Notes on Longevity

Chapter 176 Human affairs are inexhaustible, and the cycle of cause and effect will eventually bring retribution.

The autumn wind is bleak, the fog is thick, the sun is setting, and dusk is visible.

The towering tree that Dao Yisheng had transformed into covered Ping An within it, and on that ancient tree face, His eyes held unspeakable sorrow.

Ping An was also somewhat saddened. He frowned and stared at Dao Yisheng's tree-like face.

He listened to the mountain god Dao Yisheng tell these stories, unsure how to respond, for he, like Dao Yisheng in the stories, was naive and inexperienced. Although his master had often taken him on journeys to visit immortals and encounter many people along the way, he was still just a child of a few years old at the time.

Despite what they said, memories fade with time. Unlike Dao Yisheng, who was a human transformed from a thousand-year-old tree demon, he lacked Dao Yisheng's memory space sculpted by a thousand years. At most, he could only remember what his master had told him.

The mountaintop was utterly silent. The mountain god, Dao Yisheng, looked at Ping An with a forlorn expression. He could hear everything Ping An was thinking, and he sighed inwardly, "This child is just like me back then, but our circumstances and experiences are different, so what we ultimately gain will naturally be different as well."

He smiled at Ping An's speechless and bewildered expression and said, "These are the answers you sought."

Upon hearing this, Ping An suddenly looked into His eyes. The old and deep voice of the Mountain God Dao Yisheng echoed in his ears and in his heart.

“But I haven’t told you why I’ve come to see you,” Ping An suddenly said.

But He laughed and said, “Child, you have forgotten. I can hear your heart and know everything in this world.”

His kind voice was deep, and his tree-like face looked very kind. Peace stared at him blankly, saying nothing.

He said, “Child, remember this: when you do something, think it through carefully and don’t act blindly. Sometimes your good deeds and kindness can bring you disaster. Even if it’s someone close to you, you should act within your means and not be reckless when doing something for them. Perhaps, one day in the future, you will pay the price for your kindness and good deeds. As for whether you can accept the price and bear it, that depends on your mind and will.”

"Since you choose to do something for someone else, don't always think of it as doing it for someone else; treat it as if it were your own business."

“I know what you want to ask me. I already answered your questions about immortals and the mysterious fairyland from the beginning. As for whether you will be able to see them, I have already told you. As for the final outcome, it depends on your choice. If you choose to see them, they will naturally see you; if you choose not to see them, they will naturally not see you.”

"The world is vast and full of wonders. Perhaps you will meet people or things like me in the future, but I still say the same thing: you have to make your own choice."

After saying this, the mountain god couldn't help but sigh, as if he regretted the choice he hadn't made yet, or perhaps he pitied him for his past experiences.

However, things are unpredictable, and he dared not say that things would remain unchanged.

Ping An turned his head to the side, feeling very upset. He knew what the mountain god Dao Yisheng was saying, but he didn't know why he was doing this.

He wanted to cry, but he held it in.

"Alas." Seeing that Ping An could not make a choice and was indecisive, He could only sigh and feel sorry for him: "You should have been a guest of Penglai Palace, a future immortal on earth. What a pity, what a pity."

Upon hearing His words, Ping An's tears finally flowed uncontrollably. He asked softly, with a slight sob, "Is there no possibility left?"

The mountain god Dao Yisheng sighed, "They gave you a choice, but you hesitated."

"I," Ping An sobbed, unable to speak. He looked up again at the tree-like face that seemed to feel sorry for Ping An and asked, "Then... is there any point in me going?"

"There is no way you can go there now, why don't you go back?" He sighed helplessly.

"But I still want to go."

Ping An's words made him think that Ping An was a naively simple-minded child. Since it's already impossible, why bother trying?
He shook the tree trunk, the thick branches swayed incessantly, and the leaves rustled.

Finally, Ping An, still stubborn, spoke again: "Do you know why, even though Taihua is a disciple of Kunlun Mountain, the Queen Mother of the West refused to let him help me save Green Robe? She wouldn't even give him a single elixir of immortality."

Ping An turned around, looked at Him with tearful eyes, and asked, "Why?"

"Because the Queen Mother of the West has already given him a chance. However, his choice was not satisfactory."

"That night I heard Green Robe singing. I could have chosen to take her to Kunlun regardless of everything, but I didn't. So now I can only stay here and tell you those past stories alone."

"I still remember it clearly. The sun had just risen that day, and I hadn't slept all night. I walked out of the cabin as usual, pretending nothing had happened, and saw her standing in front of me with the clothes that had already been made."

"Look, isn't this dress beautiful?" As dawn broke, the woman in green approached Dao Yisheng with a feigned smile. Her breath was very weak, and even her voice trembled slightly.

Dao Yisheng frowned upon hearing this, and looking at the green-clad woman whose expression was not as good as before, he replied, "She looks good."

The woman in green withdrew her hand, then held the green-and-yellow-lined garment above her head. Through the faint silhouette seen through the garment, she watched Dao Yisheng frown, on the verge of tears. But she held back.

She tried hard to compose her choked voice, slowly putting down the garment and speaking as calmly as possible with her head down, "I didn't know what color clothes you liked, so I could only make you this one in the color I usually wear. Why don't you try it on and see if it fits? Then we can make alterations."

However, in the end, Green Robe couldn't hold back anymore. She was speechless for a moment, looking at Dao Yisheng with a sob and a wronged expression, "I...I actually want to live."

Dao Yisheng listened to the sobbing, choked voice of the woman in green, and clenched his fists. But the woman's last words finally made both of them unable to hold back their tears.

The woman in green cried, her trembling hands clutching the garment, sobbing uncontrollably.

Missing memories, a person I wish I had met sooner. Dao Yisheng held back his sobs, letting the tears fall uncontrollably. He didn't know what he had done to deserve such injustice from fate.

Dao Yisheng looked at her, wanting to speak but unable to, wanting to hug her but unable to move.

Just a step away, yet now it feels like we're worlds apart, a longing gaze yearning for each other.

At this moment, Taihua, who had been waiting behind the wooden house, also came out.

He had actually prepared to appear after overhearing their conversation, but he stopped when he heard Green Robe say that she still wanted to live. Because at that moment, he didn't know how to face Dao Yisheng and Green Robe.

He was indeed a disciple of Kunlun, but that was only what others and Dao Yisheng thought. Only he himself knew that he had gone to Kunlun Mountain to seek the Dao. And he had indeed received the teachings of the immortals as he wished.

Countless seekers of the Tao yearn to meet immortals, hoping to learn magical arts different from those of mortals or to attain immortality. However, the human heart is ultimately bound by desire. Seeking magic for immortality, a single thought leads to the ambition of becoming an immortal.

Therefore, in the end, the mortal who sought immortality was defeated by desire. He obtained the secret methods of the immortals and sought the art of immortality, but he had already lost his chance.

Taihua stood beside the two people who were speechless, tears streaming down their faces, and remained silent as well.

After a long silence, Dao Yisheng began to move his body, taking difficult steps to stand in front of the woman in green. He placed his hands on her shoulders and said, "I also want you to live." The woman in green looked up at him, sobbing as she shook her head.

He didn't know why Green Robe was shaking her head. Was it because she didn't want to? But she had just said she wanted to live. Was it impossible? But they hadn't gone to Kunlun Mountain yet. Even if the immortals of Kunlun Mountain didn't want to see them, it didn't mean there was no chance. Seeing that she didn't speak, Dao Yisheng grabbed Green Robe and walked towards the sea of ​​flowers.

However, Green Robe broke free from his grasp amidst the sea of ​​flowers.

Dao Yisheng stared at the woman in green with astonishment, and asked in confusion, "Didn't you say you wanted to live? I'll take you to Kunlun Mountain, I'll take you to see the Queen Mother of the West. We'll go and beg her."

But the woman in green still shook her head, and said in a choked voice, "It's too late."

"What do you mean?" Dao Yisheng asked incredulously. "Didn't Taihua say you had a few more months to live? How come it's too late?"

The woman in green was crying, and the dress in her hand was dragging on the ground, covered in mud.

“Last night, when I was making this dress, I poured all my last breaths and all my thoughts of you into it. I... I can’t live anymore.”

The sight of her in green was a complete shock to Dao Yisheng. He stared at her in disbelief, stammering, "What...what did you say?"

“I am not going to live any longer. I wanted to see you change into this dress before I left, but I can’t see it anymore.”

The green-clad woman's cries were deafening, even the flowers in the sea of ​​blossoms swayed without wind, as if they understood. They shook their small bodies, trying to keep the green-clad woman, but what is meant to leave cannot be kept.

"Why!" Dao Yisheng finally lost control of his emotions, roaring at the man in green, "There was still a chance! Why did you do this?"

Looking at Dao Yisheng's hoarse and desperate appearance, the woman in green cried out in grievance, "I don't want to see you walk such a long way."

"What do you mean?" Dao Yisheng asked, puzzled, looking at the woman in green with utter confusion. "What do you mean, travel such a long distance?"

"I know Kunlun Mountain is far away, but it won't take long to fly there using magic. It will only take a few days."

Dao Yisheng didn't understand what the woman in green was saying, and even Taihua, who was standing next to him, was somewhat confused.

"It's too late." Green-clad cried, slowly raising the clothes in her hands as the sun rose fully.

The sunlight shone on the garment, causing the emerald green outer robe to begin to change color.

As the clothes began to change, even the green-clad figure underwent a similar transformation.

Bathed in the sunlight, the emerald green outer garment began to fade little by little, while the body in the green robe slowly aged.

Dao Yisheng watched as the clothes began to absorb the essence of the green-clad woman, causing her appearance to change, and felt a pang of pain in his heart. Why? He kept asking himself.

Suddenly, he snatched the clothes from the green-clad man's hands. But when he got them, he was surprised to find that the clothes were also absorbing his life force.

He flung the garment away, letting it fall onto the hard path amidst the sea of ​​flowers.

The woman in green, stripped of her clothes, felt nauseous as her vital energy suddenly stopped dissipating. It was as if the lost vital energy was leaping and surging wildly within her body, eventually crowding into her heart.

As they continued to pour in, the green-clad creature's heart finally couldn't take it anymore, and bright red blood gushed from its mouth. Blood also began to gush uncontrollably from its seven orifices.

Finally, Green Robe lost all her strength and collapsed in the sea of ​​flowers.

The flowers closest to the green dress reacted first. They enlarged their bodies and dragged the fallen green dress, preventing her from falling to the ground.

Upon seeing this, Dao Yisheng quickly knelt down and reached out to hug her.

Seeing this, the flowers also swayed their bodies.

got windy.
The wind carried the whistling sound of it passing by, as if calling out the names of the green-clad flowers on behalf of those who could not speak.

Dao Yisheng looked at the green-clad woman in his arms, her gaze constantly shifting and then coming together, watching as blood continued to gush from her seven orifices.

Green-clad frowned with difficulty, her heart aching at the sight of Dao Yisheng. However, she was also overjoyed to see Dao Yisheng weeping for her. She wanted to speak, to comfort him, but blood was stuck in her throat, and she could only cough, unable to utter a single word. She couldn't even muster any strength in her hands.

The green-clad girl's appearance kept changing; her once lovely face was now covered in wrinkles. Dao Yisheng was heartbroken at the sight of her. She hugged the green-clad girl and wailed at the sky, as if saying, "God, why are you so unjust!"

Seeing his hoarse and bloodshot voice, Green Robe was also extremely saddened. She tried her best to raise one hand, but as her vital energy continued to flow out with her blood, she had no strength left.

She could only watch helplessly as Dao Yisheng continued to wail, her consciousness fading.

The woman in green looked at him and silently recited in her heart: "I remember someone saying: 'The scenery of Jiangnan is familiar. If you go to Jiangnan in spring, do not go through one or two mountains. Remember to stay with spring.'

Her eyes began to glaze over, slowly losing their color. Before she could utter a single word, amidst the gushing blood, she coughed one last time, uttering a final, silent murmur before closing her eyes completely: "Grandma said she had witnessed all the separations and deaths in this world, she had seen all the tears in this world. She said she had also cried for someone, she could not forget that feeling, could not forget the heart-wrenching, yet helpless, tears she shed for that person."

"Finally, he also told me not to try to fall in love with someone, especially not to fall in love with someone."

"I asked my grandmother why. She told me, 'Humans only live for a hundred years, while a demon's lifespan is considered short, even if it's a thousand. The thought of watching your loved one slowly grow old while you remain unchanged, with an infinitely long lifespan, the urge to sacrifice everything, even your cultivation, to let them live, only to find nothing has changed—that heart-wrenching pain, that helpless weeping, is the most painful. It makes you wish you could go with them.'"

"Grandma, do you think Greenie will meet someone who loves her like you do in the future?"

"Grandma doesn't know. But Grandma does know that the world is full of dramas about life and death."

"A performance? What's that?"

"Opera is an endless story of parting sorrows and recounting joys and sorrows; it's the performers' heart-wrenching cries and the audience's tears flowing freely. The lyrics sing of the joys and sorrows of human life, of the impermanence of things."

Finally, the woman in green closed her eyes completely.

At this moment, Taihua looked at Daoyisheng, who was crying his heart out, and frowned with a bitter smile. He never expected that no matter how much he calculated and planned, he could not escape the ending shown in the water mirror.

As the saying goes, "The affairs of the world are endless, and the cycle of cause and effect will eventually bring retribution."

(End of this chapter)