Although Cang Yan did not answer the doubts in Nalan Qianqiu's heart, Nalan Qianqiu understood her words.
Inside this Primordial Black Hole, there is no right or wrong, nor does right or wrong even matter.
Because everything happening now is too chaotic, like a mass of chaos itself.
Yin is not yin, yang is not yang. Light is not light, darkness is not darkness.
The Great Dao is not the Great Dao, Heaven and Earth are not Heaven and Earth. Karma is not karma, and Fate is no longer Fate.
Everything is in disarray.
All of it is in chaos.
It's become a complete mess, a chaos so profound that every existence between heaven and earth has fallen into bewilderment, into hesitation.
No one dares to say for certain that it is Original Sin that seeks to destroy this Great Dao and Heaven and Earth.
No one dares to say that Original Sin is a pawn of Fate.
No one dares to say that eradicating Original Sin is definitely defying Fate, just as no one dares to say that eradicating Original Sin will prevent the Daoless Era from opening.
Even less does anyone dare to say that the events recorded in the Book of Fate will definitely come to pass.
Everything is unknown.
Everything is filled with variables.
No one knows the answer.
No one at all.
In such circumstances, the only thing we can do is to not forget our original intent, to do what we wish and ought to do.
Nalan Qianqiu understood.
In her heart, she also decided to prepare to leave, to go and do what she wished to do.
But before leaving, she still wanted to ask a few questions.
"Senior Sister, what about Little Junior Sister she..."
"Hua'er is also doing what she herself wishes to do."
"And you..."
"We are all the same."
Cang Yan gazed into the boundless, vast expanse of the Primordial Black Hole and said softly, "Amidst this chaos, the only thing we can do is to do what we ourselves wish to do."
"Very well."
Nalan Qianqiu drew a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, saying, "Senior Sister, then I...
am leaving..."
With that.
Nalan Qianqiu performed a kneeling bow.
This bow was to honor the years of nurturing grace Cang Yan had bestowed upon her; this bow was also to honor the years of teaching grace Cang Yan had given her.
Cang Yan was not her parent, yet was more than a parent; not her master, yet more than a master.
In Nalan Qianqiu's heart, Cang Yan's existence far surpassed that of parents or masters.
She understood in her mind that with this parting, she did not know when they might meet again.
Even whether they could meet again was an unknown.
She left.
She departed.
Cang Yan simply watched Nalan Qianqiu leave, an expression of melancholy on her peerlessly beautiful face, a trace of sorrow shining in her eyes. As Nalan Qianqiu's figure grew increasingly blurred until it vanished completely from sight, she finally could not help but close her eyes and shake her head with great helplessness.
"You...
there was completely no need to do this..."
Suddenly.
A voice came.
This voice was very gentle, like a spring breeze.
Appearing in response was a woman.
The woman looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a white robe, her long hair naturally cascading down her back, standing barefoot amidst the chaotic currents.
This was a very ordinary young girl.
Truly ordinary.
So ordinary that not a single shining point could be found on her; ordinary like weeds on the grassland, ordinary like a drop of water in the vast sea, even more ordinary like a speck of dust in this world—insignificant, as if after closing one's eyes, one could no longer remember her appearance.
Her countenance was like this.
Her voice was like this.
Her eyes were like this.
Her very person was even more so.
From head to toe, even every strand of hair seemed utterly ordinary, as if indistinguishable from the chaotic currents within this Primordial Black Hole.
She was like these chaotic currents themselves, flowing, changing. Even though she stood there quietly at this moment, she gave people a sense of unreality, like a dream or illusion.
If Da Xing the Mad Monk were still here, seeing this young girl, he would definitely turn and flee.
If Nalan Qianqiu had not left, seeing this young girl, she would certainly be respectful and reverent.
Because this young girl was none other.
She was the one spoken of in legends, who knows the past and future, who holds the reins of Fate and Karma, who deduces the Primordial Chaos of the universe, who comprehends the Profound Mysteries of Heaven and Earth—the very incarnation of Karma, the messenger of Fate—the Heavenly Secrets Lady, Genggu Wuming, a woman revered as a deity by the myriad realms of the heavens, who knows all.
She appeared out of thin air, as if she had always been there, gazing in the direction Nalan Qianqiu had departed, and said softly, "Qianqiu is different from Hua'er. Hua'er's Karma with this Primordial Black Hole and this Great Dao Heaven and Earth runs too deep. Her Fate is too complex; there are some things she has no choice but to do, and no one can stop her. But...
Qianqiu, you could have kept her by your side."
"What meaning would there be in keeping her by my side?"
"At the very least, she could avoid this calamity, could she not?"
"Even I dare not say whether I can avoid this calamity. As for you, are you not the same?"
Genggu Wuming said, "Therefore, from the very beginning, you should not have let Qianqiu enter."
"She is a Great Dao Immortal Emperor who bears the Heavenly Mandate. Now is precisely the time when the Fate of the Great Dao is being decided. How can a Great Dao Immortal Emperor like her hide away?"
"This does not sound like words you should be saying."
Cang Yan opened her eyes, looking at Genggu Wuming, and said, "Nor does this sound like words you should be saying."
"The Cang Yan I know would never resign herself to Fate!"
Cang Yan said, "The Genggu Wuming I know never bows her head to Fate."
In Genggu Wuming's view, Cang Yan sending Nalan Qianqiu to protect the Great Dao was resigning herself to Fate, because Nalan Qianqiu is a Great Dao Immortal Emperor who bears the Heavenly Mandate; protecting the Great Dao is her duty, her obligation, and her Fate.
In Cang Yan's view, when Genggu Wuming said that Nalan Qianqiu should not have been allowed to enter this Primordial Black Hole, it meant that Genggu Wuming had already bowed her head to Fate.
The two of them spoke no more.
Both fell into silence.
Cang Yan was the only confidant Genggu Wuming had in all of Heaven and Earth.
Likewise.
Genggu Wuming was also the only confidant Cang Yan had in all of Heaven and Earth.
Cang Yan understood Genggu Wuming very well, and Genggu Wuming understood her.
Precisely because they understood each other, they both chose silence, because they both knew what the other said was the truth.
Even though neither wished to admit it.
After a long while.
Genggu Wuming opened her mouth to ask, "Are you really just resigning yourself to Fate like this?"
At the same moment Genggu Wuming spoke, Cang Yan also opened her mouth to ask, "Are you really just bowing your head to Fate like this?"
The two of them asked each other almost simultaneously.
The two looked at each other, exchanged a smile, then both shook their heads. Their expressions held some helplessness, some weariness, and both radiated endless hesitation, endless bewilderment.
Cang Yan was like this.
Genggu Wuming was no exception.
Even though she knows the past and future, holds the reins of Fate and Karma, deduces the Primordial Chaos of the universe, and comprehends the Profound Mysteries of Heaven and Earth.
However.
She does not know the past and future of this Primordial Black Hole.
Nor can she hold the reins of the Fate and Karma of this Primordial Black Hole.
Within this Primordial Black Hole, she can neither deduce the Primordial Chaos of the universe, nor comprehend the Profound Mysteries of Heaven and Earth.
She is hailed as the incarnation of Karma, yet does not know what Karma truly is.
She is hailed as the messenger of Fate, yet does not know what Fate truly is.
She thought she knew.
But.
It was only a thought.
The more she experienced, the more she found she increasingly did not know what Karma was, what Fate was.