"Then what?" Du Hao asked curiously.
Even Xiao Wu set down the food in her hands and stared unblinkingly at Tang San, waiting for him to continue.
The only one there who stayed relatively calm was Zhu Zhuqing. She crossed her right leg over her left and listened quietly.
Not a flicker of unnecessary emotion crossed her face.
After all, as a former noble, Zhu Zhuqing had seen plenty of things like this when she was little.
She was practically used to it.
It was only a big deal in a backwater place like Nuoding City. In the outside world, this sort of thing wouldn't even count as an incident.
After all, nobles were nobles. You knew how it went.
"The young man in noble clothes was immediately surrounded and beaten by a crowd of people who jumped out of nowhere. I heard from those nearby that they broke both his legs."
"As for what happened after..." Tang San swallowed.
He looked at Du Hao and Zhu Zhuqing and said uneasily, "That group gathered around the guy whose legs had been broken. It seemed like they were discussing something."
"By the end, pretty much all the Soul Masters we'd beaten had gathered together and headed toward the City Lord's Mansion."
"Did those people actually start a rebellion?" Having figured out the situation, Du Hao had more or less pieced together what had happened.
Simply put, everyone he'd hypnotized had gathered together and then attacked the City Lord's Mansion.
What the hell was this? It was way too ridiculous.
Even web novels from his previous life wouldn't dare write something like this.
And wasn't he using a Hypnosis Phone? Why did it feel like some red substance had invaded them?
Would that even work on Douluo Continent?
Was this going to blow up in his face?
That was right. His first thought wasn't whether this would get him into trouble. He was wondering whether it would actually work.
Well, what could you say? He really was a fine young man of the red variety.
While the few of them were still discussing things at the academy,
the outside world was already in an uproar.
Nuoding City, Spirit Hall Branch.
"Something's wrong, old man!" Su Yuntao hurriedly shoved open the door to the Spirit Hall Branch office, staring in alarm at the old man sitting on the sofa inside.
"What is it, Yuntao? Why are you in such a hurry?"
The kindly old man sat on the sofa, quietly reading a book. He looked up, took off his glasses, and regarded Su Yuntao in confusion.
"Take your time. There's no need to rush." The old man smiled and lifted his teacup for a sip.
Under normal circumstances, there wasn't anything particularly complicated going on at the Spirit Hall Branch in a medium-sized city like theirs.
The only time things got a little busy was during the few months when Martial Souls were awakened.
The rest of the time, hardly anyone came by. It was practically a perfect place to retire.
So Ma Xiunuo didn't think anything major would happen to them right now.
At most, some low-ranked Soul Masters would cause trouble. They could just send a few One-Ring Soul Master guards to suppress them.
Su Yuntao, however, didn't see it that way. He dropped a bombshell right away.
"Old man, stop drinking already! I saw the City Lord's Mansion surrounded by a crowd when I went to buy something!"
As he finished, Su Yuntao snatched the teacup out of Ma Xiunuo's hand and wet his own throat with a gulp.
Then he dropped another bombshell. "And at least half of that crowd are Soul Masters!
"If we don't send the branch's guards over right away, that kid City Lord Xiao will probably end up hanging from the city wall today!"
"What? What's going on?"
Ma Xiunuo, who had been calm just a moment ago, sprang to his feet. At eighty years old, he looked as frightened as a little boy.
This was serious!
"Quick, tell me what's happening!" Ma Xiunuo didn't even bother about his stolen tea. He stared at Su Yuntao with a tense expression, demanding an explanation.
Su Yuntao told the head of the Spirit Hall Branch everything he'd heard, from beginning to end.
After all, he was only an executive. He still needed the branch master's approval to summon the Spirit Hall guards.
Otherwise, he had no authority to command those guards.
Once he'd heard the whole story,
Ma Xiunuo felt as if he'd suddenly grown sixty years younger. He rushed toward the door in a panic.
"What are you waiting for? Get the guards!"
If they waited any longer, his days as head of the Spirit Hall Branch would be over.
He couldn't believe he had to go through this at eighty...
Notting Junior Academy.
At that moment, all the academy's teachers had been summoned and gathered on the sports field.
On the platform at the edge of the field,
the headmaster urgently assigned tasks to the teachers below.
"All teachers and students, patrol the areas assigned to you. We must ensure the academy's safety!"
The moment he heard the City Lord's Mansion had been surrounded, he'd sprung into action.
He'd organized all the teachers and every student above One-Ring level, setting up defenses around the academy.
This was the first time the headmaster had encountered a riot like this. All he could do was grit his teeth and make sure the academy wasn't caught up in it.
As for what was happening outside, all he could do was pray the Spirit Hall guards would resolve it soon. There was nothing else he could do.
As headmaster, he was only a Level 32 Soul Elder. With two fists no match for four hands, he couldn't possibly beat the rioting crowd outside.
All he could do now was keep the academy safe as best he could. After all, he was responsible for the students and teachers.
He could only hope the unrest would die down soon.
That night, by the east wall of the academy.
"Brother Hao, you don't think this will come back to bite us, do you?" Tang San asked anxiously, waving away mosquitoes as he glanced behind him.
"What are you afraid of? What's it got to do with us?"
Du Hao followed behind him, a blade of foxtail grass in his mouth as he kicked a pebble by the side of the path, completely unconcerned.
"Besides, so what if it does come back to bite us? Are they going to say a bunch of kids joined the adults' rebellion?"
Du Hao couldn't help laughing at the thought.
"Would you believe that if you heard it?"
"W-well, I guess you're right." Tang San scratched his head. Thinking it over, he decided Du Hao had a point.
"Come on, stop overthinking it." Du Hao reached out and patted Tang San's head, smiling as he spoke. "Besides, the headmaster said there must be five or six hundred people in the riot. How could we have done that? Quit imagining things."
At most, they'd knocked out a little over fifty people.
It couldn't be that every one of those people was Hitler, rounding up a bunch of folks at the tavern and getting ready to blitz the City Lord's Mansion, could it?
Even a quick thought made it clear that was impossible.
Really, it just showed that Nuoding City's lord had a problem with his conduct and had raised a bunch of idiots among the nobility.
Otherwise, this kind of mess wouldn't have happened.
"Since that's the case, all right." Tang San scratched his head as he worked through the whole situation.
After all, the number of people they'd beaten was nowhere near the number surrounding the City Lord's Mansion today.
Maybe he really was just overthinking it.
"All right, stop overthinking it." Du Hao tossed away the foxtail grass in his mouth and started walking back as he spoke.
"You patrol here by yourself. There are too many mosquitoes. I'm going to find Zhuqing and Xiao Wu's patrol team..." With that, he headed toward another patrol point not far from the academy.
There were too many mosquitoes here. He just couldn't take it anymore.
Before you continue