Yun Nishang vanished.
Only Gu Qingfeng remained, lying back alone in his chair, gazing desolately at the crimson stone in his hand.
The sun set in the west, dusk descended.
Under the twilight,
The man in white appeared especially solitary.
His white robes were.
His black hair was.
The demon fruit was.
The potent wine was.
And the man himself, even more so.
Gu Qingfeng simply stared at the crimson stone in his palm, staring for a long, long time.
He knew, and understood clearly, that when Yun Nishang disappeared, it also meant that Hongxiu—the one who had stirred his youthful heart and left an indelible mark—had vanished along with her.
Yun Nishang might appear again, but Hongxiu would never, ever appear again.
Gu Qingfeng did not speak.
Not a single word.
He closed his eyes.
The crimson stone in his palm slipped away, but as it fell through the air, it had already dissipated into smoke, turning to dust, merging into the Great Nature.
The night grew deep.
Gu Qingfeng did not leave, merely lying back with his eyes closed, his mind utterly empty, thinking of nothing.
He wanted to sleep.
To sleep, casting aside everything.
However.
It was just a thought.
The slumber of his consciousness did not allow him to cast everything aside.
"With wisdom comes confusion, distinguishing object from self!"
"A hundred kinds of yang, a hundred kinds of yin, transforming into the harmony of heaven and earth!"
"Seeing neither good nor evil, only cause and effect remain!"
"A thousand kinds of sage, a thousand kinds of demon, let others say what they will!"
It felt familiar, seemed enlightening, yet also incomprehensible, like viewing flowers through mist, or like the moon reflected in water or flowers in a mirror—vague and illusory. He sank inexplicably into it, unable to extricate himself for a time.
It was that dream again.
The nightmare belonging to Original Sin.
Jun Xuanji had said that all those touched by Original Sin would suffer the nightmare of Original Sin.
In the dream.
It seemed like endless darkness, yet also like endless light, more like endless chaos.
"Do not believe in Karma...
Do not believe..." "It is false...
Karma is false."
"Do not believe them."
"Do not forget, never forget...
You severed all Karma, so you have no past life, no present life, and no future life...
You belong only to yourself, are the only you."
"Mountain of Illusion..." "I await you at the Mountain of Illusion..." "Waiting for you always..." "I know, and firmly believe that one day you will return."
"I await you."
"Awaiting you..."
The dream was still that nightmare belonging to Original Sin.
The voice was still that elusive, intangible voice.
Last time Gu Qingfeng entered the nightmare of Original Sin, he encountered a figure completely wrapped in white cloth. Who that person was, Gu Qingfeng still did not know, but one sentence they spoke left a very deep impression on him.
That person said this voice belonged to a woman, a woman who had been buried by Venerable Wu Dao at the Mountain of Illusion during the Daoless Age.
As for anything else, Gu Qingfeng did not know.
He also could not understand what the woman's repeated words truly meant.
What did she mean by 'Karma is false'?
What did she mean by 'you belong only to yourself'?
Who the hell was she waiting for at the Mountain of Illusion?
"Is it you?"
The woman's voice came again, as if speaking to herself, then said: "No, it is not you."
"I know it is not you, how could it possibly be you..." "False, all is false. You said you were also false, everything, everything is false, all is illusion."
"Heh, illusion..." "Heh, are you well?"
"Will you still return?"
"No!
You will not return...
You said, after you left, you would never return."
"No!
You will definitely return. You also said, after you left, you would definitely return."
"I...
await you."
"Do not abandon me...
Do not, alright?"
Gu Qingfeng tried to communicate with the woman, but it was useless; he did not know where this voice even came from.
He did not know why.
Every time he heard this woman's voice, an impulse would uncontrollably surge within Gu Qingfeng's heart—an impulse to immediately find the Mountain of Illusion of Wu Dao. This impulse made him feel as if he would destroy heaven and earth just to find the Mountain of Illusion of Wu Dao, to find this woman!
Previously, this feeling was not too strong, but this time it felt exceptionally intense. The Blood of Original Sin within his body also seemed stimulated by something, flowing wildly!
As the Blood of Original Sin flowed wildly, that impulsive feeling grew even stronger, making Gu Qingfeng unable to endure it. He wanted to roar at the heavens, to slaughter all living beings, to destroy this heaven, earth, and firmament!
Gu Qingfeng forcibly restrained this impulse, pressed his palms together, united his mind and spirit, and expelled all distracting thoughts.
He tried to suppress this frenzy!
However.
It was utterly useless.
The more he suppressed it, the stronger the frenzy feeling became.
This feeling permeated every inch of his skin, every acupoint, every blood vessel; even every single hair was affected. The six forbidden Daos residing within his body, the Avici Evil Asura soul presiding over Purgatory, even the Incarnation of Reaching the Azure Above and Descending to the Yellow Springs Below that presided over life and death—all were affected. Not only did they stir restlessly, they too became frenzy. His consciousness began to blur, his divine sense began to scatter...
Looking at Gu Qingfeng at this moment, only his Great Freedom Heart was still struggling to hold on.
This was the only pure land on his person.
Also the only place the Blood of Original Sin had not yet tainted.
"Om!
Ah!
Hum!
She!"
Gu Qingfeng uttered the essence of all Buddhas and began to chant scriptures!
"In the palace of great bliss blazing with freedom, the sacred and wondrous wisdom body observing blissful emptiness, within the lotus nature of detachment from desires and possessing bliss, the Vajra Sun Lord with great bright light and majestic virtue, the worldly freedom body of great compassion and great mercy, master of Reincarnation of Nirvana Lotus king, the king of supreme bliss and wonderful desires, the great bliss treasury, embrace all All Sentient Beings consciousness as the illuminating mother, all manifestations bind within great bliss, all desired supreme and common accomplishments, unobstructed freedom achievement, pray to bestow..."
At this moment, Gu Qingfeng's Great Freedom Heart transcended the self!
This was the Buddhist supreme Great Freedom!
"Free and self-sufficient, seeking not from others, needing no external things, self-perfected..." As Gu Qingfeng pressed his palms together, his entire form grew increasingly indistinct, swaying like mist and smoke.
"Because ignorance ceases, the mind has no arising; because there is no arising, realms vanish; because causes and conditions are both extinguished, all mental appearances are exhausted, named attaining Nirvana. All actions are impermanent, are the Dharma of birth and death; when birth and death are extinguished, Silence is bliss..."
At this moment, Gu Qingfeng's physical body, soul, and everything turned to dust and smoke.
This was the Buddhist supreme Great Silence.
"Without substance is called emptiness, returning to truth is called delusion. For all Dharmas are created by the mind alone, outside the mind there is no other substance. The floating mind of illusion harbors many crafty insights, unable to achieve perfect expedient means. Heaven and earth are all illusion, only I alone return to truth!"
Gu Qingfeng, who had turned to dust and smoke, was reborn from Nirvana in the blink of an eye. However, the Gu Qingfeng reborn was no longer Gu Qingfeng, yet seemed even more like Gu Qingfeng—like the real Gu Qingfeng, yet like a false Gu Qingfeng. As if he had never been reborn from Nirvana, yet as if he had never turned to dust and smoke. As if dead, yet as if alive. As if he had never existed, yet as if he had never vanished.
Was it life or death? Was it Silence and rebirth, or turning to dust and smoke? Was it never existing, or having always been there?
Truth and falsehood, falsehood and truth.
No one knew.
This was the Buddhist supreme Great Illusion!