Notes on Longevity

Chapter 141 The pitiful Taoist priest Yun Gong, with a heart full of compassion, Taihua
"Sister." The moment Yingchun landed on the green-clad woman, Daoyisheng also pulled the branches that his tree arm had transformed into from her body.

"Alright, you can go now." The man in green glanced at Dao Yisheng, whose expression seemed a bit off, and breathed a sigh of relief. He thought to himself, "Luckily, this guy acted in time, otherwise that Taoist priest would have taken my inner core. But why does this guy look so unpleasant?"

After retrieving the branch, Dao Yisheng didn't care whether the woman in green was watching him. What he was worried about now was the old Taoist priest in front of them.

Dao Yisheng clearly sensed something was amiss when he broke the magic disc earlier. Compared to the magic discs of other Daoists and Taihua, the one was indeed rather strange.

The moment the Falun shattered, a chill spread rapidly from the branches into my body. It felt like a stream of icy water from melting snow falling on the back of my neck in the dead of winter, sending shivers down my spine.

Seeing Dao Yisheng's furrowed brows, Green Robe suddenly sensed something was amiss. She grabbed the "Welcoming Spring" from her shoulder and stared intently at Yun Gong.

Standing opposite the two, Yun Gong laughed loudly at their panicked expressions: "I never expected that this old Taoist would have such an unexpected gain on this trip. It's as if the heavens are helping me to become an immortal."

Cold, very cold.

Even though it was already warm spring, Dao Yisheng felt as if he were naked in the freezing cold of winter.

A cold wind blew, cutting and scratching his skin, leaving streaks of blood. Starting from his face, bright red blood gushed out.

The cold wind cut into every inch of his skin, leaving trails of blood wherever it passed. Even the wooden bracelet Taihua had left him on his wrist to track him was slashed to pieces and eventually turned into a wisp of white smoke and dissipated.

Taihua, who was talking to the Wei family father and son, noticed this as he saw the white smoke bursting out of the gourd. So he abandoned them and headed straight out of the city.

Using the magic he learned from the immortals, he looked at something in his mind, and in the end he only saw a scholar's robe stained with blood and a blind young man.

He gritted his teeth, his face contorted with rage, and sprinted wildly toward the edge of the city.

Yun Gong laughed loudly, looking at Dao Yisheng, who was covered in blood and unsteady on his feet, and said, "Consider yourselves as stepping stones on my path to immortality. I will remember you forever."

After saying that, he ran towards Green Robe and Dao Yisheng.

He also flicked the whisk in his hand, and a new dharma disc formed again in front of him.

The rotating sixty-four hexagrams divination disc was gently pushed by his palm as he rushed forward. It passed through the green-clad body at an extremely fast speed before it could react, and then crashed into Dao Yisheng.

"boom!"

With a loud crash, the woman in green, along with the forsythia in her hand, collapsed to the ground. Blood flowed continuously from her body, and the forsythia was cut into countless tiny fragments by the magic disc that had pierced through her. These fragments were scattered on the ground by the spring breeze, landing beside the woman in green.

She felt her eyes were heavy, and they slowly drooped uncontrollably. Through her blurry vision, she saw Yun Gong slowly walk to her side and squat down. He reached out and touched her head, but at that moment, another hand suddenly appeared.

He gripped Yun Gong's wrist tightly.

Yun Gong raised his head in confusion, feeling very curious. Dao Yisheng had clearly been hit by his own magic disc and was also lying on the ground, so what was holding his wrist?

"Taihua!"

He screamed in terror and tried to break free from Taihua's grip on his wrist, but he found that no matter how hard he tried, it was no use; instead, Taihua's grip tightened.

"What do you want to do? These two are monsters, do you think you can save them?"

Yun Gong stared at Tai Hua, whose expression was extremely cold, as if he were seeing the same way he had looked when they first met. He shouted angrily.

However, Taihua remained unmoved and kicked Yun Gong directly in the chest, sending him flying several meters away.

He stood up, glanced back at Dao Yisheng who was lying on the ground, and then stared at Yun Gong with murderous intent.

The kick had landed on Yun Gong's chest. He lay on the ground, feeling his heart pounding wildly, and sensing Tai Hua's unhurried footsteps as he walked towards him.

That sword was very sharp; it was said to have been left behind by an ancient immortal from ancient times, and it had no name.

It has slain countless demons and monsters, and its blood has been stained with the blood of many immortals and gods. And the gourd on its back is called the Heaven-Reversing Gourd, which is said to have been left behind by another ancient immortal before a great war in the Six Realms destroyed the world.

He watched as Taihua carried the gourd on his back, held the sword upside down in his hand, his anger and murderous intent palpable, pointing the sword tip at his neck, coldly looking down at him.

The sword fell quickly.

It slammed down hard on his neck.
As the sword fell, he closed his eyes, and in his heart he roared:

I can not be reconciled!

I don't know!

I don't understand it at all!

Why is it that a Taoist priest, banished from the mountain by an immortal and living in disgrace, is able to cultivate the art of immortality, while I can only live forever, not remain young?
Over a hundred years ago, he learned magic from an immortal and descended the mountain in high spirits. Although he had learned the art of longevity, he had not yet attained the method of immortality. However, as long as he could live, he believed that one day he would surely comprehend the method of immortality on his own. Until not long after, he met Taihua again.

He stared blankly at Taihua, who looked just as he had always, and stroked his own aging face. He cried out to Taihua, "Weren't you banished from the mountain by the immortals?"

"Didn't you learn nothing?"

"But why are you still the same as before?"

"Are you going to speak?"

"why?"

He recalled his heart-wrenching cries that day, his wildly pounding heart aching terribly. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

After that day, he was determined to surpass Taihua, regarding Taihua as his mortal enemy, using this as motivation. But in the end, he realized that no matter how much he cultivated, he no longer had the ambition to seek immortality and longevity that he had when he first went up the mountain, nor did he have the courage to surpass Taihua.

He could only stay in the mountains, spending his days in tears, eating the offerings and dry rations sent by the villagers who regarded him as an immortal.

From then on, he lived in the shadow of Taihua. He became despondent, collapsed in the mountains, and awaited death, which he knew never would come. Until one day, he encountered a squirrel on the verge of transformation.
"Is he dead?"

On Duqing Mountain, Ping An sat on the ground, his brows furrowed, biting his lip, asking the ancient tree in front of him that blocked out the sky.

At the same time, a pang of sadness welled up in his heart, not towards himself and Green Robe in His story, but towards Yun Gong.

He didn't know why, but he was inexplicably sad.

"He's not dead." Dao Yisheng's tree-like face was filled with worry, and he was also heartbroken for Yun Gong.

"What happened to him later?" Ping An asked with a sigh.

“Taihua planted the sword in the ground and then let him go,” Daoyisheng replied.

"Is he pitiful?" Ping An asked again.

Dao Yisheng chuckled bitterly, "More than that."

"And what about you?" Ping An asked, head bowed in thought.

"After Taihua let him go, he first came to check on my injuries. I knew I was badly injured, but Yun Gong couldn't kill me in one blow, so I sent him to check on Green Robe first."

Dao Yisheng's tone was full of sighs for that past, as if he had endless sorrow.

(End of this chapter)