This was a textbook display of psychological manipulation.
Among all the barbarians present, there were doubters, and quite a few of them, yet not one dared step forward.
Within a group, any action that broke with the collective consensus brought pressure to bear. Wang Yang had first led everyone in respectfully bidding King Pan farewell, both to give that group pressure tangible form and to borrow King Pan's authority to establish his own. On the surface, they had knelt to King Pan, but indirectly, they had endorsed Wang Yang's words, actions, and identity.
Then Wang Yang linked "believe me" to an easy, passive, low-risk form of "inaction"-staying still-and "doubt me" to a difficult, active, high-risk form of "action"-stepping forward. In a high-pressure, uncertain environment, inaction was people's instinctive choice for avoiding risk. It required neither deliberation nor courage. All they had to do was remain where they were, and they would not have to bear the unknown consequences of "stepping forward."
And the fewer people stepped forward, the more the doubters believed themselves to be a minority; the more they believed themselves to be a minority, the fewer dared step forward.
In psychology, this was called "pluralistic ignorance": being unable to discern what most people really thought, and thus tending to believe that everyone else understood the current situation differently from oneself.
That was exactly how the Junior Ritualist felt now. He had expected everyone to stand up and challenge Wang Yang, after which he would deliver the decisive blow. Yet not a single person spoke! Had none of them noticed the fatal flaw in this so-called "divine envoy"?!
Seeing that no one questioned him, Baoyue began steering the crowd.
She turned toward Wang Yang, gently straightening her body and turning back her sleeves. Her slender hands overlapped like a