Several village elders from the tens of villages and districts rushed toward the Shiqiao Village Ancestral Hall, looking hurried and panting for breath.
Behind them followed a crowd of villagers, coming in a mighty and imposing procession.
Some villagers had just hurried over to say that they seemed to have seen the immortal go out on the road, instantly shattering the atmosphere where the entire Linjiang Village had hung out lanterns and colored banners, making it livelier and more celebratory than the Lunar New Year.
The several village elders, who were preparing to entertain the immortal and leave a good impression, stood up in an instant, and the oldest one didn't even lean on his crutch, yet his running fell behind by not the slightest bit.
Having eaten that River God's meat last night, running today actually had a flavor of being old yet still vigorous and roaring like a tiger.
The crowd gathered at the Shiqiao Village Ancestral Hall, only to see that the door was wide open, and the wind swept across the door panels, making a creaking, scattered sound.
In their hearts, they instantly felt a sense of foreboding.
"Great Immortal Kongchen?"
"Is Grandpa Donkey here?"
They called out to seek an audience several times, but heard no response.
The several village elders then led people inside, only to see that it was empty inside.
The familiar meditating figure was missing from the cattail mat in the main hall, and there were no figures in the side rooms either, making it look as if he had truly left.
The crowd suddenly felt a sense of loss and dejection.
At this time, Sun Tieshan also arrived, and as soon as he ran over, he shouted.
"The immortal has already left."
"How do you know?" the elder of Linjiang Village immediately asked.
Sun Tieshan pointed into the distance: "I watched the immortal leave with my own eyes."
The elder of Linjiang Village felt anger welling up from who knows where, and immediately unleashed a torrent of fierce scolding right in his face, raising his crutch to beat him: "You Sun Tieshan, why didn't you stop the immortal?"
"The immortal slew the river demon for us across the tens of villages and districts, and eliminated those wicked beings in the River God Temple who had always eaten our flesh and drunk our blood."
"He even refined pills to save the children of our village and shared the river demon's meat with us."
"These piling matters and individual deeds are things we could never repay even if we were to become oxen and horses in our next lives."
"Yet we didn't show the slightest gesture of gratitude, and didn't even let the immortal eat a single hot meal. You! How are the people of our tens of villages and districts going to show their faces in the future, and how can we live up to the great kindness of the Great Immortal? Won't everyone else say that we people of the tens of villages and districts are all ingrates devoid of conscience?"
Ordinarily, Sun Tieshan was as sturdy as an ox and possessed a full measure of authority, but facing this old man he was like a child, not even dodging as he let himself be struck a few times.
Sun Tieshan wore a mournful expression: "I stopped him, but I couldn't stop him!"
"That Grandpa Donkey under the Great Immortal's seat ran too fast, and in the blink of an eye, there wasn't even a trace of his shadow left."
At this time, one of the village elders stepped forward to stop the elder of Linjiang Village: "Forget it, forget it. What manner of person is the immortal? He is an existence who travels the North Sea in the morning and dusk arrives at Cangwu, coming and going freely between heaven and earth. If he wishes to leave, no one can stop him."
"For us tens of villages and districts to have the fortune to encounter and know an immortal who is like a dragon seeing its head but missing its tail is already the greatest of blessings. Throughout this entire day, among the villagers of our eight villages, who hasn't rubbed shoulders with some of the immortal's Immortal Qi?"
"Such a great affinity is already karmic fortune cultivated over who knows how many lifetimes, how can we demand any more?"
The elder of Linjiang Village could only sigh: "Ah!"
This village elder turned to Sun Tieshan and asked, "When the immortal left, did he say anything?"
Sun Tieshan recalled for a moment and immediately said, "He said it, he said it."
After that, he gave a detailed account of the entire process of the immortal's departure, from how he was returning from hunting in the mountains to how he bumped into the immortal.
Finally, Sun Tieshan relayed the very last sentence the immortal spoke before leaving to everyone: "The immortal also said that if you truly wish to thank me, you need no banquets and no gold or silver. From now on, simply sincerely perform many good deeds and reap many good fruits."
After hearing this, the several village elders were all the more moved beyond measure.
Among the villagers surrounding the outside, quite a few burst into tears directly, especially the families of the three children who had been saved yesterday, as well as those villagers who held a deep enmity against the River God Temple.
"This is a true Living Immortal!" The elder of Linjiang Village slammed his crutch into the ground and let out a long sigh as he nodded.
"Slaying demons and exterminating devils between heaven and earth, seeking no gold or silver yet seeking good fruits—he has the immortal wind and bone and an upright character," another village elder who looked to have the demeanor of a man of letters said thus.
At this time, someone brought up: "Didn't we promise the Great Immortal Kongchen that we would build a temple for the Great Immortal?"
"Although the immortal has already left, this promise must by no means be forgotten. It is time to fulfill it."
The crowd also remembered, and immediately responded one after another: "That's right, from now on, all of us in the tens of villages and districts will attend upon and worship the Great Immortal Kongchen."
Among the villagers, a fisherman shouted loudly: "Only a true immortal like this is worthy of our worship and truly capable of protecting us!"
Quite a few villagers brought by the elders of other villages also cried out: "Exactly, tear down that River God Temple entirely and convert all of them into the Great Immortal Temple in the future."
The several village elders looked at each other and nodded with a smile.
Among them, the elder of Linjiang Village stepped forward, and before the emotionally agitated villagers, facing everyone's expectant gazes, he said: "We promised the immortal to build a temple for the immortal."
"Although the immortal does not care for these external things, we must not forget our roots."
The villagers shouted in compliance one after another: "That's right! The people of our village repay kindness when it is due and never forget our roots."
"Well said, exactly."
The village elder pressed down with his hand, and the voices gradually quieted: "Therefore, the temple must definitely be built. Recently, we also need everyone's help to sculpt an idol and build a temple for the immortal, and even more so to write down and carve the story of the immortal passing through our tens of villages and districts."
"Even many years from now, our children and grandchildren will still remember these matters, knowing that our tens of villages and districts are places where an immortal truly stayed, lands of outstanding people favored by Immortal Qi, and blessed grounds protected by an immortal."
At this time, the elder of Linjiang Village smiled with a measure of old-scheming craftiness, and spoke of a premeditated plan.
"When the immortal came to our tens of villages and districts, the place he stayed in was Shiqiao Village of Linjiang Village, which is precisely this place where we are now. When the immortal refined pills, it was also right here beneath our feet, and eating the demon banquet and trying and executing the wicked beings all took place right here."
"What does this represent? This is an auspicious land favored by the immortal."
"Therefore, the very first Great Immortal Temple shall begin construction right from here."
Once these words were spoken, how could the people from the other villages raise any objections? Speaking against it would sound just like opposing the immortal.
The young and strong men of the tens of villages and districts all swung into action. Carpenters, masons, and others rushed forward to help, rapidly establishing a temple upon the original framework.
The Shiqiao Village Ancestral Hall was converted into the Kongchen Immortal Lord Temple, and the ancestral spirit tablets of Shiqiao Village were moved into the side hall, which could also be considered indirectly bathing in the incense and Immortal Qi of the Immortal Lord Kongchen.
The villagers of Shiqiao Village were brimming with joy, and later on, people from other villages and districts even found ways to move some of their own distinguished ancestors who had distinguished themselves and achieved status to be moved here for worship as well.
From then on, Shiqiao Village and the tens of villages and districts truly produced quite a few extraordinary figures, and the local people all believed that this was due to being imbued with the immortal's Immortal Qi, feeling all the more that this place was an auspicious land.
Even down to many later generations, as the stone carvings gradually wore away and the legends passed down gradually changed their appearance.
The descendants of Shiqiao Village, upon seeing the ancestral spirit tablets of Shiqiao Village within the Kongchen Immortal Lord Temple, had many among them who even had a sudden flash of inspiration and consequently believed that they were all descendants of immortals. Otherwise, why would their ancestors be worshipped together with a deity, thereby giving rise to all sorts of arguments.