Notes on Longevity

Chapter 144 Of all the spring scenery in the world, only Jiangnan is truly beautiful.

As night fell and the mist dissipated, moonlight spilled onto the rooftops and empty fields of Zhoujia Village. The villagers, no longer in a state of panic, stood attentively, some pulling out benches from their houses to sit in rows of two or three. They gazed at another peak of Duqing Mountain, murmuring amongst themselves.

"Tell me, who is that Taoist priest who's with them? He's been with the mountain god all day."

"How would I know? But speaking of which, that fox demon was really powerful, and that Taoist priest seemed extraordinary as well. I think the Taoist priest with the mountain god is probably even more powerful than them. Otherwise, why would the mountain god have kept him for so long?"

"That's true. Hey, let's go ask him over."

Zhou Yanliu and the black-faced man carried She Li and Yang Shouren, who had been knocked unconscious by Dao Yisheng, while Zhou Ziping carried Xiao Changgong, who had turned back into a fox, back into the house. After settling them in, they came out and joined the other villagers, gazing at the mountain.

Someone asked him, "Black Face, do you know who that Taoist priest who was talking to the mountain god on the mountaintop is?"

The black-faced cat didn't answer, but instead transformed back into a black cat. Zhou Yanliu, who was following behind it, picked it up and said with a puzzled expression, "I don't know, but I feel that he is different from those other people."

Zhou Yanliu had met Ping An before. He could sense from Ping An's words that he was very different from She Li and the others, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He always felt that there was a kind of hazy feeling about him, something he couldn't quite see or explain.

Zhou Ziping stood behind Zhou Yanliu, a strange sadness in his aged face. "Perhaps the mountain god is telling Master Ping'an about his past again."

"What do you mean?" the man asked.

“When I was little, the mountain god told me a story, but he almost never told that story to anyone. Even Liu’er, who was close to the mountain god, had never heard it.”

As Zhou Ziping spoke, a tear quietly slid down his cheek.

"how do you know?"

"So many years have passed, have you forgotten too?"

Zhou Ziping looked at the man. He was also an old man, but his expression was like that of a child with childlike innocence.

"Didn't that white mist appear when I went up the mountain?"

The old man thought back and suddenly remembered, "Yes! Yes! I remember you cried after you came down the mountain that day. I think I asked you what was wrong, but you didn't say anything."

"I still feel sad and heartbroken when I think about that story."

"What story did the mountain god tell you?"

"That story."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the twenty-seventh year of the Mang Kingdom, on the second day of the spring of Yin, at dawn.

Green-clad woman dragged herself outside. She looked at Taihua, who was standing in front of her with a gourd on his back, and said weakly, "You said you were leaving?"

Taihua said somewhat awkwardly, "Yes."

"What about him?" Upon learning that Taihua was leaving, she thought of Daoyisheng, who was still unconscious. If she hadn't been injured and could have continued living, she would naturally have fulfilled Taihua's request. But she only had three months left. What if he didn't wake up during that time? Who would take care of him after she died?
"Don't worry. He'll wake up in a few days," Taihua explained to her.

The woman in green pressed on, "Then where are you going?"

Taihua thought for a moment and said, "I'm going to find someone. It might take some time, and I don't know how long."

"Understood." Green-clad was feeling dizzy and lightheaded, so she slowly sat down on the ground along the pillar.

Seeing her distressed appearance, Taihua took off the gourd from his body, shrunk it to its normal size, poured out a few pills, and handed them to her.

Green-clad woman stared blankly at the medicine in Taihua's hand, wanting to speak but unable to. She raised her head, her eyes blurry with tears, and said, "Tell me, if I hadn't left that place, if I hadn't left Grandma, would I be in this situation today?"

"Heavenly principles, destiny, and laws are all uncertain. Everything is both knowable and unknowable. The world is impermanent. You and I are all mortal beings. How can we possibly foresee what will happen after we die?"

Taihua seemed to be speaking to the woman in green, but in reality, he was speaking to himself. His excessive reliance on immortal techniques to glimpse the future had caused things to go against the original plan, altering what shouldn't have been and what he thought was already set in stone. And all of this, it seemed, he was the culprit.

I caused all of this myself. If I hadn't checked the outcome before bringing Daoyi down the mountain, perhaps none of this would have happened.

"This is a life-extending pill. It was given to me by another immortal when I left Kunlun. He said I should take it before my tribulation, so I could last as long as possible."

"I can't accept this," Green Robe said hastily upon hearing that it was for Taihua's tribulation. As a flower spirit, she understood better than humans what one would encounter during tribulation, and she couldn't accept such a thing.

Taihua placed the medicine in the green-clothed woman's hand and said with some regret, "Perhaps I shouldn't have brought him down the mountain, or perhaps I shouldn't have met him. I've indirectly harmed you. I'll find a way to save your life."

She wanted to get up and return the pill to him, but last night, she had practiced the method Taihua had given her all night. Although she could feel the effects, her body was still too weak. However, she didn't understand what Taihua meant by indirectly harming herself.

But she thought that if Taihua and Daoyi hadn't come down the mountain and come to Yu'an, she would have died at Yun Gong's hands yesterday.

"Keep this medicine safe. After three months, take one pill every two weeks. As for how long you can live in the end, that depends on yourself."

Taihua paused after speaking, then continued, "I've been troubling you these past few days. He's simple-minded and naive. Although his cultivation is higher than yours, he's sometimes as childlike as you are. I hope you can guide him more."

Knowing she couldn't refuse, the woman in green looked at Taihua and slowly said, "I understand. I'll accept the pill. Thank you, Daoist Master."

Taihua nodded, breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to leave, but Green Robe called him back.

"Please wait a moment, Taoist priest."

Taihua turned around upon hearing the voice, looked at the woman in green with a puzzled expression, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

The man in green took a breath, put away the pills, and struggled to his feet. He leaned against a pillar and said, "If you are looking for someone and happen to pass through Jiangnan, could you please pass on a message for me?"

Taihua asked, "What did you say?"

"Linglong entered the world, his feet traversed the land, and he saw all the spring colors, but only in Jiangnan was the scenery truly beautiful."

(End of this chapter)