Notes on Longevity

Chapter 120 Autumn wind sweeps across the mountains, suddenly a cat's meow is heard.
The sun was setting in the west, and there happened to be a mountain right in front of us.

After a day's journey, Ping An and his group passed through a withered forest and reached the official road, before turning onto a mountain path.

The journey to Huangzhou involves passing through three cities and five towns. Traveling along the official road would mean encountering many officials from other regions heading to the capital, or messengers delivering intelligence and messages. While these encounters wouldn't cause any real trouble, they would slow down the journey. Leaving the official road and taking the mountain paths, however, would be both convenient and faster. Although the mountain paths were steep and difficult to traverse, they were a shortcut.

Furthermore, the mountain scenery is pleasant, and it's convenient to rest when you're tired from hiking. Looking at the mountain scenery and listening to the flowing water can make you feel more relaxed.

The only inconvenience is that it's too dark in the mountains, and you can't see the road clearly. Although the leaves fall from the trees in the mountains in autumn, the moonlight isn't always full or bright.

"After crossing this mountain, continue forward and you will pass through a village. After traveling several dozen miles, you will reach Qumu Town, one of the three cities and five towns."

Ping An heard this from Yang Shouren as he used magic to light the firewood Yang had gathered. Most of this firewood was from Xiao Changgong, who had been driven up the trees by She Li to cut off branches that were hindering the trees' growth.

These branches are mostly thin and show signs of being eaten by tree insects or bored. Leaving these branches on the tree for a long time will not only affect its growth but will also destroy the ancient tree that has finally grown. They are perfect for starting fires.

Three fires rose in a triangle, and four people surrounded them, each busy with their own tasks or playing around.

Ping An and Yang Shouren were relatively quiet.

Ping An continued reading by the firelight, while Yang Shouren wiped the blade of his sword with the corner of his robe. The firelight reflected off the sword, casting its glow onto Yang Shouren's face as he looked at the sword. The scene gave them a distinctly chivalrous air.

Across from them, Xiao Changgong glared angrily at She Li, whose face was covered in bruises, all caused by She Li.

This afternoon, Xiao Changgong patted She Li on the head. This angered She Li greatly; asking him questions and teasing him was one thing, but to actually hit him was quite another. Naturally, She Li couldn't tolerate this, so he chased after Xiao Changgong and beat him all the way.

They had threatened before, but it was all just for show, a show of intimidation; they hadn't actually laid a hand on anyone. This time, however, they really did it.

She Li ignored Xiao Changgong's anger and quietly looked at Ping An.

This must be the first time he's looked at Ping An so closely since they met. Before, their meetings were either at night or Ping An was unwell, so he couldn't see him clearly.

Now, by the firelight, he looked at Ping An's somewhat melancholy face, idly lost in thought, wondering: "Do you think my junior brother is happy or unhappy that he's reading so intently?"

He didn't know; perhaps he was happy. Or perhaps he wasn't.

He sighed softly, too lazy to think about it anymore. He thought to himself: If it were me, I wouldn't be happy. Who wants to spend all day surrounded by books? That would be so boring!

Ping An looked at the scriptures, pondering the question: This journey to Penglai is a thousand miles long; who knows what I will encounter along the way?

When he followed his master, they would always go into the mountains whenever they encountered one. This was because many mountains were inhabited by hermits who cultivated the Tao, and these hermits were older, had experienced more of the world, and had gained more understanding than he had. If he had any doubts, he could usually get answers from them.

Ping An wondered if he should also follow this path of encountering mountains and venturing into them. But that would make the journey much longer and take much longer, and if so, when would he ever reach Penglai?

As night deepened, everyone grew sleepy.

She Li sat in meditation and entered a meditative state, her mind and spirit both at rest.

Xiao Changgong's sleeping posture was rather peculiar.

He transformed into a red fox, resting his feet on She Li's calves as she sat cross-legged, his head facing the fire, and slept on his back.

Yang Shouren, on the other hand, slept leaning against a tree, holding his sword.

Only Ping An remained engrossed in her book. The autumn wind swept across the mountains, and the moon hid behind the clouds.

Just as the firewood went out, a cat's meow was heard.

Ping An looked up and frowned at the sound. He looked at the extinguished but not completely burned firewood and tried to relight it with magic, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it going. Seeing that everyone was asleep and the fire wouldn't light, and feeling sleepy himself, he simply put the scriptures back in the box.

Suddenly, a cat appeared out of nowhere and darted past Ping An. Ping An was startled by the sudden appearance of the cat.

The cat was entirely black, except for its two yellow eyes with white pupils, which looked rather strange.

It crossed the safe passage and came to the extinguished fire. It lowered its body slightly and raised one hind leg. Then it arched its body, pulled its head back, and finally shook its body, quickly shaking its head, lazily stretching out its body.

After finishing everything, it turned to look behind it. When it saw Ping An looking at it as well, it turned around, lowered its eyelids slightly, tilted its black head, and looked at Ping An with great curiosity.

Ping An also looked at the black cat with curiosity, wondering how there could be a cat in these mountains. But then he thought about it and realized that there was a village below the mountain. And judging from the cat's clean and smooth fur, it was probably a domestic cat, and it must have run away from someone's house.

He thought, "We'll definitely pass through the village as we go down the mountain. The little guy looks quite cute, and he's well-fed and plump. His owner would be so heartbroken if he got lost."

Cats don't like people. So he got up and slowly, carefully, walked towards him, afraid that any sudden movement would startle it.

And this cat was very intelligent. When it saw Ping An walking towards it, it didn't hide or avoid him, but instead walked towards Ping An in a coquettish manner.

Ping An squatted on the ground, and the black cat rubbed its head against his palm, making Ping An feel ticklish.

Seeing that the black cat wasn't afraid of strangers, he felt an urge to hug it.

But this time the black cat wouldn't let it. Seeing that Ping An was about to hug it, it quickly lowered its body to avoid it.

Ping An found it strange that he could touch her but not hug her.

So he withdrew his hand, but the black cat stretched its head out again.

How strange. Ping An chuckled to himself.

Suddenly, an autumn wind blew by, rushing towards Ping An and carrying with it the ashes that had fallen from the burning firewood.

Ashes blurred Ping An's vision, so he shielded his eyes with his hand. Once the wind died down, he lowered his hand, wanting to check on the black cat. But he couldn't find him anywhere.

He got up and dusted himself off. After the cat disappeared, drowsiness returned. He wanted to go back and lean against the tree to sleep, but then he heard the black cat meow again.

The sound was somewhat sharp, yet gentle. Ping An looked in the direction from which the sound came and saw the black cat standing upright, its two paws scratching incessantly at the tree trunk, leaving fine scratches on the tree.

Ping An smiled slightly upon seeing this. He suddenly remembered that he had once passed by a Taoist temple where they kept a cat. It was a grayish-blue tabby, though. It also liked to stand upright and scratch at the tree trunk.

The black cat stopped what it was doing, suddenly looked to one side, then glanced at Ping An, before its paws touched the ground and it slowly walked in the opposite direction from Ping An.

Seeing this, Ping An also looked in that direction, which was the way down the mountain, and the village was below the mountain.

The black cat suddenly cried out in surprise as it walked, then quickly turned and ran towards Ping An. Ping An frowned upon hearing the sound.

(End of this chapter)