"Finally, I'll ask one last time: Is there anyone who can annihilate me? If killing me is impossible, then suppressing me will do!"
Gu Qingfeng asked again, but still, no one responded.
He shook his head and inexplicably laughed—a laugh tinged with helplessness, bewilderment, and a hint of self-mockery.
"Forget it... If no one can, then forget it... You'll just have to wait, then. Wait for my ego consciousness to gradually fade away, and wait for me to become the true embodiment of Original Sin."
With another sigh, Gu Qingfeng said, "You wait. I'm exhausted. While my ego consciousness hasn't completely vanished yet, I'll have a few drinks first. Even if I die, I should at least die a drunkard."
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng jumped down from the tombstone. Standing on Wu Dao Mountain, which resembled a Black Tortoise, he leaned against the tombstone that looked like a Black Serpent. Then, as if utterly spent, he simply sat down. Raising his hand, he opened a jar of fine wine, tilted his head back, and drained it in one go, then immediately opened another.
"Kill me!"
Suddenly.
Jun Xuanji flashed into view. Her heartrendingly beautiful face was now fixed on him with blood-red eyes. She seemed unwilling to give up, single-mindedly seeking death.
"Sister, abandon that hope. I won't kill you. Besides, I couldn't even kill you if I tried!"
"If you want to, you can kill me!"
"And that's precisely the problem—I don't want to kill you."
Jun Xuanji said nothing more. Raising her hand, a turbid pearl appeared in her palm. "This is the essence of that world. If you don't kill me, I will destroy that world!"
"Destroy it then. I'm someone about to vanish; why would I care about the lives of others?"
"Fine!"
Jun Xuanji showed no hesitation, preparing to crush the turbid pearl in her hand. But as her fingers tightened, she suddenly sensed something wrong and said indignantly, "You tampered with the world's essence?"
"Sister, we've known each other for a while and are somewhat familiar. You should understand what kind of person I am. There are many people I care about in that world. Do you think I would have come to this Wu Dao Mountain without making proper arrangements for them?"
"You!"
Jun Xuanji stared fixedly at Gu Qingfeng, enunciating each word slowly, "You... why won't you kill me!"
"Why? I remember you asked me this before, and I answered you. There aren't so many whys. I just can't bring myself to do it. I can't bear it, and I'm reluctant. That's all."
"But I... I've had enough. I want... to end all this!"
Sitting on Wu Dao Mountain, leaning against the tombstone, Gu Qingfeng tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and said weakly, "It's useless... It can't be ended... I may not know how to end all this, but I know that even if I kill you now, you won't find liberation... Not only will you not be liberated, you'll sink even deeper. I can feel it, truly feel it... For the sake of our past affection, just believe me this once."
Gu Qingfeng felt utterly exhausted, more tired than he had ever been in his life. His weary ego consciousness grew increasingly blurred and feeble, and his voice became softer and softer. "I will do everything in my power to end... all this... I don't know if I can end it, but I will... exhaust all means... Believe me..."
"Are you worthy of belief?"
A voice came, but it wasn't Jun Xuanji's. It belonged to a woman, a woman who seemed shrouded in mist and smoke.
It was Su Hua.
She appeared abruptly, her flawless face deathly pale, her beautiful eyes filled with nothing but helplessness and sorrow as she gazed at Gu Qingfeng. "You told me you wouldn't leave. You told me to believe you one last time... Yet in the end, you deceived me. In the end, you are still leaving... Why... did you deceive me..."
"Why?" Gu Qingfeng said weakly. "Perhaps I've been a liar from the very beginning. Heh..."
Gu Qingfeng slowly raised his arm, his fingers gradually spreading open. A sphere of bloody radiance floated in his palm. With a slight lift, the bloody radiance drifted toward Su Hua.
"This is Xiao Jin'er's Blood Spirit... Help me... take care of her... Don't let her suffer any harm..."
Su Hua took Xiao Jin'er's Blood Spirit, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. Shaking her head, she sobbed uncontrollably, "I didn't want to come... I didn't want to..."
Su Hua wasn't unaware that Gu Qingfeng had deceived her earlier.
Yes.
She knew, clearer than anyone.
So, when Wu Dao Mountain descended, she had no desire to come at all.
Because she couldn't bear to watch Gu Qingfeng leave her.
But...
In the end, she couldn't resist coming...
"Why! Why! Why did you say you'd wait for me at Wu Dao Mountain... Why... Why must you make me watch you leave..."
Gu Qingfeng's voice grew weaker and weaker, but a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "After all, we've known each other. Now that I'm about to leave... Don't you... want to see me off?"
"I said... today, no matter what decision you make, I will stay by your side..."
"No need to stay by my side... Waiting for me... is enough..."
"Will I still be able to wait for you?"
"Of... of course."
"Are you still worthy of belief?"
"One last... last time, what's the harm in believing..."
Gu Qingfeng used his strength to grip the tombstone, arduously pulling himself to his feet. He shook his head and murmured, "My ego consciousness is about to vanish... I really can't hold on any longer... Ever since I started wandering from Scarlet Flame Ridge, I've been tossed about for over five hundred years. The first half of my life, I struggled for survival; the second half, I struggled because of karma. All this struggling has worn me out... Now, finally... I can get a good, long sleep."
"Only... before I sleep, I want... to struggle one last time!"
Using the last vestige of his strength, Gu Qingfeng leaped up and stood atop the tombstone of Wu Dao Mountain. Then, slightly tilting his head back and closing his eyes, he brought his hands together in prayer and murmured, "Great compassion brings joy to all living beings; great mercy relieves the suffering of all living beings..."
Everyone could see that he had ignited his last remaining shred of ego consciousness.
He had said it.
His soul, his flesh, everything about him had been eroded by Original Sin. Only a single shred of ego consciousness was still stubbornly holding on.
Now, even that last shred of ego consciousness had been ignited by him.
What was he doing?
Did he want to completely become the embodiment of Original Sin?
No one knew. No one could tell.
Yet, incredibly, as Gu Qingfeng stood with his hands clasped, Buddha Light began to emanate from his entire body.
That's right—Buddha Light, and it was the supreme, unparalleled Buddha Light!
Wasn't he supposed to become the embodiment of Original Sin?
Why was Buddha Light emanating from him?
At the foot of Wu Dao Mountain, Genggu Wuming watched Gu Qingfeng at this moment, her expression profoundly complex. She murmured, "'Great compassion brings joy to all living beings; great mercy relieves the suffering of all living beings'... This is the Great Compassion and Great Mercy... For the sake of all living beings, for the sake of heaven and earth, for the sake of ending all this, he single-mindedly seeks death, igniting his last shred of ego consciousness, and has finally attained the Great Compassion and Mercy..."
"He has attained the Great Compassion and Mercy?"
Cang Yan beside her seemed to recall something and hurriedly said, "He has already attained the Great Extinction, the Great Freedom, and the Great Illusion. Now he has attained the Great Compassion and Mercy as well. He... he isn't about to achieve sagehood, is he?!"