The guards' actions made the crowd even more frightened.
"Song Yuwei, if you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"
Someone in the crowd actually pointed at Lady Yuwei and shouted furiously.
"How dare you speak to Lady Yuwei like that?"
As soon as those words came out, quite a few people immediately reprimanded the speaker.
"Lady Yuwei?"
"What right does she have to be called 'Lady'? What has she ever done for us?"
"The successful cultivation of the Soul Origin Demon Grass was all thanks to Lord Bai, not her."
"What has this Song Yuwei done? What has she ever done for us?"
"In terms of seniority or contribution, she has no right to command us."
"And now she wants some random kid who popped out of nowhere to become our master? Does Song Yuwei really think she's our master already?"
"Does she think we're her dogs? That she can just decide who our master is and we have to obey?"
That person not only failed to restrain himself — his criticism of Lady Yuwei grew even more piercing.
"Yes, well said!"
"This Song Yuwei is selfish through and through. She doesn't deserve to be our master at all."
"Chief, the truth is we never wanted to listen to this Song Yuwei in the first place. Her blocking you right now is entirely her own selfish decision — it has nothing to do with us!"
"My Lord, every grudge has its owner. The one blocking you is Song Yuwei. Please don't direct your anger at us. I'm willing to follow you — I'll enter through the guards' gate right away and become your subordinate."
But who would have expected that more and more people would begin to denounce Lady Yuwei? Some even went so far as to kneel before the guards' chief.
"What the hell — is this a rebellion?!"
Seeing this scene, Lord Bai could no longer hold back and was about to step forward.
But Chu Feng grabbed hold of Lord Bai.
"Don't rush. Don't you want to see even more people reveal their true colors?" Chu Feng said.
"I..."
Lord Bai froze — not because of what Chu Feng said, but because when he looked at Chu Feng again, he saw a flash of coldness in the young man's eyes.
That coldness sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the Chu Feng standing before him now was no longer the same person as before.
"Everyone, what are you waiting for?"
"Are you really going to let our lives be held in this woman's hands? What right does she have? She doesn't deserve it at all!"
Before long, someone began inciting the others.
"Song Yuwei, pull down that barrier of yours right now! You may not want to live, but we do. We don't need you making decisions for us!"
"Drop the barrier! If you want to die, go die alone — don't drag us along!"
And this incitement actually worked. More and more people began to oppose Lady Yuwei. Not only that — they openly hurled curses at her.
In the blink of an eye, the number of people cursing Lady Yuwei had grown from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
"You wretched lot!"
At this point, those who remained loyal to Lady Yuwei could no longer stand it. One by one, they released their auras, ready to strike at those who had insulted Lady Yuwei.
"Stop! We must not turn on each other!"
But before they could act, Lady Yuwei immediately spoke up to halt them.
"Lady Yuwei..."
Those loyal to her were deeply unwilling. They couldn't bear to see Lady Yuwei treated this way, but they obeyed her command nonetheless.
In truth, Lady Yuwei's expression was none too pleasant either. She had genuinely wanted to help everyone, yet this was how they repaid her.
But Lady Yuwei was a compassionate person. Even so, she did not abandon them.
Yet this very compassion only emboldened those denouncing her to grow more brazen, and their ranks swelled further.
Before long, nearly ten million people had made it explicitly clear that they did not stand with Lady Yuwei, declaring that her actions were her own personal decision and had nothing to do with them.
But most of them were at least decent about it — they simply stated their position without directly insulting Lady Yuwei.
Because there were nearly a million people who not only openly defied her, but heaped humiliation upon her.
All manner of vile words were thrown at Lady Yuwei without restraint.
They did it on purpose. They all knew exactly what kind of person Lady Yuwei was.
Although Lady Yuwei had governed this place for many years and was someone they were supposed to obey, she had never once resorted to iron-fisted methods. She was a kind and lenient person.
Precisely because they knew Lady Yuwei would not do anything to them, they grew ever more emboldened.
They were using this behavior to curry favor with the guards' chief, hoping to avoid being slaughtered.
But one or two people cursing might have been tolerable — nearly a million people doing it all at once made for an absolutely deafening cacophony.
So not only Lady Yuwei, but even those loyal to her wore expressions of deep anguish.
"Song Yuwei, do you see this now?"
"Even your own people don't support you. Why don't you surrender and admit defeat already?"