Kapitel 35: Commotion
*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.* *Also, please comment on any grammatical mistakes I make so I can amend them.*
The eyes of the three generals, two cold and one playfully interested, were drawn over to the commotion.
...
In times of war, each level of cultivation or strength was allocated a ranking that gave commanding authority on the battlefield. Of course, they wouldn't just toss out ranks just because you're strong enough. One would have to be qualified to take on a leading role.
Another reason that Qing Fang was qualified to be a general even though he wasn't a Stage 4 was this. He was determined to have a great and efficient ability in leading small squadrons of troops to complete assassinations and guerrilla warfare by the Internal Hall of Affairs.
Stage 1 cultivators were still seen as seedlings so they were never sent to war unless it was completely necessary. It would be a case of the Clan's survival if it ever got that far.
Stage 2 cultivators were common soldiers on the battlefield. They made the bulk of any force and were seen as the main army. In this assault on the Huoyan Clan consisting of one-hundred-million cultivators, nearly ninety-four-million were Stage 2. But even though they were so weak, a huge group of Stage 2s could not be looked down upon by even Stage 5s. Stage 6s, however, was a different story altogether.
Stage 3 cultivators were obviously much stronger and were the elite soldiers on the battlefield. They were normally given the rank of captain as they also had a few soldiers under them in any normal case. Of course, since this was a raid, this would not hold true for this particular circumstance. If they did not lead soldiers, Stage 3s would be seen as elite soldiers. Out of the hundred-million strong attacking force, five-million was Stage 3.
Stage 4 cultivators, as seen, were generals on the battlefield normally. They held power and authority that made them the centre of attention on the battlefield. If the enemy forces did not focus on the Stage 4 presence, their entire army would be decimated in minutes. In the assault, one-million cultivators were Stage 4.
Stage 5 cultivators were worthy of being commanders that managed the flow of the entire battlefield. They were massive powers that could fight thousands by themselves. In the assault consisting of one-hundred-million cultivators, just thirty-thousand were Stage 5. And considering that Qing Clan were attacking several planets simultaneously, that number would be cut down even more.
Stage 6 combatants were in a class of their own and were simply above the idea of ranks. On battlefields like these, no one beneath them could hope to be their match. But in this war, they would act as the transportation of reinforcements between planets mostly. They would only mobilise when an enemy Stage 6 moved.
...
"Oho? What do we have here~" Qing Zhifei muttered under his breath in a playful tone while his eyes were that of a predator. By no means was he a kind person. If Qing Fang was drawn to him, how could he be?
Of course, Qing Zhifei was not as insidious as his "junior". Characters like Qing Zhifei and Qing Linxue were just a little disturbed but still had the Clan in their hearts. To completely disregard the Clan like Qing Fang...others like him had long been executed.
The cold gazes of Qing Fang and Qing Linxue followed Zhifei's gaze to land on a woman surrounded by advancing men.
Seeing this, Qing Fang was instantly disinterested. He was not amused by such trivial things as this. But seeing the predatorial glare Qing Zhifei had, an unnoticeable grin crept up the corner of his mouth. Maybe he could get something out of this.
"You like her, Zhifei?" Qing Fang asked without looking at him and just fixed his eyes on the young woman. Truth be told, she was a jade beauty. But Qing Fang couldn't empathise with Qing Zhifei or any man that would chase women. They were just lumps of flesh, weren't they? Men could easily find pleasure in more meaningful things than a face without a character.
"Sigh. You shouldn't rile up this pig, Fang. He takes whatever he sees." Qing Linxue said in an exhausted tone. Bothering with things like this didn't even take a place on the list of things he wanted to do.
Qing Linxue lowered his tone as he spoke into Qing Fang's ear. "You should've seen the mess he made with a few prostitutes out on the coastline. I had to end up wiping the place off of the map just to cover this freak's tracks." Hearing this, an amused smile appeared on Qing Fang's face as he made eye contact with Linxue.
Seeing Qing Fang also have that kind of disgusting look in his eyes, Qing Linxue just sighed and kept himself out of it. 'These two... You know what? I can't even be bothered.' Thinking this, Linxue made his presence quiet as his cold eyes just washed over the commotion.
Qing Zhifei responded absentmindedly to Qing Fang's question earlier. "Mmm? Did you say something, Fang? I wasn't listening. That darling is just too...what's the word? Linxue!" Frustrated that he couldn't find the word he wanted, Zhifei turned to Qing Linxue and shouted his name brutishly.
"Tender." A word came out of the shadows.
Qing Zhifei's eyes shone with a greedy light. "That's right. Hehe... She's just too tender." His words had quite a menacing connotation, but one couldn't tell if he was just putting on an act or not.
Most people would hope he was, however, the two generals beside him couldn't rule out the other option.
Qing Fang walked over to Zhifei and stood beside him while looking at the young woman. "I can get her for you if you give me something I want." He whispered the treacherous words into the twitching ears of Qing Zhifei that blatantly showed his interest.
"Hohohoho, Fang. You know me too well. You know, you're the only clansmen I've ever come across that would dare to kill another clansman." He turned his eyes away from his prey and onto the smirking face of Qing Fang. "Oh! That reminds me. Have I told you what I got up to on the north coast yet?" He laughed grossly as he and Qing Fang played.
"Haha. I've pretty much just heard about your exploits from Linxue." Qing Fang laughed along. "So? How about we make a deal." Qing Fang turned his head back towards the beauty that was facing the advancement of a tall man with his friends for "backup".
Qing Fang pointed his sharp armoured finger toward the woman as Qing Zhifei watched. Qing Fang then held up three fingers in the face of Qing Zhifei after which a monstrous smirk wore itself upon the predator's face.
"So cheap?" He asked while displaying his appreciation, however dysfunctional it was.
"I'm feeling generous this month." Qing Fang laughed as he replied. Killing was his trade, but he didn't stray away from kidnapping. Since it was a clansman, he knew Qing Zhifei would at most r.a.p.e and lightly torture her as he didn't want to attract the Internal Hall of Affairs' attention.
And even though Qing Fang didn't see the benefits of putting himself in such a risky position just for sexual pleasure, he would certainly capitalise on the lust of another. Furthermore, since the target was a clansman, the payoff was hefty.
"Haha, then if you don't mind I..." Qing Zhifei's voice eventually trailed off as he saw Qing Linxue signalling him in the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see the commander that had passed them earlier approaching.
"Tch. Nevermind." A dreadful scowl appeared on Qing Zhifei's face as he realised that the beauty had created a huge commotion. So huge, that it had attracted the attention of the higher-ups. And because of this, he would not be able to get his hands on her.
Naturally, Qing Fang also saw the commander approaching. And seeing Qing Zhifei's face, he knew that he didn't have to tell him that the opportunity to snatch her had been and gone.
The three of them stood up straight and looked toward the commander that had appeared right before them. However, the commander only looked to Qing Fang who was stood with a respectful and submissive expression.
"How about it, junior Fang? Want to earn some credit before the war has even begun?"
...
"Won't you even tell me your name, junior sister?" A tall man with sleek features and shoulder-length thin, black hair addressed a jade beauty.
In front of the tall man was an extremely beautiful woman. Her skin was as smooth as white jade while her lips were like pink blossom. They were thin but gave a feeling of being full and supple, making many men wonder how they tasted. Her figure was toned and lean and, while being a little thin, it suited her well. Dark and shiny hair cascaded past her shoulder and halfway down her back, a smell of fresh flowers pervading the air. Her arms were thin and soft, the flesh a gourmet dish of any beast.
In response to the tall, handsome man; the beauty just kept her silence. She looked distressed and like she wanted to escape this place but didn't have the courage to. She tried to keep a strong image as her face was cold, however, it clearly wasn't working.
The man frowned. He had been nothing but gentle towards her in his advancements. Seeing this beautiful woman look at him like he was a monster, he became a bit resentful. An angry look worthy of someone who had been gravely humiliated was in his eyes as he took heavy steps toward the beauty.
If she had just said she wasn't interested, he would've backed off. However, her unwillingness to even look at him left an extremely sour taste in his mouth.
If she wouldn't make a sound, he would force her to. If she wouldn't acknowledge him, he would force her to.
The beauty noticed the tall man's sudden change and became frightened. She took a step back, almost stumbling.
However, it was at this moment.
"Ugh!" A harsh grunt sounded behind the tall man as he quickly turned around to see where his friends had stood. They came to make fun of him as he tried to court the jade beauty.
Turning around, he saw four out of his five friends incapacitated on the floor. They had their eyes rolled back into their skulls and blood trickling from their noses and mouths. He would've thought they'd been simply knocked out until he lay his eyes on the deep impressions on their chests and backs that seemed to be caved in by about four inches.
That's when he knew that their lives were in serious danger. Of course, their bodies would regenerate but the immediate damage might have already been enough to shock them into death.
"Who dares?!" He shouted, outraged that someone would attack clansmen in times of war. Whoever had done it would receive serious punishment, he was sure.
Right after he had spoken, he felt the presence of a figure behind him where the beauty was. Turning around again after merely three seconds, the tall man saw the perpetrator standing before the beauty, protecting her.
"You!! How dare you do this!" The tall man screamed with bloodshot eyes as the perpetrator, a handsome man, merely looked at him with a condescending smile.
The handsome man just looked down at him and said in a mocking voice. "I'm not the one forcing myself onto women, now am I?" His words reeked of blatant disdain.
"Wha-?!" The tall man tried to start, but he was interrupted by the handsome man.
"I didn't realise trash as you would even dare to stay in my sight after I taught your friends a lesson." The handsome man took a step forward with intimidation as he said this. The tall man had no choice but to step back. He had seen this man instantly put four of his Stage 3 friends in a state of near-death.
Backing up, the tall man just screamed hysterically. "The Internal Hall of Affairs will hear of this!"
The handsome man smiled with amusement. "Oh? You think you're in the right? Interesting. I wonder what the Internal Hall of Affairs would say when I tell them how you were sexually harassing a woman." His voice oozed with confidence. In truth, harassing a woman was cause for punishment within the Qing Clan. The handsome man was just dispensing the punishment himself.
The tall man got scared. He wanted to turn and run, but the handsome man burst forth with speed on par with a peak Stage 3. The tall man was just middle Stage 3; he stood no chance.
A giant fist filled the tall man's vision as he fell into despair. This guy was trying to kill him!
In the face of death, the tall man just closed his eyes in fear.
The tall man threw a powerful punch aiming to kill the tall man. The Clan couldn't punish him for upholding the law, could they? After all, this scum dared to force himself on a woman. Such disgusting people had no place here, the handsome man thought.
However, just as his fist was about to make contact with the tall man's face and most likely break his neck, it was stopped.
Looking at what stopped his fist, the handsome man saw a hand armoured in a luxurious blue gauntlet that formed into deadly knives around the fingers. Turning his head to the right, his eyes directly made contact with a pair of black holes that seemed to be extracting his soul out of him.
The handsome man quickly jumped away in a blur and turned to look where the gauntleted figure was, however, he only saw an empty space.
His mind on heavy alert, he suddenly widened his eyes as he felt a presence next to the beauty he was protecting.
And there, right behind the woman was the figure.
Heavy plated armour and luxurious boots and gauntlets over his navy-blue battle robe, the handsome man knew this was a formidable figure, a general.
He was an elite soldier in the upcoming raid and was given a chest plate, but that was it. The stronger units in the army had much grander armour so it was easy to set them apart.
The figure had short black hair and was quite tall, standing around 6'0. His figure was the lean muscular type.
The face of the handsome man distorted into an angry and annoyed expression as he saw one of the gauntlets of the general around the waist of the beauty. His face flushed red as he felt he was about to explode in anger!
However, he kept it together and only coldly spoke. "Who're you?"
A deep and youthful voice responded to him. "What do you think you're doing assaulting your clansmen?" The voice was stern and demanded answers for the commotion he had caused. The general had a deadpan stare as he awaited a response.
The handsome man did not respond and only continued to look at the general with a piercing coldness. "Let her go." He spoke toward the general with intimidation.
"You dare to speak to your superiors like that?" The general just asked with outrage. Who did this brat think he was? Tolerating this insubordination would leave a stain on the general's record and make him appear weak.
It was at this moment that the beauty in the arms of the general suddenly called out to the handsome man. "Qing Suyang! Please just leave, I'll be fine!" She sounded like she was about to burst into tears, for some reason the general couldn't fathom.
However, when he heard this, a dark expression wore itself on Qing Suyang's face. He bit his lip heavily before saying quietly, "I'll find you, Liu Yan'er, don't worry." Then he unwillingly turned around to leave with heavy steps.
At this, the general was in pure disbelief. Did this brat think he was free to leave? What a joke!
And thus, he called out to Qing Suyang with a powerful and authoritative voice. "Halt! You are being detained by the Clan for disloyal actions in times of strife."
Hearing these words from behind him, Qing Suyang was about to turn around and fight back. Why was he under arrest? The general surely should've seen how he was upholding the laws of the Clan. 'No matter', he thought. 'If they won't uphold their own laws, I'll make them'.
Facing the general with a posture showing he was about to attack, however, he suddenly made eye contact with Liu Yan'er. She had a pleading look in her eyes as she seemed to beg him to not make things worse. Seeing this, Qing Suyang calmed down. He was about to do something stupid, but luckily she was there to awaken him.
'I'll just let them take me. It's not matter. I'm in the right so obviously, I'll go free.' Qing Suyang proceeded to just stand there and await the general's next words.
But even so, Liu Yan'er knew that her senior brother didn't deserve to be punished. She turned her large, round eyes to look at the general holding her waist and begged. "Senior brother, please let him off. He was only trying to protect me."
Then, with scarily slow movements, the general turned to her while his wide and terrifying eyes stared straight into her soul and said, "Who are you to give demands? You are under arrest as well, little girl."
Qing Suyang eyes widened as he shouted "why is she under arrest?! She didn't do anything!"
The general just said with a grin, "Heh. With a body like this in our ranks, we can't expect our men to concentrate! We need to put her to some use elsewhere. I might even gift her to a friend of mine. Hehe." The general said the last sentence while licking his lips with a disgusting face and looking at a certain other general in the background.
Then, the general grabbed Liu Yan'er by the chops and turned her head so he could get a good look at her, "but honestly, I don't know what all the fuss is about."
Seeing this scene that he never thought would happen, Qing Suyang was outraged and he charged right at the general. 'This fucker! How dare he lay hands on her! He's just like the rest of them!'
Liu Yan'er was stood still and shivering as she heard the general's words but then shouted at the Qing Suyang, who was charging, to calm down. He halted and looked at Qing Fang with hatred in his eyes as he unwillingly stared daggers at the smirking general.
The general then ordered the few men around him to take the two to the Internal Hall of Affairs and recount what happened.
Before they left, a commander suddenly appeared beside the general and addressed the Liu Yan'er and Qing Suyang as they were being taken away. "If I find you two to betray the clan and avoid your punishment, I will hunt you down personally. You..." The commander looked at Qing Suyang. "...are an uncertainty, but the woman next to you? She will die before a day has passed".
Qing Suyang gritted his teeth as Liu Yan'er had a blank look that said 'how had things progressed to this degree?'
As those two were taken away, the commander turned to the general, Qing Fang, and said "Good work" quietly with a cold glance.
Just stood quietly where he was after the two mischievous characters had been taken away, Qing Fang turned to see Qing Zhifei approaching him.
"My my, what a spectacle that was~!"
"Shut up."
*3,364/3,000 words*
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