The voice seemed close at hand, as if echoing within Gu Qingfeng's mind, yet also like a call from a dream—illusory and ethereal, blurring the lines between reality and illusion, shrouded in profound mystery, dreamlike and fantastical.
For some reason, when this voice reached him, it felt strangely familiar—both known and unknown, as if from the past or the future, from a previous life or a life to come, creating a sense of eerie displacement that was utterly bizarre.
"They...
have discovered..." The voice came again, even more ethereal, more elusive, more mysterious.
Gu Qingfeng searched for the source of the voice. He didn't know where it came from, only feeling as if he were in a dream.
"They all know now...
they know..." The voice sounded like a woman's, coming in broken fragments.
"They have been...
looking for you all along..." Gu Qingfeng tried to respond, asking, "Who are you?"
Alas.
No one answered him.
The other party seemed not to hear, the voice continuing to mutter to itself.
"Do not...
believe them..." "Do not believe in Karma...
Do not believe in fate."
"Do not believe in any existence..." Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng finally understood why this voice felt so familiar.
He had heard this voice before.
He clearly remembered that after the end of the Ancient Era and the beginning of the Modern Era, when Gu Qingfeng was reborn from nirvana, he had once encountered a Great Dao-Meteor Stream during cultivation.
The Great Dao-Meteor Stream was a natural phenomenon that only appeared when a great Dao perished.
And indeed, that was the case.
At that time, a Great Dao Seed had fallen from the meteor stream and, as if by fate, struck Gu Qingfeng directly.
Even more miraculously, that Great Dao Seed had inexplicably fused into Gu Qingfeng's body without any discomfort, as if the fallen seed had always belonged to him.
Gu Qingfeng knew this was absolutely no accident, nor mere coincidence. As for why that Great Dao Seed had struck him and fused with him so mysteriously, he still had no answer, only a vague sense that it might be a form of Karma.
Not long after the fusion, he had heard a voice.
Just like the current situation—ethereal and dreamlike.
Moreover, that voice had also told him not to believe in Karma, not to believe in fate, not to believe anyone, and said that they had been looking for Gu Qingfeng all along—mentioning the Vasu clan, the Kasyapa clan, and others, all legendary Ancient Clans.
That voice had also told Gu Qingfeng to find her, saying something about her back having Gu Qingfeng.
The words were baffling and very strange. Gu Qingfeng still hadn't figured them out.
Later, that voice had not come again, and the matter had passed for a long time—so long that Gu Qingfeng had almost forgotten it.
He never expected that after so many years, that voice would come again.
And the words spoken were almost the same as back then.
"Can you hear me?"
Gu Qingfeng tried again to communicate with the voice. However, the other party still did not respond to him, still muttering to itself.
"Do not believe..." "This is...
a conspiracy, a conspiracy, do not believe...
believe no one, not even...
not even yourself."
What conspiracy?
What was this voice talking about?
Could it be referring to this Original Sin calamity?
And what did it mean by not even believing yourself?
If you shouldn't even believe yourself, then what should you believe?
Unclear.
The words spoken by this voice were far too strange, leaving Gu Qingfeng completely baffled.
"Conspiracy, it's all a conspiracy..." "Everything is a conspiracy, everything is within this conspiracy..." "Do not believe...
you must not believe."
"Find me...
you must find me."
"I...
my back has you, find me..." If Gu Qingfeng had been uncertain before whether this voice was from that Great Dao Seed of years past, then when the voice said "my back has you," Gu Qingfeng was certain: the other party was definitely the voice of that Great Dao Seed from back then.
The question was.
Who was the owner of this voice?
Why did she want him to find her?
And what did "my back has you" mean?
What kind of nonsense was all this?
Too many, too many doubts. Gu Qingfeng hadn't understood them back then, and even now, he still didn't.
Gu Qingfeng continued searching for the source of the voice.
Unfortunately.
Search as he might, he couldn't find it.
It felt close at hand, yet eerily distant—too illusory, too ethereal.
"Is it you...
right?
It's you..." "Are you there?"
"Can you hear me?"
Suddenly.
The voice seemed to be asking a question.
Gu Qingfeng's heart stirred. He tried to reply, "Are you talking to me?"
"So it is you..." This time.
Gu Qingfeng instantly grew excited and quickly pressed, "Who are you?"
"Who am I?"
When Gu Qingfeng asked, the voice also seemed to be asking—not asking him, but asking herself.
After a moment.
The voice came again.
"I don't know...
I can't remember either, I've forgotten, I've forgotten who I am...
forgotten..." Hearing this.
Gu Qingfeng's heart couldn't help but sink. He asked, "Have you lost yourself?"
"I don't know, I've forgotten...
I can't remember."
"You just told me to find you. Where should I go to find you?
And how do I find you?
And what does 'your back has me' mean?"
"I don't know, I've forgotten, I can't remember..." Gu Qingfeng, unwilling to give up, continued asking, "You also said they've discovered me, and found me. Who are these Vasu clan members, these Kasyapa clan members? Are they Ancient Clans?"
"I don't know, I've forgotten, I can't remember..." "Is the conspiracy you mentioned referring to this Modern Era's Original Sin calamity?"
"You told me not to believe in Karma, not to believe in fate, not even to believe myself. Why exactly?"
"I don't know, I've forgotten, I can't remember..." Gu Qingfeng poured out all the doubts in his heart one after another. Unfortunately, the other party knew nothing of any of them.
When the voice responded, he had been thrilled, thinking he could finally get some answers. He never expected the other party to know nothing—not even who she herself was.
For the excited Gu Qingfeng, this was undoubtedly like having a bucket of cold water poured over him, dousing the anticipation and curiosity in his heart.
He was not a particularly curious person, never had been. Regarding the doubts in his heart, he took them lightly: if he could find answers, good; if not, then so be it. Let things follow their natural course, go with the flow, never forcing anything.
Yet even so, after the other party's complete ignorance, he still felt somewhat disappointed.
Because every sentence, every word spoken by this voice gave Gu Qingfeng a strange, peculiar feeling.
This feeling was indescribable, yet he couldn't let it go. Not only could he not let it go, it felt as if it tugged at his very soul.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know why he felt this way.
He slowly exhaled and said, "If you know nothing, how am I supposed to find you?"
"My...
my back has you..." Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng immediately felt a headache. "Can you explain this sentence clearly? What does 'your back has me' mean?
How could I possibly be on your back? Besides, I can't just go around looking at everyone's back, can I?"
"I don't know, I've forgotten..." "Where did you come from, and why did you fuse with me?"
"I don't know, I've forgotten..." Another round of complete ignorance. Gu Qingfeng pondered that the other party was either lost to herself or a remnant wisp of consciousness that had lost its self.
"Alright!"
Gu Qingfeng sighed and said, "Can you at least tell me what you do know?"
The other party fell silent.
No more words came.
Gu Qingfeng waited a long time, but there was no response. He asked, "Are you still there?"
No one answered.
Gu Qingfeng asked again, still no answer.
Could it be...
she disappeared?
No way?
Last time, she said some baffling things and then disappeared. Could she be pulling the same trick again?
Spout a bunch of nonsense and then vanish?
Gu Qingfeng tried to sense her presence. To his surprise, he could actually sense her existence.
But that was all.
The feeling was still very ethereal and dreamlike, blurring reality and illusion.
After an unknown length of time, the voice finally came again.
"They...
have found you, right?"
"Who are 'they' you're referring to?
Are they those Ancient Clans?
If so, then I can tell you, having lived until now, I have never seen any so-called Ancient Clans. Not seen them—I've hardly even heard of them."
Indeed.
To this day, Gu Qingfeng still didn't know what kind of existence these so-called Ancient Clans were. He had asked Da Xing the Mad Monk about this. Whether Da Xing didn't want to say or was deliberately playing dumb, he hadn't given a clear answer. However, from Da Xing's tone, it seemed the existence of Ancient Clans was like gods, always manipulating the heavens, earth, and the Great Dao from behind the scenes.
Whether this was true or false, Gu Qingfeng wasn't sure either.
"They...
have already found you, I...
can feel it...
they have found you..." "You can feel it?"
"Yes, I can...
feel it. Although the feeling is very faint, I am certain they have found you. It is Mahā..."
Mahā?
What was Mahā?
What kind of thing was Mahā?
Gu Qingfeng had never heard of it.
"I can feel it...
Mahā has found you. It is Mahā, it must be Mahā."
Mahā found me?
Gu Qingfeng thought it over but couldn't understand. What did it mean that Mahā had found him?
She could feel it, so why couldn't he?
Thinking of this.
Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but laugh.
He laughed at his own foolishness.
He didn't even know what the hell Mahā was, so how could he possibly sense its existence? Even if Mahā stood right in front of him now, he probably wouldn't know.
"I can feel it, Mahā...
is...
is on you."
This statement from the other party truly startled Gu Qingfeng. He asked, "Mahā is on me?
Are you sure?"
"I am very certain...
Mahā...
must be on you."