Feng Bingwen made no attempt to hide his disdain for the golden toad his father kept. Although it symbolized abundant wealth, it couldn't change the fact that it was just a toad, even if it was much prettier than its counterparts in the fields.

"..."

The old man remained silent for a moment, but a hint of doubt still lingered in his eyes.

"You really didn't arrange this?"

"If I were to arrange it, I wouldn't choose something so ugly. What if it frightens my mother?"

Feng Bingwen said with a wry smile, "A golden toad entering one's bosom sounds quite nice, but if you think about it carefully, who can stand it if a toad the size of a millstone suddenly jumps into their body out of nowhere?"

"ugly?"

Hearing his grandson's evaluation, Feng Lingjun turned to look at the Xie Zhi beside him and remained silent for a moment. Compared to the big cat he kept, the golden toad and the like were indeed somewhat inferior, even though such auspicious creatures were most sought after by merchants.

"That golden toad must be my father's own good fortune!"

Feng Bingwen stated his earlier judgment: his father had rescued countless disaster victims harassed by the barbarian beastmen. Perhaps some of them were morally flawed, but overall, his actions must have been of great merit.

Those who possess merit will inevitably be blessed with good fortune and will obtain things that ordinary people can only dream of. This is only natural, as good and evil will ultimately be rewarded.

"Is it Zichuan's own good fortune?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Lingjun nodded, neither confirming nor denying it. He also knew what his son had been doing over the years.

"By the way, I did train the flock of geese that my grandma raised, but this cat was something you brought along yourself; I didn't hand it over to you."

Feng Bingwen felt that some things needed to be clarified. The old man seemed to have misunderstood something. He wasn't that controlling. Although he hoped that his family members could accumulate good deeds and reap good rewards, he didn't intend to arrange it all for them.

"Okay, I got it!"

Feng Lingjun waved his hand. It was indeed his own decision to carry the black cat that could ward off evil spirits with him, but the reason he made this choice was because he saw the mysterious nature of this cat.

Who let him see it?

Was he originally just a schoolteacher with one foot in the grave? Who led him into a realm beyond the reach of ordinary people?

Of course, the old man kept these questions to himself and didn't say them out loud, because once those words were spoken, they couldn't be taken back.

"Aren't you going to find your parents? Go ahead, don't waste my time here, and don't waste my time either. I've only finished half of my memorial!"

"Then I'll be going now. I'll come to see you again in a while!"

Seeing that the old man was starting to shoo people away, Feng Bingwen didn't dawdle. Unlike his grandmother, the old man was obviously living a much more fulfilling life, and to some extent, he had also realized his own ambitions.

"Um!"

Feng Bingwen glanced at the old man who was hunched over his desk and writing furiously. He scanned him with his divine sense, his expression strange, but he didn't do anything more and simply disappeared from the study.

Just outside the county government office, a couple was beating a drum, seemingly to plead their grievances. Upon hearing the drumbeat, the old man even put down his memorial and hurried outside.

Clearly, the old man, acting as the inspector and temporarily replacing the county magistrate he had dismissed, had little free time to maintain the government's rule in the area.

"..."

Above the clouds, Feng Bingwen looked down at the old man below, who was now dressed in official robes, sitting in the courtroom, earnestly questioning the drummer amidst the imposing shouts of the yamen runners. He sighed softly, then uttered two words.

The Fairy Tree Romance

"Shinto!"

Given what the old man is doing now, and his decisive style in dealing with corrupt officials, it's only a matter of time before his reputation and deeds spread throughout Daqian. Perhaps it won't be long before he becomes a household name.

For an official whose reputation has reached such a level, it is only a very simple matter for him to be posthumously conferred by the emperor and appointed as the city god of a region.

Things will fall into place naturally!

Of course!

A person who dares to wield the butcher's knife against corrupt officials, a person who can uphold justice for the people at all times, it would be unreasonable if he could not enjoy incense offerings a hundred years later.

Of course, as a junior, Feng Bingwen would not casually comment on his elders. After all, what the old man did was of great benefit to him in some way, and benefited many people. Even if he had ulterior motives, it was not a big deal.

At his core, the old man was just an ordinary person with emotions and desires. It's wrong to demand that others meet the standards of a saint; only those with desires are human.

The old man was a scholar. Although he had only obtained the title of Xiucai (a degree in the imperial examination system) before his grandson intervened, he had spent half his life teaching and educating people.

It is not surprising that a scholar in his fifties would do something radical after coming into contact with a class he could only look up to all his life and the secrets unknown to ordinary people.

The pursuit of immortality is not such a big deal; rather, it is the most fundamental desire of every intelligent being, and every practitioner seeks immortality.

The old man had very faint traces of cultivation on his body, but he hadn't even passed the threshold of cultivation. Cultivation requires innate talent and comprehension. The path to immortality was unattainable, and the path of martial arts was out of the question, given the old man's age.

Put yourself in the shoes of an old scholar who has come into contact with and understood the concept of immortality; what would you do?

Shinto!

It is the only and best choice, since it does not require any qualifications or talents for those who become gods. As long as they can gather the incense offerings of the people, they can step onto the altar and enjoy immortality.

Of course, all of the above is just Feng Bingwen's speculation. As for the specifics, and what his own father's true thoughts are, Feng Bingwen doesn't intend to delve into them. He just needs to do the right thing at the right time.

"The incense god seems a bit lacking; if it could seal the wind and water gods, that would be quite good!"

Regardless of what the old man thinks now, Feng Bingwen is prepared to make arrangements for the old man's funeral. If this is done, he can have less to worry about.

"Let's talk about it later!"

Feng Bingwen transformed into a beam of mysterious light, sweeping across the sky above the Great Gan Dynasty. His divine sense spread out high in the heavens, reaching the two deities who were following him at a distance.

They did not hide their presence from Feng Bingwen; they were openly watching him, not even spying.

Feng Bingwen felt both annoyed and somewhat helpless about this behavior, since he really couldn't beat them and they hadn't done anything wrong.

Fortunately, one of the birds seemed to be encountering a mortal dynasty for the first time, and it became extremely interested in the bustling human settlement.

Before Feng Bingwen could figure out a way to shake them off, he excitedly dragged his best friend to a large city with a population of one million.

Seeing this, Feng Bingwen breathed a sigh of relief and then went to find his biological parents without stopping. Although he estimated that the sisters would catch up soon, he would try to keep up for as long as possible.

"Croak!"

A large toad, about the size of a calf, lay lazily on a reclining ox rock, sunlight falling on him and reflecting a dazzling golden glow.

"The color isn't bad, but unfortunately it's just too ugly!"

The Taoist priest descended from the sky on clouds, gazing at the large golden toad lazily basking in the sun. The moment the toad sensed the Taoist priest's aura, it involuntarily trembled and, without thinking, jumped up with a "plop" and crashed into the landscaped pond specially built for it in front of it.

Who is it?

Before the Taoist priest could land, the giant golden toad, trying to avoid his gaze, jumped into the pond, immediately startling many cultivators in the mountain village!

Like a mischievous child stirring up a hornet's nest, in the blink of an eye, Feng Bingwen, standing in mid-air, saw a martial artist with vigorous blood drawing his bow and nocking an arrow, a Taoist priest holding a long banner and shaking a soul-summoning bell, and a monk wearing a kasaya, holding a staff, chanting scriptures, with a vast Buddhist light emanating from him.

"Amitabha! This humble monk is from Jingshan Temple. I have met you, benefactor. May I ask where you come from and what brings you here?"

Unlike the numerous martial arts barbarians in the manor, the monk who attracted a lot of attention and had a strong presence immediately asked about Feng Bingwen's background and also revealed his own background. His intentions were all too clear.

"Amitabha Buddha, fellow Daoist, may I ask where your immortal abode is?"

Following closely behind the bald monk, the Taoist priest, who didn't seem to be a respectable person, also directly inquired about Feng Bingwen's background without any attempt at concealment.

"You bald monks and Taoist priests, you talk too much nonsense. Just by looking at him, you can tell he's no good. Why don't we shoot him down first and then question him?"

A warrior holding a yellow eagle bow, its bow drawn to its fullest extent, said dismissively, his gaze toward Feng Bingwen filled with vigilance and a hint of eagerness.

"stop!"

The tense atmosphere quickly dissipated with an angry shout.

A woman dressed in a gorgeous gown, surrounded by a group of maids and old women, appeared at the edge of the scenic pond. Her gaze first swept to the sky, then she launched into a frosty tirade.

"My husband spent a fortune hiring you, not so that you would harm my child!"

"Amitabha!"

Sensing the lady's anger, he lowered his head slightly, like a highly virtuous monk chanting Buddhist mantras to conceal the embarrassment on his face.

Who could have imagined such a blunder? Although the lady had shown them her young master's portrait, aside from the resemblance, the aura he exuded was simply off.

The oppressive force that made even this old monk uncomfortable—was it something a teenager should have? This was clearly too outrageous, and for a moment he couldn't connect it to the young master Feng who had run away from home!

"Madam Feng, is this your young master? You're not mistaken, are you?"

The Taoist priest, holding a long banner and exuding a somewhat sinister aura, was also completely bewildered. He didn't even think before he spoke, blurting out the question that had been bothering him.

"Have you ever seen a mother who mistakes her own child for her own?"

Upon hearing the Taoist priest's words, Yu Huilian's already unpleasant expression darkened further, and she no longer showed any respect.

"If you don't want to work here anymore, you can leave. Nobody will stop you!"

"Infinite Heavenly Venerable!"

The Taoist priest, having been humiliated by a common woman, recited his Taoist name once and remained silent. She could scold him all she wanted, but leaving was out of the question.

"..."

Although he seemed to accept being beaten and scolded, the Taoist priest couldn't help but glance up at the young Taoist priest above who appeared to be watching the show. He couldn't help but wonder, "With a son like this, why spend so much money to hire these guys as guest elders? Isn't this ridiculous?"

"Mom, calm down. Their reaction actually shows that your money wasn't wasted. After all, their response was quite swift. If something really happens, it will definitely be useful."

Feng Bingwen descended from the sky and stood in front of the woman whose demeanor had become increasingly graceful.

Although several years had passed and his mother's appearance was not much different from what he remembered, her demeanor was indeed different from before.

"What do you mean it wasn't a waste of money? If I had arrived a moment later, they would have shot you down from the sky. Would I spend money to ruin my own son?"

Yu Huilian said irritably.

She wasn't surprised at all that her son had come down from the sky; she had long been mentally prepared.

She had noticed the changes in herself, her husband, and the unusual behavior of the elderly in her family, and she understood the reasons behind them.

"Madam, you think too highly of us!"

The Taoist priest, exuding a chilling aura, spoke somewhat awkwardly. He sensed the unintentional aura released by Feng Bingwen, and his legs almost gave way.

"Fellow Daoist, are you from the Netherworld Path?"

Feng Bingwen followed up with a smile and asked gently, showing no sign of being bothered by the hostility these guys had shown him.

"I wouldn't dare. I come from the Yin Soul Sect, and our sect's founding leader is a member of the Netherworld Path!"

The Taoist priest explained his origins.

"oh!"

Feng Bingwen nodded without any surprise. No matter what, the Netherworld Path was still one of the twelve sects of the Xuanmen. Even if its disciples were down on their luck, they would not be reduced to guarding other people's homes.

“What’s the point of talking to these blind fools? How long has it been since you’ve been back? Come with me and tell me what you’ve been through on this trip!”

Enraged by what had just happened, Yu Huilian showed no mercy, grabbing Feng Bingwen's sleeve and trying to pull him away.

"Hey, you can't really blame them entirely for this!"

While making excuses for his guards, Feng Bingwen followed the force of the movement.

Of all those present, only the Taoist priest interested him; as for the monk and the martial artist, there was no need to ask.