The sun had long since set.
The dusk gradually faded.
Night descended silently.
The moonlight was pure, the starlight brilliant, yet the night itself was exceptionally quiet.
Within the courtyard, beneath the pavilion.
Gu Qingfeng lay reclined in his chair, his eyes slightly closed as if in deep contemplation, an indescribable loneliness about him. He toyed with the crimson-black Taixu wine cup, which under the moonlight appeared even more somber, like a dark flame burning.
The Gu Qingfeng of before was one of leisurely ease.
The Gu Qingfeng of now was one of solitary desolation.
Cang Yan could sense it. Genggu Wuming could sense it too.
Genggu Wuming remained seated quietly, her ordinary features, calm eyes, and placid expression seeming to merge with the surrounding darkness, as if she were the darkness itself, and the darkness were her, indistinguishable from one another.
As for Cang Yan.
She stood in the courtyard, hands clasped behind her back, her long hair piled high, dressed in dark red finery that exuded grace and nobility. Her flawless countenance, no longer at the peak of its youthful splendor, appeared even more bewitchingly eerie under the moonlight, like a goddess descending within this night, presiding over the darkness here.
"He looks...
very lonely, and very desolate."
Cang Yan glanced at Genggu Wuming, transmitting her words secretly: "Just moments ago he was questioning whether you had grafted Karma onto him, and now that you've cleared the misunderstanding, stating you only wish to avoid forming Karma with him, he..."
"Perhaps this is his true self."
Genggu Wuming sighed. "No one likes having Karma forced upon them, and certainly no one likes it when all Karma keeps its distance. I think...
he is no exception."
"I always thought he had grown accustomed to loneliness over these years."
"Being accustomed to loneliness does not mean one enjoys it."
Genggu Wuming murmured, "No one enjoys loneliness...
No one..."
"We cultivate, cultivating the heart. Yet he goes against the grain, preferring to transcend the self rather than transcend his original heart."
"Perhaps he cultivates the heart too, but differently from us. We transcend our original hearts, while he cultivates a primordial heart, an ordinary heart, a worldly heart, a heart that carries the joys and sorrows, the seven emotions and six desires of his beginnings."
"Cultivation knows no years, time knows no eternity, life and death know no reincarnation, the Great Dao knows no end..." Cang Yan murmured. "If one does not transcend their original heart, sever the seven emotions and six desires, and see through the worldly red dust, what awaits them will be endless tribulations. One day, he will be unable to bear it, his mind will falter, his consciousness blur, his soul lost..."
Genggu Wuming said, "For him, while cultivation may know no years, it carries the pleasures of life. While time may know no eternity, it carries beautiful memories. While life and death may know no reincarnation, they carry the joys and sorrows of parting. While the Great Dao may know no end, it carries the dream of the other shore."
"I once heard Hua'er mention a saying of his that left a deep impression on me."
Cang Yan added, "He said, rather than idling away the years pursuing an elusive Great Dao, it's better to wantonly squander them enjoying a lifetime of carefree happiness."
"The Great Dao he pursues...
has been different from the one we pursue from the very start. He utterly disdains pursuing our Great Dao, while we dare not pursue the Great Dao he seeks."
"Who could say otherwise."
Cang Yan sighed. "He pursues a Great Dao unprecedented in history, and perhaps one that will have no successors. Tell me, will he succeed?"
Genggu Wuming shook her head, indicating she did not know.
Just then, Gu Qingfeng, who had been meditating with closed eyes, suddenly opened them. He shifted his posture, picked up his wine cup, took a sip of fine wine, sighed, and said, "I say, Big Sister, there's a question I'd like to ask you."
"You may."
"Why don't you want to form Karma with me?
Is it because you look down on me?"
When Gu Qingfeng spoke these words, both Genggu Wuming and Cang Yan were taken aback. Just moments ago, seeing Gu Qingfeng's lonely and desolate appearance, they had felt quite sympathetic. How, in the blink of an eye, had this fellow changed again? The lonely, desolate Gu Qingfeng had vanished, and the previous leisurely, almost rogue-like scoundrel had resurfaced, even asking if they looked down on him. It was truly exasperating.
"Just joking, don't mind me."
Gu Qingfeng asked with a smile, "Seriously though, you don't want to form Karma with me. Is it because you're afraid a variable like me will mess up your Karma too?"
Genggu Wuming did not conceal the truth, nodding in affirmation.
"Suppose we did form Karma, and your Karma became disordered as a result. What consequences would that have?"
"The consequences would be unimaginable."
Genggu Wuming said, "The trajectory of my life would also undergo many unknown changes because of it."
"So that's how it is!"
Gu Qingfeng pondered for a moment, then continued asking, "Let me ask one more thing. This thing called Karma, you can't see it, touch it, feel it, or detect it. How is it actually determined? Put simply, how would I know if Karma has been formed or not?"
"I cannot answer that question for you. At the very least, I cannot explain it clearly in words. You must comprehend it for yourself."
"Why is it that I can't comprehend the existence of Karma at all?"
Gu Qingfeng asked doubtfully, "Could it be that I have no Karma?
That doesn't make sense either. I should have quite a bit of Karma, right? Whether it's causes I've sown myself or the fruits of Original Sin's appearance, there should be a messy pile of Karma. Yet I haven't sensed a single strand of Karma. How exactly does one go about comprehending this thing? Could you give me some pointers?"
"I can wake a sleeping person."
Genggu Wuming stared at Gu Qingfeng, saying very seriously, "But I cannot wake a person who pretends to be asleep."
Gu Qingfeng murmured these words, furrowing his brow as he asked, "Big Sister, my brain was just washed by the two of you. The effects of that bewitching soup haven't worn off yet. So, could you speak a bit more plainly, a bit simpler? Otherwise, I won't understand."
"Your heart has always rejected Karma. How then could you comprehend its existence?"
"Rejected?"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head. "I might have rejected it a little more or less in the past, but I don't really reject Karma now."
"But you have not accepted Karma either, have you?"
"So you're saying, if I want to comprehend Karma, I must first accept Karma, right?"
"Yes."
"Then how exactly does one accept Karma?"
Gu Qingfeng pressed on, "Could you wash my brain again? Wash it until it's capable of accepting Karma. How about that?"
Faced with such a request from Gu Qingfeng, Genggu Wuming could no longer be bothered to respond.
"You, this fellow..." Cang Yan said displeasedly, "are you quite finished?"
"Two Big Sisters, don't misunderstand. I'm not teasing you. I genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, want to accept Karma. But my heart isn't willing! So, do you have any methods to persuade my heart?"
Genggu Wuming shook her head helplessly. "Since your heart has chosen to follow the Natural Order, then simply follow it. Why force yourself to accept Karma?"