Qiu Ling reached the edge of the village just in time to see Madam Zhong falling. Nobody stood behind her to catch her. And not just that: One of the villagers had placed his hoe at the wall. While flailing, Madam Zhong knocked it down. If she fell onto it …
Qiu Ling lifted his hand. The winds picked up. They caught Madam Zhong and shoved her forward. She lost her balance once more, colliding with Miss Lian and Madam Pan and pushing both of them to the ground. Even worse: In his haste Qiu Ling hadn't borne in mind, that this was the mortal realm. The gust shoved the other villagers, too, and they all landed in a heap on the ground.
Qiu Ling winced. He formed a fist, raised it slowly to his mouth and coughed. "That … looked quite dangerous", he commented and strolled toward the villagers, as if nothing had happened.
The people looked at him in a daze. Even Qiguan Cheng Da had fallen. He opened his mouth to say something, but then reconsidered with a look at Qiu Ling's clothes.
"Madam Zhong, are you alright?" Qiu Ling stopped in front of the Zhongs and smiled serenely.
The villagers, who were just about to complain, shut right up. "Is that … Is that a real immortal?", asked Madam Pan Mister Pi behind her.
Mister Pi pursed his lips. Comparing the man before them to Qiguan Cheng Da, he indeed seemed more like an immortal. "Of course!", asserted Mister Pi. "Just have a look at his robes. They seem really ordinary at first glance, but wise people would be able to immediately ascertain, that they are made of a special thread."
Qiu Ling took a hasty glance at his own robe to make sure, he hadn't taken out anything from the nine heavens in his haste. Something like that might just lead to another strange rumor, that would implicate Jing He. But no, his robe wasn't from the nine heavens. It was an ordinary robe from the mortal world. And quite a normal one at that. What special threat? This was clearly only made of hemp!
"Oh!" Madam Pan was quite impressed and stole a glance at Qiguan Cheng Da. She leaned closer to Mister Pi and motioned at the young daoist. Lowering her voice, she asked: "Then what about him?"
Mister Pi followed her glance and snorted. Common people, eh?, he thought. We'll see about that! "Oh, it's nothing much. But, well, Cheng Da is still young. Of course he couldn't have attained the same heights as this man before us."
Qiguan Cheng Da furrowed his brow, but smoothed it out just as fast. He might not have been a cultivator for long and his talent might be just average, but he could still clearly hear what people whispered about him five steps away. And what Madam Pan and Mister Pi, who had been so welcoming before and who he felt to normally be beneath his dignity to even talk to, were saying just now, made him furious.
What did they believe, who they were to speak about him like that? They were just some common people, who'd never in their life leave this god-damned place! But he, he was a practitioner now. Even though he might not make it to a high level based on his meager talent, who knew what might happen in the future? Cultivation had always been something, that didn't only rely on talent. There was luck involved, too.
Well, whatever he thought, he couldn't let the villagers around him notice. He had to uphold his image, so he just pretended not to hear anything, while he continued scolding them in his heart.
"But that man seems quite young, too." Madam Pan wasn't quite satisfied with Mister Pi's comparison just yet.
"Indeed." Mister Pi examined Qiu Ling from head to toe. Qiguan Cheng Da was only a juvenile, so he still had some time to try to reach the height Mister Pi proclaimed Qiu Ling to have. Well, regarding Qiu Ling's true status as the king of the dragon race … Even if Qiguan Cheng Da would somehow manage to unify the mortal realms and crown himself their emperor — which was nigh impossible — he still wouldn't be comparable. What where mere mortals in the eyes of the dragons and gods?
"Well … He is immortal, after all", added Mister Pi after some contemplation. "He only looks young. He is probably … of my age."
"Your age?"
"Mn … No, no. My father's age. I misspoke. How could he only be of my age as an immortal?"
Qiu Ling resisted the urge to roll his eyes and turned toward the door. Mister Pan just came out, carrying a child, that had scrunched up his face, as if it would cry the next instant. Qiu Ling's heart shook. My poor love! I shouldn't have left you alone!
"Ah, that must be your son, Madam Zhong. May I?" Qiu Ling threw her a careless glance and took a step.
The villagers parted to make way for the acclaimed daoist. Mister Pan glanced from one side to the other and then at the man at the other side. "Er … What happened?"
Qiu Ling smiled. How fortunate … "This morning, when I ended my meditation, I remembered that it had been three moons, since I helped Madam Zhong when she was about to give birth to her child. Since I coincidentally came by then, I felt that this child and I, Daoist Qiu Ling", he threw in to remind them, that he was definitely not a heretic practitioner, "share fate between us. So I set out to visit this village again to see how he fared till now."
"Oh!" Mister Pi's eyes widened in revelation and he hurried in front of Qiu Ling. "So you are the great daoist master that helped the Zhongs that night. The whole village is immensely grateful to you, master!"
Qiu Ling's lips twitched. Daoist master? Immensely grateful? Where did this come from, after slandering his defenseless beloved week after week? Didn't they even call some half-baked practitioner over?
"It was just a slight effort on my part." Qiu Ling stepped past him and took Jing Yi from the arms of Mister Pan. He smiled, looking down at him, and the child, that was just about to throw the first real tantrum of his life, instantly calmed down, too. It was almost, as if he could still remember the man before him and knew, that he was safe in his arms.
Qiu Ling's heart melted seeing Zhong Jing Yi's reaction. I'll allow your mortal parents to carry you. But those other filthy humans shouldn't even think of laying a hand on you. As if holding a treasure, he slowly made his way back to the Zhongs and reluctantly placed the boy in Madam Zhong's arms.
"A child shouldn't be separated from his mother for too long at such a young age."
Madam Zhong nodded eagerly. She'd quite probably not place her son down for even the blink of an eye in the days to come. Qiu Ling repressed a sigh. Why did he feel like he had picked up a stone just to smash his own feet? Now he had tried to help again, but it would probably just lead to him having even fewer time with his beloved.
"Then … Then what about the heretic practitioner?", interrupted Madam Qiguan and looked anxiously at her son. She called him to the village so he could show what he learned, but now another daoist had shown up and he seemed to be quite strong. How would her son impress the other villagers now? She didn't want them to agree with Madam Zhong's words from before and say, that her son hadn't learned much in his time at the sect.
Mister Pi's face fell. How could he let anyone talk about that story now? What if the mighty daoist immortal before them grew angry, when he heard, that Miss Lian had defamed him? — Of course, Mister Pi had spontaneously forgotten, that he himself brought up Madam Zhong's mysterious helper being a demon and then changed it to a heretic practitioner, because it fit his story better.
Qiu Ling watched the reactions of the mortals and decided to not make it anymore difficult for them. He had been careless this time, so he couldn't fault them completely. In the end, whatever had led to this outcome, he still couldn't change it, so he should just go with the flow and bear with it for a while.
Well, at least Qiu Ling wasn't the only one, who was dissatisfied with the conclusion of this incidence.