To prevent himself from getting into unnecessary trouble, Wang Ping had the corpses of the two Alligator-Tailed Toads stored in the "Heaven and Earth Shell." Then, he announced to the villagers of Golden Shell Village that he had inflicted severe damage on the demon beasts, forcing them back into the sea and that they would never dare to come back to take revenge on the villagers.
Wang Ping did not tell the villagers that he was an orphan in their village from back then. Instead, he told them that he had happened to pass by when he heard the villagers' cries for help, before rushing over.
Since so many years had passed, so long as no one deliberately raised the subject, the villagers would never have thought about an orphan by the name Wang Ping who lived there, nor would they associate him with the high and mighty "Immortal Master" standing before them.
These people were called back by Wang Ping from the top of Old Chicken Mountain. After seeing the crushed and trampled houses in the village in front of their eyes, their hearts ached for their losses. Nevertheless, they were still filled with heartfelt gratitude and reverence for Wang Ping.
To be able to inflict serious damage on and drive away those powerful demon beasts, he was indeed worthy of being an Immortal Master—who, legend has it, could live for eternity and possessed the power to move mountains and fill seas!
"Immortal Master, we are unable to repay your kindness to Golden Shell Village. Please give us your name so that we can build you a temple and worship you, all day, all night!"
The current chief of the Golden Shell Village was a white-haired elder. After seeing the traces of blood left behind by the Alligator-Tailed Toads, he instantly knelt before Wang Ping, his face full of reverence as he kowtowed toward him.
Although Wang Ping had a fresh, youthful-looking face, the old village chief felt nothing wrong kneeling before him, nor did he feel any pressure given his rank, all due to the legend that cultivators were immortals.
Seeing the revered village chief kneeling, none of the other villagers dared to stand. Not only did the adults all kneel down, but they had also made some of the children, who weren't mature enough to understand what was going on, kneel down.
When Wang Ping saw this, he felt extremely conflicted.
To be honest, he was often bullied by other children in the village after his parents passed away. As such, he had resented the adults all this while.
However, after coming to White Sand City to learn how to read and write, after accumulating more experience over time, he began to understand the villagers' way of thinking. As a result, this resentment gradually dissipated.
The Wang family was seen as outsiders and did not have a high standing in the village. After Wang Ping's parents passed away, helping to set up the cenotaphs for Wang Ping's parents was already the best they could do.
Besides, Wang Ping was an orphan. Although he did garner pity, no one was willing to add another burden to themselves, especially since they could barely support their own children.
As for their children teaming up to bully Wang Ping, in the eyes of the adults, that just looked like they were messing around.
As long as they did not go too overboard, they would not scold and hit their child for an orphan who lacked parental support.
However, even though Wang Ping understood the villagers' actions, that did not mean that he would agree with them.
In reality, if it wasn't for the grudge in his heart, he wouldn't have refused to return to Golden Shell Village for so many years after becoming a cultivator, nor would he be so unwilling to tell these villagers his name and backstory.
Then, he saw the villagers —who had treated him coldly all those years ago— kneeling in front of him, not daring to look up at him.
The old village chief, who had taken some of his valued possessions away after helping to build his parents' cenotaphs back then, was now kneeling on the ground, sincerely wanting to establish a temple for Wang Ping.
Surprisingly, Wang Ping did not feel any joy, but only a deep sense of helplessness and sorrow.
This was the way of the world. The people in the cultivation world weren't the only ones who revered the strong, ordinary mortals also revered the strong and despised the weak.
These villagers of the Golden Shell Village didn't exactly have high living standards. Yet, they would rather fork out money from their already poor households to establish a temple for Wang Ping, a cultivator who only happened to pass by, than to give a portion of a dried fish they couldn't finish to a village orphan.
Wang Ping did not know if he should call the villagers out for their ignorance, or to berate the world for its injustice.
He looked at the group of villagers on the ground, conflicted. After a long while of silence, he gently waved his hand and said, "All of you, please get up. There's no need to establish a temple and burn incense for me. We, cultivators, aren't interested in these anyway. Since you have the money and the goodwill, why don't you use them on the victims of this demon beast calamity, especially the orphans who lost their parents due to this!"
Without waiting for the old village chief to respond, he immediately changed the topic and continued, "In addition, from what I know, demon beasts like the Alligator-Tailed Toad will not easily cause trouble when they are laying eggs on the shore. It is even more unlikely for them to attack human villages during the day. Did anyone in your village capture anything unusual today, or gather any strange plants?"
He suspected that someone in Golden Shell Village had obtained a spiritual item that the Alligator-Tailed Toads wanted to eat, hence those toads attacked the village in broad daylight.
Obviously, compared to what Wang Ping had said before, this was more attention-grabbing to the villagers.
Upon hearing Wang Ping's words, the old village chief immediately shouted at the other villagers. "You've all heard the Immortal Master's words. If any of you had brought any abnormal items back home today, hand them over to the Immortal Master immediately. Don't cause any more trouble for the village!"
When his words came out, the villagers instantly began to discuss the gains they obtained today.
Soon after, a fisherman's wife shouted, "I know, I know! I saw Old Lin and his wife coming back from the sea today, they had closed their doors and hid in their home for some unknown reason upon returning. When the two demon beasts entered the village, they went to their house first. They also were the ones who died first. The item must be in their house!"
As soon as she said that, the village was thrown into an uproar.
Then, the village chief said with a pained expression. "Old Lin? Old Lin and his wife are dead, but their girl is still around, right?"
As he said this, his eyes swept through the crowd and quickly landed on a girl who was about eight or nine years old. He glared at the little girl fiercely and probed. "Little girl Lin, quickly tell me, why were your parents hiding at home today?"
The girl's face still had traces of tears that had yet to dry. After being glared at by the elder, she collapsed on the ground, wailing.
However, the old man showed no sympathy toward her. Instead, he shouted angrily. "Why are you crying? Answer me quickly. What did your parents bring back from the sea today?"
When the other villagers saw this, they also cursed at the little girl. One even went over to pull her up for an answer.
"Enough!"
Wang Ping shouted angrily, instantly silencing the villagers. They shut their mouths, not daring to speak. The person who wanted to grab the little girl also trembled and stood frozen.
"All of you, all of you are from the same village and are this child's elders. Her parents have just passed away and you are all treating this eight to nine-year-old child like this? Do you still have any sympathy? Any humanity?"
Wang Ping's face was ashen as he pointed at the group of villagers and berated them. His chest was heaving up and down violently.
No one knew why he was suddenly so angry, since he had previously been so pleasant to them.
However, he was the high and mighty "Immortal Master." The old village chief did not dare to show any disrespect to Wang Ping, even if the latter pointed at his nose and cursed at him. Instead, he lowered his head in confusion and allowed Wang Ping to scold him.
Seeing the villagers like this, Wang Ping, who had originally wanted to scold them more, stopped his berating.
After taking a few deep breaths, he waved his hand with a tired expression and said, "Forget it, forget it. You guys can do whatever you want. I'm tired. Let everyone disperse!"
Then, not caring for the reaction of the villagers, he walked toward the little girl who was still sitting on the ground and crying. He let out a kind smile and wiped her tears. "Little girl, can you bring Big Brother to your house to take a look? With Big Brother around, no one will ever bully you again."