Notes on Longevity

Chapter 197 Autumn Days on Lonely Green Mountain, Ping An's Frowning Reveals an Unfathomable Thought

After the rain, laughter filled the Zhou family courtyard. Blackface, recovering from the initial shock of the rain, hid under the wooden table inside the house, watching the lively conversation of the group in the courtyard.

Especially when he heard Xiao Changgong talk about his past, a lock in the black-faced man's heart was slowly unlocked by a key.

"It turned out to be him."

The dark-faced creature had mostly recovered its composure, but the rainy night it had experienced that day had left a deep scar. It remembered that after being rescued by the mountain god Dao Yisheng, a portion of its memories had been sealed away, and now it seemed that this was the part it had been reliving.

It stretched out its curled-up body, extended its two front paws forward, lowered its head, arched its back, and opened its mouth like a snake's mouth, revealing fangs as bright as day. A breath of white air also came out of its mouth.

It shook its body, its shiny black fur swaying like leaves fluttering in the wind on a spring night.

Xiao Changgong lay on Ping An's lap, and everyone laughed, but Black Face felt a surge of anger. The lock was completely opened, and the flood of memories blocked their laughter. Black Face's anger was ignited, but it thought for a moment, "When will this cycle of revenge end?" These were words that the mountain god Dao Yisheng had once said to it.

A century has passed, and how many people still know what happened back then? Never mind, never mind.
However, it couldn't just let it go like that. It had only stolen a string of candied hawthorns from him because it was starving, and yet he had attacked it so viciously. It wouldn't feel at ease if it didn't get its revenge.

So, after he lay down, it chose to leave something on Xiao Changgong's smug face. That's why the scene described earlier happened.

The black-faced creature crouched low, its head lowered. Once it spotted Xiao Changgong's face lying on Ping An's lap, it leaped forward like a snake, its sharp claws flashing as it viciously scratched Xiao Changgong's face.

"Ouch!" Xiao Changgong cried out after feeling the heat on his face. Ping An was also startled and looked incredulously as the dark-faced man darted under the bench.

Xiao Changgong got up, covering his bloodied face, and stared in astonishment at the dark-faced man running towards the door.

Everyone was incredulous at the sight, wondering what had happened to Black Face. But Zhou Ziping was the first to react, clapping his hands frantically and saying, "Oh no, Black Face must have heard what the Fox Immortal said."

Upon hearing this, She Li frowned suddenly, then relaxed. He said to Xiao Changgong with a mocking tone, "You got your comeuppance. Serves you right for acting recklessly."

After saying that, She Li didn't forget to give a thumbs up to the dark-faced man who was standing at the door, looking back with an arrogant and defiant expression as he raised his head to provoke Xiao Chang Gong.

It is true that She Li and Xiao Changgong are good friends, but he should not get involved in such personal grievances. However, judging from Xiao Changgong's description, it is not easy to determine who is right and who is wrong between the two.

Blackface was wrong to steal the candied hawthorn that should have belonged to Xiao Changgong; however, Xiao Changgong killed him over a candied hawthorn, and Blackface would have died on the spot if his ancestor hadn't arrived in time. It was just a candied hawthorn; killing him was truly excessive.

However, the two had conflicting accounts: one claimed to be desperate, the other to be in dire need. Determining who was right and who was wrong was truly difficult. Therefore, he chose not to interfere. Their personal grievances were better left to them to resolve themselves; the final outcome would depend on their choices.

Yang Shouren felt indignant at the black-faced man's actions. Even if he was desperate, he shouldn't have resorted to robbing others; he could have at least asked for help. Now, he had inexplicably scratched Xiao Changgong, which he found extremely distasteful. He wanted to teach the black-faced man a lesson, but She Li stopped him.

She Li didn't say anything, but smiled faintly at him. Yang Shouren frowned. Although he didn't understand, he figured that Daoist She Li must have other plans for stopping him. So, he had no choice but to suppress his resentment and look at the furious Xiao Changgong.

"Blackface! What are you doing?"

However, Zhou Yanliu, who was standing to the side, questioned the dark-faced man, saying what Yang Shouren was thinking.

The man with the dark face ignored him and, after hearing Zhou Yanliu's voice, turned and walked away, disappearing into the distance.

Seeing the dark-faced man's appearance, Xiao Changgong was furious. He transformed into a red fox and chased after the place where the dark-faced man had disappeared. Soon, a scream came from a path in the village; it was clearly the dark-faced man's.

Ping An stood up upon hearing this. He looked at his senior brother She Li, unsure of what to do. She Li said, "Don't worry, Xiao Chang Gong is different now. He's very measured in his actions and won't do anything reckless."

“But Senior Brother…” Although She Li said this, Ping An was still a little worried. He was afraid that Xiao Chang Gong might not be careful and might hurt Hei Lian. After all, the Divine Ape had said that karma would eventually come to pass.

She Li understood what Ping An meant. He patted Ping An on the shoulder and laughed, "Xiao Chang Gong isn't that vengeful."

As soon as She Li finished speaking, Yang Shouren, Zhou Yanliu, and the others came to She Li's side. They looked at She Li with concern in their eyes, as if they wanted to ask Xiao Changgong again whether he would hurt Hei Lian.

She Li shook her head helplessly, "Don't worry. They'll be fine."

She Li sighed, and the autumn wind rose on Duqing Mountain. The old tree face of the mountain god Dao Yisheng was somewhat sorrowful, yet also somewhat joyful. He raised his long tree eyebrows and looked in the direction where Xiao Changgong and the black-faced man were chasing each other.

The black cat, startled, ran away, with the red fox in hot pursuit. Suddenly, the red fox leaped up and pinned the black cat to the ground. It pressed down on the black cat's head with its white paws, cursing, "You little fox spirit, how dare you scratch my handsome face! You're asking for it!"

Although the black cat was small, it was not to be outdone. It twisted its supple yet resilient body and rolled to the side, using all four paws to slash wildly at the red fox's body. Finally, it kicked the red fox in the face and managed to escape.

Seeing this, the red fox sneered inwardly and gave chase again, thinking, "I refuse to believe I can't deal with you today!"

The red fox and the black cat chased each other, making the mountain god Dao Yisheng laugh: "To cultivate one's nature through worldly learning in order to return to one's original state; to indulge in worldly desires in order to gain clarity: this is called the ignorant people."

"Reading is useful, but don't let books blind you. Ping An, don't follow in your master's footsteps."

"The road ahead is long, and I have said what I needed to say. Whether you can understand it or not depends entirely on your fate."

"May I enjoy a long and prosperous life, but withered branches and willows, to whom can I speak?"

"That's it, that's all."

The self-deprecating voice of the mountain god Dao Yisheng echoed from the mountaintop, reaching Ping An's ears with the rising autumn wind. He stood before his senior brother She Li, Yang Shouren from Huangzhou, and the grandfather and grandson from Zhoujia Village, and glanced back at Du Qingshan.

The mountain was barren, its trees withered and yellow, devoid of any greenery, and the spot where the phoenix tree, transformed from the mountain god Dao Yisheng, stood was utterly empty. What was intriguing, however, was that a bright sun slowly rose in the sky, echoing the pale blue divine sun that appeared after the rain had cleared.

This scene made the villagers of Zhoujia Village restless, and they all looked up. At that moment, the daylight suddenly dissipated, turning into a torrential downpour.

"Why is it raining again?"

Some villagers watched the sun rise suddenly and then disappear, expressing their bewilderment and amazement.

They were busy taking shelter from the rain and busy putting back the things they had moved out. Ping An was also pulled back under the eaves by She Li and looked up at the sky in amazement.

"While the weather can be unpredictable, this is just too strange."

Looking at the sudden downpour, Zhou Ziping stared at the wooden table in the yard that hadn't been put away in time, feeling heartbroken: "Oh dear, the table wasn't put away."

"Blackface is still outside too," Zhou Yanliu exclaimed in surprise.

Yang Shouren frowned slightly upon hearing this, then walked through the rain to the wooden table, attempting to lift it and move it under the eaves. However, he froze in front of the table, standing still in the rain.

She Li seemed to sense something, so he reached out to try and catch the rain. However, the rainwater passed through his palm, fell to the ground, and finally seeped into the soil.

Ping An and the others were also quite surprised by the magical scene before them. They followed Yang Shouren's example and walked into the world of torrential rain, but they could not feel the raindrops falling on their bodies.

"Grandpa, look! My clothes are soaked in the rain but they're not wet at all!" Zhou Yanliu exclaimed, both curious and excited, as he splashed around in the rain.

Zhou Ziping also found it strange. He reached out to catch the rain, but the rainwater wouldn't stay in his hands. He looked curiously at Yang Shouren, who was stunned, and then came to his side.

Yang Shouren sensed Zhou Ziping's arrival. He looked up in surprise and said to Zhou Ziping, "This table has sprouted green shoots."

The damp wooden table became smooth and supple under the nourishment of the rain. Branches began to sprout from all around the table, gleaming with a bluish light, and slowly spread across the entire table, with even the legs of the table growing tender buds.

The benches beneath their legs were the same, and just then, a surprised exclamation came from nowhere: "Look, the trees on the mountain have turned green!"

Upon hearing this, Ping An and the others looked up at the mountain. The trees, which had been withered and yellow in autumn, began to sprout green buds. In a short while, the green spread across the entire mountain like a torrential downpour.

All of this felt like the arrival of spring.

A meow rang out at that moment, and a black cat, about half the size of a person, leaped in through the doorway, carrying a red fox in its mouth. Zhou Yanliu recognized the astonishing black cat at a glance, "Blackface!"

He ran towards Blackface, and looking at its fur soaked in the rain, he exclaimed in surprise at its enormous size, "Blackface, how did you get so big?"

Hearing the sound, Zhou Ziping also looked towards the door. When he saw the half-human-sized body, he gasped. He quickly went to Zhou Yanliu's side. When he saw the red fox in the black-faced man's mouth, he pulled Zhou Yanliu behind him and asked, "Black-faced man, aren't you afraid of the rain?"

The black-faced man put the red fox down, and the red fox immediately transformed into human form, becoming Xiao Changgong. He ran behind She Li in terror and hid, not daring to look at the black-faced man even once.

She Li and Ping An were curious, wondering: What's wrong with Xiao Chang Gong? Why did he suddenly become afraid and turn pale?

The black-faced creature remained silent. It mimicked Xiao Changgong's transformation back into a boy, then turned to look up at the mountain and said, "The mountain god has left."

"Gone?" Zhou Ziping and his grandson exclaimed in disbelief.

She Li also felt strange, but Ping An seemed to have noticed something.

He turned and looked into the room.

Rain fell on the eaves, then seeped through the black tiles onto the floor inside the house. But the ground remained dry. However, the basket he carried on his back seemed to be sprouting green shoots. Suddenly, his basket shook, and a light green Taoist robe, a lotus crown, and a jade hairpin burst out of the basket.

The slight noise startled She Li. He turned around and shielded Ping An and Xiao Changgong behind him. The Taoist robe emitted a dazzling green light that passed through She Li's body and rushed towards Ping An, finally attaching itself to him.

"Junior brother!"

She Li exclaimed in surprise, thinking that the Taoist robe was about to do something. So, in the instant he turned around, he took the gourd from his waist and conjured a sword in his other hand.

She Li's shout drew everyone's attention to Ping An.

Wearing a lotus crown and a light green robe, Ping An stood in the rain, holding a whisk in his hand. Even his appearance had subtly changed.

If Ping An in the past was compassionate towards all things and had a heart that saw the suffering of all beings, then now he has an expression that shows that all things are subject to fate, that coming and going is impermanent, and that everything should be left to its natural course.

It was as if he understood everything in an instant.

One can ascend to immortality immediately.

"Good rain knows its season, and falls when spring arrives." Ping An looked at Xiao Chang Gong, who had a terrified expression, and his senior brother, who was full of worry, when suddenly a thin mist entered his eyes.

At this moment, he was in a fog.

"The ancients, in the midst of chaos, attained a state of tranquility and indifference throughout their lives."

"Those who survived in ancient times did not use eloquence to embellish their knowledge, nor did they use their knowledge to explore the world, nor did they use their knowledge to explore virtue. They remained steadfast in their positions and returned to their true nature. What more can be said of this?"

"The Way is not something to be taken lightly, nor is virtue something to be known lightly."

“Small knowledge harms virtue, small actions harm the Way.”

Therefore it is said: 'Simply rectify yourself. To find joy and completeness is to achieve one's ambition.'

"So, this is my final reminder to you."

The voice coming from the mist sounded unfamiliar to Ping An, like that of a young man. But when the person walked out of the mist and Ping An saw the person's appearance clearly, he realized that it was Dao Yisheng from more than two thousand years ago.

He spoke in a calm and steady tone, enunciating each word slowly, but Ping An didn't understand. So he asked, "What does the Mountain God mean?"

"Your pure heart is rare in this world. You enjoy reading, but don't lose yourself in books. After all, what is said in books are the words of sages, and you are not a sage, so you will not understand or comprehend their meaning."

"You are going to travel east to Penglai. This journey will take you thousands of miles. You will meet many people and experience many things. I hope you can grow, but I don't want you to change."

"Your mindset is one in a million; you believe whatever others say. So, you should read more books and meet more people. You will know the principles in books, but you will see them even more often in other people."

"Therefore, remember this: if you want to seek immortality, you must let go of worldly affairs. The joys and sorrows of the human world are none of your concern."

"The road to Penglai is long and arduous; do not dwell on the joys and sorrows of human life."

"Remember, you should often ask yourself, what is the purpose of this journey to Penglai?"

The rain stopped, the mist dissipated, and autumn was transformed into springtime on the green mountain.

The admonition fell, but the mountain god was nowhere to be seen; Ping An frowned, his meaning unclear.
(End of this chapter)