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 sickle in the window sill. While flailing Madam Zhong knocked it down. If she fell onto it …

Qiu Ling lifted his hand and the winds picked up. They caught Madam Zhong and shoved her in the other direction. She collided with Miss Lian and Madam Pan and pushed both of them to the ground. Even worse, in his haste, Qiu Ling hadn’t considered 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. Ah, they couldn’t blame him! Who had asked them to place such a dangerous thing there and then shove a young woman around? He had only tried to help!

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. The person in front of him obviously was a cultivator too and judging from that gust of wind just now he was powerful.

"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 who stood 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! 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 made it look like anything from the immortal realms in his haste. Something like that might just lead to another strange rumor that would implicate Jing He. But no, his robe didn’t look like it was from the immortal realms. It seemed like a robe from the mortal world. And quite an ordinary one at that. What special thread? This clearly looked like it was 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 not even be average but he could still clearly hear what people whispered about him five steps away.

Madam Pan and Mister Pi had been so welcoming before and he normally felt that it was beneath his dignity to even talk to common people anyway. Today he had been magnanimous and made an exception but now they actually dared to say things like that!

Who did they think they were to speak about him like that? They were just some commoners who would never in their life leave this damned place! But he, he was a cultivator 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 … 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 beloved! I shouldn’t have left you alone!