In the end, the Empress Saintess did not make a choice.
Because You Di did not give her the chance to choose; he made the choice himself.
According to legend,
at that time, in order to eradicate You Di and to prevent him from merging with Original Sin, the Three Thousand Great Daos not only invited people from the Holy Land but also summoned the incarnations of the Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother, and even the ancient and nameless Tianji Elder, hailed as the emissary of Karma and the incarnation of Fate.
Unfortunately,
in the end, not only did they fail to eradicate You Di, they also failed to prevent his merger with Original Sin. Not only that, but the Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother were instead scattered and vanquished by You Di. As for the so-called Holy Land, they did not intervene, and even that Tianji Elder, the ancient and nameless one, did not make a move.
No one knows why.
To this day, it remains a mystery.
At that time, just when everyone thought You Di would merge with Original Sin, thus triggering the Great Calamity, something unexpected happened: You Di ignited the Original Sin Karmic Fire and turned to ashes.
This was the choice You Di made.
For the Empress Saintess, and for all living beings under the Great Dao, You Di sacrificed himself for righteousness.
Some say that You Di, who had always been tyrannical, heinous, and turned the Great Desolate upside down, would never be so noble.
Perhaps.
That is not important.
What is important is that You Di indeed ignited the Original Sin Karmic Fire and indeed turned to ashes. Most importantly, the living beings under the Great Dao did not suffer a calamity due to the descent of the Wudao Mountain.
The sunset descends once more, dusk approaches twilight.
The evening glow of the sunset is beautiful.
So beautiful that the Empress Saintess could never tire of watching it, day after day, year after year.
Not far away,
there stood another person.
That was also a woman.
However, this woman appeared truly tall and imposing, like a mountain, with an aura that was overwhelming.
Almost everyone familiar with the Empress Saintess knows that she has an attendant by her side. This attendant's name is just two short characters: Qian Shan.
No one knows what kind of existence Qian Shan truly is. It is only known that her physical body is as solid as a rock, her strength is boundless, capable of toppling mountains and overturning seas, seemingly omnipotent.
Even those Great Dao Star Monarchs who bear the Mandate of Heaven, or even those seated upon the Great Dao Thrones, must respectfully address her as 'Senior' when they see Qian Shan.
Perhaps this is due to her connection with the Empress Saintess, but everyone knows that Qian Shan absolutely has the qualification for such respect.
She glanced at Su Hua standing by the lake, then at the evening glow beneath the sunset, shook her head, sighed, and originally intended to say something. However, the words reached her lips several times but remained unspoken. A long time passed like this, until the sun had completely set and the evening glow had completely vanished, before she finally spoke.
"Empress, there is something I don't know if I should say."
Su Hua did not turn around, still gazing into the distance, and softly replied, "What is it? Speak."
"Empress clearly knows that You Di has come back to life, so why not go to find him?"
Actually,
this question had been weighing on Qian Shan's mind for a very, very long time.
Ever since learning the news that You Di was still alive, she had wanted to ask.
She did not understand.
She did not understand why the Empress, who had been searching for You Di all along and waiting for his return, now that You Di had truly returned, remained unmoved. Not only unmoved, but Qian Shan noticed that since You Di came back to life, not even a trace of joy or excitement had appeared on the Empress's face. Instead...
every day, her face was filled with worry.
After a long while,
Su Hua spoke, "I...
don't know if I should go to see him."
Should she see him or not?
Qian Shan did not understand and asked again, "Does the Empress not wish to see him?"
"I also don't know if I wish to see him."
Su Hua's voice came, making Qian Shan even more unable to comprehend. She asked, "If the Empress doesn't even know whether she wishes to see him, then why has she been painstakingly pursued and waiting for his return all these years?"
"Yes..." In Su Hua's incredibly clear and pure eyes, as she watched the gradually disappearing evening glow, a trace of hesitation and a trace of bewilderment flashed. She murmured, "All these years, I have been painstakingly pursued, waiting for his return... for what reason...
Could it be just because of a lingering obsession in my heart?"
"Obsession?"
Qian Shan frowned and asked, "Hasn't the Empress always admired him?"
"I...
admire him?" Su Hua gently shook her head and murmured, "I don't know."
"I don't know where this lingering obsession towards him in my heart comes from. Is it due to Karma, or arranged by Fate...
or does this obsessive admiration originally belong to me?"
The more Qian Shan listened, the more confused she became, completely unable to understand what Su Hua was saying.
She also did not understand: how could straightforward admiration become a lingering obsession in the heart?
And Su Hua just stood there quietly. In her clear, pure eyes, the hesitation grew thicker, the bewilderment grew stronger. She murmured,
"Is he still him?
Is he still the him from before?
Perhaps yes, perhaps not. I don't know."
"I don't even know if I am still the me from before. Perhaps yes, perhaps not. I also don't know."
"I am lost...
lost in this lingering obsession of admiration, lost in whether he is still the him from before, and whether I am still the me from before..."
Standing not far away, although Qian Shan could not fully comprehend the meaning of Su Hua's words, she could more or less guess a thing or two. She said, "Is the Empress worried that You Di is no longer the You Di from before, but...
You Di who has been dominated by Original Sin?"
"Is it important?"
Su Hua shook her head in denial. "No, it's not important."
"Why?"
"Because I have already lost myself within Karma..."
"Didn't the Empress transcend her Ego some time ago?"
"It is precisely because I transcended my Ego...
that...
I became lost."
Because she transcended her Ego, she became lost?
Shouldn't it be that one becomes lost and then transcends the Ego?
How is it reversed now?
Qian Shan could not comprehend the meaning of this sentence no matter what.
"All phenomena are illusory."
Su Hua spoke again, "Karma has no Other Shore, nor does it have an end. The so-called Other Shore is merely an entanglement; the so-called end is merely an illusion."
As she spoke, Su Hua closed her eyes again, as if sensing the dusk of this place. She murmured, "This lingering obsession has truly troubled me for a very, very long time...
How should I resolve it? How should I transcend it?"
She remained silent for a very, very long time.
Su Hua did not speak again.
She only closed her eyes.
Until the dusk vanished and darkness descended.
Only then did Su Hua slowly open her eyes, gently shake her head, and let out a soft sigh. Gazing at the phoenix soaring in the sky and the cranes circling the mountain peaks, a faint smile appeared on Su Hua's sacred and pure, beautiful face. She said, "If there is a next life, I truly, truly wish to be a bird, flying freely in the sky."
Then,
she raised her head again, looked up at the firmament, and a trace of disgust flashed in her eyes. She said, "This damned Karma, this damned Fate, they truly weary me to death..."
Standing not far away, hearing Su Hua curse Karma and Fate like this, Qian Shan's expression couldn't help but stiffen. She pursed her lips but said nothing.