Notes on Longevity

Chapter 207 A guest comes from the horizon, a green-robed man departs for the human world.

Qumu Town has never been a peaceful place. There are many rumors about demons and ghosts here, and it is said that people have even died here. A Taoist priest was once invited to come and see, but in the end, he found nothing.

In the past two days, a swordsman in blue arrived in Qumu Town. He brandished his sword and said he wanted to find out what was going on, but so far he has not been seen coming out of that house.

Unable to sleep due to the noise and chatter downstairs at the inn, She Li tossed and turned several times before getting dressed and going to Ping An's room first. Ping An's room was only a wall away from his. After watching him sit upright on the bed, holding a scripture in his hands, and slowly reciting it with his eyes closed, he walked towards the room in front of him.

He gently pushed open the door. The room was dimly lit, and a red fox was curled up asleep by the bedside.

She Li smiled silently, her expression a mixture of helplessness and apology.

After the incident with Shanshui Lang, She Li's attitude towards Xiao Chang Gong changed a lot. At first, although they were good friends, there were unspeakable thoughts in his heart that were always at play. He not only wanted to protect Ping An, but also wanted to keep Xiao Chang Gong tightly bound to himself.

He knew Xiao Changgong's temperament, and She Li was just afraid of causing trouble.

But he shouldn't have restricted Xiao Changgong's freedom. Even if he was worried, there should have been a limit, and unfortunately he failed to do so.

With a sigh, She Li stepped into the room and closed the door. He walked towards Xiao Changgong, who was already fast asleep. Perhaps it was the fox's keen sense, but Xiao Changgong had already woken up when the door opened. After She Li turned his back to the door and closed it, he quietly slipped under the bed, intending to scare She Li.

She reached the bedside, but the red fox was nowhere to be seen. She frowned, hissed softly, and asked in confusion, "Where did it go?"

Just as She Li was confused, Xiao Changgong had already transformed into human form and walked lightly behind him, a smug smile spreading across his face. He then reached out and blindfolded She Li. But the next moment, She Li turned into a wisp of smoke and slowly dissipated.

Xiao Changgong was stunned by the astonishing scene before him. He frantically paced around the room, bewildered and confused, but then he suddenly realized what was happening.

"You little devil, She Li, how dare you play me for a fool!"

Xiao Changgong's grinning face made She Li, who was in the guest room, burst out laughing. She muttered, "He really thought I couldn't notice anything, huh?"

Xiao Changgong overheard She Li's murmurs and saw him storming into She Li's room like a child, demanding an explanation:

"What are you doing? Staying up in the middle of the night and using your clone technique to play tricks on me?"

Faced with Xiao Changgong's angry words, She Li smiled and said, "I just heard some of the wandering swordsmen in the inn say that Qumu Town is not a peaceful place, and it is often haunted by demons and ghosts, so I thought I would come and see you, just in case you are haunted by strange things."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Changgong gave a puzzled "hmm," then changed his tone and said, "Then why aren't you protecting Ping An? What are you doing in my room?"

"No, you mean I'll be targeted by a monster?"

Xiao Changgong looked shocked, and then said, "What a joke! I am a dignified fox spirit with five hundred years of cultivation. How could ordinary demons get close to me?"

She Li laughed and said, "I'm just scared. What if it's not an ordinary demon? Besides, Ping An has the protective robes bestowed by the mountain god, so even if it's not an ordinary demon, it won't be able to harm him in the slightest. You're different. You don't even know who was thrown out of the courtyard by the snake demon's tail before."

"That's going too far," Xiao Changgong said, and quickly went to cover She Li's mouth, but she dodged him. "You know how strong snake demons are, just like bear demons. It would be a miracle if I could beat a monster that specializes in physical strength."

“That’s right!” She Li smiled upon hearing this and immediately replied, “We haven’t even entered the town yet, and there might be bear spirits and snake monsters in these mountains and forests.”

Xiao Changgong rolled his eyes at him: "Keep trying to cover up your mistakes, I can't be bothered with you."

After saying that, Xiao Changgong turned to leave, but She Li stopped him with her words: "When we enter the town tomorrow, we should avoid houses that have been empty for a long time."

"Why?" Xiao Changgong took a step out of the room but then stopped, turning back to look at She Li with confusion in his eyes.

She Li said, "Since this town is haunted by demons and ghosts, it is said that other Taoist priests were invited to come and see, but they could not find any clues. Although Ping An is wearing a Taoist robe, he still attracts attention. If he is targeted, it will be troublesome."

"Are you saying there's a powerful demon in this town, one that you can't handle?" Xiao Changgong frowned and nodded, both confused and understanding.

She Li shook her head and said, "As long as it is a demon, it will leave traces when it passes by. Even a Taoist who is not very skilled in Taoism will be able to find them. The worst thing is that the other party is not a demon but a person with ulterior motives, or some other strange thing. In short, it is better to be careful."

Xiao Changgong nodded thoughtfully, "I understand."

The next morning, after washing up, Ping An put on his green Taoist robe. Sunlight filtered through the withered branches and yellow leaves, falling intentionally or unintentionally on him through the window. The autumn air was getting cooler, but Ping An felt warm in his thin robe. He looked at the robe thoughtfully.

This is likely because the robe, nourished by the essence of the sun and moon, is giving back to the human body.

Ping An sighed, thinking to himself: Not only does the mountain god know that he is nourished by heaven and earth, worshipped by the people, and transformed into spring rain to nourish all things after his death, but even the Dharma robe knows this principle. What about himself?
To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure either. The mountain god's words had been echoing in his mind. Although he had said he wanted to meet the celestial beings on behalf of his master, a sense of confusion had arisen in his heart after those conversations. He didn't know what the point of doing so was.

However, he had already descended the mountain and told the Old Ancestor of Yuyang and Senior Brother Yuyan that he would not return until he saw the immortals on his way to Penglai.

Sighs rose again, and the area downstairs was utterly silent. Ping An stepped out of the guest room and looked down from the high vantage point, only to see She Li and Xiao Chang Gong sneaking out of the house.

Ping An was confused, so he called out, "Senior brother, where are you going?"

"Oh no!" She Li and Xiao Changgong were walking side by side. When he heard Ping An's voice, he quietly put his leg down again. He and Xiao Changgong looked at each other and smiled awkwardly. Then he turned to Ping An and said with a smile, "Didn't I say before that I was going to buy a carriage? I saw that you were still not awake, so I thought I would go into town with Xiao Changgong to take a look first. If there is a suitable one, we can buy it and set off immediately."

Ping An was slightly confused by what he heard, but he didn't care. He said, "Senior brothers, wait for me for a moment. I'll bring everything with me so we don't have to run back and forth."

After saying that, Ping An turned around and went into the house.

After Ping An returned to the house, She Li slapped Xiao Chang Gong on the head and said, cursing, "I told you to get up, but you insisted on staying up for a while. Now look what happened, Ping An is awake. If anything happens on the way, I'll hold you responsible."

Xiao Changgong looked on in astonishment, staring at She Li in disbelief. "How can you blame me for this? Isn't it normal to be soundly asleep after falling asleep in winter?"

"You still need to hibernate?" She Li was furious and wanted to slap him on the head again as she spoke.

Xiao Changgong instinctively dodged, looking at She Li's raised hand, he hesitated and backed away, saying with a slightly aggrieved expression, "Even people want to stay in bed in winter."

"you!"

As She Li's slap landed, Xiao Changgong turned and ran, shouting, "She Li, you just wait! Once I'm with my vixen, I'll make sure she poisons you!"

She Li tilted her head and said helplessly, "This guy is already this lazy even before winter has arrived. If winter comes, he'll be so lazy."

"What's wrong, Senior Brother? I heard from Senior Brother Xiao that he's going to poison you?"

As She Li watched Xiao Changgong's figure gradually disappear, Ping An had already come downstairs and stood beside him.

Looking at She Li's helpless expression and Xiao Changgong's fleeing figure, he knew that Xiao Changgong must have angered his senior brother again.

She Li turned to look at Ping An, her eyes full of doting affection, a stark contrast to her attitude towards Xiao Chang Gong: "It's nothing. I don't know what's wrong with this guy, he said he wants to hibernate."

"Hibernation?" Ping An asked, puzzled. "But it's not winter yet."

"Yeah. I also thought it was strange, and after saying a few words to him, he wanted to poison me."

Faced with Ping An's doubts, She Li could only say this. She couldn't very well tell him directly that there were demons and ghosts in Qumu Town, that people frequently went missing, and that she and Xiao Changgong had secretly prepared to sneak out early in the morning to buy a carriage in order to protect him.

After all, this place is relatively safer than entering the town. Even if there are other monsters, Ping An, protected by her magic robe, will not be harmed.

But now that Ping An has woken up, it's no longer good to hide it from him, so he said, "Let's go, let's follow them. Oh, by the way, give me the chest, I'll carry it."

She Li looked at the chest on Ping An's back and felt a pang of heartache. Traveling thousands of miles, this was probably all she could do to help.

Ping An shook his head vigorously, holding his whisk in one hand and bowing with the other, and said with a smile, "No need, Senior Brother. It's not heavy at all. There's nothing in the box except for the Taoist scriptures and clothes."

Faced with Ping An's stubbornness, She Li could not say anything more. He could only nod silently and then lead Ping An to follow Xiao Chang Gong's steps.

When Ping An first heard the name Qumu Town from She Li, he felt a little strange. Why would a town be named with the characters "Qumu"? Now it seems that using these two characters as a name was not for vanity, but for reality.

The town is not the typical mud-brick and tile town one might expect, but rather a village nestled among trees, with rows of wooden houses standing beneath them. For dozens of miles, the town stretches out like a village under a canopy of green trees. Starting from the town's entrance, dozens of green trees line up in a row, and the three characters "Qumu Town" on the trunks of the trees are also formed by intertwined branches.

Upon entering the town, the bright sunshine and the spring-like atmosphere of the trees created a stark contrast to the autumnal hues outside. Wherever there were houses, a tall, verdant tree would grow in front of, behind, or inside the door, its winding branches intertwined, shrouded in a thin mist.

It’s like a paradise on earth.

As he walked peacefully through the area, brown houses came into view. Looking up at the ancient trees, he exclaimed in amazement, "Is this really the human world?"

She Li and Xiao Changgong exchanged a smile. She Li then said with a laugh, "Of course. Qumu Town was formed naturally tens of thousands of years ago, existing even before any human habitation existed in the world. Later, after the founding of the Heavenly Kingdom, these houses were built here without harming the ancient forests, and only then did human presence appear. After the Heavenly Kingdom collapsed and was fragmented, Dayan restored this place, and most of the people living here come from all over the world. It is said that there are also quite a few extraordinary people here."

"A remarkable person? What's that?" Ping An asked, not quite hearing clearly.

"To put it simply, they are people who have never cultivated Taoism but possess strange skills. They also always like to collect strange things. Moreover, I heard that this place was once the place where the Horned Wood Dragon of the Twenty-Eight Mansions cultivated."

As she spoke, She Li stopped and looked up at the winding forest of green trees. Pointing at them, she said to Ping An, "Don't you think the way these branches are shaped like a legless dragon?"

Upon hearing this, Ping An looked in the direction of the tree. The thick wooden trunk and the intertwined branches formed a snake's body. At the end of the town, two towering ancient trees stood with dense foliage and their forked branches indeed resembled dragon horns.

Starting from the town, looking straight ahead, these green trees and branches gradually rise, like dragons gathering strength and waiting to soar into the sky.

Ping An was deeply shocked as he looked at the green tree that resembled a dragon, especially the thin layer of mist that made it seem both real and unreal.

"Okay, let's walk forward and see where we can buy a horse-drawn carriage."

Seeing Ping An's shocked expression, She Li smiled, as if quite pleased with himself. He remembered that when he first traveled here, he felt the same way as Ping An; he had never imagined that such a paradise existed in the mortal world.

Xiao Changgong had also visited Qumu Town and was deeply attracted to it. However, he felt that it was similar to the place where he had once cultivated Taoism, with the same endless green mountains. In the end, he left at She Li's urging and went to a place with bright lights and bustling activity.

"By the way, you need to stay close to us while you're wearing this Taoist robe. Otherwise, if someone with ulterior motives targets you, we'll be able to protect you."

On the way, Xiao Changgong felt the familiar atmosphere and sensations, and suddenly remembered what She Li had said the night before. "Okay."

Ping An looked around and answered subconsciously.

He was captivated by the sights before him: the peddlers and laborers sold few fruits and vegetables, mostly rare and precious antiques; the shops were filled with a dazzling array of weapons, mostly swords and spears, with few gold and silver jewelry; but when he passed a simple little shop, he stopped in his tracks.

Unlike the surrounding brown wooden houses, this was a thatched hut, where the hay piled on the roof swayed in the wind. The hay hanging from the eaves also swayed upwards.

An elderly man sat in a chair by the door, holding a palm-leaf fan. When Ping An's gaze met his, the old man suddenly sat up straight and gently waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand.

The old man had a full head of white hair and a three-strand white beard hanging down to his mouth. He gently stroked his beard and smiled at Ping An with kind eyes, saying, "A guest has come from the horizon, and the green-robed man is going to the human world."

The old man spoke softly, yet his words reached Ping An's ears. He frowned slightly, a sense of confusion quietly arising in his heart. Ping An left behind the solemn-looking She Li and Xiao Chang Gong, heading straight for the thatched hut.

"May I ask, sir, were you speaking to me just now?" Ping An asked, bowing.

The old man laughed and said, "You are the only visitor from the horizon. If I am not speaking to you, then who am I talking to?"

Ping An was puzzled. He said, "I am a disciple of the Zouma Temple in Fuyang City, not a stranger from afar. Old man, have you mistaken me for someone else?"

Upon hearing Ping An's words, the old man suddenly stopped smiling. He stood up, hunched over, and carefully examined Ping An from head to toe. He shook his head and chuckled, "No, how could I be wrong? You are indeed a visitor from afar. However, I see that your heart is broken and your liver and gallbladder are shattered. You must have suffered a calamity and your Dao heart has been broken. You must have come here to travel and search for a way to break free. It's just a pity that I only sell books here, not medicine, so I can't help you."

The old man's words, tinged with a hint of malice, left Ping An momentarily stunned. He scratched his head and continued to explain, "Old man, I am truly a wandering disciple, not a traveler from afar. However, I do indeed have to go to the ends of the earth, to that Penglai Island in the sea to seek an audience with the immortals."

“No.” The old man remained stubborn, insisting that Ping An came from the heavens. “You should have gone to heaven to become a god, but because of your inner demons and your lack of firmness in your Dao, you only cultivated this set of Daoist magic and supernatural powers, and lived as long as heaven and earth. It’s a pity, a real pity.”

Although the old man was stubborn, Ping An was also obstinate. He kept explaining to the old man, but the old man wouldn't listen. After a long argument, the old man got tired and lay down on the armchair, gently fanning himself with a palm leaf fan: "I have a Dharma name, and I have the ability to observe the changes of heaven and earth and know all the past events, so I cannot be wrong."

Ping An was also exhausted. He had argued with Lai Guo about this for almost half an hour. Today was the day he had talked the most since he was born.

He put down the chest on his back, preparing to continue explaining his origins to the visitor, but the visitor stared at his chest and asked, "What's in your chest?"

Ping An replied, "Scriptures and clothing."

"Was it brought back from the horizon?"

Upon hearing this, he became extremely excited. He got up, squatted down beside the box, and after examining it for a while, said, "It's just some Taoist scriptures. I thought it was something more."

“Old man, even if you have extraordinary abilities, you shouldn’t speak ill of these books.” Ping An was a little unhappy. These scriptures were Taoist classics he had read since childhood. They were the last written teachings left by the sages before their ascension. How could they be ordinary things?

"That's how it is. Your things are nothing but mundane objects; how can they compare to the books in my golden house?"

His tone was angry, a stark contrast to his earlier demeanor. "Furthermore," he said, "you are also a cultivator; if you are merely..."

He suddenly stopped talking and stared intently at Ping An's face, then smiled and said, "Now I know why your Dao heart is so wavering. No wonder you can't become an immortal."

Ping An frowned and remained silent. Faced with the stubborn person who had come before, he was powerless to say anything more. He couldn't understand why there would be such a strange person here.

Upon seeing Ping An, he remained silent, only closing his eyes and slowly saying, "You've become an immortal through rote learning. There are only three thousand volumes of scriptures, but how can there be countless paths to the Great Way? Rote learning has clouded your mind; even if you study until you die, you won't become an immortal. These books contain the words of others; how can they be your path?"

Ping An remained silent, his brows furrowed. Just then, a burly, bearded middle-aged man selling weapons walked over, pulled Ping An aside, and said, "I've seen you two arguing for a while now. Don't get angry. This old man is a madman. You should leave quickly. It's not good to be bothered by him."

Before the middle-aged man could finish speaking, Lai Guo suddenly stood up, pointed at him angrily, and shouted: "You blacksmith, you are vulgar and reckless. What use is your body except for blacksmithing? You are nothing but a pile of dead flesh, showing off your stinking appearance."

The man was not angry upon hearing this, nor did he pay any attention to him. Instead, he continued to say to Ping An, "I have an iron weapon here, which is used to beat up people who are not in their right mind. Please wait a moment while I get it for you."

After the man entered the house, he angrily dragged Ping An inside, slammed the door shut, and shouted at Ping An, "You stinking blacksmith, come in if you dare, and see how I deal with you!"

There was no echo outside the door, only muffled sounds coming from the muddy ground beneath our feet.

A moment later, when the sound disappeared, Lai Guo finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Bullying the weak? Do you really think I'm afraid of you? If you dare to come in, you won't be leaving."

"Old man, how am I supposed to get out if you close the door?" Ping An sighed. He couldn't understand why he had come to ask him, and now he was full of regret.

"Where are you going?" Lai Guo tilted his head and looked at Ping An.

“I need to find a carriage, so naturally I’ll go to Penglai,” Ping An replied.

Upon hearing this, Lai Guo shook his head and smiled bitterly: "As I just said, your heart is broken and your liver and gallbladder are shattered. Even if you go to Penglai again, you will not see the immortals. Your destiny can only end here. A lack of firmness in your Dao heart is a great taboo in cultivation."

“But I have never been to Penglai,” Ping An explained again.

"Very well, very well. Although I don't know why you insist on saying this, I won't say anything more. However, it is fate that we met. Your books have accompanied you on your cultivation journey. No matter how good they are in your eyes, they are just fragments of words that you cannot see clearly or understand. Why don't you choose a few books from my Golden House? Perhaps they will help you repair your meridians and stabilize your Dao heart."

As they walked, they strolled through the small thatched hut, barely large enough for three people to walk side by side, in front of the neatly arranged, dusty bookshelves.

Ping An, however, found it strange. He looked around the thatched hut, puzzled: Isn't this a thatched hut? How could it be a golden house?

However, since he said that, perhaps he has his reasons. After all, there are beautiful women and riches in books.

He felt that should be the case.

"Are the Records of the Grand Historian, the Book of Han, the Book of Liang, the Book of Southern Qi, and the Zizhi Tongjian all historical books?"

Ping An followed in the footsteps of those who had come before, wandering among the history books on the bookshelves. When he looked at the name on the side of a book with a yellowed blue cover and covered in dust, doubt spread throughout his body.

"History books are good, history books are good."

The voice of someone who had been there came from the bookshelf opposite Ping An. He looked up and stared, and the eyes of the person who had been there met Ping An's.

A vast sea of ​​books stretched out beneath Ping An's feet, accompanied by the sunlight. Huge, bronze-colored sheets of paper formed a path, and he watched as the dark ink beneath his feet flowed away like a river behind him.

"A vast collection of words, compiled over a century."

An aged yet powerful voice rang out behind Ping An at the same time.

As he turned around, his astonished expression caused the visitor to burst into laughter. "Throughout a thousand years, the past has become history; words leap from the paper, and time flows on. With this turn of your head, an era is gone forever."

era?

This was the first time Ping An had heard this word. Besides confusion, he felt bewilderment, shock, and disbelief. In the instant he turned around, the ink flowing beneath his feet suddenly surged upwards behind him, transforming into words that shot straight to the horizon.

The Yellow Emperor was the son of Shaodian, whose surname was Gongsun and given name was Xuanyuan.

"This is the first sentence in the Records of the Grand Historian, and it is also the best proof that history has traces to follow."

As more and more words are spoken, more and more ink forms characters that flow into the endless sea of ​​books.

Your Majesty has heard that the emperor's duty is none greater than propriety, and the greatest aspect of propriety is the
Qin general Bai Qi attacked Chu and captured Yan, Deng, and Xiling.
The importance of etiquette is immense! When applied to oneself, it ensures that actions and stillness are governed by rules, and all things are well-prepared.
"Look at these words flowing under your feet, what are your thoughts?"

Ping An's eyes followed the words, and even her thoughts were drawn to them. She frowned and remained silent at the words that had been spoken.

With a wave of his hand, countless enormous scrolls of paper appeared on both sides of the path of books. They spun continuously, ink flowing from top to bottom, and the words appeared one by one:

Don’t you see, the water of the Yellow River comes from the sky and rushes to the sea without returning.

The bright moon rises over the sea, making even the ends of the earth seem like next door.

I examine myself three times a day
Choose what is good and follow it; correct what is not good.

“These are written characters, and I think you should recognize them all, after all, you are a person who has cultivated the Tao and attained enlightenment.”

"Just follow me."

He had extended an invitation to Xiang Ping, but he stopped amidst the endless sea of ​​books.

Having come and seen this, he said no more, but instead went forward alone, walking on the words that seemed to have come to life and said: "During the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, taxes and levies were light, and the people were allowed to rest; during the reign of Emperor Guangwu, the army was streamlined and the government was simplified, and Confucianism was promoted; during the reign of Emperor Zhenguan, the people were prosperous and peaceful, and doors were not locked at night; during the prosperous reign of Emperor Kaiyuan, the people worked hard to govern and appointed virtuous and capable officials."

"This was the most arrogant era of the former Heavenly Kingdom, an era that lasted for thousands of years. Its final demise is recorded in history with just a brief sentence: 'Natural disasters struck, man-made calamities arose, it was torn apart, never to be restored, and then it evolved.'"

"These mere twenty words brought an end to a heavenly kingdom that had enjoyed thousands of years of splendor."

"On my bookshelf, there is a thousand-year history of the Heavenly Kingdom, which contains 7.5 million words. Every page I open is the beginning and end of an era; it is also the fleeting life of countless people. History books are written in ink, but history is stained with blood. Every time I open these history books, I can feel the past eras and lives slipping through my fingers."

"I think you can't feel it."

"That feeling is that the words come to life, they leap off the page: the yellow sand is right in front of me, the thunder of iron hooves is right in my ears. Whether the people are living in peace and happiness or suffering, I can feel it all, as if I am a person from the past."

"I can still clearly hear the laughter and cries of sorrow in history books, the words of scholars wielding their pens and expressing their feelings and aspirations. No matter how much time has passed, the voices emanating from those words still resonate in my ears. And we, too, will soon turn into a pile of yellow earth, becoming a past unrecorded in history books."

Ping An stared in disbelief, his face filled with astonishment. The sea of ​​books in his eyes slowly receded and eventually disappeared. Among those dusty bookshelves, the eyes of the person who was looking at Ping An were red and brimming with tears.

"Therefore, your scriptures should not have become obstacles on your path of cultivation. Reading history is the best way for you to understand your true nature. History books are vast and numerous. In them, you can meet everyone you want to meet. Their pain and regrets are always the same as your struggles and resentments. Talented but unappreciated, fate plays tricks on people, and all things are like straw dogs. Their magnificent lives, though rarely described in writing, are still similar to yours."

(End of this chapter)