章 27: Safety Within Danger

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

Qing Chu Hua stood nervously and kept on shuffling around, showing how anxious she was.

She was extremely wary of Qing Fang and, even though she wasn't vastly intelligent nor experienced, she was constantly keeping an eye on him as well as looking for ways to escape the shack and flee out of the sacred garden as she had initially resolved herself to.

However, when she saw Qing Fang blatantly stop paying attention to her, she knew something was wrong.

Looking at the thin door made from sheet wood and on no hinges, Chu Hua felt the urge to kick her feet as hard as she possibly could and immediately flee into the city. However, given how Qing Fang was passionately professing his morals and how he didn't seem to want her to escape, she knew that there was more to her current situation.

And then she realised. With an ugly face, Qing Chu Hua realised that the safest place for her at this moment was right where she was standing.

She had no doubt that Hong Yuxuan, that bitch who had killed her family, had sent out men looking to kill her. As she was now, Chu Hua knew that she couldn't live long if she were to be by herself.

Thus, she had determined that she needed outside assistance to stay alive. But who?

All of her friends belonged to major factions that, although were not the Temple, all had their own agenda. She was stupid, but she knew that she would quickly become a political chess piece, a bargaining chip in the hand of those she sought asylum with.

Thus, although she greatly trusted her friends, she knew that they were not a safe option.

Excluding them, however, who could she turn to? The entirety of the late Qing Family's assets and allies had all been seized by Hong Yuxuan, likely to stabilise her new position as the absolute ruler or in the search for herself.

With no allies and no friends, the only option was to make new friends. However, without the backing of her family like she once had, how could she possibly make any allies that were powerful enough to face Hong Yuxuan?

There was always the City Lord...

'No!' Chu Hua shook her head violently. Her family had been on guard against the City Lord for a very long time and Chu Hua, herself, had watched as the City Administration had taken all of the lands of the Temple and the Freedom Alliance. Through her father being a higher-up in the Temple, she had lost any trust for the City Lord and even the whole of the City Administration.

Now, with no friends and no possibility of new friends, how could Chu Hua ensure her safety? She knew that going public with her struggles would have little effect. After all, the masses had no power in the cultivation world. Their say was as good as an ant's opinion on the weather.

With all of these options void, Chu Hua could only choose to bank on her own survival skills or the threat that Qing Fang had toward her.

Making a run for the sacred garden was not an option anymore. She had only managed to pull that off because Hong Yuxuan would have never thought that she had the resolve to enter the forest full of Mortal Beasts and because of the time window she had during the massacre.

Eyeing Qing Fang, Chu Hua bit her lip with an expression that clearly displayed the fact that the decision she was trying to make would determine whether she lived or died.

Did she have the skills to survive by herself? She certainly did not possess the charisma to sway any man into protecting herself. She could always use her body...no that wouldn't work. Which man would rather have a concubine instead of the handsome reward the Temple would certainly offer for her capture?

No man would be so stupid, right? At least that's what Chu Hua thought.

Although she was not confident in herself, she only had to remember the pure terror that Qing Fang had made her feel back on the plateau to know that she was not safe with him. And that was assuming that he's even got the skills to protect her or to resist the reward for her capture. She just didn't know what kind of man Qing Fang was, thus she couldn't make an accurate judgment.

Although Chu Hua would usually never be so assertive to her situation, the adrenaline running through her veins had put her mind into overdrive. Not only that, since it concerned her life, she was not planning to make the smallest risk, as anyone else wouldn't.

But every option was a risk. There was no guarantee. Thinking about the fact that there was nothing she could do to ensure absolute safety, a chill went down her spine. Knowing that if she walked down the street, the same one that she walked down every morning, she would be killed; Chu Hua felt scared.

It was at this moment that the fact that everybody had an agenda became crystal clear to her. Not only this, but she had also realised that the chance of a good person stepping out to save her was close to, if not, zero.

Just now, although Chu Hua still believed innately good people existed, she had cut their numbers down tremendously in her mind.

Considering all future outcomes of either staying beside Qing Fang or trying to avoid the Stage 4 templars while still either running around the city like a headless chicken for the rest of her life or trying to escape the city altogether, a scene played itself out in her mind. It was a sudden collection related to all that she had thought about until now.

The scene was an image of a tall man wiping her tears away with a gentle smile upon his face as he muttered the words, "little girl, we are family." Taking her gaze that was darting around the shack haphazardly and placing it upon Qing Fang who had his back to her, Chu Hua thought about why he might've said those words back then.

Why would he have declared himself to be a member of her family? He obviously wasn't as she had known all of the members of the Qing Family up until their passing. Frankly, she was the youngest and the weakest of all of them. Not many of the members in the family had children, only one or two.

When questioned on the matter, they would always respond that they have a family elsewhere. This always confused Chu Hua. If they had a family, then why had she not met them. As she grew up, Chu Hua just thought that the adults came up with a lie to tell the young nuisance, Chu Hua, to make her shoo and stop pestering them.

Chu Hua had no idea that the main objective of the Qing Family was to escape the cage of beasts. Thus, she could not comprehend the possibility that her aunties' and uncles' families were not within the cage, but outside of it and in the real world.

Thinking on what Qing Fang would gain from declaring himself to be a family member of hers, Chu Hua was puzzled. Someone as strong as Qing Fang had no need to play coy when capturing her as the difference in their power was so great that Qing Fang could just immobilise her immediately.

Then, he must be manipulating her, right? But what would he gain? All of the Qing Family's assets were frozen and all of their allies had gone quiet. Whatever he could've achieved through her was simply not possible.

Chu Hua never considered the possibility that what Qing Fang was after was herself.

Seeing no motive for Qing Fang to lie to her, however, Chu Hua was still vigilant. But, she had made her decision. For now, she will stay with Qing Fang. It was quite humorous that she was betting her life on Qing Fang, a man whose name she still did not know.

Deciding that she will stay, Chu Hua's thoughts slowed down as she just resumed shuffling around while staring at Qing Fang's back nervously.

...

Qing Fang turned away from Chu Hua and rested his eyes on the two corpses before him.

Both the old man and his grandson were killed while seated. Although many would look upon this action as dishonourable, cowardly or even despicable; Qing Fang had no time for people who decide which methods of killing are acceptable or not.

The hypocrisy was clear. Killing was killing. Who cared if he killed his opponent on the battlefield or when they were in bed. What was the difference? Life is a battlefield. The opponent simply let down his guard as he would on the battlefield. Only in this case, the opponent let down his guard in the form of sleeping.

The body of the youth, Wan'er, was just before Qing Fang while his head was half a step from the old man's body which was two meters from him.

Walking over to the head of Wan'er, Qing Fang picked it up. In the process, the half-smile still on its face was manoeuvred back into a neutral expression as the facial muscles were fully relaxed now.

Picking the head up by its hair, Qing Fang walked back to the body that paired it and shoved it to the side. Moving the body with his leg until it was the same distance from the straw sleeping mat in the centre of the shack as the body of the old man, just in another direction, Qing Fang dropped the head into the lap of its body.

Right now, with the mat as the centre, Qing Fang had placed the two bodies in the position of two points of a star.

Moving to where the other three points of the star would lay, Qing Fang took out his storage bag from the breast of his robes and proceed to release Xuan Han's lanky and naked body onto a point. Hitting the ground with a thud, the body that had its head blasted off keeled over in a position that encapsulated the term "lifeless".

Moving on to the fourth point, the small and youthful body of Meng Chuan hit the ground with a bump, barely a thud. As Qing Fang looked at Meng Chuan's similarly headless body, he realised that he certainly had a thing for cutting and blasting off heads. He hadn't even realised it until now. Thinking back, Li Guan and most of the victims of his Clan missions were also decapitated or beheaded in some way.

Trying to count how many people he must've beheaded, Qing Fang arrived at the fifth and final point of the star with the straw mat as its centre point. And after a small moment of silence, presumably Qing Fang giving up on counting, the petite body of Meng Ai appeared in mid-air before falling to the ground.

The small body with a caved-in ribcage and little streams of dried blood at the corners of its mouth hit the body with the quietest thud yet. 'After all, our only woman has got to show some decorum and not make such a ruckus like all the other men here, right? Heh.' Qing Fang laughed at his little joke just now.

Seeing that everyone was in position, Qing Fang made his way to the straw mat and sat himself down upon it. Directing a small glance at Chu Hua before he sat down, he saw her eyes darting around the room as her mind was completely elsewhere.

'Still such a child after all of this? I must teach her to keep her guard up when in my presence. What servant isn't always on the lookout for his master?' Qing Fang quietly thought within his own mind.

Sitting down and opening himself to the world, Qing Fang thought back to when he completed the first step of cultivation, ascension, eight years ago. Never had he thought that he would embark on the path of cultivation a second time.

Calming himself, Qing Fang pictured the image of serenity and harmony that he had awakened all those years ago. Although unnecessary when cultivating for the second time as he had already awakened his senses to Laws, Qing Fang perceived it as a cultural tradition before starting one's cultivation.

Sending his mind away, Qing Fang opened his eyes. Only this time, he was no longer in the shack, but on a battlefield.

The sky was stark and full of ash as clouds moved to form the image of a whirlpool above the centre of the battlefield. Looking down, Qing Fang was wearing robes belonging to no Clan. They were pure white, with no insignia.

Seeing this, he smiled. He was at peace when fighting for himself.

Directing his gaze onto the fighting around him, vicious cultivators exchanged blows and gigantic beasts could be seen fighting beneath the sea and above the sky itself. From this, it was clear that this was not a battle between two forces, it was the battle of a world!

Pure, savage and unadulterated fighting riddled the battlefield as mournful cries and gallant roars of victory permeated the very skin of all who heard them.

The people around him acted as if Qing Fang was invisible and even passed through him. After all, this was Qing Fang's image of harmony that the Dao had recognised when he had ascended eight years ago when he was just sixteen years old.

Harmony within fighting. Balance within victory and loss. Serenity within returning to the earth. Peace within death. Such a beautiful tribulation of any man was the battlefield. Its blessings had worn themselves on Qing Fang as he had avoided death dozens of times and let him survive, only to kill again.

If the universe allowed him to live on, how could there be bad in what he did? How could there be bad at all? There was no good and bad, no righteous and evil; just balance and harmony. That which is balanced will return to chaos and that which is chaotic will return to balance. That was what Qing Fang believed to be harmony, and the almighty Dao had recognised it.

After spending what seemed like an eternity on the unholy battlefield that spanned an entire world and seeing many heroes of the battlefield rise only to fall in the next minute, Qing Fang opened his eyes once again.

Back in the shack once more, Qing Fang exhaled slightly without a care for his surroundings. Steam funnelled out of Qing Fang's nostrils as a lot of internal heat was expelled by him using a meditation technique. This would make his body temperate one with the air around him, making him almost uncertain of when his skin ended and where the air began.

Feeling inner peace and being extremely comfortable, Qing Fang did not plan on delaying any longer.

Shooting a quick glance at Chu Hua, Qing Fang saw her biting her nails as she paced around the room. She seemed to be completely focused on her thoughts. So much so, that she did not even notice Qing Fang smiling at her. One look from Qing Fang would probably create thousands of thoughts within her mind if she did.

Looking away from her, who seemed to be progressing along the path to 'evil' swimmingly after a few revelations and epiphanies, Qing Fang cast himself into the world of Laws.

The all-too-familiar bursts of intense colour exploded around Qing Fang as he focused his senses on the five corpses forming an even star, or a five-pointed circle, around himself, with a radius of one meter.

With Qing Fang as the centre, a mass of maliciously dancing red swirled around him. It seemed to kiss him at moments and seemed to strike him at others. The shape of the deep red that encircled him at five points was that of five jagged mountain of blood, with the remnant Laws comprising the dead bodies as the base of the mountains.

The Law of Life was nowhere to be seen within the sharp mountains of bloody light, with the golden kiss of life only present in the immediate surroundings in the form of Qing Fang and Qing Chu Hua.

Now the second step of cultivation: command.

After ascension, which would allow one to see and sense Laws, comes command. Command was an essential step when first stepping on the path of cultivation for the sole reason of awakening in the first place.

When a mortal becomes a cultivator in simple terms, they would absorb a particular Cultivation Law into their bodies and become a cultivator upon the path of that very Law. From there on, to advance, they would have to absorb more of that specific Cultivation Law until they advanced through the Stages.

However, the mere process of absorbing one's first Cultivation Law is much more complicated than that. After all, how does one absorb Laws? Yes, you assimilate the Law into your body, but how does one control that Law to move into their body?

It is through command.

Another term for this would be Law Fragment manipulation. However, how are mortals supposed to control a Law to assimilate into themselves, a mortal who is unable to manipulate Laws yet?

Simply put, a mortal would reach out and grab that Law with their bare hands and assimilate it crudely. While the cultivation world may dress it up with fancy words like "command", it was nothing more than crudely absorbing one's first Law in its physical form.

If you were embarking upon Light path, one would bask in light and absorb it this way. For Water path, one would intake water. For Fire path, one would swallow a burning coal. For Poison path, one would directly ingest poison. As for Lightning path? Well, there was a reason why it was a very rare path.

Once the physical form of the Cultivation Law was within the body, the mortal would then assimilate the Law this way and become an early Stage 1 cultivator, with a pitiful amount of Law Fragments within their body to match.

From this, Qing Fang would command the Blood by directly drinking it. Even though he was well-versed in Law Fragment manipulation, he simply could no longer do it as a mortal. It was an ability-controlling Laws-that only a cultivator possessed.

Alighting from his seated position on the straw mat, Qing Fang directly approached the body of the youth, Wan'er. The head of the fifteen-year-old boy stared blankly with a neutral expression as Qing Fang directly stood over it before reaching down and picking it up.

With slow and aching movements, Qing Fang lifted the head of Wan'er above his own and opened his maw, displaying his somewhat uneven rows of slightly stained teeth. Then, after looking at the bloody wound for but a second, Qing Fang buried his face deep within the neck and drank the ample blood that flowed down his throat.

A heavily metallic taste made its way down Qing Fang's throat as he drank all that he could. There was no rush, the blood was not going to disappear, just find itself a new home in his stomach. However, Qing Fang also did not need to drink all the blood. Once he had commanded the blood and awakened as a Blood path cultivator, he could use his new powers to absorb the other fragments of the Law of Blood by directly manipulating them, like he was used to.

With loud gulps that showed the sheer volume of blood that Qing Fang was swallowing from the decapitated head, the skin of Wan'er got paler and tighter before the head was an icy light-blue colour and seemed to have shrunk.

As the last drop of warm blood trickled down his greedy throat, Qing Fang let out a breath of satisfaction. With blood smeared over nearly all of his face, he looked like a savage demon that yearned for the blood of his enemies.

Now with a stomach full of blood, Qing Fang was ready to continue with his awakening process.

*3,424/3,000 words*