Notes on Longevity

Chapter 48 Life and death are intertwined; death is like rest.

"I know." Zhou Zhou lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes. What was wrong with Grandpa Yao's health?
In this dilapidated house, the youngest member, Little Shark Fin, died. Before, Corn spent all his time with the chivalrous heroes of the martial arts world.

Although Corn has become more sensible, Grandpa Medicine is still most worried about him. Corn is a straightforward kid who speaks without thinking, which may suit the tastes of people from all walks of life, but he's afraid of running into some petty people.

Corn usually seems carefree and indifferent to many things, but ever since Grandpa Medicine fell ill, Corn has stopped going out to find those江湖人士 (jianghu figures, people from the martial arts world). Instead, she stays by Grandpa Medicine's side every day, taking meticulous care of him, feeding him, and giving him medicine.

When the medicine was running low, Corn was always the one running the fastest to get it, and that was only because he thought Grandpa Medicine was sick. If he knew that Grandpa Medicine might also leave forever like Little Shark Fin, he might contemplate suicide every day.

So Grandpa Medicine only told Zhou Zhou, and didn't tell Yumi what was wrong with him.

Zhou Zhou was also very clever. Before Grandpa Yao could even tell him, he could tell from Grandpa Yao's pale and weak face and body that day.

When Grandpa Medicine told him in person, he wasn't as alarmed as Yumi, but his eyes were still filled with tears.

"If that's the case, why didn't you come to us?" Yang Youan frowned and questioned Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears, and looked at Zhou Zhou with a very aggrieved expression, as if she were explaining something.

"Young Master Yang, please don't blame him. I told him not to bother you." Grandpa Yao's voice was hoarse, and he kept coughing as he spoke.

Actually, after Grandpa Yao first fell ill, Zhou Zhou said she wanted to go find Yang Youan, but Grandpa Yao said, "Forget it, my old bones have lived for so many years, it's time for me to be buried."

In the dimly lit room at night, Grandpa Yao's pale face looked particularly desolate in the light of the candle held up by Zhou Zhou.

His eyes were fixed on Yumi, who was brewing medicine with his back to them in the small room. "I know my own body well. I'm afraid I won't live much longer. You're old. After I die, keep an eye on Xiao Si. Don't let him get too close to those Jianghu people. Although they value righteousness, they are also very murderous. I'm afraid that one day he will offend those people and get into trouble."

"Don't worry, Grandpa, I'll take good care of him." Zhou Zhou clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly. He held back his tears and softly answered Grandpa Yao's instructions.

Zhou Zhou's trembling voice brought tears to Grandpa Yao's eyes. He too was reluctant to part with the two children, but human life cannot withstand the calamity of fate; they too must eventually depart for another world.

Grandpa Medicine looked at the corn carrying them in the small room, stood up, turned around, and looked at himself with tears in his eyes.

He saw Yumi raise her hand to wipe her tears with her already dirty sleeve, calling out to her grandfather as she walked towards him. Finally, he couldn't hold back his tears either, which streamed down his face.

The hot tears that hadn't yet fallen from his eyes were like medicinal soup boiling in a clay pot, billowing white steam that obscured Grandpa Medicine's vision, making it impossible for him to see anything clearly. He could only vaguely hear a cry, a voice that sounded very familiar, but he just couldn't remember who it was.

He suddenly felt tired and, thinking that the smoke hadn't dissipated yet, decided to close his eyes and take a nap. But the crying and shouting grew louder and louder, disturbing his sleep. So he blinked, trying to expel the smoke from his eyes, wanting to see who was disturbing his sleep.

Finally, after blinking with great effort, the smoke gradually dissipated from my eyes. But just as the smoke was almost completely gone, the crying stopped, replaced by a burst of playful laughter.

He was very curious about what was going on and who had been crying just now.

So he looked up and sat up in bed. The first thing he saw was four little boys.

They were dressed in coarse linen clothes, chasing and playing in the sunny courtyard. He got out of bed and slowly approached the wide-open door.

As he looked at the two unfamiliar children, wondering whose they were, he heard himself speak: "Xiao Si, where's Xiao Si?"

"Grandpa, Xiao Si has run away again." Several children stopped immediately upon hearing his voice and began to complain.

"This child is so disobedient," he heard himself mutter to himself, before starting to walk toward the yard.

He remained standing at the doorway, but saw another version of himself approaching the children. He watched himself touching the children's heads, unable to hear what he was saying to them.

He had a full head of white hair, and although his face showed signs of aging, he looked very vibrant in the sunlight. As he watched the children turn around and smile at him, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up in a smile as well.

Compared to myself in the sunlight, my pale and weak face seemed quite out of place in this scene.

But the next moment, in the blink of an eye, he vanished, along with the children, disappearing into the sunlight. He was terrified. Dressed in tattered oilcloth, he walked with trembling steps to the center of the courtyard, but all around him was desolate.

He cried, in the bright sunshine, in the quiet and pleasant courtyard.

Tears streamed down his face, and he was speechless. He looked around frantically, trying to find himself and the children, but he couldn't see them. A sense of loneliness welled up inside him.

Just as he searched in vain, hunched over and sobbing, he heard their voices behind him again. In that instant, his tears stopped. He straightened up, trembling, and turned around unsteadily. He saw several children entering the room at his urging. He then followed them in.

He wanted to follow, but suddenly found himself unable to move, and at the same time, another sound came from behind him.

It sounded like a man and a woman, and their voices still seemed familiar. Unable to resist his curiosity, he turned around, his previously immobile feet moving. But unfortunately, in that instant, they walked side-by-side through him, heading towards the room.

He stood there in shock, his face streaked with tears, staring blankly, lost in thought.

"Sister, did you feel like you bumped into something just now?" the man asked.

The woman replied, "No way."

The man frowned, looking back in confusion. He stared at the spot where Grandpa Medicine had stood, and tears suddenly welled up in his eyes. They rolled around in his eyes, trembling incessantly in his eyelids.

But he quickly turned back and continued walking towards the room.

The woman entered the room first, followed closely by the man. Just as he stepped into the room, as if sensing something, he suddenly turned around and looked in that direction.

A figure, almost translucent in the sunlight, stood there blankly. Although the tears had stopped, the reddened eyes and pale, aged face with obvious tear stains testified that he had cried.

He sobbed, lowered his head, and turned away with a look of utter disappointment. He had many things on his mind, and many words he hadn't had a chance to say.

Perhaps he had just cried, the sobbing continuing unabated. He raised his hand and wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve.

After wiping it a few times, he took a deep breath and looked up at the bright, sunny sky. The dazzling sunlight shone into his eyes.

His eyes stung as if by a sharp pain, and tears streamed down his face again. He gasped for breath, slowly lowered his head, and saw himself once more through the open doorway.

He saw himself standing in the very center, with two children standing on either side of him, and in front of him stood a man and a woman who had just brushed past him.

The woman wore a light and flowing blue robe. Her face was beautiful, as striking as a pure white gladiolus. Her eyes were like stars, and her figure was slightly slender.

She looked at me with a slight smile on her lips.

The man, on the other hand, had a handsome and dashing appearance, but his eyes were filled with tears.

Grandpa Medicine recognized him and excitedly walked towards the man, calling his name repeatedly: "Zhou Zhou".

As he approached Zhou Zhou, he opened his arms, intending to embrace her, but his embrace fell empty. Surprised by the empty space, he couldn't stop himself and took another step forward. He suddenly felt his foot slip, and the world spun around him; he felt dizzy and drowsy.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and fall asleep, the crying and shouting started again.

It was pitch black; he couldn't see anything. So he reached out and touched something. After groping around in the dark for a while, he thought he touched a face, but the face was wet, as if it had been crying.

Strange, where's the crying?
He opened his eyes curiously. In the dimly lit room, several people stood in front of a bed. They were all people he had seen and knew very well.

He looked around, and the first person he saw was Zhou Zhou, who was kneeling by the bed, tightly holding the hand he had placed on his face. His face was covered in tears, and tears were welling up in his eyes.

To the side was Young Master Yang You'an, whose expression was somewhat solemn. Standing next to him was Miss Xie Xiaoshuang, the eldest daughter of the Five Mile Pear Garden. She looked at him sadly, while he smiled back at her, his face wrinkled and aged.

She couldn't hold back her tears. Between her and Yang Youan stood a boy with delicate features and a very childlike appearance, who looked to be about ten years old.

He smiled again. He knew the child; his name was Ping An, a young Taoist priest who traveled with his master. However, they had an accident a few months ago, and he had unintentionally saved him.

He looked at all these people one by one, and many images appeared in his mind. He opened his eyes and stared quietly at the roof, as if those images were right in front of him, emerging little by little.

He blinked, looked at Zhou Zhou again, and with his last bit of strength, whispered to him, "Take good care of Yumi."

"grandfather!"

On this day, in this dilapidated house... the crying never stopped.

(End of this chapter)