Chapter 7 - Compromise (1/2)
Qiu Ling sighed and put down Jing Yi. The Zhongs were outside. What would that daoist do, if nobody opened the door?
”Mister Zhong, Madam Zhong!”, called Mister Pi outside. ”Qiguan Cheng Da came to visit. He agreed to have a look at your son.”
His voice was loud enough to alarm Mister and Madam Zhong at the other side of the village. The two of them hurried back. Mister Zhong's face clouded, as soon as he saw the throng of people at his doorstep. ”What is happening here?”
Mister Pi dutifully made his way through the crowd. ”Mister Zhong, today is your lucky day! Qiguan Cheng Da came. He'll have a look at your son.”
”He will what?” Mister Zhong didn't believe his ears. ”What does my son need a daoist for?” In every other situation, Mister Zhong would have been ecstatic, had a daoist come by and showed interest in his son. But it was Qiguan Cheng Da, they were talking about here, and with all those rumors flying around the last few weeks, he could very well imagine, why that particular daoist had come over.
”Mister Zhong, please, calm down! It's for your own good.”
Qiguan Cheng Da followed Mister Pi and nodded toward the Zhongs. ”Mister Zhong, Madam Zhong, I was told about the heretic —”
”What heretic practitioner!” Mister Zhong clenched his fists and turned to Miss Lian, who stood not far away. ”My wife had unbelievably good look, that a daoist came by to save her and our child. How can you vilify such a good man? And that even in front of another daoist! Haven't you done enough harm?”
”I haven't said anything! It was Madam Pan!” Miss Lian pushed the blame onto her neighbor, crossed the arms in front of her chest and lifted her chin. She certainly wouldn't let others say to her face, that she was a gossip monger. Even though it couldn't be dismissed, that all of this had only happened, because she had described the alleged daoist with such fervency.
Qiu Ling looked at the child next to him. ”I'm afraid, you have to thank me for this nasty defamation. I was careless. But this might just be the perfect opportunity, to make up for my fault.” The corners of his mouth raised and in a spell, he vanished out of the hut of the Zhongs and appeared not far from the village at the path through the forest. He exchanged his clothes for the robes of a daoist and this time, he remembered to change his face, too.
As the dragon king, Qiu Ling was everything but young. Nevertheless, he hardly seemed older than twenty years of age. Next to Mister Zhong, who was only in his mid-twenties, he looked younger, because of his chiseled features. But now, his body aged visibly, until maybe ten years separated him from Jing Yi's father.
Qiu Ling lifted his hand. Water danced around his fingers, covered his palm and formed a silver mirror. Qiu Ling examined his face and sighed. Pretending to be mortal was anything but easy.
He furrowed his brow. He couldn't change his face too much or the people wouldn't believe him to be the same daoist, Miss Lian had seen that night. He narrowed his eyes and examined himself in the mirror again.
His eyebrows grew denser, his lips became a little thicker. He was still far from looking like a normal mortal, but it might be enough to not let the villagers view him as a heretic practitioner anymore.
Qiu Ling dropped his hand and the mirror disappeared. He made sure nobody was in the vicinity and stopped hiding his form from mortal eyes. Then, he proceeded down the path into the village.
On the village square the conflict got worse.