Chapter 22: Creation Of A Servant
*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*
Qing Fang took heavy steps toward Qing Chu Hua, whose name he still didn't know.
The tight fabric of the robes of the Temple were stretched to the extreme as Qing Fang's muscles pulsed in an orchestral rhythm. The skin crawled in many directions and it seemed as though many insects were crawling just beneath Qing Fang's skin, creating a disturbing scene.
Taking on a redder shade and pulsing in a weird rhythm, it was obvious to the trained eyes that Qing Fang was using a martial art. To the untrained eye, he would appear as a strange demon in human's skin, as if the souls of the dead were begging for escape and solace while being imprisoned just beneath Qing Fang's skin.
Overall, martial arts was a very disturbing practice. Turning soft flesh into steel and nails into claws was an inhuman process. In regards to martial arts, one truly had to abandon their humanity to obtain obscene strength.
His steps seemingly carrying the weight of a mountain but soundlessly leaving the ground unmarked, Qing Fang walked toward the little girl with immense intimidation. If he was to turn this distant family member of his into a pawn, in his opinion, the best method was fear.
Keeping up fake impressions would only burden Qing Fang's mind. Being delegated to a mortal, Qing Fang's capacity for thought had decreased and the rate of mental fatigue accumulated increased. Due to this, burdening his mind in exchange for a pawn was simply not worth it in his eyes.
Furthermore, if he wanted to gather more pawns, he would have to keep up a fake persona much more often. While there was some logic in avoiding this, Qing Fang also simply did not want to.
Walking toward Qing Chu Hua and getting increasingly closer, Qing Fang suddenly stopped himself. His extremely fearful bearing suddenly subsided into one of harmlessness. His clawed hands relaxed as his skin turned several shades lighter.
'Maybe fear is not the best path...' Within his mind, Qing Fang was constantly trying to figure out how to extract the most use out of his soon-to-be pawn. This was when he had a sudden epiphany.
Why would he settle for a pawn when he could have a servant?
It went without saying that a servant was infinitely more useful as well as versatile than a mere pawn. While he would have to restrain the thoughts and actions of his pawn to an extent to keep control and prevent rebellion, this could be avoided if he nurtured a servant instead. If he chose to turn this girl into a servant, however, he would have to hide his true nature like he initially wanted to avoid.
And while this slightly bothered Qing Fang, it could also be negated as well.
'Such a frail young girl... If I were to cement myself as a person she couldn't live without, I could act however I want while having a servant at my side. Not only this, I could turn her from the foolish righteous path and onto my path. If I could do that, she might even be able to bear my true nature...'
Qing Fang's thoughts were immediately drawn to this idea. While many flaws may seem apparent, they could all be suppressed with the strength he possessed that greatly shadowed hers. Other than this, other flaws could be ignored if she came to blindly trust him. Achieving this is not so difficult as it may seem. She was but a nineteen-year-old girl, one who was overly sheltered from experience.
And while Qing Fang was definitely no expert in moulding other people into servants, he was an expert at reading them. Any deceit or betrayal she may hold at any certain time would be clear for Qing Fang to see. At that time, a swift execution would be all that awaited Qing Chu Hua.
From there, Qing Fang would've also gained experience in the art of 'raising' a person into who he wanted them to be. If this little girl failed, another little child shall take her place.
However, these measures would only be for cases of extremity. He still had his overwhelmingly powerful soul which he could use to directly control her body to fall back on. And while the radius of his divine sense had fallen to one meter as his cultivation was destroyed, Qing Fang did not plan to delay further cultivation, this time on the path of Blood.
Qing Fang thought that if he had a very friendly atmosphere and made sure she couldn't live without him, she could be made use of to a much larger degree than he initially planned.
Deciding this plan was quite good, he restrained his murderous intent and took a more calm and sagely demeanour. His attitude went from one of impartiality to one of slight arrogance concealed within vast experience, worthy of his status as a martial artist.
He didn't want to appear as particularly kind because even someone idiotic could see through it. The city was no different from the outside world in that it was a cruel place. Truly kind people were very few and definitely a rarity. This, he decided to take on a bit of an arrogant mindset, just like his other personality.
The feeling of arrogance was truly universal within every being so impersonation was easy for Qing Fang. All it took was a bit of understanding toward humans' true nature and one would be able to form a thick mask just like Qing Fang.
No matter how humble, arrogance or namely pride was within everyone. You had to have the pride to carry yourself within social situations, to think that you deserved to be heard. You had to have the pride to eat and drink, to think that you deserved to be able to consume scarce resources like food. You had to have pride to even take every breath, to think that you even deserved to exist at all.
Suicide usually stemmed from a lack of pride that kept one alive. Someone who wanted to kill themselves didn't think that they deserved to live, that the sweet kiss of life was wasted on them. Overwhelming self-deprecation always stemmed from a lack of pride and confidence within oneself.
Thus, to impersonate anybody, pride was always at the centre of everything. It held everything together and was the root of all sin.
Greed was only made possible by thinking you deserved to hold all which you desire. Wrath was only made possible by thinking you had the authority to take another's life. Envy was only made possible by thinking you deserved what others had. Sloth was only made possible by thinking you deserved to procrastinate, and pride caused the lack of guilt that came with sloth. Gluttony stems from greed.
Lust was different as it was inexplicably intertwined with human nature.
Pride was named the greatest sin for the reason that to be truly free from pride, living was impossible.
Walking up to her much more calmly than before, Qing Fang appeared just before the little girl, Qing Chu Hua.
...
Chu Hua was in deep despair. Seeing the mass of Law of Strength in the shape of a humanoid near ever closer, she lost control over her body and urinated due to a lack of said control. Rancid yellow liquid died the stone floor in the same dirty colour.
Qing Chu Hua was inwardly rueful. She had lost everything and had decided escaping was her best choice. She knew the probability of dying with her cultivation would be very large, however, she was willing to give it a shot. Being prepared to die in the maws of Beasts in pursuit of freedom, she even saw it as an honourable end.
However, by a cruel twist of fate, she had not even had the opportunity to try to escape. She would be killed by a supreme grandmaster martial artist before she tried.
She wondered how the Temple had hidden such a massive figure such as a supreme grandmaster. A mortal able to match a Stage 4 purely with techniques was much more useful to a force than even a Stage 5 cultivator.
The reason for this is that a supreme grandmaster had gained his strength through art and not cultivation, and art could be taught unto others. Who knew how many other martial artists were within the temple with a supreme grandmaster around. Having a supreme grandmaster consequently made one's force a breeding ground for fighting arts and even elevated the fighting capabilities of cultivators much stronger than the supreme grandmaster.
After all, if someone with the strength to make a mountain vanish was taught how to use such strength as effectively for fighting as possible, they would become extremely dangerous.
This all stemmed from the belief that supreme grandmasters had trained fighting arts to a level that even surpassed Stage 7 cultivators. And while Qing Fang had an extremely high attainment in fighting arts, being able to teach Stage 7 cultivators was way above him. Qing Fang was a fake supreme grandmaster and naturally did not have the same use to a force that a real one did.
...
Qing Fang saw Chu Hua piss herself and was inwardly disgusted. Gazing at the yellow liquid spreading from her feet, a feeling of repugnance surfaced within him. However, he waded through such a strong feeling and intended to place his hand upon Qing Chu Hua's shoulder.
Such a tactic was the first step in Qing Fang's plan of moulding her into his servant. By establishing that he intended her no harm, he would snap her out of the immense fear that she had currently buried herself in.
From there, establishing her trust in his newly crafted persona would be his next task.
...
Seeing the hand that pulsed with pure strength reach out to grab her, Chu Hua's eyes shrunk to pin-size. Within that hand was the strength to completely immobilise a Stage 3 cultivator, let alone her. Still gazing into the world of Subsidiary Laws, she saw the glimmering silver light that composed the hand dance with malicious intent.
Qing Fang was still circling the strength of a Stage 4 cultivator throughout his body. Although it seemed as though he could crush a Stage 3, he couldn't. This was made possible by the perfect control over his own body that he had. In reality, Qing Fang had made his body a hub for the Law of Strength by circling vast amounts of his body's energy throughout his muscles.
The Strength that Qing Chu Hua was gazing on was merely potential strength attracted by the large amounts of energy within Qing Fang's muscles. True enactment of the Law of Strength would be a blinding silver light with cataclysmic might, not a dim one that merely had a fraction of the feeling.
The humanoid comprised of the Law of Strength stretched out a large hand toward herself. Delusion making the hand seem much more daunting than it truly was, it constantly approached Qing Chu Hua's figure.
She had already lost control of her body from fear of the mere approach of the figure. Now that it intended to lay hands upon her, an even more intense fear riddled her mind which was on the brink of breaking down.
Qing Chu Hua had never been submitted to the true violence that plagued the world. She was but a scion of a lord within a city that was isolated from the dangers that encompassed the Mortal Realm. Placing her before a savage figure like Qing Fang was similar to putting a child that had just learned to walk within a battlefield.
Giant figures clashing with flesh and steel overhead while the baby was incapacitated by just the mere sounds of the war. That was how Qing Chu Hua felt right now.
However, the god of the battlefield suddenly placed its hand upon her tiny shoulder. The being that decided her fate, that had her fate of life or death in its hands, chose life.
To be in control of the fate of another is to be the god of another. If a crazed murderer killed a defenceless man, at that moment when the knife was about to pierce flesh, the murderer was like the god of death in the eyes of the victim.
Seeing her god of death suddenly place a hand upon her shoulder, it was an understatement to say she was in disbelief. Maybe just killing her would've subjected her to less mental strain than to do something such as placing a gentle hand upon her shoulder.
The mere emphasis she placed on a tiny action such as this showed the mental strain she was currently under.
'Doesn't this martial artist want to kill me? The temple most certainly does and this martial artist is wearing the Temple's robes. What is going on?' Qing Chu Hua's head hurt just thinking a few questionable sentences. Aligning her thoughts and putting them in order cost her sanity a bit of its strength.
However, instead of hope being borne within her, only great fear came about. She thought that if this guard didn't have any lethal intent, he intended to capture her. Thinking about her fate as a political chess piece and about the torture that she would be subjected to, Chu Hua began to shed tears radiating pure despair.
Qing Chu Hua desperately wanted to be hopeful about the situation, that maybe this humanoid of strength didn't bear any malicious thought.
However, rationality robbed her of such blissful ignorance.
...
Qing Fang had no trouble guessing about what the newly shed tears were for. He didn't find it difficult to follow her train of thought. Even though Qing Chu Hua was in a state of near insanity, Qing Fang could still accurately read her emotions that were vulnerably placed upon her face.
While cultivators might disagree on whether emotions were a powerful weapon or a useless weakness, they all agreed that they should be hidden beneath a layer of appropriation. Even someone who valued their emotions wouldn't act on them one hundred per cent of the time. Given that they were smart, they would have realised such brazen and foolish actions begot only death.
Seeing the crystal-clear tears stream down her face, Qing Fang had an idea. Shamelessly ignoring the pitiful scene of a beautiful girl shedding tears in overwhelming despair, Qing Fang was always considering how she could benefit himself. From the joy she felt, the pain she felt, the doubt she felt and even the hate she might feel; Qing Fang wanted it all to benefit himself and only himself.
While his high-functioning psychopathic nature wanted to use her, his insane pride would let no other use her other than him.
Instead of a pawn, he wanted to mould this girl into a capable servant or maybe even a subordinate. Within a foreign environment, he needed all the help he could get.
However, to do this, he needed to establish a relationship with this girl. He needed to construct a fake persona in which she would come to trust and openly put her faith in. Qing Fang needed her to heavily rely on him, he needed to make himself extremely important to her. He wanted to make it so she couldn't live without him.
Playing with her mind and emotions like this would create a sense of loyalty.
Thus, Qing Fang took his hand from off of Chu Hua's weak and shivering shoulder and approached her face.
...
Feeling the big hand of the towering guard lift off of her shoulder, Chu Hua felt no relief. She felt that her end was near, and that end would be the torture of many kinds. She knew that she would be an important political chess piece and didn't dare to hope that only death awaited her.
Even if she wouldn't be used in the political situation of the city due to her status as a member of the Qing Family, she knew that she was beautiful. And with beauty comes covetous feelings of lust from men. She knew her body would be used for pleasure until it broke. At that time, she would be thrown out.
Even if she wasn't killed after all that, there was no way out of the situation. No sane man would allow his sex slave to have Stage 2 cultivation. Because of this, she would be crippled of her cultivation shortly.
Seeing the hand approach her face, Chu Hua thought so even more. One couldn't describe the mental anguish she was feeling. Earlier this morning she was shopping with her friends and all that encompassed her mind was a particular dress. The sudden change of events put her in a constant state of disbelief. She found herself constantly thinking "is this real? Is this really happening?".
When the hand landed upon her face, it would mark the end of Qing Chu Hua as the world knew her, she thought.
However, when she saw the hand turn from an intimidating outstretched posture into a palm-up hand, she had intense doubts. The long and calloused fingers slowly approached her delicate eyes that were streaming with tears and wiped them away.
Feeling her tears being gently wiped away by the martial artist and sensing the extreme care within the movements of the hand, Qing Chu Hua was a bit angry. For some reason, she felt humiliated.
As a woman, she would only want to be treated this way voluntarily. To have a figure that caused her such imaginable fear just a few seconds earlier now believing himself worthy of wiping her tears? She wanted to shout at the guard and ask him what the fuck he thought he was doing.
But she could not.
She could only let the tears be wiped while wearing an expression filled with pure detest for the guard. Surely her face would make him realise that she didn't want affection from him, right? At this point, she figured that this lustful guard went against his orders to eliminate herself for the opportunity to revel in her beautiful and youthful body.
Humiliated that she could only be treated as human entertainment for the person before her, Qing Chu Hua's privileged upbringing made her first thought be outrage. However, fear of consequence and pain soon nullified the feeling.
At most, she could only speak a few words.
"W-who are you?" She spoke timidly and as if she was on guard. Like a helpless puppy still standing strong in the face of a street cat. Although it can only die, it wouldn't give up out of hope.
"Little girl, we are family." A gentle baritone voice that pulsed with power reverberated in her eardrums. The voice before her was not much older than herself but carried authority and experience much vaster than she could ever hope to imagine.
Hearing the words, however, Chu Hua immediately became defensive. All of her family had been slaughtered before her eyes less than an hour ago. Being confronted with someone who claimed to be her family also, she became angry.
...
"Little girl, we are family."
After speaking these words, Qing Fang constructed a gentle and knowing smile upon his face. He imagined her reaction to being one of hope within disbelief after the suspicion had subsided.
However, seeing a dangerous glint in the eyes of the puppy, he knew things weren't as simple as they seemed.
*3,296/3,000 words*
Author note: if you don't like how descriptive the story is...too bad.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
PSYcho_72
PSYcho_72 Want to know why I always explain everything? Writing is a projection of my thoughts and beliefs. You can say that I'm a philosopher and you are reading my mind...
I want to use my book as an avenue for thought, just like Reverend Insanity was.
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