Notes on Longevity

Chapter 181 All things are born from heaven and earth, and destiny determines all things.
This was the first time Dao Yisheng had looked so closely at the gourd that Taihua carried on his back. He said, "This gourd is a rare treasure. Legend has it that it was left over from a great battle in ancient times."

Dao Yisheng had also asked what the great battle was, but Taihua said he didn't know either. He only said, "That immortal only told me the origin of this gourd, but didn't explain why there was a great battle."

"He told me that this gourd contained a world, a universe. So there was a hidden world inside this gourd. But over the years, all I've found is that it's a bottomless pit, besides containing some wine."

Dao Yisheng recalled the story Taihua had told him about this gourd before he transformed into his true form, and he looked at the wooden, unadorned gourd with a heart full of doubt. Just as he was examining it closely, the gourd suddenly vanished from his grasp.

"Green clothes! A gourd!"

Dao Yisheng was shocked to see the gourd fly away from his hand, only to find that it had fallen into someone else's hands.

The man's black hair was loosely tied up, with a tuft of white hair hanging from each of his temples. On his dark Taoist robe, three white red-crowned cranes stood out. They were arranged to resemble a group chasing each other around the Taoist.

One of the red-crowned cranes raised its head as if to cry out, looking at the Taoist priest. A solemn and dignified appearance was reflected in the Taoist priest's eyes.

"So you are Dao Yisheng?" The Taoist's words were slightly deep, but his voice echoed across the snow-covered Kunlun Mountains, carrying a majestic aura.

Dao Yisheng was shocked by the Taoist's solemn appearance. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Dao Yisheng, the tree demon, greets the immortal."

The Taoist priest was stern and unsmiling. He remained unmoved as Dao Yisheng knelt and kowtowed before him. He simply tossed the gourd in his hand, and it instantly turned into a wisp of white smoke and dissipated, leaving only a wisp of green light that slowly flew toward Dao Yisheng as he stood with his hands behind his back.

The point of light landed and transformed into the appearance of a woman, lying beside Dao Yisheng.

He seemed to have sensed something, and before the Taoist could speak, he raised his head and turned it to the side, where the woman was indeed dressed in green.

When he saw her again, the sadness and grief in his heart welled up again, and he hurriedly pleaded with the Taoist: "Immortal, I have come here hoping that someone can save her. Since you live in Kunlun Mountain, you must be an immortal here. I beg you to help me save her."

Dao Yisheng's voice trembled slightly as he kowtowed repeatedly to the Taoist priest, his mouth never stopping.

The Taoist looked at Dao Yisheng and solemnly said, "Life and death are preordained. Since she is already dead, why save her? The cycle of Heaven is not something you can change at will."

Upon hearing this, Dao Yisheng's desire to save Green Robe had already cooled considerably, but he still did not give up and continued to kowtow and beg, "Please, Immortal, grant my request."

Dao Yisheng knew that saying more would be pointless, so he just kept repeating this one sentence.

Seeing this, the Taoist ignored him and turned to carry the invisible ladder to who-knows-where.

Dao Yisheng continued to kowtow, even though he knew the Taoist had left. He continued until the Taoist disappeared completely, at which point he stopped kowtowing.

He gazed in the direction the Taoist had left, sighed deeply, and slumped to the ground, utterly dejected. At that moment, he looked at the already dead man in green with the same lifeless expression.

Now he can only place all his hopes on Taihua. He hopes that the Queen Mother of the West will consider that Taihua was once a seeker of the Dao from Kunlun and give him, or himself, a chance to save people.

Taihua followed the Deer God through the endless Kunlun Mountains, looking around at the place where he had once sought the Dao, his heart filled with endless emotions.

"You have been away from Kunlun for hundreds of years. Are you here today only to save that woman?" the Deer God asked on the way to see the Queen Mother of the West.

Upon hearing this, Taihua looked at the Deer God with reverence, saying, "This is a mistake made by your disciple, and no one else should bear the consequences."

The Deer God let out a soft cry, and the radiant light reappeared in the distance. It glanced at Taihua and shook its head helplessly, "You need to think this through carefully. If you do this, you will truly sever all your immortal connections and have no chance to ascend to the Heavenly Realm in this lifetime."

"Thank you for the reminder, Deer God, but this was Taihua's fault. I don't want to toss and turn and have sleepless nights because of this matter many years later. If I don't save him today, Taihua will never have peace of mind."

Taihua stopped and looked at the beam of light. He then bowed to the Deer God, making a hand seal.

Seeing that he had made up his mind, the Deer God stopped trying to dissuade him and simply said, "Radiant light, radiant light, illuminate your path to immortality. Vast heavens, the mandate of heaven is hard to find."

"Go. The Queen is waiting for you." After saying this, the Deer God turned and returned the way it came. Seeing it leave, Taihua also looked in the direction where Dao Yisheng was, and finally walked into the radiant light without hesitation.

After leaving Taihua, the Deer God headed towards Dao Yisheng again. However, it encountered the Daoist on the way. It lowered its head, lifted one hoof, and respectfully called out to him, "Your Majesty."

"Deer Immortal, what did the Empress say?" The Taoist stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the fading light in the distance, and asked.

Upon hearing this, the Deer God answered truthfully, "The Queen said to give that tree demon a chance."

"Then, what about Taihua?" the Taoist asked.

"A life for a life."

The Taoist sighed softly and did not reply. With a wave of his sleeve, he vanished from the spot.

Upon seeing this, the Deer God bowed his head again and said, "Respectfully seeing off the Emperor."

Dao Yisheng sat cross-legged, dumbfounded, staring at the woman in green before him, his mind filled with questions: what had happened to him after she left Jiangnan? He remembered a fleeting moment when he clearly felt a deep familiarity with the woman in green, and now the truth was laid out before him. He had once shared a courtyard with her. Yet, he had no memory of anything that happened outside of Jiangnan.

He was completely baffled.

"You are different from others," he heard someone say.

The Deer God came to Dao Yisheng's side, looked down at the green-clad figure lying on the snow, and said this to him.

Dao Yisheng looked over upon hearing the sound, then knelt and kowtowed to the Deer God: "Deer God, do you know something?"

“I know, but I cannot say it, nor should I,” the Deer God said.

Dao Yisheng was puzzled, but he also understood. So he asked, "I once dreamed of a woman. Is it related to this?"

He thought that since the Deer God was a god, he must have the ability to understand heaven and earth. Therefore, he did not seek answers, but only the answers to the questions in his heart.

But the Deer God said, "All things are born from heaven and earth, and destiny is determined by all things."

But Dao Yisheng was still unwilling to give up. He asked, "Is the past, present, and future already predetermined?"

The Deer God replied, “Today’s outcome is the answer. What you seek, what confuses you, is all of this. You don’t remember, naturally because someone doesn’t want you to remember. Since you don’t remember, why ask again? Furthermore, did you come here today to save her, or to ease your doubts?”

Dao Yisheng remained silent.

He was conflicted; he wanted to save Green Robe, but he also wanted to know about his own past. But now, the Deer God's meaning was clear: he could only choose one.

His past is important, and so is the one in green. However, if the one in green is saved, he too will be able to learn about his past.

"Green dress." Dao Yisheng chose her.

"You are so greedy." The Deer God shook his head and turned to leave. The vast Kunlun Mountains fell silent once more.

As Dao Yisheng watched the Deer God depart, he felt deeply saddened and conflicted. He didn't know what he should do now.

He was in a daze.

After Taihua entered Huaguang, magnificent golden palaces appeared before his eyes.

Below the Heavenly Palace were towering peaks and swirling clouds, making the Heavenly Palace, which Taihua had seen, appear ethereal and unseen. The palace that had been before him was now hanging upside down at his feet, with endless green mountains stretching above him.

Taihua knew that it was both a celestial palace and an illusion. After he closed his eyes and steadied his mind, the once magnificent, misty celestial palace transformed back into Mount Kunlun. And the place where he was now was another cliff opposite Dao Yisheng.

Taihua turned his head to look at Daoyisheng, who was kneeling on the ground, his brows furrowed. Suddenly, he heard footsteps.

The newcomer was a middle-aged woman, dressed in a magnificent black robe adorned with a coiled vermilion bird. A large crown, about the size of a palm, adorned her head, with two golden hairpins nestled behind her updo. A single golden hairpin was inserted vertically into the updo. A sense of majesty and solemnity subtly emanated from her expression as she gazed calmly at Taihua.

Taihua turned around and saw the newcomer. He performed the Ziwu Mudra, bowed three times and kowtowed nine times, and then said, "Disciple Taihua greets the Queen Mother of the West."

Seeing Taihua's reaction, the Queen Mother did not reply. Instead, she looked at Dao Yisheng, who was guarding the green-clad figure on another cliff, and then asked, "Are you really sure about this?"

"Disciple, I have made up my mind," Taihua replied, bowing his head.

"Although you were impulsive back then, I have often heard news of you since you left Kunlun. You entered the Daoist Chuyun Temple, achieved high merit, and traveled the mortal world, witnessing life and death, from which you have gained much. Why have you acted this way today?" The Queen Mother's words were full of regret, as if she had already accepted Taihua.

But Taihua persisted, saying, "Although I have received the power from Your Majesty, I have become too reliant on it, which has led to the current situation. It is all my fault. I am willing to take full responsibility. I beg Your Majesty to grant my request."

The Queen Mother smiled slightly upon hearing this, then turned solemn: "Since you insist, I will grant your wish. However, life and death are determined by fate. Although I govern the life and death of all things in heaven and earth, I cannot defy the will of Heaven. You wish to save her, but you must pay a price. Are you willing?"

"Taihua, I am willing to give my life for yours," Taihua said, still bowing his head.

"Your fate is not for me to decide," the Queen Mother of the West refused.

In response to the Queen Mother's words, Taihua asked, "Since you control life and death, you can naturally make that decision."

The Queen Mother shook her head and said, "If I were to exchange your life for hers, it would be tantamount to killing someone to take a life, which is unacceptable."

Taihua understood what the Queen Mother of the West was saying, and he looked up and asked, "Does Your Majesty have any other solutions?"

"Yes, but it depends on whether you're willing to give it up," the Queen Mother said, looking at Taihua.

"Taihua is willing to save her."

Faced with Taihua's resolute stance, even the Queen Mother of the West was helpless.

“All mortals in the world are the same, but you are not. Although I am the Queen Mother and the head of all the fairies, they are all respectful and polite to me, but they also avoid me like the plague. I control life and death, but I am also a person with feelings.”

"people?"

Taihua looked up in disbelief and knelt on the ground. He looked at the solemn appearance of the Queen Mother of the West, but he never expected that she would say that she was also a person.

Taihua was bewildered and at a loss, unsure of what to say for a moment.

“You have a good heart and hate evil. Although you are impulsive, you are not without a sense of propriety. Back then, when you knelt at the foot of Kunlun Mountain for a long time, seeking the secret of immortality, I thought it was because you were greedy, but I never thought that everyone has moments of greed.”

"Immortals are also human beings."

After saying that, he looked at Taihua and asked again, "Although I cannot exchange your life for hers, there is a way to give her a glimmer of hope. However, whether she can live in the end depends on him."

The Queen Mother pointed to Dao Yisheng in the distance and said.

Following the direction the Queen Mother pointed, Taihua looked at the lifeless Dao Yisheng and said, "Please grant my request, Your Majesty."

"You are a disciple of Kunlun, and I will pass on to you the method of immortality and the art of the Water Mirror. If you want to save her, you must return these two things to Kunlun. In return, I will give you a chance."

"I'm willing. As long as it can save her." Taihua's decision wiped the smile off the Queen Mother's face. Her expression turned solemn, and she spoke coldly. Taihua agreed without hesitation.

The Queen Mother nodded upon hearing this, and then she turned to face Dao Yisheng. In an instant, the two cliffs suddenly came together without any movement, but a gap remained in the middle.

The gap was only a hair's breadth wide, yet it was as terrifying as a chasm stretching ten thousand feet.

Sensing the change, Dao Yisheng stood up and walked to the woman in green, shielding her behind him.

When he saw the Queen Mother in her black robe and Taihua kneeling behind her, he knew who she was. So he knelt down and bowed to the Queen Mother, saying, "This little demon, Dao Yisheng, greets the Queen Mother."

The Queen Mother nodded without speaking, then turned to Taihua and said, "Taihua begged me to save her. Although I cannot bring her back to life immediately, I can give her a glimmer of hope, allowing her three souls and seven spirits to reunite and transform her into a human. In the future, you will be needed to find her. Are you willing?"

Upon hearing this, Dao Yisheng immediately smiled, then turned to the Queen Mother with tears of gratitude, saying, "Thank you so much for saving my life, Your Majesty."

"But before that, I want to ask you a question."

Upon hearing this, Dao Yisheng no longer cared what the Queen Mother of the West would ask; he only knew that Green Robe could live, so he said, "Please ask."

"If I save her, will someone pay the price? Are you willing to accept it?" the Queen Mother asked.

“I accept. As long as it can save her, I’m willing to accept.”

Dao Yisheng answered in this way, unaware that the person the Queen Mother was referring to was Taihua, not him.

The Queen Mother sighed softly, shook her head, and said, "Since you are willing, then I will give her a chance to live."

After saying this, the Queen Mother, amidst Dao Yisheng's excitement and Taihua's wry smile, gently waved her hand at the woman in green.

A beam of light emerged from the sleeve of the Queen Mother's magnificent robe and headed straight for the woman in green.

Taihua and Daoyisheng watched as the light entered the green-clothed figure's body and emitted a dazzling radiance. Then, they saw the green-clothed figure rise into the air and transform into a cloud of green smoke, swaying continuously amidst the flying snow of the Kunlun Mountains.

A moment later, the fog dissipated, replaced by an ethereal, elusive green garment.

(End of this chapter)