Douluo: Yu Hao Pan Tang San

Chapter 462, Section 481: Uprising
After the Great Purge was carried out, everyone knew that although the Divine Order Alliance and the Spirit Hall had not declared war, war had already begun.

Therefore, the Divine Order Alliance poured its resources into the area between Jialing Pass and Shuiyun Pass, intending to trap the Spirit Hall within Spirit City.

However, the Spirit Hall only focused on consolidating its forces and strengthening the power within Spirit City, without immediately launching an attack on the two checkpoints.

War broke out in an unexpected place.

On the outskirts of Tianlun City, a group of dozens of laborers, shirtless, carried huge stones to build a fortress. The main structure of the fortress had been completed. The purpose of transporting these stones was to build a huge statue of the divine master Yu Xiaogang.

To build this statue, the city lord of Tianlun City mobilized hundreds of thousands of laborers.

After a busy morning, they were finally able to eat.

But when they saw what lunch was, Bengbu was stunned. It was a pot of rice soup with one or two grains of rice floating in it.

"Sir, if this is all you're feeding us, how will we have the energy to work this afternoon?"

The soldier next to the officer lashed the man with his whip and shouted, "Giving you food is a favor to you, why are you talking so much nonsense?"

The man was left with a welt from the whipping. The soldier didn't stop after the first lash; he continued to lash him dozens of times, eventually killing him.

The officer didn't even glance at them, and said to the laborers, "You guys, don't you think about it? There's a famine going on outside, the harvest is bad, and people are starving to death every day. The fact that you can get this job and eat this little bit of food is already a sign of the divine master Yu Xiaogang's mercy. Remember, this is the divine master's kindness, so don't be ungrateful."

Seeing this, the poor laborers behind could only suppress their discontent.

Throughout the entire labor camp, there was a chorus of complaints. They hadn't had anything decent to eat for days and were still engaged in heavy physical labor. To build the statue of the divine master Yu Xiaogang, dozens of people were working themselves to death or starving on the construction site every day.

As for resistance, let alone resistance, even the slightest complaint would be whipped to death; the entire Heavenly Dou Empire has no shortage of scoundrels.

As the laborers were eating their food in silence, suddenly one of them angrily threw his bowl to the ground, an action that immediately drew the attention of all the laborers.

"The landlords of Tianlun City don't treat us like human beings at all. In their eyes, we're just mules and horses, just gray livestock. They conscript us to build fortresses, make us do heavy corvée labor, and what do they feed us? Rice gruel! Are our lives so worthless? Why are some people born noble, kings and generals, while we can only be lowly commoners, gray livestock?" the man said fiercely. "If we continue to serve corvée labor here, we'll die sooner or later anyway. Rather than wait to die, we might as well fight them!"

The many laborers looked at each other in bewilderment. Some of them quietly crept out of the tent, when suddenly they felt a force pulling them behind them, and they fell into the hands of that person.

The other laborers were all emaciated and pale, but these men had ruddy complexions, making them clearly different from the ordinary laborers. "These few are the lackeys of those masters, responsible for hiding among us laborers to monitor us. Don't be fooled by the fact that they eat the same rice gruel as you; after they leave, they'll be living the high life!" the man said with a sneer, pulling out a knife from somewhere and holding it to their necks. "Tell me," he said, "what did those landlords send you here for?"

"No, don't kill me, I'll confess everything, I'll confess everything." The laborer tremblingly confessed his affairs. He was responsible for monitoring the laborers' intelligence and reporting back to the master.

As the laborers listened, they became increasingly enraged.

Finally, he killed the laborer, held his head on his head, went to the edge of the tent, kicked down the fence, and said to the laborers, "My name is Zhao Hengning, and I am the leader of the Spark Resistance Front. Those who are willing to come with me will be treated to a good meal. Those who are not willing to come with me can continue to stay here as laborers!"

After a long silence, one of the laborers finished his bowl of rice porridge, then smashed it on the ground and said, "You said you could feed us? Really? If so, I'll work for you."

"Yes, I'll do it with you."

The laborers drank the rice porridge in their hands one by one, and then smashed the bowls on the ground.

After assembling a team, Zhao Hengning led his men to the outside of the camp. He picked up a shovel, dug open a hole, and carried out boxes containing crossbows and other weapons.

After Zhao Hengning distributed the weapons, the repeating crossbows were easy to use, and each laborer mastered them after just a couple of tries. Zhao Hengning pointed to the camp from which they had escaped and said, "The grain is in the camp, in the city, and in the landlord's granary. Follow me back and seize the grain."

So Zhao Hengning took the lead and charged back to the camp. At this time, the army camp also reacted and assembled troops to prepare to search for the escaped laborers. The moment the two sides clashed, a volley of crossbows felled a large group of soldiers.

The initial victory boosted the morale of the conscripts. They stormed into the camp, killed the government troops, and seized the granaries and armories. They opened the granaries, distributed the food, and had a hearty meal.

While eating, Zhao Hengning had each laborer pour a cup of fine wine, then picked up the cup and solemnly said:

"Gentlemen, from this moment on, we have embarked on the path of rebellion. The Heavenly Dou Empire and even the Divine Order Alliance will not let us go. Only by fighting them to the death can we win our future."

"Think about it all these years. The Divine Order Alliance of the Heavenly Dou Empire has increased taxes, expanded its military, conscripted laborers, and prepared for war. What kind of war are they preparing for? A war to protect their own interests. You are bleeding and sacrificing yourselves to ensure their interests. After the war is won, in their eyes, you will forever be nothing more than gray livestock. Are they all born noble? Death is relatively equal for every life. Everyone will be drawn into the war. So why don't we fight for our future? The order of the Douluo Continent has remained unchanged for tens of thousands of years. Now it's time for a change. March towards Tianlun City, dig out the family trees of those noble lords, and kill them one by one according to the family trees. Take a good look and see where their blood is truly noble."

The first wave of rebels broke out on the outskirts of Tianlun City. Under Zhao Hengning's command, they took advantage of Tianlun City's unpreparedness to attack and enter the city. They killed the noble families inside, opened the granaries, distributed the grain, remeasured the land, and redistributed the wealth.

　I could sense that readers were getting tired of Yu Xiaogang's storylines, but I couldn't skip over this part of the plot all at once. So, I sped up the pace, glossing over many parts that could have been expanded upon, all to get to the ending faster.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)