"There are some things...
I want to ask clearly."
Gu Qingfeng remained silent for a long while before finally speaking. Empress Wuyou said nothing, as if waiting for his question.
"Are these matters between you and me... your doing?"
Gu Qingfeng asked, "Or perhaps I should ask, is this Karma between us something you deliberately planted, or was it arranged by Fate?"
Empress Wuyou did not answer immediately. Only after a moment did she slowly respond, "I still remember...
you asked me this question back then."
"That's right. I did ask when I first met you in Canyang Valley."
"Then do you remember how I answered you?"
"Back then, you said you had forgotten, that you were lost..."
"That was my answer then, and it remains my answer now. Whether the Karma between us was deliberately planted by me or arranged by Fate...
I don't know. Perhaps it was me, perhaps it was Fate...
or perhaps it was something else."
"But you've awakened now, haven't you?"
Empress Wuyou countered with a question instead of answering, "I...
Have I awakened?"
"What do you mean? Are you saying you're still asleep?"
"I don't know...
I've forgotten, I'm lost. I don't even know if the 'me' now...
is still me..."
Gu Qingfeng did not continue questioning. He couldn't tell whether the woman opposite him was truly lost and forgetful, or simply unwilling to speak. Perhaps it was truly as she said—she was lost, lost within her true self, unable to distinguish which was her original self and which was her present self.
This reminded him of Jun Xuanji. Jun Xuanji was similarly lost within the 'self'.
Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. A person who has reincarnated so many times, through multiple lives and existences, with past and present lives now fused together—who could possibly distinguish which is the true self, which is the original self, and which is the present self?
Another stretch of silence followed. Gu Qingfeng continued asking, "Back when I ignited the Original Sin Karmic Flame in the Daoless Mountain, and then inexplicably awakened in the Quicksand Minor Secret Realm... I heard you were present?"
"I don't know...
I've forgotten, I'm lost..."
That phrase again.
Gu Qingfeng was utterly speechless and deeply frustrated. He had originally hoped that meeting this woman this time would resolve some of the doubts in his heart, but now it seemed there was little hope. No matter what he asked, the woman knew nothing.
What he most wanted to know now was the three-life Karma between himself and Empress Wuyou, the three-life Karma between himself and Yun Nichang, and the Karma involving Jun Xuanji—whether it was deliberately planted by them or arranged by Fate.
If they deliberately planted this Karma, for what purpose?
What was their goal?
If it was Karma arranged by Fate, then for what purpose?
To eradicate him, thereby eliminating Original Sin?
That wasn't impossible. Gu Qingfeng knew that both Yun Nichang and Jun Xuanji were lost and had fallen into the Sea of Bitterness. Perhaps only by eradicating Original Sin could they transcend the Sea of Bitterness. Yun Nichang and Jun Xuanji were like this, and likely Empress Wuyou was no exception.
But what Gu Qingfeng couldn't understand was: if they truly wanted to eradicate him to eliminate Original Sin, why would they plant Karma with him?
Could it be that only by planting Karma with him and then eradicating him could they transcend the Sea of Bitterness?
He didn't know.
Gu Qingfeng couldn't figure it out.
If this Karma was arranged by Fate, he was even more baffled as to why.
Fate wanted to eliminate Original Sin—that was certain.
Setting aside whether Gu Qingfeng was the predestined True Lord of Original Sin, even if he was, why arrange so many inexplicable strands of Karma?
Could it be that arranging this Karma was to restrain him?
Gu Qingfeng had once heard a saying: emotions are both variables within constants and constants within variables.
Influenced by emotions, constants can alter Karma, and variables can determine Karma.
These concepts were too profound and mysterious. Gu Qingfeng didn't fully understand them either.
So he wasn't entirely certain.
He had far too many doubts in his heart that needed answers. Yet, until now, he had found none.
The woman, like a fading sunset or a waning moon, dreamlike and illusory, real yet false, grew faint and indistinct, as if she might vanish at any moment. Gu Qingfeng seemed to sense something and asked, "Are you leaving?"
"What else?"
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know. I'm lost...
and I've forgotten."
"Will we meet again?"
"Perhaps."
She left.
The woman vanished.
Just like that, she disappeared before Gu Qingfeng's eyes, vanishing without a trace, as if she had never appeared.
Desolate Ancient Ruins.
As the woman vanished, the demonic-and-Buddha-like eerie aura within the ruins also disappeared.
Da Xing the Mad Monk looked up, eyes wide, brows furrowed, as if deep in thought. Beside him, Longque Niangniang also gazed at the chaotic current vortex with a complex expression. Although the two didn't know exactly what had happened, they had both sensed Empress Wuyou's presence earlier and could more or less deduce that Man Tu Fan, Feng Zhuyue, and Empress Wuyou were past and present lives of the same existence.
"Empress Wuyou...
has left?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk asked, his voice hoarse as if his throat were choked.
Gu Qingfeng seemed not to hear, merely standing there, staring at the chaotic current vortex in the sky.
After Empress Wuyou disappeared, the chaotic vortex in the sky was no longer like a fading sunset or waning moon. The mountains, rivers, flowers, and trees within the Desolate Ancient Ruins withered, faded, and decayed in a short time. Everything was like this. The feeling was terrifying, as if the entire world was dying.
"Not good!
This place is going to turn to ashes!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk guessed that Empress Wuyou might have been sustaining these Desolate Ancient Ruins all along. Now that she was gone, the ruins would turn to dust. He said, "Kid Gu, we'd better leave quickly!"
Gu Qingfeng drew a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He looked at the Desolate Ancient Ruins turning to ashes, nodded, and was about to leave when he suddenly stopped. He had noticed many mysterious presences quietly departing.
Who these mysterious presences were, Gu Qingfeng did not know. He wasn't even sure when they had appeared.
With a sweep of his gaze, he counted over ten of them.
Then, he saw Bai Chou in the distance, standing on a desolate mountain.
Bai Chou was also staring at him at that moment.
But beside Bai Chou stood another person—a woman in black robes and a black hat, appearing mysterious, ethereal, and giving off a very unreal feeling.
Gu Qingfeng recognized this woman. She seemed to be called something like Witch Empress. He had heard Da Xing the Mad Monk say her existence was comparable to that of Gengwu Wuming—mysterious and unknown.
Da Xing the Mad Monk also seemed to have noticed the Witch Empress. His expression changed slightly, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but then hesitated and remained silent.