Notes on Longevity

Chapter 173 You are not of this mortal realm, but rather a celestial spirit official.

Dao Yisheng remembered these words. In fact, he had some doubts at the time, wondering if the woman in green was speaking to him. However, the woman in green denied it.

“I remember, I remember asking you if you were talking about me. But you said no, and then you told me a story.”

Green Robe actually wanted to admit it, but considering that she didn't have much time left, she could only tell Dao Yisheng the story: "Actually, it's not a story, it's true."

Before Dao Yisheng could speak, the woman in green continued, "The winter my grandmother rescued me, it snowed heavily. Besides rescuing me, my grandmother also took in a woman. And that woman was Miss Bai."

Dao Yisheng listened with a sense of loss, unsure of what to say. After a moment, he suddenly asked, "What became of them?"

Upon hearing this, the girl in green's pretty face showed a mixture of sadness and sorrow, and a deep melancholy. "Later, Miss Bai stayed in the bustling Jiangnan region, while the scholar Sun Changyue died far from home."

The reason why Green Robe told this story was probably because she and Dao Yisheng had some similarities with them, except that the people who died were the opposite.

In the story, it is Sun Changyue who dies, but outside the story, it is Green Robe who dies. It is precisely because of this that Green Robe wants to return to Jiangnan, to return to her roots.

Like Dao Yisheng, Lü Yi had also heard many stories from his grandmother, so he understood that the people in the stories could not return to their hometowns, while people outside the stories would ask them if they ever returned home or if they ever returned to their roots.

Of course she wanted to.

When Dao Yisheng heard the answer given by Green Robe, he frowned, unable to think of any way to save her. Finally, he turned his gaze to Taihua.

Taihua stood aside and watched the two quietly. Since some things had already happened, he couldn't stop them, so he could only wait and see.

However, Dao Yisheng now saw a look of helplessness in his eyes as he tried to save Green Robe. "Taihua, I know you are very powerful. Do you have a way to save her?"

But he saw Taihua shake his head and then say, "I already examined her when you were injured and unconscious. All her internal organs are shattered, and even her inner core is on the verge of breaking. I can't do anything about it."

Dao Yisheng was struck dumb by these words. He looked at Dao Yisheng and the man in green in disbelief. "How could this be?"

Before he overheard Taihua and Green Robe's conversation tonight, all he wanted to do was travel the world alone. But now, he knew everything. Someone he once knew but for some reason had forgotten was right beside him, right in front of him. But she was about to die.

Taihua was the most powerful person he had ever met, but now he was powerless to help him. A sense of helplessness welled up in his heart, as if he wanted to do everything he could to save people but was unable to. This made him stand there blankly with his body slightly bent, like a walking corpse that had lost its soul.

"Oh, right," Dao Yisheng suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly asked Taihua, "You once studied Taoism on Kunlun Mountain, and your teacher was the Queen Mother of the West. I remember you said that she is the goddess who controls death. In that case, do you think you could take Green Robe to Kunlun Mountain to see the Queen Mother of the West and ask her to save Green Robe?"

Upon hearing this, Taihua looked troubled. "Although my immortal master is the Queen Mother of the West, she may not necessarily be willing to save Green Robe."

Taihua's words were like a thunderclap, completely destroying Daoyisheng's last hope.

However, after a moment of silence, Taihua said, "I remember that the Queen Mother of the West has an elixir of immortality. I wonder if it would be useful for injuries like Green Robe's."

Dao Yisheng, who had already given up hope, hurriedly approached Taihua and said excitedly, "If it's an elixir of immortality, how could it be useless? Come on, take us there now."

As he spoke, he grabbed Taihua's arm and started to walk towards the direction of Kunlun Mountain, but Taihua remained unmoved.

Seeing this, Dao Yisheng asked in confusion, "Why aren't you leaving?"

Taihua sighed deeply: "But have you thought about it? Even if we go, will the Queen Mother of the West see us? Will she give us the medicine?"

Dao Yisheng didn't care about any of that. He just said, "We'll only know if we go there."

However, Taihua still refused to move. Seeing this, the woman in green quickly stepped forward to separate the two and then spoke to Dao Yisheng, trying to smooth things over for Taihua: "Perhaps Immortal Taihua is right. We may not be able to see him even if we go. I know my fate is sealed. After all, some things are destined to happen. If we force it, we might even implicate Immortal Taihua."

"But what will you do if you don't go?" Dao Yisheng looked at the woman in green with confusion. She clearly had a way and an opportunity to save her, so why didn't she go?
"Although Green Robe also wants to continue living, I have things I like, and I haven't finished reading about Yu'an. But this is Green Robe's fate. Since I am destined to live eight feet, why should I seek that impossible ten feet?" Green Robe said, looking at Dao Yisheng in front of her and silently shaking her head. Although she said this, how could she not want to live? However, she remembered the scenes that appeared in the water mirror just now.

She had heard her grandmother say that the Kunlun Mountains were covered in snow all year round and that the mountain roads were rugged and difficult to travel. The mountain she saw in the water mirror might be the Kunlun Mountains.

She didn't want them to go to Kunlun Mountain, and she didn't want to see the Immortal Taihua become like that. She especially didn't want them to search for her, who had been dead for a thousand years, for reasons unknown. This was a thought she had to accept despite wanting to live.

Upon hearing Green Robe's words, Dao Yisheng turned and walked towards the sea of ​​flowers in front of the wooden house, his heart filled with despair. Green Robe and Taihua followed behind, fearing he might do something unimaginable or uncontrollable. However, they were more worried that his silence might cause his old wounds to heal and reopen old wounds.

However, none of their worries came true. He stood before the sea of ​​flowers, lost in thought. The two exchanged a glance, and finally, the woman in green understood the unspoken words Taihua had left unsaid.

She came to Dao Yisheng's side and stood with him, looking down at the roots of the flowers or at the waning moon in the sky.

Finally, Dao Yisheng couldn't help but ask, "Are you really not going?"

"Actually, I wanted to go."

The green-clad man's words saddened Dao Yi, and he asked again, "If you want to go, why don't you go?" "Because, in this world, the one thing that is never lacking is life and death."

"why?"

"Because Grandma said that after a person dies, a star will light up in the sky. That means the dead person has gone to heaven and lives in the hearts of their loved ones. Grandma also said that if someone dies today, a new person will come into this world today or tomorrow."

"The old woman I met in Yu'an City also said that those who are kind-hearted and clean will go to the Yama's Palace after death, drink a bowl of Meng Po soup, cross the Naihe Bridge, and be reincarnated. Although some people forget everything after drinking Meng Po soup, others vaguely remember some things from their past lives. So, when some people leave this world, others will come back, but many people don't remember."

After the woman in green finished speaking, Dao Yisheng fell silent. After a long while, he sadly asked, "Will you remember me?"

The woman in green fell silent.

Dao Yisheng looked at the woman in green with a wry smile: "I'm not dead, but it's still the same. I don't remember anything."

“I know you’re trying to comfort me, and I know you also want to live, and I want you to live too. Because I want to know how we met, and how I ended up leaving Jiangnan. I also want to know what happened after I left Jiangnan, why I don’t remember, and why I ended up at Chuyun Temple.”

Upon hearing this, Green Robe chuckled softly. Dao Yisheng looked at her in confusion, then saw her wipe away the tears on her face, raise her head, and slowly walk into the sea of ​​flowers.

The woman in green walked into the sea of ​​flowers, then turned around and waved to Dao Yisheng with a smile, signaling him to come over.

Although Dao Yisheng didn't understand, he still walked over, full of confusion.

In the moonlit night, before a wooden house lit by candlelight, Green Robe and Dao Yisheng walked one after the other through a sea of ​​flowers. Neither spoke, they simply walked back and forth in silence several times. After an unknown amount of time, Green Robe slowed her already deliberate pace and began to speak:
“After being rescued by my grandmother hundreds of years ago, I have lived with her ever since.”

"We live on the mountain between the misty Jiangnan and the bustling Jiangnan in the four directions of Jiangnan."

"There's a dilapidated courtyard on the mountain, filled with flowers and plants planted by my grandmother. And in the center of the courtyard stands a sycamore tree that's hundreds of years old."

Nestled amidst verdant green hills, a little girl of about five or six years old was being led by a dwarf, hunched-over old woman, who leaned on a short cane in her other hand. They walked through every part of the courtyard, looking at every corner, and finally arrived at the center of the courtyard.

The dwarf old woman, holding the little girl's hand, raised her cane and pointed to the thick, tall, and beautiful sycamore tree in front of them, saying, "This is the best-growing and most spiritual tree in our yard, and in the whole mountain."

"Spiritual energy? What's that?" The little girl's babbling made the dwarf old woman smile indulgently. She released the little girl's hand, gently stroked her head, and said with a smile, "Spiritual energy is something that transcends oneself and can completely absorb the invisible power flowing between heaven and earth. Those who are rich in spiritual energy can cultivate intelligence, and after hundreds of years of cultivation, they can breathe in harmony with the sun and moon, and transform into a human or something else. Those who cultivate into a human are generally called demons, while those who do not are called monsters."

"Grandma, how many years have I cultivated? Am I a demon?" the little girl asked, puzzled.

The dwarf old woman continued to smile, utterly delighted by the little girl's words and her petite, adorable appearance. "How could you be a demon, child?"

The little girl was even more confused. "Grandma, you just said that anyone who cultivates a human body is a demon. How come you're saying I'm not one now?"

The little girl pouted, which made her even more adorable. She quickly explained, "Didn't I say they're usually called demons?"

The little girl stared blankly at the dwarf old woman, waiting for her to continue. The old woman, not wanting to disappoint the little girl, continued explaining, "Besides demons and monsters, there are three other types classified as demons: *Chi*, *Mei*, and *Wangliang*. *Chi* are demons and ghosts of the mountains and forests, resembling dragons, who like to harm people; *Mei* are mostly fox spirits, yet different from foxes, often capable of transformation, bewitching hearts, enjoying toying with people, and devouring their spirits; *Wangliang* are water spirits, mostly drowned, their bodies resembling those of a three-year-old child, reddish-black in color, often causing trouble in the water, and people call them water ghosts. But this is not all."

"Then what am I?" The little girl couldn't help but ask curiously after the dwarf old woman had talked for so long without explaining what she was.

The dwarf old woman didn't rush to speak, but gently patted her head and smiled happily: "You are not of this world, you must be a celestial spirit official."

The little girl couldn't understand anything; she just hung her head, lost in thought.

Seeing this, the dwarf old woman seemed to realize that she was just a child, and quickly lowered her hunched body even further. Her white hair and wrinkled face approached the little girl, and she quickly apologized: "Oh dear! Look, Grandma's memory is really bad! I forgot that you are still young and don't understand these things."

The dwarf old woman spoke, her face contorted with wrinkles, as she laughed and tried to cheer herself up.

Sure enough, the little girl burst into laughter at the dwarf old woman's playful expressions and tone. She said, "Grandma, you look just like those clowns I used to see down the mountain who made funny faces and tried to make people laugh."

Children speak without thinking, so the dwarf old woman didn't mind and continued making faces to amuse her. When she saw that the little girl's attention had been diverted, she finally spoke: "Child, you must remember one thing: you are a rare thing in this world. When you go down the mountain to play in the future, remember to protect yourself and don't get discovered."

"I know, Grandma." The little girl was still smiling, completely unaware of what she had just been talking about with the dwarf old woman.

Seeing this, the dwarf old woman added, "Of all things in this world, spirits and deities are the rarest. Your path of cultivation will be smooth and unobstructed. You can attain human form in thirty years, achieve the return to your original purity in a hundred years, and perhaps even in less than a thousand years, you will attain the Great Dao and ascend from the human realm to the heavens. Remember, spirits are a gift from the Great Dao to all things in the world. Human suffering must be alleviated by something that brings joy."

The little girl listened, but not completely. She only looked at and listened to the dwarf old woman when she told her to remember.

She nodded playfully, thinking about the people in the world who also loved to make funny faces, and began to imitate the dwarf old woman's earlier appearance. She put her hands under her eyes, gently pulled them down, then mischievously stuck out her tongue and made two "hee-hee" sounds at the dwarf old woman. After that, she lowered her hands and joined her grandmother, who was amused by her own antics, in a loud laugh.

On this day, laughter never stopped on this mountain in Jiangnan.

(End of this chapter)