While the Old Beggar was in a state of excitement and agitation, Lady Blackwater beside him remained as calm as still water, casually pouring cold water on his enthusiasm with a light remark, "You're overthinking it."
"How am I overthinking it?"
The Old Beggar glanced at Lady Blackwater and said, "Oh, I forgot. Your Great Natural Order has always been in cahoots with the Heavens, right? Back when the Human Dao was suppressed, it wasn't just the Heavenly Dao—your Great Natural Order probably had a hand in it too, didn't it?"
"Heh."
Lady Blackwater gave a faint smile. "If our Great Natural Order were truly in cahoots with the Heavenly Dao, how could our Empress Nüwa hold a place among the Three Sovereigns?"
"Who knows what schemes your Empress Nüwa has behind her back? Besides, it's not just your Great Natural Order's Empress Nüwa among the Three Sovereigns—there's also the Heavenly Dao's Patriarch Fuxi."
At this, the Old Beggar let out a strange, cackling laugh. "Precisely because the legendary Three Sovereigns of the Human Dao included both the Celestial Sovereign Fuxi and the Earthly Sovereign Nüwa, our Human Dao has always had a saying: 'Recognize Heaven as Father, Earth as Mother.' And yet, in the end, Heaven and Earth joined forces to suppress us, stripping away our Three Souls, leaving us crippled. I must say, Heaven and Earth truly were a fine pair of parents to the Human Dao."
"Old Beggar, there's no need for such sarcastic probing. It's useless. I don't know what happened back then."
Hearing Lady Blackwater's words, the Old Beggar couldn't help but chuckle wryly.
Indeed.
He was probing Lady Blackwater.
To be honest, the Old Beggar didn't know the true purpose behind Heaven and Earth's creation of the Human Dao, nor why they personally crippled it. It was precisely because he didn't know that he wanted to understand.
"Lady Blackwater, you're being too modest. If others didn't know, that would be one thing, but how could you not know?"
The Old Beggar was well aware that Lady Blackwater was a genuine ancestral figure of the Great Natural Order. Moreover, her true identity was one of the Five-Colored Envoys under Empress Nüwa. With such a lofty status and such closeness to Empress Nüwa, the Old Beggar couldn't believe that Lady Blackwater was unaware of the truth.
"The title of Five-Colored Envoy was merely my identity in a past life. I have long since reincarnated and know little of my previous existence."
"Really?"
Lady Blackwater glanced at the Old Beggar, her expression seeming to say, "Believe it or not, it's up to you."
"Then why were you cast into Gui Xu?"
The Old Beggar asked another question whose answer he desired.
Lady Blackwater shook her head, gazing into the vast Primordial Black Hole as she murmured, "Believe me, I want to know the answer to that question even more than you do."
"You don't even know why you were cast into Gui Xu?"
"I do not."
The Old Beggar wasn't sure whether to believe Lady Blackwater. He sipped his wine in silence, lost in thought.
Ever since learning Lady Blackwater's true identity, he had been deeply curious why a being like her would be cast into Gui Xu. In his mind, no matter what, Lady Blackwater was an ancestral figure of the Great Natural Order, and one under Empress Nüwa's command. Even in her past life, no one could deny her noble status.
As the saying goes, if you won't do it for the monk's sake, do it for the Buddha's. Even if they showed no respect for Lady Blackwater, they should have shown some for Empress Nüwa.
Everyone knew who Empress Nüwa was.
The Mother of the Great Natural Order, also known as the Mother of the Great Earth, was a being on par with the Heavens themselves.
Moreover, Heaven and Earth were originally one family.
Could it be that the Heavenly Dao and the Earthly Dao's Great Natural Order had a falling out?
So, in a fit of rage, the Heavens cast even Empress Nüwa's Five-Colored Envoys into Gui Xu?
Unclear.
The Old Beggar pondered. If Heaven and Earth truly had a falling out back then, it was almost certainly related to the Human Dao.
Because, from what he understood, both the Human Dao and the Great Natural Order fell during the Primordial Era.
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The Human Dao had its Three Souls stripped away; the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were missing, their fates unknown. Even Lady Blackwater, one of Empress Nüwa's Five-Colored Envoys from the Great Natural Order, had been cast into Gui Xu. It seemed something unspeakable must have happened back then.
What that unspeakable thing was, the Old Beggar also didn't know. However, one thing he was clear about: since ancient times, almost every secret between Heaven and Earth was inextricably linked to Original Sin.
Original Sin, the most primordial evil, the root of all sin.
Everything began with Original Sin, and everything was destined to end with Original Sin.
Thinking of Original Sin, the Old Beggar couldn't help but think of Gu Qingfeng. He chuckled, "That kid surnamed Gu is really stirring up more and more trouble. First the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura, then 'From the Highest Heavens to the Yellow Springs,' and now he's even gotten himself a Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie. I must say, this kid is sinking deeper and deeper on the path of Original Sin, getting closer and closer to becoming the True Lord of Original Sin. And no matter how you look at it, he seems more and more like the fated True Lord of Original Sin."
"If... this kid isn't the fated True Lord of Original Sin, then this is one hell of a joke. But if he is the fated True Lord of Original Sin... then it won't be a simple joke anymore."
At this point, Lady Blackwater asked, "Do you suspect the fated True Lord of Original Sin is a scheme laid by the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth?"
"Isn't it?"
Lady Blackwater sighed. "Perhaps."
"That kid is both the deepest Original Sin and the greatest variable—the source of all erroneous causality. If his existence is predestined, aside from the word 'conspiracy,' I can't think of any other possibility. And..." The Old Beggar paused before continuing, "If the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth wants to completely eradicate Original Sin, this is the only method."
As if remembering something else, the Old Beggar asked another question. "Lady Blackwater, there's something I've never been able to figure out."
"What is it?"
"If that kid surnamed Gu really is the fated True Lord of Original Sin, why would the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura, 'From the Highest Heavens to the Yellow Springs,' and the Heaven-Devouring, Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie fuse with him? Even an old beggar like me can see this point. Those existences couldn't possibly be unaware that being 'fated' is a conspiracy of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, could they? Or are they also fated and powerless to resist?"
"I think... they might be trying to gamble."
"Gamble? You can gamble on something like this? Isn't the price a bit too high? If they lose, they lose completely, with no chance of a comeback."
"Gambling doesn't necessarily mean they'll lose for sure. Not gambling means they'll definitely lose completely."
"You mean they're placing all their bets on that kid surnamed Gu, trying to have him gamble against the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, against this causal fate?"
"It's not just them gambling. Throughout the ages, across the heavens and the earth, many existences are gambling."
Having said this, Lady Blackwater shook her head and added, "No! Not many. Everything—absolutely everything—is gambling!"