nowhere, trying to seize the Five Spirit Balance Ground everyone had poured so much effort into building.
Who wouldn't be furious?
They'd simply been too intimidated by the authority Zhang Junyue had built up over the past two months to dare resist.
Now Xu Yi had taken the lead and kicked Zhang Junyue flat. Everyone was already fired up, and Tie Dagang and Duan Tiandai fanned the flames. In an instant, the crowd was seething with indignation.
Duan Tiandai's incitement, in particular, struck right at the heart of the matter.
The students of Room Thirty-Six hadn't spent their whole lives at the bottom, ground down by exploitation until they'd grown numb.
Quite the opposite. Every one of them came from a distinguished background and was used to throwing their weight around.
But the academy's relentless schemes and beatings had worn down their tempers. Harsh rules kept them in check, and concern for their own interests had left them too timid to act.
Now Duan Tiandai had fanned the flames, and all the resentment buried in their bones burst forth. Their cries surged like a storm, leaving Qi Hui and Tong Pu ashen-faced.
The truth was, they'd treated people so badly for so long that when Zhang Junyue, the dorm leader, ran into trouble, not even his own roommates stood up for him.
He'd thrown his weight around for so long that resentment had been building against him on all sides. He'd