Notes on Longevity

Chapter 185 The road to Penglai is long and slow; worldly affairs bring peace of mind.

As Dao Yisheng finished speaking, a profound silence fell upon Duqing Mountain. Each person, like a tree, was lost in their own thoughts.

Under the cover of night, Dao Yisheng gazed through the branches and leaves at the bright moon and stars that seemed to appear a thousand years ago, his heart filled with countless thoughts.

After Taihua left that night, he traveled alone through the mortal realm for another thousand years, trying to find Green Robe using the Water Mirror Technique he had learned from Taihua. However, after witnessing the splendor of the mortal world and experiencing countless events, he still found nothing. And every night, he would struggle with regret.

It is said that there is no medicine for regret in this world.

Ping An, who was under the tree, fell into deep thought after hearing Yan Yu's name.

Yan Yu?

Could it be Yan Yu?
He thought to himself.

He remembered that the person Emperor Wenshang had summoned him to see was also named Yan Yu, and when he heard about his master's past from Emperor Wenshang, he also remembered that Yan Yu had lived for hundreds of years. However, according to Dao Yisheng, Yan Yu was a person from nearly three thousand years ago.

They shouldn't be the same person.
Moreover, judging from Emperor Wenshang's account, this Yan Yu's personality is completely different from the other Yan Yu. They also look different – ​​one is young, the other old.

Furthermore, even if Yan Yu, as Dao Yisheng mentioned, truly obtained the art of immortality and rejuvenation, given his personality, he would likely not enter the imperial court.

Perhaps it's just a coincidence of names.

"Do you really still want to go to Penglai?" Dao Yisheng finally asked.

"I'm going," Ping An said resolutely.

Dao Yisheng sighed helplessly, "So be it. So be it. Fate has its own way, and this journey may not necessarily fail."

As Dao Yisheng finished speaking, in the night, He used His body to catch the leaves in the moonlight, and the green leaves immediately radiated a dazzling green light.

“Taihua once told me that green represents life, new life,” Daoyisheng said, the green light becoming increasingly dazzling, so dazzling that Ping’an could only squint at Him. “Back then, I never had the chance to wear the clothes that Green Robe spent her life making for me. I only occasionally take them out to look at them over the past thousand years.”

As Ping An listened to Dao Yisheng's slow narration, a green-clad figure appeared before him.

“I remember once when I returned to that wooden house alone, I looked at that dress and suddenly remembered the lyrics of the song that Green Dress sang back then.”

"I looked at the clothes and tried to recite the lyrics like her. But I choked up every word and couldn't say a word."

"Green is my garment, green with a yellow lining, yet my heart is filled with sorrow."

"My ending with her is just like the lyrics say. Sometimes I can't understand why there are different people in this world experiencing the same things. It's like your friend is going up the mountain to find you, while I am disrespectful to the Queen Mother of the West and want to stop her from taking back my cultivation in Taihua."

"I don't understand, I don't understand," Dao Yisheng said with a helpless smile.

Ping An, looking at the green-clad figure in front of him, was equally puzzled and asked, "What is this?"

Ping An was confused, but Dao Yisheng laughed for a moment and then said, "Didn't you have a problem with your Qi circulation during your cultivation?"

"Yes," Ping An replied, "but why this garment?"

Dao Yisheng smiled and looked at Ping An, saying, "Since you are determined to go east, I can say that we are destined to meet. This garment contains the essence of the moon. I have carried it with me for thousands of years, and it absorbs the essence of the sun and moon and the spiritual power of heaven and earth along with me when I cultivate. It can be said that this is a unique robe in the world."

"And today, I give it to you."

As he spoke, the green garment in front of Ping An suddenly moved, attaching itself directly to Ping An's body and instantly transforming into a light green Taoist robe.

At the same time, Dao Yisheng's tree trunk suddenly swayed, and leaves fell one by one. They drifted towards Ping An, landing on his head and instantly transforming into a budding, emerald-green lotus flower. Dao Yisheng also broke off a branch from his own tree, which turned into an emerald-green jade hairpin and inserted it into the lotus flower at the back of Ping An's head.

Ping An, somewhat alarmed, sensed the changes within herself. Dao Yisheng said, "This robe gathers the essence of the sun and moon, and absorbs the spirit of heaven and earth, which can help you cultivate your meridians. The lotus flower and hairpin on your head are called the Meridian Hairpin and the Meridian Lotus Crown, which can help you break through the illusions and stabilize your mind on your journey to Penglai. However, this is not the whole story. If you cannot break free from these illusions yourself, no matter how strong their energy is, it will be of no use. Therefore, in addition to these, I must also tell you one thing: everything has its cause and effect. You should often ask yourself, what is the purpose of your journey to Penglai?"

Ping An was about to explain when Dao Yisheng interrupted him: "Don't ask, think about it. The answer is in your heart, not in mine."

"Understood," Ping An replied.

"I hope so." Dao Yisheng knew that he didn't understand, but life is unpredictable, and he could only hope that Ping An could really think things through on the road.

"You, go down the mountain. Don't let your friends worry." Dao Yisheng gave him the order to leave, and Ping An had no choice but to get up. Actually, he still had many questions for Dao Yisheng, but he thought that even if he asked, Dao Yisheng probably wouldn't tell him.

He took the whisk, slung his chest over his shoulder, swept the whisk three times in front of Dao Yisheng, and finally bent down to catch the tail of the whisk and bowed: "Disciple of Zouma Temple and disciple of Qingxuanzi, I am at peace. Daoist Anpingzi thanks the Mountain God."

“Go then,” Dao Yisheng said. “The road to Penglai is long, so proceed slowly; when all worldly affairs are clear, the heart will find peace.”

"Junior, farewell."

Ping An lowered his head, took three steps back, and then turned and walked down the mountain.

Dao Yisheng watched Ping An's figure gradually disappear into the distance, looking at the light green Daoist robe he wore, and murmured to himself: "Three thousand worlds in a speck of dust, eighty thousand springs in a half-moment. Coming and going as they please, I know not who is the master and who is the guest."

As he watched Ping An disappear from sight, his thoughts seemed to drift back to that spring two thousand seven hundred years ago, to the moment he squatted by the river, gazing at his own reflection in the water. He wished that Taihua had taken him back to the mountains, to the temple, because he found him too troublesome, instead of sending him to Yu'an City.

Looking at the lamenting Zhou Ziping, Xiao Changgong felt a mix of emotions. He also knew a mountain god, who would tirelessly tell him stories about his past. But perhaps because he and the mountain god were both demons, his initial thought was simply, "What can be done about it?"

He knew that demons had long lifespans, and to cultivate the Great Dao, they would inevitably have to go to the mortal realm. Therefore, he knew that he might one day experience the same thing. This was why he wasn't as respectful to the mountain god as mortals, though he understood the importance of respect. Otherwise, the mountain god wouldn't have imparted his magic to him.

However, what he didn't expect was that Dao Yisheng and Luyi's ending would be like that. Although life and death are commonplace in the human world, he had never heard of such an experience before.

The people sitting in the courtyard had their own thoughts upon hearing this, but after hearing this, She Li knew that Ping An would be alright, and her worries naturally subsided.

Yang Shouren, on the other hand, was quite shocked. He hadn't expected that immortals truly existed in this world. Even the legendary Queen Mother of the West was real. This made him frown as he looked at Xiao Changgong and She Li. In Zhou Ziping's story just now, Dao Yisheng and Taihua were also a demon and a Taoist, so what about them?
Upon realizing this, Yang Shouren quickly denied it. Daoist Sheli was only in his twenties or thirties. How could he possibly have the cultivation level of Taihua? Moreover, although Daoist Sheli often traveled among mortals, he felt that Sheli did not seem to have received the inheritance of immortals during their two days together. Otherwise, how could he not even withstand a single blow from Dao Yisheng?

As for Xiao Changgong, he didn't seem like a good person either.

Although he didn't hear everything they said in that bamboo grove and graveyard that night, he did hear the talk about seizing the inner core. This seemed no different from what Yun Gong had said.

However, if Xiao Changgong really wasn't a good person, Master Sheli probably wouldn't have been with him.

Yang Shouren denied himself again and again in his heart. Even he felt embarrassed. In the end, he couldn't help but rub his forehead and smile bitterly.

Hearing Yang Shouren's wry smile, the people in the courtyard all looked at him. He realized how much attention his behavior had attracted, so he quickly pretended to be nonchalant and got up to walk around the courtyard, trying to avoid the puzzled looks they were giving him.

"What's wrong with Yang Shouren?" Xiao Changgong asked, looking at Yang Shouren pacing back and forth.

She Li looked at him with confusion and said, "I don't know."

After his initial confusion, Zhou Ziping seemed to realize something. He thought Yang Shouren probably didn't believe what he was saying.

The result was quite the opposite; Yang Shouren believed it, but only he himself knew what he was thinking.

"Never mind him," Xiao Changgong ignored Yang Shouren and turned to listen to Zhou Ziping ask, "And then? I remember you said he came here on his own. But why did he come here?"

She Li looked at him with the same curiosity, as if she also wanted to know the answer.

But Zhou Ziping shook his head and said, "How would I know about this old man? I've only had the good fortune to hear him tell these stories. As for why He came to this place, I'm afraid you'll have to ask the mountain god."

Xiao Changgong agreed. In his mind, these mountain gods always liked to act profound and mysterious, and they might not even tell him if asked. So he changed the subject, looked towards the door, and said to She Li, "By the way, your junior brother has been gone all day. It's getting darker and darker, and we don't know when he will be back. Aren't you worried that he won't be able to see the way down the mountain?"

Upon hearing this, She Li also looked towards the entrance. The empty entrance was completely deserted, except for the mountain in front of him. However, he was no longer worried.

Knowing Dao Yisheng's background, he naturally believed that Dao Yisheng wouldn't do anything rash to Ping An. On the contrary, he now hoped that Ping An could spend more time with the mountain god. He hoped that Ping An could learn something from the mountain god, who had such an experience. That way, once the matter in Huangzhou was resolved, he could feel at ease letting Ping An go to Penglai alone.

A meow echoed across Duqing Mountain in the night, and suddenly a beam of fire lit up from somewhere in the mountain.

As the lights came on, a boy's face appeared in front of a lantern with a design that kept rotating. At the same time, a black cat, barely visible, was perched on the boy's shoulder, its claws pawing at his ear.

The boy said softly to the black cat, "Alright, stop scratching your black face, it's shining, it's shining."

The young man was none other than Zhou Yanliu.

After sunset, Zhou Yanliu saw that the mist on the mountain was beginning to dissipate, so he decided to go up the mountain to see the mountain god.

He had heard stories about Him from his grandfather, and he wanted to hear them for himself. Unfortunately, after he started climbing the mountain, he discovered that the fog had not completely dissipated. There were always places in the forest shrouded in fog, which caused him to get lost.

After he relit the lantern that had been blown out by the mountain wind and mist with a tinderbox, he was able to see the path up the mountain.

"Meow~" The black cat continued to scratch Zhou Yanliu's ear, as if it wanted to say something, but Zhou Yanliu patted the black-faced cat's head and said, "Stop fooling around. Let's go and continue up the mountain."

However, the dark-faced man seemed unwilling to give up and continued to grab Zhou Yanliu's ear.

He seemed to sense something, because Blackface was usually very obedient and well-behaved, and would never act like this. So, he turned his head to look at Blackface, who was perched on his shoulder, and saw that it was gazing in a certain direction into the forest.

He then looked over as well.

In the mountains and forests, not far from them, something glowing green was approaching them.

As the thing drew closer, the black-faced creature immediately jumped off Zhou Yanliu's shoulder, its fur standing on end as it glared at him: "Meow!"

The sharp, piercing sound startled the green light, causing it to stop in its tracks.

"Meow!"

The black-faced man's angry roar echoed through the mountains and forests, but the green light seemed unafraid, pausing for a moment before continuing its approach.

"Could it be a ghost?" Zhou Yanliu said.

Blackface, too, looked as if facing a formidable enemy, lowering his head and shrinking his body, ready to pounce at any moment.

The green light was still approaching, and Zhou Yanliu didn't care what it was. He picked up his lantern, pointed at the green light, and shouted at the dark-faced man, "Dark-faced man, beat him up!"

Upon receiving Zhou Yanliu's order, the dark-faced man rushed out without the slightest hesitation.

The green light seemed to have noticed the black face rushing towards it. Just as it was about to speak, the black face was already in front of it. It leaped up and raised its claws to attack it.

Seeing that the green light wouldn't stop, the black-faced creature launched a spell at him. But when it leaped up, it finally saw who it was.

Indeed, it was Ping An, whom he hadn't seen for a day after going up the mountain. At this moment, he wanted to retract his claws, but it was too late. He saw his uncontrollable claws whistling as they came down towards Ping An's face, and the green light on Ping An's body suddenly emitted a dazzling green light.

With a loud bang, the dark-faced man was blasted down the mountain by the green light emanating from Ping An.

The sound and the dazzling light attracted the villagers who were already inside the house, and they all came out to see what had happened.

Meanwhile, She Li and the others in Zhou Ziping's courtyard also noticed something was wrong and quickly rushed out the door.

(End of this chapter)