Gu Qingfeng did not speak further. Instead, he walked out of the pavilion and headed toward the house in the courtyard. As he stepped onto the stairs, he suddenly halted and said, "Jin'er is also an Original Sin person."
Gu Qingfeng did not seem to be asking—at least, his tone and inflection were not questioning—but Genggu Wuming answered him nonetheless: "Yes."
"Jin'er is also an Anomaly person."
"Yes."
"Jin'er might also become... that Original Sin True Master."
"Yes."
Gu Qingfeng spoke three sentences, and Genggu Wuming answered three 'yeses'.
"Tomorrow I will ask Jin'er. If she wishes to stay, she may stay. If she wishes to go with you, I will not force her."
Then, Gu Qingfeng opened the door and walked inside.
With a soft *thud*, the door closed tightly, drawing a final period to this long-delayed conversation between Gu Qingfeng and Genggu Wuming.
Genggu Wuming and Cang Yan did not linger any longer. After the two left Yunxia Sect, Genggu Wuming tilted her head back slightly, closed her eyes, as if sensing something, or perhaps reminiscing, pondering something. A long, long time passed before she finally let out a deep sigh.
It was a sigh of sorrow, a sigh of helplessness.
A sigh of uncertainty, a sigh of bewilderment.
Beside her.
Cang Yan also sighed with a heavy heart. Different from Genggu Wuming, her sigh seemed like a release from a great burden, as she murmured, "Conversing with this fellow is truly a painful affair, taxing both mind and body. After talking for so long, I feel utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally..."
"Accompany me for a walk," Genggu Wuming's voice came.
Cang Yan nodded. She knew that if even she felt this weary after talking with Gu Qingfeng, Genggu Wuming must feel it even more so. This conversation, which on the surface seemed like nothing more than an ordinary chat, was, in Cang Yan's heart, understood to have placed immense pressure on Genggu Wuming. Especially when conversing with Gu Qingfeng, it was no exaggeration to say she had been treading on thin ice.
Because every word Genggu Wuming said, every meaning she conveyed, once it reached Gu Qingfeng's ears, could potentially cause unknown and terrifying repercussions for the Myriad Heavens, for the living beings of the Great Dao, and even for the Present Era.
Exaggerated?
No.
Not in the slightest.
Gu Qingfeng's existence was too special. So special that his every word and deed, even a single stray thought, could bring about unimaginable consequences. These consequences included whether the Three Thousand Great Daos would perish, whether the Present Era would end, whether the Era of No Dao would begin...
This was also the fundamental reason why Genggu Wuming had delayed meeting Gu Qingfeng for so long. Because she was afraid.
Afraid not only that her own karma would be disrupted and thrown into chaos by Gu Qingfeng's influence, but also that her own words and actions would affect Gu Qingfeng's heart.
"Whether we admit it or not, Fate sometimes truly loves to play tricks," Cang Yan lamented. "Throughout the ages, there have been so many Original Sin persons, so many Original Sin Anomalies. Why is it only he who has sunk so deeply? When you think about it carefully, it's truly quite ironic. Many Original Sin Anomalies spend their entire lives seeking the Original Sin, striving to become the Original Sin True Master at any cost, even willing to sell their own souls... only to find in the end that it was all a grand illusion. Not only did they fail to find the door to their seeking, but some were reduced to ashes, some lost themselves, some became puppets of the Original Sin..."
"And this fellow? He rejects karma, resists Fate. Not only does he not seek the Original Sin, he constantly tries to shake it off. And the result? Not only has he failed to shake it off, he has instead sunk deeper and deeper, so deep he cannot extricate himself, so deep that he is now tied to the Fate of the Era of No Dao..."
"Those who seek the Original Sin find no door; those who try to escape it sink ever deeper. This is truly... too ironic."
Suddenly.
Genggu Wuming inexplicably uttered three words: "He does not contend."
Hearing this, Cang Yan was taken aback and asked, "He does not contend?"
"To contend is not to contend; not to contend is to contend. Only by not contending can no one under heaven contend with him."
Genggu Wuming murmured, "His state of mind, following his heart's desires and going with the flow, is precisely non-action. Non-action is the Great Dao. He... may have already glimpsed the true essence of the Great Dao."
"This fellow's existence is truly inconceivable!" Cang Yan exclaimed, then asked, "But... when he glimpsed this non-action Great Dao, was it unintentional or intentional?"
"If it were intentional, he could never have achieved that state of following his heart's desires and going with the flow."
"Indeed," Cang Yan also sighed. "Whether it's going with the flow or following one's heart's desires, both are inherently unintentional acts. Everything follows the heart. Perhaps it is only unintentionally that one can glimpse the non-action true essence of the Great Dao."
Saying this, Cang Yan shook her head and let out a helpless sigh.
"Why do you sigh?" Genggu Wuming asked. "Do you also feel Fate is unfair?"
"Fate has never been fair," Cang Yan replied with a bitter, helpless smile. "Think about it—I have sought the Great Dao for countless eons, yet I have never been able to step through its gate. And that fellow just casually stepped right through it. Tell me, is Fate fair?"
"Fate is very fair," Genggu Wuming said. "If you were given the chance to trade places with him, would you be willing?"
"No."
"He would certainly be willing."
Cang Yan then asked, "Never mind me. What about you? Would you be willing to trade places with him?"
"I would not be willing either."
"There you have it."
Genggu Wuming strolled slowly through the night sky of this world, murmuring to herself, "He carries too many burdens, and they are too heavy... Not just him; all Original Sin Anomalies are like this. It's just that most Original Sin Anomalies either have their minds lost by the burdens they carry, or lose themselves, or are crushed by them... Only he has neither lost his mind nor himself, nor been crushed. Even now, he still maintains an ordinary heart. To be honest, I truly admire him."
"Just admiration is fine. Don't let any other thoughts stir, and certainly don't end up like Hua'er, where admiration gradually seeps into the heart..."
Hearing this, Genggu Wuming stopped walking, glanced helplessly at Cang Yan, and shook her head again.
"Alright, I won't joke. But there's one thing I particularly want to know: do you regret not banishing him to Gui Xu back then? If you had banished him to Gui Xu that year, the situation in the Present Era might be different."
"It would indeed be different. If I had banished him to Gui Xu back then, the situation in the Present Era might not be as dire as it is now, but it could also be even worse. Exactly what the situation in the Present Era would have become, I do not know. Precisely because I do not know, I did not dare to gamble."
"Your courage has always been small."
"My courage is small because I cannot afford to lose."
"You always say you cannot afford to lose, but you have never lost."
"I have gambled, and I have lost. Once, a very, very long time ago, I gambled once. The stakes were everything I had. And I lost. I lost it all."