Chapter 1199: Controllable Hearts

Wei Yang felt he might now be the most powerful force in the entire Zhongyan Zhidi.

This force was born from Kongju and Yuan Nian, and now it awaited only his command.

Whichever side he joined would tip the scales of victory completely in their favor.

"Qi Xia..." Wei Yang's mouth curved into a smile he could barely suppress. "You actually entrusted such a massive army to me... Are you that confident in me, or that confident in yourself?"

Wei Yang slowly made his way to the roadside, found a collapsed low wall, and climbed up it in a few steps. He looked down at all the Yuan Zhumin before him.

He felt like a king.

As a seasoned con artist, he knew exactly how to manipulate hearts at this moment.

"I managed to restore your sanity for you, so are you just going to lie here playing dead?"

His aged voice echoed across the square, making everyone's bodies tremble slightly.

"Raise your heads!!"

The crowd began to slowly lift their heads, looking at him with a hint of trepidation. But every time they saw him, the pain and despair buried deep in their minds would surge back.

Most of them bore scars, and their faces had grown gaunt from prolonged starvation, making them feel their own hunger.

Wei Yang knew it was time to test their Kongju. Perhaps everyone here had their own struggles with those two dragons, just as he did now.

"I want to overthrow Qinglong and Tianlong!"

The Yuan Zhumin exchanged glances upon hearing this. Almost all of them had lost their sanity because they failed in a life-or-death gamble, and those games were orchestrated by Tianlong and Qinglong.

Due to some oversight, they had failed and spent all this time living in a state neither human nor ghost. Now, were they really going to rebel against them?

Wei Yang slowly turned his head and looked at a middle-aged woman.

The woman froze and quickly lowered her head.

"Don't you want to go back and see your son?" Wei Yang said. "The one called Sheng Sheng, right?"

The woman instantly widened her eyes in terror, as if she had heard something utterly dreadful.

Wei Yang then turned to a young man and said softly, "You were just one day away from your wedding, but now you're stuck forever in the Zhongyan Zhidi. How ridiculous is that?"

The young man hesitated, as if his entire being had been seen through.

"I'm completely different from those two selfish dragons! I know every one of your lives and all the joys, anger, sorrow, and happiness in your hearts." Wei Yang said. "I'm more like a 'god' than those two dragons, so... who wants to rebel against them with me?"

The crowd fell silent, as if two kinds of Kongju were battling within each person's heart.

Should they rebel against a mad "god"... or refuse a ruthless "ghost"?

Wei Yang knew this wasn't enough to make them risk their lives; he had to shift their emotions.

He needed to turn their Kongju of Tianlong and Qinglong into "hatred", and then transform their "hatred" of him into "gratitude".

Once that happened, emotions would reverse, and hearts would be under his control.

"It's them who turned you into what you are now! Whose rules led you to this state?" Wei Yang said. "Who took away your sanity?! Are you willing to be slaughtered like animals?!"

Wei Yang looked down at a young woman and pointed at her, asking, "Tell me, who is that person?"

"It's... it's Qinglong..." the woman replied.

The Kongju was shifting, and hearts were stirring.

"Yes... and you still remember it's Qinglong. Don't you recall? All these years, I've put in so much effort to let you move normally and at least resemble humans." Wei Yang said. "Even when the whole world abandoned you, I kept leading you forward."

The crowd stared at Wei Yang, their expressions beginning to change.

"Why did I do all that...?" Wei Yang continued. "It was so that one day I could restore your sanity and then defeat those two who call themselves 'gods'!"

Some in the crowd were already nodding, seeming to agree with Wei Yang's words.

Wei Yang scanned the crowd expressionlessly from left to right.

The "hatred" was shifting, and hearts were steady.

He just needed one final trick: to make everyone believe that everyone else had already accepted the idea of rebellion.

"I'm not forcing you." Wei Yang said. "Originally, I planned to restore your sanity and then set you free. I'm the only one who decided to rebel. Let's make this democratic..."

Wei Yang stared at the crowd again and said, "If you're against it, raise your hand. I won't make things difficult for you."

As he expected, not a single person among the nearly thousand raised their hand.

After all, their Kongju of him still lingered, so how could they raise their hands now?

This was both a con and a high-stakes gamble.

If one person tried to raise a hand, others would follow, and his plan would fail completely.

People are selfish, after all. After years of torment and finally regaining their sanity, who would want to be the first to speak up?

And who knew what would happen if they did?

Once no one raised a hand, an idea would form in everyone's mind—

That is, "Everyone else agrees, so I can't stand out."

After all, every word from Wei Yang had been pulling at their thoughts, and now he was their only lifeline.

Just as people turn to gods in despair, he was their sole belief at this moment.

Wei Yang sensed the crowd's thoughts and confirmed that hearts were fully stirred and his scheme complete.

"Good..." Wei Yang nodded without giving them more time to think. "I knew I didn't misjudge you... All those years I tried everything to awaken you weren't in vain."

"But... what are we supposed to do?" someone asked.

"To be honest, the rebellion has already started." Wei Yang said. "Do you remember where you came from?"

"From the Mianshi Fangjian?"

"That's right." Wei Yang turned and pointed to the portal that had been there all along.

Though it had no physical form and appeared shaky after the massive explosion, it hadn't been destroyed and still stood in place.

"All the 'judges' will return to the Mianshi Fangjian by nightfall." Wei Yang said with a smile. "I've already sent vanguard forces into the Mianshi Fangjian. Now, we just need to go in, make some noise, and let them know our numbers far exceed theirs."