"Perhaps."
Gu Qingfeng shrugged, not denying it this time. It wasn't that he didn't want to argue with the mad, rambling previous life of Huode, nor that he didn't want to take issue with it.
Although he had transcended the Great Dao and all living beings, transcended worldly morality, life and death, good and evil, and had even transcended his own self...
That did not mean he had figured life out.
On the contrary.
He now felt he was living with less and less clarity, more and more confusion, more and more uncertainty, more and more bewilderment.
Especially as he came into contact with more and more of the karma, fate, illusions, and Original Sin of the Wu Dao Age, this feeling grew increasingly intense.
Perhaps it truly was as Huode's previous life had said: he had long been lost, he just didn't know it yet.
This state of being lost...
Perhaps he was lost within the karma and fate of the Wu Dao Age, or perhaps lost within its illusory Original Sin, or perhaps even lost within the past and present lives of the Wu Dao Age.
Who knew?
It was unclear.
Gu Qingfeng couldn't figure it out either.
"Gu kid..." At this moment, Huode's previous life sat cross-legged, head hanging down with disheveled hair. His consciousness seemed to be gradually fading, his voice also growing weak. "I...
don't know exactly what you've been through, nor...
what your current situation is...
I don't even know if the 'you' of now is the real you..."
"I am lost...
I've forgotten...
Forgotten everything...
I only remember three sentences you said to me.
'Eternal Calamity Spawns the World, Endless Reincarnation and Rebirth Manifest, Past and Present Lives Karma Revealed, Whose Fate Belongs to Whom Must Be Judged by Heaven.' That was the first thing you told me..."
"'From wisdom comes confusion, distinguishing self from other; a hundred kinds of yang, a hundred kinds of yin, transform into the harmony of heaven and earth. Not seeing good, not seeing evil, only karma remains; a thousand types of sage, a thousand types of demon, let others say what they will.' That was the second thing you told me..."
"The third sentence... you said you would definitely return...
return to end all of this...
I believe you can definitely do it."
Gu Qingfeng asked, "Definitely return?
What does 'return' refer to?
'End all of this'—what does 'all of this' mean?"
"Don't know...
Forgotten..."
"Alright."
Gu Qingfeng exhaled a breath, then pressed further: "Why don't I have any impression of saying these things to you? I'm quite certain I never said such words. Could it be that my previous life said them? I don't seem to have a previous life, and...
you also said I don't have one."
"Don't know...
I don't know either. I am lost...
Forgotten everything...
So I can't help you with anything. Everything, everything, you can only rely on yourself."
"You just told me to go find a woman...
Who exactly is that woman?
Where should I go to find her?"
"Forgotten...
Don't remember..."
Huode's previous life's consciousness grew increasingly faint, his voice weaker and weaker, muttering incessantly that he was lost, that he had forgotten...
"Then who told you that sentence? Have you forgotten that too?"
"Forgotten. Only remember...
it was a woman...
Everything else forgotten...
You must remember this well: do not believe, do not believe anyone, do not believe in fate, do not believe in karma, and most of all, do not believe anyone around you, do not even believe in yourself...
Do not...
do not believe...
Do not believe anyone..."
After saying this, Huode's previous life fell silent. Gu Qingfeng called out twice, but there was no response. He checked Huode's condition and found that the consciousness of Huode's previous life had vanished without a trace. As it disappeared, that ancient, primordial aura within his body also began to dissipate bit by bit. Simultaneously, another spiritual aura gradually bloomed—this aura shifted between yin and yang, exquisitely pure. It was Huode's own Spiritual Breath.
Gu Qingfeng casually set up a formation to help Huode recover his vitality. He reckoned that now that the consciousness of Huode's previous life had vanished, Huode's own consciousness would likely awaken soon.
Without further thought, Gu Qingfeng waved a hand and brought Huode out of the Void Space.
Where was this?
Gu Qingfeng didn't know, nor did he bother to think about it.
He looked around and found himself on what seemed to be a desolate mountain range. He sighed, found a large tree, and sat down. Taking out a jug of wine, he drank while pondering the words spoken by Huode's previous life.
Only...
No matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't figure anything out. In fact, the more he thought, the messier his mind became, because he simply couldn't determine whether the 'Gu kid' in Huode's previous life's mouth was truly him. If it wasn't, then everything was fine. But if the 'Gu kid' Huode's previous life spoke of really was him, then this matter was utterly bizarre—so bizarre it not only exceeded Gu Qingfeng's imagination, but was likely beyond his comprehension.
He tried to piece it together: If the 'Gu kid' in Huode's previous life's mouth really was him, then what exactly was going on?
How did he come to know Huode's previous life?
When had he said those things to him?
Did he say them during the Wu Dao Age?
Probably.
The key question was, what kind of era was the Wu Dao Age exactly? Was it the past, or the future?
Was it a previous life, or this present life?
What is the past?
What is the future?
What is a previous life?
What is this present life?
Is a previous life necessarily the past?
Is the future necessarily this present life?
He didn't understand!
Gu Qingfeng's head ached from thinking, yet he still couldn't figure it out. Moreover, he realized the waters of the Wu Dao Age were truly, unbelievably deep—not only deep, but also incredibly murky. Once you fell in, you could only flail around like a foolish fish, swimming aimlessly. The water was too deep, too murky, full of whirlpools everywhere; you couldn't stop even if you wanted to.
"Perhaps this is the so-called karma. This is the so-called fate."
Gu Qingfeng tilted his head back and took a swig of wine, looking incomparably desolate. He shook his head, sighed, and said, "Can't escape it, can't hide from it, can't drive it away, can't sever it, can't disperse it. Besides silently enduring it, one can only endure."
After finishing the jug of fine wine, an unknown amount of time passed. As the weakened Huode gradually recovered his vitality, he finally stirred. First his fingers twitched, then his eyes slowly opened, his expression also filled with a kind of bewilderment, a kind of uncertainty.
He blinked, and the confusion and uncertainty in his eyes instantly vanished, replaced by caution and wariness. In a flash, he stood up, looking around, then his gaze fell upon Gu Qingfeng. He sized him up and down before asking, "Gu kid?"
"Looks like you've finally returned, you old coot."
With just one glance, Gu Qingfeng knew that the Huode before him was not his previous life, but the Huode he was familiar with and knew.
"What do you mean?"
Huode looked utterly puzzled. "What happened? Why is my body so weak?
And...
my whole body aches."