The voice came accompanied by a tremendous roar, like someone shouting amidst the sound of heavenly thunder. If one didn't listen carefully, it would be hard to distinguish.
Boom—Crack!
"O—ri—gi—nal—Sin—is—not—sin!" The tremendous roar came again, and the voice echoed once more.
Each time it came, it seemed to originate from all directions, as if from the heavens above and the earth below, ethereal and illusory, giving people a very unreal feeling.
"Who on earth is shouting?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk was extremely curious, his mind completely occupied with wondering who was shouting and what the meaning of 'Original Sin is not sin' could be.
Unfortunately, no one could answer this question.
He didn't know.
Gu Qingfeng knew even less.
Gu Qingfeng couldn't pinpoint the source of the voice, and neither could Da Xing the Mad Monk.
Faced with this strange voice, the two of them could only stare blankly, unable to do anything else.
"Ka—rma—does—not—die, Ori—gi—nal—Sin—does—not—cease!"
"Fa—te—does—not—rest, Ori—gi—nal—Sin—does—not—perish!"
"Hahahaha—" "Illu—sion—All phenomena are illusory—" Along with the continuous tremendous roars, the shouts kept coming, mixed with an indescribable, inexplicable loud laughter.
From the initial 'Original Sin is not sin,' to Karma and Fate, and finally to 'all is illusion.'
"The mysteries of heaven and earth, the true meaning of the Great Dao—all lie within Original Sin—all is illusion!" "Hahahaha!"
!
The shouting voice began to laugh again, giving the impression of a madman babbling nonsense.
No one knew how much time had passed. As the tremendous roars faded, the shouting voice gradually disappeared as well. The chaotic, trembling Primordial Black Hole also returned to its previous tranquility, like a sea after the wind and waves had calmed. Gu Qingfeng and Da Xing the Mad Monk stood there stunned, unable to regain their composure for a long time.
"What the hell... is this situation?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk swallowed hard, his eyes wide as he muttered in astonishment, "Karma does not die, Original Sin does not cease; Fate does not rest, Original Sin does not perish! Why does this sound so familiar? It feels like I've heard it somewhere before."
Gu Qingfeng asked, "You've heard it?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk nodded, thought carefully, then shook his head and replied, "It feels like I've heard it, but I can't remember specifically. I don't have any real impression of it."
"This is really bizarre."
"What is?"
"Like you, I also feel this phrase is very familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere before. The problem is, I also have no impression of it. However, that phrase 'all phenomena are illusory'..." Gu Qingfeng had once heard a legend, a legend about Original Sin and illusion.
It was said that during the Daoless Era, before that Venerable of the Daoless Era disappeared, his physical body transformed into various Original Sins, and his soul transformed into various illusions.
Original Sin was the body of Original Sin, while illusion was the illusory self.
The body of Original Sin was divided into incarnations, retribution bodies, dharma bodies, true bodies, and so on.
And the illusory self was also divided into no-self, self, original self, true self, and so on.
This was something he had once comprehended in an epiphany within an illusion of the Daoless Era.
But whether the legend was true or false, that was unknown.
"Right! I remember now!"
Suddenly.
Da Xing the Mad Monk slapped his head and exclaimed, "I remember my Senior Brother chanting this phrase 'Karma does not die, Original Sin does not cease'!"
"Your Senior Brother?" Gu Qingfeng asked, "You mean White-Browed Sage Monk?"
"Exactly! My Senior Brother has chanted this phrase more than once."
"And then?"
"And then? There is no 'and then'! I only remember my Senior Brother chanting this phrase. At the time, I asked him what it meant, but he didn't tell me directly. He just said I would understand in the future."
"That's just nonsense!"
"What do you mean nonsense? As long as we find my Senior Brother and ask him, we'll know!"
"Is your Senior Brother also in this Primordial Black Hole?"
"He must be! Kid Gu, how could you forget? When I asked you to come help earlier, didn't I tell you that the ruins of our Chan Sect were about to appear? Later, when we rushed over, the ruins of our Chan Sect had already disappeared, and then we also fell into this Primordial Black Hole."
"What does that have to do with your Senior Brother?"
"My Senior Brother has been guarding inside the ruins of our Chan Sect. As long as we find the ruins of our Chan Sect, we will definitely find my Senior Brother."
"You make it sound easy. This Primordial Black Hole is even more vast and boundless than the Great Desolate. Finding your Chan Sect ruins here is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"This..." Da Xing the Mad Monk was momentarily speechless. Although he didn't want to admit it, he had to acknowledge that what Gu Qingfeng said was true.
Ever since arriving in the Primordial Black Hole, he had been searching for the Chan Sect ruins. Unfortunately, he still hadn't found them, not even a single clue. As Gu Qingfeng said, the Primordial Black Hole was boundless and endless, containing infinite chaotic currents and endless spaces. To find the Chan Sect ruins, unless they appeared on their own, it was almost impossible.
Looking at Gu Qingfeng who seemed lost in thought, Da Xing the Mad Monk said, "Kid Gu, carefully consider this phrase. Do you sense anything?"
"Which phrase?"
"'Karma does not die, Original Sin does not cease; Fate does not rest, Original Sin does not perish!' Don't you think the meaning of this phrase sounds like Original Sin is determined to fight Karmic Fate to the death?"
Gu Qingfeng nodded. He also felt there was a sense of a fight to the death. He asked, "So what?"
"So what? Are you really stupid or just pretending? No matter who is shouting this phrase, if Original Sin really intends to fight Karmic Fate to the death, then that means Karmic Fate will also spare no effort to eradicate Original Sin. In other words, if you, kid, are truly the destined True Lord of Original Sin, then this must be a trap set by Karmic Fate, just waiting for you to jump in!"
"Listening to you, it seems quite reasonable. However..." Gu Qingfeng changed the subject, "Compared to that layer of meaning, I'm more interested in another layer."
Da Xing the Mad Monk didn't understand and asked, "Another layer of meaning?"
"What exactly is the relationship between Original Sin and Karmic Fate? What kind of existence is Original Sin? Why does it cause errors in Karma to occur repeatedly, one after another? And what is its purpose?"
Gu Qingfeng frowned deeply, his voice grave, "What makes me most curious is, what is the relationship between all of this and the two words 'illusion'?"
Beside him, Da Xing the Mad Monk scratched his head in confusion. It wasn't that he couldn't understand Gu Qingfeng's words; on the contrary, he could understand them. Precisely because he could understand, he was even more bewildered.
Because Gu Qingfeng's words contained the four most mysterious, bizarre, and profound existences between heaven and earth.
One was Karma.
One was Fate.
One was Original Sin.
And one was Illusion.
If asked what Karma is, what Fate is, everyone knows.
But if asked to define what Karma truly is, what Fate truly is, probably no one throughout history has been able to explain it clearly.
If Karmic Fate is already like this, Original Sin is even more mysterious and bizarre in comparison.