Notes on Longevity

Chapter 6: Old Friends Glance Back, Newcomers Drunkenly Entertained in the Brothel

Grandpa Yao and Zhou Zhou came to Ping An's side. They saw him wearing a thin white undershirt, sitting on the bed and crying softly. Little Fish Fin next to him also looked at Ping An with a pale face and didn't know what to do.

"Child, what's wrong?" Grandpa Yao sat on the edge of the bed, touching Ping An as he spoke and comforted her.

"Master, my master is still in the temple." Ping An sobbed, her voice choked with emotion.

"Master? Which temple does your master live in?"

"Grandpa Medicine asked softly."

"Yes, in a dilapidated temple outside the city."

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Yao glanced at Zhou Zhou and Yumi, then asked Ping An, "When were you taken away?"

"It must have been last night," Ping An replied, sobbing.

"It's probably too late." Grandpa Yao turned to look at the two of them, then asked Ping An, "Where are you two going?"

"Let's take a quick look and find Master Shimizu."

Grandpa Yao's expression froze upon hearing this, and he asked with a trembling voice, "This...this Master Qingshui is you?"

"Master Qingshui is a good friend of my master."

Grandpa Yao nodded, stood up, and his steps were a little shaky. Zhou Zhou and the other person quickly went to help him. Grandpa Yao waved his hand and said to Zhou Zhou, "Zhou Zhou, you should go and find your sister. See if she has any way to look in the dilapidated temple outside the city."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhou bowed and replied, "Yes, Grandpa."

Then he said to Yumi, "Xiao Si, feed him some porridge first, I'll sit for a while."

"Oh, okay." After saying that, Grandpa Medicine sat down nervously by Little Shark Fin's bedside.

"Your name is Ping An, right? Come on, have some porridge first. We're already trying to find your master, so don't worry."

Yumi immediately brought the porridge to Ping An's side, comforting him while feeding him the porridge.

Ping An glanced at him first, finding him somewhat familiar, then looked at the porridge, and immediately stood up from the bed. Ping An crossed his arms over his chest, his right hand in a fist and his left hand holding his right fist, and bowed slightly to Corn and Grandpa Medicine in a Taoist salute.

Ping An's actions left the three of them dumbfounded and speechless.

After finishing his greetings, Ping An sat down, took the bowl from Yumi's hand, and began to drink it little by little.

Seeing Ping An drinking porridge and no longer crying, Yu Mi got up and went to Grandpa Medicine's side, whispering to him, "Wait, Grandpa, are all Taoist priests this polite?"

Grandpa Medicine didn't know how to answer either, so he could only shake his head and say, "I've never seen a Taoist priest before, I don't know, I don't know."

Little Fish Fin, watching Ping An drink his porridge, started to feel his stomach growl and asked Corn, "Brother Xiao Si, is there any more porridge? I'm hungry too."

Yes. Wait.

After saying that, Yumi rushed into the room where medicine was being burned and porridge was being cooked. A moment later, she came out with two bowls of porridge, handing one to Grandpa Yao and the other to Little Shark Fin.

After the three of them finished drinking, Yumi collected the bowls one by one and put them aside. He came to Ping An's side and began to introduce himself: "My name is Yumi. I am the fourth child in this family. Grandpa usually calls me Xiao Si. You are younger than me, so you can just call me Fourth Brother."

Before Ping An could even call out to him, Yu Mi stood between Grandpa Medicine and Little Shark Fin and began introducing them: "This is Grandpa Medicine, he took me in, and this is Little Shark Fin."

When talking about Little Shark Fin, Yumi walked over to Ping An and whispered to him, "Little Shark Fin was picked up by my grandfather and me a month ago. The doctor said he wouldn't live much longer, so we usually take good care of him."

After speaking, Yumi took two steps back and stood in front of Grandpa Medicine and Little Fish Fin, looking at Ping An.

"And who was that just now..." Before Ping An could finish speaking, Yu Mi interrupted, "That was Zhou Zhou. He's expressionless, just ignore him." As soon as Yu Mi finished speaking, a slap fell from the sky and hit him on the head.

He turned around and saw Grandpa Yao frowning, looking at him angrily: "Grandpa, you hit me again."

“If you continue like this, you’re not allowed to go looking for those wandering adventurers anymore. Look what you’ve become by following them.”

Grandpa Medicine was scolding Corn, while Little Shark Fin was secretly laughing to himself.

Seeing this scene, Ping An was filled with sorrow. He turned his head away, no longer looking at them, but looking towards the room where the medicine was being brewed. He tried to see everything outside the door through the paper window lattice, wanting his gaze to pass through Fuyang City, across the river, and finally land in the dilapidated temple where he and his master had last met.

Ping An was a pitiful person. He was born during a war between two countries, and he was born in a small town on the border between Yan and Wu.

That summer, the town suffered a severe drought; the rivers dried up, and the crops withered and died in the fields due to the scorching sun.

In the absence of food and water, and amidst war, people resorted to eating grass and gnawing on tree bark to fill their stomachs. When all other food was gone, the practice of exchanging children for food emerged.

Amidst hunger and heart-wrenching cries, one child after another fell into the mouths of others. Not long after, Ping An would also meet the same fate.

Fortunately, a wandering Taoist priest happened to be passing by and used all the silver and licorice he had to save his life.

Later, the Taoist priest used the characters "Ping An" as his given name, and "An Ping Zi" as his Taoist name.

After that, Ping An followed the Taoist priest on his travels, searching for the way to immortality.

"Is it him?"

"It's him."

“When you told me about it on the way, I thought it was just a coincidence, but I didn’t expect it to really be him.”

Ping An was staring blankly at the window lattice when a conversation reached his ears. He looked towards the source of the sound and saw a woman in a white dress, who looked to be in her late twenties, standing not far from him, talking to Zhou Zhou.

The woman had light makeup, and the three red petals between her eyebrows gave her an indescribable look from afar.

Standing next to the woman was a girl of about sixteen or seventeen years old.

"Xiao Zhou, let's go outside to talk."

The woman smiled at Ping An, then turned and walked out of the room into the small hall.

The others followed, leaving only Ping An and Little Fish Fin in the room.

"Sister, do you think there's any way to send him away?"

Zhou Zhou stood opposite the woman and asked.

“If what he told you is true, it would be best to send him up the mountain tonight, but now the heavy snow has blocked the mountain, and I’m afraid we won’t be able to find the way up,” the woman replied.

"Miss Ru, we do have a solution, but we might need your help."

Grandpa Medicine spoke up from the side.

"You're too kind, sir," the woman said apologetically as she approached Grandpa Medicine. "If it weren't for your help in taking care of Xiao Zhou, I'm afraid our Zhou family line would have truly ended."

"Furthermore, I am no longer a young lady. I am now just a courtesan in the Drunken Flower Brothel. Grandpa Yao can just call me Xiuyi."

(End of this chapter)