Notes on Longevity

Chapter 182: Everything is fate, nothing is up to you

Dao Yisheng saw the ethereal green robe turn to look at the Queen Mother of the West, whose eyes were filled with tears and whose voice choked with emotion as she kowtowed and thanked her, saying, "This humble demon thanks the Queen Mother of the West."

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother said, "Don't forget, there was a price to pay for giving her this chance to live."

Dao Yisheng raised his head, looking at Taihua kneeling before the Queen Mother, and then at the lifeless green-clad figure beside her, seemingly like smoke and mist. He felt both hesitant and apprehensive, unsure of the price the Queen Mother had mentioned. However, saving lives was paramount, so he could only say, "As long as Your Majesty can save lives, Dao Yisheng is willing."

The Queen Mother of the West saw the inner struggle in Dao Yisheng's heart, then turned to look down at Taihua, "It is you who has come today, and I can save you. If it were him, I might not be willing to see him. Life and death are preordained. You are going against the will of Heaven, and if you want to save someone, you must pay the price. Are you really sure?"

"I came here today without any intention of regretting it. I beg Your Majesty to grant my request," Taihua said as before.

Seeing Taihua's insistence, the Queen Mother could only sigh helplessly, "Since that's the case, then I will save her."

Having said that, the Queen Mother gently placed one hand on Taihua's Baihui acupoint. Instantly, Taihua was filled with brilliant light.

Dao Yisheng, standing to the side, looked at the Queen Mother's hand with confusion. He wondered, if she was trying to save Green Robe, why was she treating Taihua like this? What was she doing?
A moment later, the radiant light dissipated. Two beams of white light slowly rose from Taihua's body, swirling around him as if reluctant to leave.

Taihua stared at the two beams of white light that had spun around and arrived in front of him, his heart filled with endless emotions. He had once traveled to famous mountains and rivers in the mortal world, seeking the immortals to bestow upon him the Dharma, witnessing all the joys and sorrows of human life, but he never expected that his hundred years of cultivation would be completely wiped out in a single day.

The Queen Mother looked at the two beams of white light. According to what she had just said, she should have taken them back, but she did not do so. Instead, she looked at Taihua, seemingly still trying to persuade him to stay.

Taihua knew that the Queen Mother's words about revoking the two spells were actually a way of crippling his cultivation. For a hundred years, he had coexisted with the two spells; once separated, he would lose everything. Yet, he had no regrets. Because today's outcome was entirely his own doing, and he had no one else to blame but himself.

He smiled as he watched the white light formed by the two spells, feeling something draining from his body. This feeling intensified as the snowflakes were whipped up by the wind. He seemed to feel the biting, piercing cold wind.

Suddenly, a strong wind rose on Mount Kunlun, and he, dressed in a thin Taoist robe, was trembling. He bent down and hugged himself, unaware that Yi Sheng was watching in a daze.

When Dao Yisheng saw the two beams of white light stop in front of Taihua, he saw that Taihua's three thousand black hairs suddenly turned into white hair as the snow fell. He stared at the scene in astonishment, his heart filled with disbelief and confusion.

Didn't the Queen Mother of the West promise to save Green Robe? Then why did she take away Taihua's cultivation? He didn't understand, and he couldn't comprehend why.
He immediately stood up, frowning as he looked at the Queen Mother and Taihua, who was shivering in the wind and snow with his head bowed. He questioned, "Your Majesty, didn't you say you were going to save Green Robe? Why did you take away Taihua's cultivation?"

Faced with Dao Yisheng's questioning, the Queen Mother ignored him and instead looked down at Taihua. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke: "I said, if you want to save people, you have to pay a price. And this is it!"

Dao Yisheng was puzzled and asked, "Didn't you say I should bear the burden? Why are you doing this?"

Dao Yisheng fell silent. He suddenly remembered what the Queen Mother of the West had just said. She had said that someone would have to pay a price, but she hadn't said who that person was.

"No, that's not right." By the time he realized it, it was too late. The two spells leaving his body were tantamount to a demon having its inner core stolen, which meant that Taihua might die!

He knelt down again, stammering to the Queen Mother, "Your Majesty, this has nothing to do with Taihua. Someone needs to pay the price. I... I can do it. Please, please don't take away Taihua's cultivation!"

Dao Yisheng's final, mournful cry echoed throughout Kunlun Mountain. Even the Deer God, who was not far away, could not bear to watch this scene and turned away into the distance.

However, the Queen Mother ignored Dao Yisheng. With a flick of her sleeve, two beams of white light were drawn into her sleeve.

Upon seeing this, Dao Yisheng immediately leaped up and flew towards the Queen Mother of the West.

He wanted to save Green Robe, but he didn't want Taihua to lose everything for it. So, this was the only way he could do it.

He tried to wrest everything that belonged to Taihua from the Queen Mother of the West, but he was no different from an ant in front of her.

When the Queen Mother saw Dao Yisheng rushing towards her, she angrily shouted, "Insolence!" Then, she lightly raised one hand and pointed her fingertip at Dao Yisheng's brow, who was already close to her. Instantly, the snow falling from Kunlun Mountain stopped falling and stopped in the air, and even time seemed to stand still.

The deer god, which had already gone far away, seemed to have sensed something from the stopped snowfall. It thought to itself that something was wrong and suddenly turned around and ran back to where they were.

"You little demon, granting you permission to go to Kunlun was already a huge favor, and you dare to attack me? You deserve to die!"

The Queen Mother of the West, furious, roared at the Daoist priest she had pinned down with her finger.

Upon hearing this, Taihua, who had been huddled in the snow, knelt down with difficulty and pleaded with the Queen Mother, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. My friend, though he has lived for a thousand years, still has the mind of a child. Taihua begs Your Majesty to forgive him."

Dao Yisheng, who was frozen in place by the Queen Mother of the West, was stunned when he heard Taihua's voice. He kept asking himself in his heart, how could this be?
When Taihua saw that the Queen Mother of the West did not answer, he raised his wrinkled and aged face and looked at the Queen Mother of the West and Dao Yisheng.

With his face full of wrinkles, Dao Yisheng suddenly felt that everything around him was so unreal. He had never imagined that the immortal Taihua was now so old and frail.

He frowned, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Taihua looked up at the Queen Mother of the West, pleading with her not to hold it against him.

The Queen Mother pointed at Dao Yisheng, then looked down at Taihua, who was bowing to the ground. She said to Taihua, "Today, I withdrew my magic to save that flower spirit. And you pleaded for this demon."

The Queen Mother's tone toward Taihua was no longer gentle; instead, she said ruthlessly, "Since you have asked me, I can grant your request. However, from this day forward, you may no longer identify yourself as a disciple of Kunlun."

"Taihua, I beg you." Taihua's aged voice echoed on the mountaintop, and the Deer God, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, also came to the Queen Mother's side.

It looked at Taihua, its words full of pleading: "Taihua, you are but a tree spirit, why sever your connection to immortality?"

Upon hearing this, Taihua raised his aged face and looked at the Deer God, who was weeping, and replied, "In my hundreds of years in the mortal world, he is the only one I can call a friend. He was only worried about me and did not mean to offend Your Majesty. Please forgive him, Your Majesty!"

This kowtow signifies the severing of the path to enlightenment in Taihua and Kunlun. Seeing this, the Deer God shook his head helplessly, "If that's the case, why did you do it in the first place?"

The Deer God raised his head and said to the Queen Mother, "Your Majesty, please let him go."

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother glanced at the Deer God, then gently flicked the finger that was resting between Dao Yisheng's eyebrows. An invisible ripple spread from her hand, and the lingering snowflakes fell down. At the same moment the Queen Mother withdrew her hand, Dao Yisheng was ejected from Kunlun and landed at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, unconscious.

The Queen Mother withdrew her hand and didn't look at Taihua again. She turned to leave with the Deer God, but in the end, he said to Taihua, "Remember, from this day forward, you are no longer my Kunlun disciple."

As soon as she finished speaking, the Queen Mother of the West departed with the Deer God. Taihua watched them leave and bowed again, saying, "Taihua, thank you so much, Queen Mother of the West, for saving my life! Thank you for your compassion!"

Taihua's aged cries echoed across Kunlun Mountain. Only after the Queen Mother and the Deer God had disappeared from sight did he struggle to his feet. He shakily walked to the edge of the cliff on Kunlun Mountain, and let out a mournful howl at the spot where Dao Yisheng, who had been blasted out of Kunlun Mountain by the Queen Mother, had fallen.

At this moment, his heart was filled with boundless sorrow, which he poured out in this single cry.

He had sought the Dao for centuries, but never imagined that it would be destroyed by his own hand.

As the saying goes, "Everything is predestined, and nothing is up to us."

(End of this chapter)