Immortal Travel of Longevity

The Swift Horse carried the two of them past the doors of the Wine Tavern.

Aqing did not look back. With the passage of time, this Wine Tavern would slowly fade away.

The horse pressed forward, bound for an unknown destination.

But it did not matter. Now that Aqing sat on horseback, the man in front of her would take her to roam the ends of the earth. Wherever they went, it would be fine.

...

The world was so vast that an ordinary person could not travel across it all in a single lifetime.

They encountered many unusual things on the road—sometimes surprises, other times moments of fleeting peace.

Like the two of them hiding beneath a tree during a heavy downpour.

Like tossing aside all decorum to jump into a river to cool off.

Her hair dripping wet, Aqing called out, "Changsheng!"

Chen Changsheng looked at her in confusion.

Only to see Aqing raise her hand and splash stream water right at him.

Chen Changsheng froze. He wiped his face, but Aqing was already running away.

Chen Changsheng hurriedly gave chase.

"Don't run!"

Amidst their play, the two of them seemed to return to their childhoods, back to those carefree years.

Cicadas chirped in the mountain ravine, their song starting and stopping amidst the laughter.

That night, the two of them rested by the river.

They lit a campfire.

Lying on the bank, they gazed up at the starry sky.

Aqing said, "The stars are so beautiful..."

"You like them?"

"They're alright..."

Aqing added, "Sometimes, when I am by myself, they don't seem like much."

Chen Changsheng paused for a moment before a smile broke across his face.

Aqing said, "Changsheng, sometimes I think about how wonderful it would be if you were always here."

"But on second thought, I feel like this is pretty good, too. Even though you aren't always here, you're always in my thoughts. You are always so perfect, without a single flaw."

Chen Changsheng froze at those words before murmuring, "Is that so..."

"Yeah."

Aqing turned to look at him and said, "You are a piece of flawless jade."

Hearing that, Chen Changsheng stared into the night sky, falling deep into thought.

Aqing tilted her head and asked, "Will you forget me?"

Chen Changsheng hesitated for a second, then shook his head. "I won't."

"That's good."

Aqing said, "I'm just afraid that one day you'll forget me, and I'll be like a fool, waiting for you in the same spot forever."

"That won't happen."

Chen Changsheng firmly denied it. "This Chen won't leave you waiting like a fool."

"Mm."

"Changsheng..."

"Mm?"

"Do you... do you like the stars?"

Chen Changsheng thought about it and said, "They're alright."

Wanting to speak yet holding back, Aqing merely replied, "Oh..."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

The two of them exchanged no further words that night, but the woman's gaze was no longer on the stars in the night sky.

...

The horse carried the two of them along a winding, narrow path.

Not far away on the main road, many monks and nuns were chanting scriptures and reciting the Buddha's name. In the distance, a temple came into view, echoing with vibrant Buddhist chants.

Aqing looked over and murmured, "It seems that over the years, many more temples have appeared in the Mortal World."

Chen Changsheng said, "The Buddhist Schools were never going to stay quiet forever."

Aqing gazed at the temple nestled in the landscape. "They certainly know how to pick their moments."

"Perhaps they are just adapting to the times."

"Mm."

The two of them only spared it a passing glance before hurrying on their way.

The conflicts of the Mortal World had nothing to do with them.

They walked through the world as outsiders, living carefree and joyous lives.

Over the course of nearly two months, Chen Changsheng took Aqing to many places. Traveling from south to north, they explored dense mountain forests and took in the breathtaking sights of great rivers. Every place they passed and every landscape they saw was captured in their eyes.

Time passed quickly during those days.

It felt like the blink of an eye.

Until one day, just like before, Chen Changsheng suddenly vanished right before her eyes.

After a brief moment of bewilderment, Aqing regained her senses.

She knew that this time together was always meant to be fleeting.

...

Just like before, Aqing waited for him here. However, she did not open a Wine Tavern this time, but instead built a bamboo hut in the mountains.

She lived there like a recluse.

There was another place on this mountain—a temple. Every morning, Aqing could hear the faint sound of scriptures being chanted in the distance.

She went to visit the temple's abbot.

But the abbot said to her, "Benefactor, your roots of wisdom are extraordinary. If you were to enter the Buddhist Dao, your fortune would be boundless."

Hearing this, Aqing only shook her head and replied, "Abbot, you are mistaken. Before I started my Cultivation in my early years, I spent my time in the jianghu. Back then, I was ruthless and cruel, and later I became quite taciturn. How could my roots of wisdom be extraordinary?"

The abbot said, "That has nothing to do with the roots of wisdom."

Aqing shook her head, offering no further explanation. She knew that trying to reason with monks was an exercise in futility.

She simply said, "I lean toward the Dao; I do not believe in the Buddha."

The abbot merely sighed and remarked what a pity it was.

"It is no pity."

Aqing said, "If one's six senses are completely cleansed, how can they still be considered human? If one severs all emotions and desires, how can they become an immortal?"

The abbot paused in surprise before replying, "In the vast pursuit of the immortal path, how can one become an immortal without severing their emotions and desires?"

"To sever emotions and desires is to lose one's humanity. That makes one a mountain, not an immortal. It makes you nothing more than a lifeless object."

The abbot couldn't help but fall deep into thought at those words.

Aqing said, "You can just think on that, Abbot."

She felt that this monk was full of hot air, so she visited him frequently.

She would often discuss concepts with him that, to the Buddhist Schools, were akin to overturning the heavenly order.

As time went on, the abbot would always give a bitter smile whenever he saw Aqing.

"Why has the Benefactor come again?"

Aqing asked, "Does the abbot not welcome me?"

The abbot shook his head and ordered someone to serve tea.

Aqing chatted with him about recent developments in the Buddhist Dao, casually steering the conversation with a few words.

Aqing asked, "Abbot, in your opinion, which is more important—saving the common people, or the doctrines of the Buddhist Schools?"

"Both are important."

"And if you had to choose one?"

"Naturally, it is saving the common people."

"Even if it means breaking the vow against killing?"

"It does not necessarily require breaking the vow against killing."

Hearing this, Aqing was reminded of something Changsheng had mentioned to her before.

She said, "Suppose a horse carriage is traveling down a road that suddenly forks. On the left path, there is a family of three, and on the right path, there is a single child. The horse cannot be stopped in time. Whichever side it crashes into, the people on that path will have absolutely no chance of survival."

"If you were the driver, Abbot, what choice would you make?"

Aqing's question plunged the abbot into deep thought.

He parted his lips to speak a few times, but then furrowed his brow and swallowed his words.

He repeatedly cast his gaze toward Aqing, only to see her calm expression as she watched him with great interest.

Helpless, the abbot finally asked, "What choice would Miss Aqing make?"

Aqing replied, "Why do I have to choose?"

The abbot was puzzled.

Aqing said, "I have practiced Cultivation for many years, so I have the power to stop the horse carriage in an instant. This is the difference between the Mysterious Gate and the Buddhist Schools. The Buddhist Schools place heavy emphasis on rules. The Mysterious Gate, however, focuses on breaking the shackles."

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