I Can See Your Combat Power

: Chapter Four Hundred Eighty Three: Freedom

Children born to nobles, regardless of their legitimacy or birth order, are nobles, whereas children born to servants can only be lesser servants.

Should women have a slight chance of crossing social classes and becoming a matriarch, men, unless favored by the master who prefers men, are destined to be servants for all eternity.

Just thinking about the notion of being enslaved for generations by donning this cloth band makes it feel as heavy as a thousand pounds, impossible to place on one’s head.

Many who had already put on their bands could not help but feel a wave of sorrow at the sight of others’ hesitations, causing them to burst into tears. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Tang Luo glanced at the middle-aged scholar without contesting what he had said. Instead, he addressed the crowd, “What he said is not wrong. By tying this band, it indicates your voluntary abandonment of freedom, choosing to become my followers. In other words, from the moment you tie it, not only your life but the lives of your descendants belong to me. My words are your laws, and my preferences will determine your life and death. So think carefully before deciding whether to tie this band or not.”

What is human nature? Human nature is such; If you give a person a candy every day, the day you don’t, they think you’ve changed. But if you slap someone every day, the day you don’t, they think you’ve been kind to them.

Tang Luo himself wasn’t sure whether he could be a good Lord to millions of subordinates, with no such experience, who knows if he could be up to the task.

It’s better to lower their expectations rather than making the commoners look forward to a brighter future.

After all, being a tyrant at will is much easier than being a virtuous king constrained by kindness. The former only needs to do a few good deeds for others to say “he’s terrible, but he actually has a good heart.”

But for the latter, if you work hard and still make a tiny mistake, people will say “he’s not a real righteous king; he’s actually a hypocrite.”

So Tang Luo did not intend to make any promises to the people, but instead, following the middle-aged man’s words, announced this bleak future to them.

As expected, this statement led to a gasp from the crowd. Some of the commoners who were about to tie the bands to their heads were even scared into trembling.

Batches of ordinary people looked up at the indifferent giant, feeling as if the legend was coming to an end. How could the young lord, who had issued the order of five acres of land and spread the news of the flood, be so righteous, yet become the giant before them who was forcing the free citizens into servitude.

The thought of being enslaved forever, never having a chance to turn the tables, suddenly made it seem as if hunger wasn’t all that unbearable!

Tang Luo’s reaction was not what the middle-aged man had anticipated. He had intended to pressure Tang Luo into dispersing supplies by inciting the crowd, assuming that a fifteen-year-old child would be terrified by the spectacle. He did not expect that the opponent had turned himself into a big bad wolf so quickly and the numerous commoners into lambs. Now they were all wondering if they should willingly walk into the wolf’s mouth.

Realizing that his skewered plan would make it difficult to obtain food from Tang Luo, anger surged in his heart. He said coldly to Tang Luo, “So, you mean that unless one is willing to become your servant, you will show no mercy if they starve or get sick, right?”

Tang Luo did not answer, but simply looked down at the middle-aged man who was making a show and asked indifferently, “What’s your name?”

My name is Yue Daoyan.” The middle-aged man stood proudly with his hands behind his back, as if Tang Luo should know his name.

“Ah, so it’s you.” Tang Luo suddenly understood and finally figured out who this middle-aged scholar, who had been instigating the people, was.

After Xu Laoying challenged the whole city, many more titled fighters emerged in Xiling, among them some were particularly special.

Like the gentleman before him, Mr. Nine Swords Yue Daoyan, who was originally a scholar. He gave up literature at the age of fifteen and began to practice martial arts. Everyone thought his achievements would be limited, but surprisingly, he reached the peak at the age of forty.

He created a set of nine sword arts based on calligraphy, which was full of powerful sword aura. The Nine Swords consisted of nine moves altogether. Yue Daoyan used this self-created spirit art to fight Xu Laoying, managing to resist for nine moves before finally losing.

There were countless warriors in Xiling who had resisted nine swords. The reason Yue Daoyan was so famous was that Xu Laoying had complimented him after the battle, “This sword art is quite interesting.”

During his half-year reign over the city, Xu Laoying seldom spoke. Only Xiao Ziyu, Mi Chu, and Tang Qingshan received a “not bad” comment after their battles.

As you can imagine, Xu Laoying’s praise brought Yue Daoyan much fame. That’s why, despite belonging only to the Nine Swords level, he was honoured as ‘sir’ by the fighters of Xiling.

Knowing his origins, Tang Luo understood why the man deliberately stirred un trouble.???? ^F

After the death of the head of the Yue family twenty years ago, the family scattered like runaway monkeys, transforming from a small noble family to an ordinary household. It was at this time that Yue Daoyan abandoned literature and turned to martial arts, attaining the peak of transcendence twenty-five years later, and became famous after receiving praise from Xu Laoying.

Since then, many noble families from Xiling had approached him for recruitment, but he refused them all.

Even though the Ye family, which had been worn down after twenty years, was not as rich as an ordinary wealthy family, Yue Daoyan still considered it a ’ noble family. Making him, who regarded himself as a nobleman, become a servant was even more unbearable for him than death.

But he still wanted to get food from Tang Luo, so he came up with this method, using the agitation of the commoners to pressure Tang Luo. The method was ’ good, but unfortunately, he didn’t know Tang Luo well enough.

The giant looked down at him and asked lightly, “So, what do you think I should do?”

Hearing this, the middle-aged man suppressed the excitement in his heart, stood up straight, and said decisively, “First of all, you should distribute the spirit medicine to help the victims suppress the epidemic. Then, you should secure enough supplies for the people to survive. In fact, we are not greedy, content with a serving of thick porridge a day! This is what you should do, not forcing the free people to become your servants on Red Cloud Mountain, taking advantage of their distress.”

So, the weak have the right, and I, the powerful, deserve it?

“You want supplies but don’t want to lose your freedom. Where in the world can you have such a good deal?” Tang Luo sneered, and replied coldly, “Do you think freedom comes without a price? If you want freedom, you should be responsible for your own survival, and be self-sufficient. You can’t claim to be a free citizen when you want freedom but reach out for supplies when hungry or cold. If you decide to choose freedom, stick to it. If you want supplies, give up your freedom and become a follower. Do you understand?”

The middle-aged man’s face turned pale. For a moment, he could not think of a rebuttal, and could only leave in a huff.

“Wait.”

“What more do you want to say!?” Yue Daoyan turned around and said disdainfully, “You’ve said yourself that those who do not want to be servants should leave the central peak.. Are you going to go back on your word?”