I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 53 Wang Wei Could Not Eat
It only amounted to about eight or nine thousand words in total, spanning seventy pages, so it was easy to read. The fish was still cooking in the pot, and the millet was still boiling, and I had already finished flipping through it once.

The old deer mountain god sighed.

"Wrong way."

During this time, Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu witnessed many strange tales of immortals and even traveled with mountain gods and ghosts, thinking that cultivating the Tao was such an exciting thing.

Along the way, there were spirits, demons, feasts, and fine wine.

After reading this notebook and learning about the life of Master Zhou Ling, I realized that the aloof and unorthodox Taoist was initially a disciple who wholeheartedly devoted himself to Taoism and abandoned worldly affairs.

My heart was inevitably touched.

Li Bai thought of the withered bones in the palace.

After a lifetime of spiritual cultivation, all the pain and stubbornness disappear, eventually blown away by the wind, turning into soil and dust, nourishing mountains, rivers, grass and trees.

The Old Deer Mountain God preached to the strange beasts in the mountains for many years and understood the difficulty of entering the Tao.

Seeing that they seemed a little dazed, he leaned back in his chair.

He asked with a smile, "What are you thinking about?"

Yuan Danqiu sighed.

He said, “I once heard Li Bai talk about the tiger discussing life and death, and I admired it and thought it was wonderful. You also said that this kind of thinking is of the highest quality.”

"But looking back now, Zhou Ling was indifferent to life and death back then and didn't understand why ordinary people felt regret. After experiencing the death of several close relatives and reaching old age, he gradually realized that the path to enlightenment is difficult and human affairs are complicated, and that he had already missed his chance to live a full life."

"Would everyone do that?"

Amidst the lush shadows of the trees, Jiang She leaned against a low table, listening to what the Old Deer Mountain God had to say.

The old deer mountain god thought carefully and answered with great care, each word spoken with utmost seriousness.

That's most likely the case.

"Therefore, it is very difficult to achieve a superior quality."

“When children are young, they like to climb mountains and trees, and they like to go down to the river to catch fish. When ordinary people see danger, they are completely fearless.”

“When young people read books, they read Sima Qian’s discourse on life and death, ‘Everyone dies, but some deaths are as heavy as Mount Tai, while others are as light as a feather,’ and they read Xiang Yu’s song at Gaixia. Both of these are full of vigor and boundless ambition.”

"Looking down at all things, they are as chaotic as duckweed floating on the Yangtze and Han rivers."

"As one grows older, one realizes the hardships of life and the allure of fame and fortune."

"Then another thought came to mind."

Li Bai asked, "When you are about to die, is it what Zhou Ling said, that you feel fear and trepidation when death is imminent?"

The old deer mountain god stroked his beard and nodded.

He said, "Mortals who are poor and live in hardship wish they could die twenty years earlier. Those who are well want to continue to enjoy themselves, so they refine medicines, take elixirs, seek immortality, and ask questions in order to prolong their lives."

“It’s not like that for those who cultivate the Tao. After all, there are ways to do it. In this way, although the path to Tao is cut off, one can still extend one’s life by a few years.”

"If they are lucky, they may receive an imperial edict and be appointed as the City God or the Earth God by the government."

"These are the two young friends I have met in the past two months."

"Therefore, the Great Way is always hidden, and many in the world follow the Lesser Way."

“Even I cannot escape the concept of lifespan,” the old deer mountain god said frankly. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be traveling together here.”

Jiang She sat under the tree, listening to the conversation, and couldn't help but smile. He then picked up his water bowl and drank some water.

He understood that the old deer mountain god was speaking from the heart and with complete honesty.

It is already extremely rare to have come to this understanding.

It is not in vain that he has cultivated for eight hundred years.

The air was filled with the aroma of fish. Sister-in-law Zhang brought over a bowl of fragrant fish soup, inviting the guests to eat. She then went to the vegetable garden to pick some cabbage and chives, blanched them, and arranged them on a plate.

The staple food is millet rice, also known as yellow millet rice, which is a common food in rural households.

At the dinner table, Zhang's father asked how many guests there were.

Where does the guest intend to travel to?

Jiang She said, "Let's go to Luoyang first, rest for a while, and then go to Yanzhou to see Mount Tai."

Mr. Zhang exclaimed, "Oh! Are you going that far? The journey must be difficult; you must be careful. Where is the young master from?"

"I lived in Sichuan for a few years before."

Sister-in-law Zhang kept adding rice to the guests' bowls. She remembered something and said, "I heard from the village head and the head of the village that the emperor is going to Mount Tai this year. They told us to tell him if we have any rare or interesting things so that the village head can report them to the higher-ups."

People in the countryside don't know what auspicious omens are; they only know that they are rare things.

Jiang She smiled.

He asked, "This place is close to Luoyang. Have any of you been to Luoyang and taken a look?"

"Young master, do you want to ask for directions?" Zhang's father said, "Neither my family nor my wife's family has ever traveled that far, but the village chief's son went to Luoyang and has been talking about it for half a year since he came back."

"The flowers there are all beautiful, there are merchant ships everywhere, you can meet important people on the street, and there are also green-eyed and blue-eyed foreigners, it's really terrifying to look at."

“The time he went there coincided with the emperor’s birthday celebration. So many lanterns floated in the sky. The Wang family saw it once, and they still remember it to this day.”

Jiang She listened attentively.

In the end, Zhang's father and wife even racked their brains, trying to recall what they knew.

Jiang She noticed it.

"Thank you very much."

Yuan Danqiu and Li Bai also expressed their gratitude. They could tell that the family had already served their guests the best meal.

Sister-in-law Zhang, holding her chopsticks, hurriedly said, "What's the big deal? We haven't finished the fish yet. This fish is so delicious; I've never tasted anything like it before."

The two children also exclaimed that it was delicious.

The cat purred softly as it ate meat with its head down.

The old deer mountain god stood to the side, his eyes crinkling with a smile.

After finishing their meal, Jiang She and his party took their leave.

Although the sun was still bright, it was already late afternoon, and in the countryside, people would be asleep in another hour. The Zhang family wanted to invite them to stay the night, but looking at their rammed earth hut, they realized there was really no room for them.

So they didn't try to stop them.

The guests had just left when the neighbors, hearing the commotion, came out of their house. Granny Li approached and called out to Zhang's wife from the doorway.

"Have you heard? The Temple of the Fourth Prince in the west has collapsed!"

Sister-in-law Zhang was startled: "When did this happen? I was thinking of saving up some money to go and offer prayers."

Granny Li vividly recounted the scene, saying, "You wouldn't believe how terrifying it was! All the bricks and tiles suddenly fell down... The Wang family in the village seems to be possessed, constantly yelling that they're in pain!"

"His family is rich, didn't they take him to a doctor?"

"He went, but all the doctors had been invited by other families, and he couldn't get one. I don't know what happened, but he started complaining of pain after coming back from the temple. My uncle even went to the front to join the commotion, but he didn't even see if he was missing an arm or a leg."

As they talked about this, Zhang's father and his two children were also in the yard, listening intently.

The village children's eyes were bright.

The parents and neighbors were talking about how the Silangjun Temple had suddenly collapsed.

He stood at the doorway, listening to the voices. He couldn't help but peek outside.

On the road, you can't see the back of any immortal.

They've already gone far away.

What happened today.

The carriage that mysteriously disappeared into a sleeve, the City God who suddenly appeared, the Taoist-looking man who emerged from the statue, and the terrifying skeleton. The golden platform that rolled down from the height, the temple that suddenly collapsed, the copper coins that protected my sister…

It was deeply imprinted in the young minds of the village children.

It turns out that immortals walk among mortals...

For many years afterward, he would tell his children and grandchildren in the village about what he had seen and heard that day.

……

……

Luoyang City.

The banquet was in full swing.

Wang Wei drank his wine listlessly, watching the singing and dancing below the pavilion. The music that used to be pleasant now seemed rather dull to him.

My friend, holding a wine cup, looked over:

"Why haven't I seen you touch your chopsticks much all night?"

"Did you come here after you've eaten?"

Wang Wei lost his appetite and put down his wine cup.

He looked at Pei Di and asked, "Have you ever heard of tales of immortals?"

……

……

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(End of this chapter)