"Old Monk, I don't rule out the possibility you mentioned, but the odds are just too low, far too low—so low they can be completely ignored."
Gu Qingfeng said, "Ever since I arrived in this Primordial Ancient Black Hole, only one outcome was ever destined: either I die here, or I obtain the Original Sin. This time, no matter what, they won't allow me, the greatest Anomaly, to leave this place alive. If I don't seek the Original Sin, I'll die. If I do obtain the Original Sin, I'll die even more certainly."
"Why does Layman Gu view this journey with such pessimism?"
"It's not that I view it pessimistically; it's simply the reality."
"As Layman Gu said, you are an Anomaly, and the greatest one at that. For you, Layman Gu, there has never been anything 'destined.' Everything about you is filled with the unknown. No one can determine it—no person, not Karma, not even Fate."
"That's precisely the problem with being an 'Anomaly.'"
Gu Qingfeng gave a faint, wry smile. "It's precisely because of those two words—'Anomaly'—that I believe all the beings in the heavens above and the earth below will not permit me to leave alive. If I were anyone else, I wouldn't allow an existence as full of unknowns as myself to live either."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh, as if mocking himself, yet also sighing with emotion. "As long as I live for one more day, those in the heavens won't sleep well, those underground won't sleep well, and all existences throughout the ages won't rest easy. To be honest, having lived to this point, even I feel a bit embarrassed to keep on living."
"This Old Monk understands..."
"Good that you understand. Anything else you want to ask?"
"No."
"Alright then. You rest for now, Elder. If there's a chance in the future, we'll continue our chat."
With that.
Gu Qingfeng's divine sense vanished from the Nirvana Silence World, disappearing without a trace.
After he vanished, a sigh from the Old Monk echoed through.
This sigh was profoundly complex.
It held helplessness, confusion, and also a sense of lament.
Suddenly.
Another voice sounded in the Nirvana Silence World: "Old Monk, what did he mean? Could it be that he came to this Primordial Ancient Black Hole not to seek the Original Sin, but to seek death?"
The voice seemed to belong to a woman, ethereal and intermittent, reverberating endlessly through the Nirvana Silence World as it spoke.
The Old Monk responded, "No, you've misunderstood."
"Misunderstood? Where did I misunderstand? He said he's embarrassed to keep on living—if that's not seeking death, what is? And I could tell he wasn't just saying it casually."
"He certainly wasn't saying it casually."
"Then what did he mean?"
"Layman Gu's meaning is quite clear. If anyone in the heavens above, the earth below, or throughout the ages loses sleep because he's alive... unless he dies, then all existences in the heavens and earth won't need to lose sleep anymore in the future. To be more precise, they won't even have the chance to lose sleep again...
To be even more precise, they will all sleep forever from then on."
"What do you mean, 'unless he dies, all existences won't need to lose sleep'? 'Won't have the chance to lose sleep'? 'Sleep forever'? I don't quite understand. Old Monk, can't you speak more plainly and simply?"
"Sigh!"
The Old Monk sighed again. "If you insist This Old Monk speak more plainly, then I'll be blunt. This time, Layman Gu has made up his mind. Whoever cannot tolerate him, he will not tolerate in return. Whoever wants him dead, he will make them die. Do you understand now?"
The woman's voice did not respond immediately. After a long while, she finally spoke. "So that's what it is...
It seems the heavens are truly going to change this time."
"Yes, the heavens are going to change."
The woman asked again, "Then what do you plan to do? Will you intervene?"
"This Old Monk only wishes to be an outsider who lets fate take its course."
"Heh heh heh..." The woman laughed as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world, her laughter bordering on madness. "You are already within the game itself. How can you be an outsider?"
"That is This Old Monk's affair, and none of yours."
"Old Monk, if you don't intervene this time, he will certainly be in grave danger. One thing he said is correct: all existences throughout the ages, in the heavens above and the earth below, will not allow him, the greatest Anomaly, to leave this place alive. This has nothing to do with the Original Sin. Whether he obtains the Original Sin or not, there is a great likelihood he will die here this time!"
The woman continued, "Let's not even discuss whether his Indestructible Body will awaken. Even if it truly awakens, even if he doesn't die, he will inevitably be sealed here forever."
"Right now, everyone is waiting—waiting for an opportunity. The Nine Heavens and the Nine Nethers are waiting, Heaven and Hell are waiting, the Guixu and the Huangxu are waiting, the forbidden lands and holy lands are waiting, those from the Primordial Ancient Era are waiting, those from the Daoless Age are also waiting. Even the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura within him, the From Azure Heaven to Yellow Springs, and even the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Eating Blood Taotie are all waiting. Even Karma and Fate, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, are all waiting..."
"No..." The Old Monk interrupted the woman. "You are mistaken."
"Where am I mistaken?"
"They are not waiting; they are observing."
"Observing and waiting are no different. Once the right moment arrives, everything will happen."
"Observing and waiting are different."
"Tell me, where is the difference?"
The Old Monk did not answer this question.
"Hmph!"
The woman snorted coldly, scoffing. "Old Monk, don't think I don't know what you're scheming. If I'm not mistaken, deep down, you certainly hope he obtains the Original Sin and becomes the True Lord of Original Sin, don't you?"
"You know that in the end, no matter who ascends to become the True Lord of Original Sin and opens the Daoless Age, it will trigger chaos throughout heaven and earth—chaos that simply cannot be contained. He is an Anomaly, and the greatest one at that. If he ascends to become the True Lord of Original Sin, perhaps something will change. Am I right?"
"There's also another possibility. Since opening the Daoless Age will lead to chaos that cannot be stopped, then simply let him ascend to become the True Lord of Original Sin and make the chaotic situation even more chaotic. 'Without destruction, there can be no construction; only after destruction can there be new construction.' You want to use violence to counter violence, to make everything in heaven and earth start anew. Am I right?"
"Besides that, you also hope he becomes the True Lord of Original Sin to deal with the ancient clansmen. Am I right?"
"I know you're not the only one thinking this way. There are others who think the same."
The woman said many things, as if questioning the Old Monk, but the Old Monk did not respond, not even with a single word.
"Answer me. Is it true or not?"
The Old Monk still did not respond.
"Answer me! Is it true or not?!"
The woman repeated her question.
She asked a full three times. Only after a long while did the Old Monk's voice finally come.
"This Old Monk has said, I only wish to be an outsider. The heavens above and the earth below, the past and the future, Karma and Fate—none of it has anything to do with This Old Monk. I cannot control it, nor do I wish to control it..."
"If you truly wish to be an outsider, then why have you appeared in this Nirvana Silence World?"
"To be honest with you, Benefactor, This Old Monk wishes to know the answer to that question even more than you do."
The Old Monk sighed. "This Old Monk also cannot understand why I have appeared in this Nirvana Silence World!"