Notes on Longevity

Chapter 171 Taihua, let Yisheng go, and under the moonlight, speak frankly about the past and present.

"In terms of magical power, mortals are naturally no match for you; but if we're talking about the unpredictability of the human heart, you might not be a match for humans."

Taihua's words made Dao Yisheng hesitate about everything he was thinking. Before, he had mostly heard about the joys and sorrows of human life from Taihua, but these words were the first time Dao Yisheng had heard them spoken by him. This gave him a new perspective on humanity.

Seeing that Dao Yisheng remained silent, Taihua added, "So, are you still going to travel alone?"

Dao Yisheng remained silent, wavering in his heart, which was exactly what Taihua wanted to see. In truth, he didn't want Dao Yisheng to leave him; even if he couldn't travel the mortal realm, he had ways to help Dao Yisheng climb to a higher level. However, Dao Yisheng now had his own ideas, and he couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he could only let him be. But before that, he still wanted to try to persuade him to stay one last time.

Dao Yisheng stood there, sometimes looking down in thought, sometimes gazing at the wooden house in the sea of ​​flowers. He thought about many things and finally gave his answer: "I think I still have to go."

Taihua wanted to question him, but after thinking about it, he decided to let it go. Since he had already made up his mind, he would grant his wish.

Soon, Dao Yisheng continued to explain to Taihua: "Before you came back, I also talked a lot with the girl in green. Although I may not be able to deal with what you said right now, didn't you say before that I have a long future ahead of me? In that case, why don't I leave you and try to go out and see the world on my own?"

“Before I attained human form, I always stayed by your side, and even after I attained human form, I still did. You taught me a lot, but there are some things I just don’t understand. You say that everything in the world is impermanent and can be changed, but sometimes you say that fate is predetermined and cannot be altered. And your gourd, it’s clearly very light and empty, yet you can always pour water out of it; but since it’s water, it tastes like strong wine, very intoxicating. Sometimes I don’t even know if you’re human anymore.”

"Because of these things?" Taihua was a little confused this time. He didn't understand what Daoyisheng meant by these things, but what he said next made him understand completely.

All I heard him say was, "And also, I understand what you meant when you told me before that one cannot know hardship without experiencing poverty, and one is naive without worldly affairs."

"You're just calling me stupid!"

As Dao Yisheng spoke, his tone became somewhat aggrieved.

"If that's the case, why do you keep me by your side all this time? You just said that people's hearts are unpredictable, but if I don't experience it myself and always stay under your protection, how can I see these things clearly? Even if one day you can make me stronger, if I'm still the same as before today, then what's the point of all the cultivation I've done?"

“I have heard you speak of the Daoist scriptures. The Daoist scriptures say that the Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things; man follows the earth, the earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows nature.”

"All things in the world complement each other, and everything proceeds naturally. But if I stay by your side all the time, what kind of natural order is that?"

Dao Yisheng's words touched Taihua's heart somewhat, making him think that perhaps Dao Yisheng was right. Even if Dao Yisheng stayed by his side, how much could he really do for him? Moreover, his original intention in coming down the mountain this time was to let him experience the affairs of the human world, but now it had turned out like this. Although he had the Water Mirror, which could see into all things under heaven, hadn't he made a mistake before?
Since I don't have a foolproof plan to protect him, it's better to let go and let him travel the world on his own. In this way, his experiences will help him grow. Even if he doesn't become an immortal, he can at least become a demon god of a region, protecting the people there, or he can live in seclusion in the mountains and continue to cultivate the Great Dao.

Taihua was completely moved, and from Daoyisheng's words today, he could tell that he was growing. If he didn't let go now, it might backfire and harm him.

He suddenly smiled and reached out a hand to stroke his head, but Dao Yisheng instinctively flinched. Seeing this, Taihua's outstretched hand froze in mid-air. At that moment, his heart was filled with mixed emotions—sadness, joy, but mostly reluctance.

After all, the two had sat in front of the Izumo Temple for hundreds of years, exchanging countless words over those years. His feelings for Dao Yisheng had long since transcended those of a companion or fellow Daoist; they were now a close friend. A true friend to whom he could entrust his life and death.

Having been deep in the mountains for thousands of years, his myriad emotions were beyond words, and at this moment he no longer knew what to say. He could only retract what he had extended.

Overwhelmed with emotion, all his unspoken words boiled down to one question: "So, are you still going back to Chuyun Temple?"

Dao Yisheng laughed and hugged Taihua again: "If I don't go back to Chuyun Temple, where will I go?"

After he finished speaking, there was complete silence. After a moment, the two burst into laughter. Taihua pointed at Daoyisheng and said, "Let me tell you, after I go back this time, I will stay in Chuyun Temple and not go anywhere else. I will just wait for you to come back."

Dao Yisheng smiled as well, and loudly replied, "Alright! You wait! Once I've cultivated the Great Dao, I'll definitely have a fight with you, otherwise I won't know how powerful I really am!"

“Alright,” Taihua grinned from ear to ear. He raised the hand holding the sword and put his arm around Dao Yisheng’s shoulders. “If you dare to lie to me and not come back, I’ll search the whole world for you. When I find you, I’ll give you a good beating first.”

"Beat me up?" Dao Yisheng sneered. "Do you remember that the rules of the Daoist sect say that one should not hurt others at will? Do you dare to break the rules?"

"What's there to be afraid of? I'll just say that I encountered a monster harming people while traveling, and I intervened to stop it." Taihua showed no fear of the sect rules and continued to laugh and talk.

"Oh, then you've broken two rules at once. Monks can't lie. You're the one who taught me that."

The two chatted and laughed among the trees, having a wonderful time, but such moments are too short, and in the blink of an eye, it was already night.

At dinner, Green Robe reheated the food she hadn't eaten at lunch. In the afternoon, Green Robe went out again and bought some white silk, along with some fresh fruits and vegetables, so there were more dishes for dinner. After all, with Taihua coming along, there naturally had to be a couple more dishes.

However, Taihua did not eat during the meal, citing his abstinence from grains, which made Green Robe quite embarrassed. Fortunately, Dao Yisheng was in a good mood because Taihua agreed to let him travel alone. In addition, he had not eaten or drunk anything today due to his previous injury, so he ate almost all the food.

Looking at Taihua sitting in meditation at the door, and then at Daoyisheng, whose belly was round and full, the green-clothed woman's expression changed from worry to a smile.

Dao Yisheng patted his stomach, which was almost full of food, burped, and scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. He looked at the green-clad woman who hadn't eaten much and said awkwardly, "I haven't eaten anything all day. I'm really sorry."

Green Robe could see that Dao Yisheng was happy, so she quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks and said with a smile, "It's alright, I've finished eating too. After I finish cleaning up here, I'll go to dye the clothes and make some."

Upon hearing this, Dao Yisheng looked towards the dark sky outside the door, then turned to the woman in green and said, "It's already late today, how about tomorrow?"

The woman in green continued to smile, but she ignored Dao Yisheng's words and began clearing away the dishes. However, before finishing, she said, "It's alright. Using the night to make the dye allows us to draw upon the essence of the moon. The finished product will serve as a kind of robe. Although it's useless to us spirits, it will be very beneficial to mortals." Dao Yisheng was puzzled. "Did you make all the clothes you made before this way?"

"Not all of them," Green-clad replied, setting aside the cleaned dishes. "The three items sent out today, except for the one given to my mother-in-law, were all done this way."

Dao Yisheng was even more confused upon hearing this. Judging from the time he accompanied Green Robe to deliver clothes today, Green Robe's relationship with her mother-in-law should be better than that of others. Why was it that her mother-in-law did not do it this way?

Green Robe also saw the doubt in Dao Yisheng's heart, so she explained, "Apart from the old woman, the other two are wealthy people. No one would have any ill intentions towards them wearing these clothes. But the old woman is just an ordinary person. Moreover, her granddaughter is a servant in someone else's house. If I make the clothes that the old woman gave to her granddaughter into a ceremonial robe, not to mention the master's family, even if other servants find out, how will they treat her?"

Dao Yisheng nodded upon hearing this, but what he was thinking was not these things. Instead, he felt that what the woman in green said was somewhat similar to what Taihua had said, both of them talking about how unpredictable people's hearts are.

Seeing that Dao Yisheng seemed to be thinking about something, Green Robe stopped talking and turned to wash the dishes. After everything was done, Green Robe finally took out the silk she had bought. The long wooden table at the entrance of the wooden house was used again.

Dao Yisheng watched as she took out a piece of silk, unsure of what she was going to do. So he and Taihua stood to the side and watched her lay the silk flat on the wooden table. Then they saw Green Robe put some dried herbs into a wooden basin. After that, they saw Green Robe return to the house and put the kneaded glutinous rice dough into a steamer.

Dao Yisheng looked at Taihua with a puzzled expression as he watched the green-clad figure's movements and asked, "Is making clothes this complicated?"

Taihua smiled upon hearing this: "It's alright, you can come back to the temple with me first, and I'll find someone to teach you how to do it then."

Dao Yisheng hissed inwardly, then glared fiercely at Taihua, "I already find this troublesome, and you still find someone to teach me how to do it? Are you alright?"

“You don’t understand. Everything in this world is a form of cultivation. Eating, sleeping, making clothes—all of these are forms of cultivation.” Taihua glanced at Daoyisheng as he said this. “Didn’t you just say today that the Tao follows nature? What, you think it’s too much trouble and want to back out?”

Dao Yisheng remained silent, and Taihua continued, "Then there's no point in you wandering around like this. You might as well come back with me, or I can go with you."

Dao Yisheng exhaled heavily through his nose, then walked straight into the wooden house, ignoring Taihua.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Dao Yisheng entered the house and came to the green-clad woman who had just finished using magic to start a fire in the steamer. She was a little surprised to hear Dao Yisheng's words, and asked with a frown, "What do you mean?"

Dao Yi craned his neck to glance back, then said disdainfully to Tai Hua, "Someone said that eating, sleeping, and making clothes are all forms of cultivation." He then looked back at the woman in green and smiled, "I'm just curious about how clothes are made. Can you teach me?"

Upon hearing this, Lvyi still frowned. She looked towards Taihua outside the door, and saw him nod in acknowledgment before smiling and saying, "Okay."

However, just as she finished speaking, Taihua outside the door tapped the wooden table leg with his sword. The two people inside looked over at the sound and saw him using the scabbard to lift one side of the white silk, seemingly looking at something.

Dao Yisheng said speechlessly, "Really. When did he become like this?"

After saying that, he turned to look at the woman in green, to see if there was anything he could do to help.

However, when he turned around, the man in green seemed to look a little unwell, so he quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

The woman in green shook her head and forced a smile: "It's alright. Here's what we'll do: you watch the fire for a bit, and put it out in about fifteen minutes. Then I'll go get some dye."

After saying that, the woman in green left the room, disappearing without a trace. Taihua, standing at the door, watched her with a mocking expression, as if waiting for him to embarrass himself.

Dao Yisheng snorted coldly, turned his head to look at the steamer where white smoke was slowly rising, and deliberately spoke loudly: "It's just watching the fire, right? I don't expect it to be able to carry fire!"

Dao Yisheng grew angrier the more he thought about Taihua's expression, so he started making faces at Taihua. When Taihua saw Dao Yisheng doing this, he rolled his eyes, turned around, and left. Now, Dao Yisheng was the only one left in the wooden house.

Dao Yisheng watched the two people leave one after the other, feeling somewhat puzzled, but he didn't think much of it. So, he stared intently at the flames burning without any firewood under the steamer.

"Immortal Master Taihua." In the sea of ​​flowers behind the wooden house, a woman in green bowed to Taihua, who held a silver sword, under the moonlight.

Taihua didn't speak, but sighed to calm his anger. Then he said something that left the green-clad woman speechless and incredulous: "I know that you and Daoyi were born in Jiangnan."

"You know?" Green-clad woman frowned as she looked at Taihua, her heart filled with a turbulent mix of emotions that she couldn't stop talking about.

"I also know what happened to Dao Yisheng after he left Jiangnan, and how he got to Chuyun Mountain." Taihua's words made Green Robe feel a sense of powerless suffocation.

"Therefore, I can understand why you used the excuse of making clothes to make him stay temporarily."

Upon hearing this, the woman in green turned her head away, her breath began to sob, and tears welled up in her eyes, yet she refused to let them fall.

“I knew I was going to die, and I knew he was the one I was looking for. Now I also understand why you grabbed him and tried to leave as soon as you came back. Was it because you were afraid he would suddenly remember me?”

The woman in green turned her head, her voice choked with sobs as she looked at Taihua with a mixture of respect and hatred.

(End of this chapter)