"I may not have lofty dreams or grand ambitions, but that doesn't mean I have no bottom line, nor does it mean I have no dignity."
"I can accept living a dull, meaningless life, but I absolutely will not allow myself to live an entire lifetime for someone else."
"I can accept dying, vanishing into dust and ashes, but I absolutely will not allow myself to die a coward's death."
"This is my final bottom line, and my ultimate dignity."
"Having lived this life, one must at least live up to it. At the very least, one must give this lifetime an account. Otherwise, wouldn't this life have been lived in vain?"
"In my life, I don't seek to live with great splendor."
"I don't seek earth-shattering deeds."
"I don't seek achievements that reach the heavens."
"I only hope to leave no regrets."
"I only hope this life was not lived in vain."
"I only hope I did not betray this life."
"Old Monk, don't you think that's the truth?"
After he finished speaking.
A moment later, the Old Monk's voice came, only four words: "A! Mi! Tuo! Fo!"
These four Buddhist words were even heavier and more drawn-out than before, as if they had traversed countless eons to arrive. It was as if the character 'A' represented the Primordial Era, 'Mi' represented the Ancient Era, 'Tuo' represented the Archaic Era, and 'Fo' represented the Present Era.
"Alright, that's enough for today. I still have important matters to attend to, so I won't stay here chatting nonsense with you any longer."
Just as Gu Qingfeng was about to leave, he suddenly stopped. Gazing at the chaotic Nirvana Silence Space, he felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu the moment the Nirvana Silence Monk chanted 'Amitabha Buddha'. It was as if he had heard it somewhere before.
To be precise, it wasn't that he had heard the four words 'Amitabha Buddha' somewhere before, but rather the feeling the Nirvana Silence Monk's chant gave him just now.
Gu Qingfeng tried to sense it.
Unfortunately.
He could sense neither the Nirvana Silence Mountain, nor the Nirvana Silence Temple, nor even the presence of the Nirvana Silence Monk.
It was truly like an illusion.
"Old Monk, aside from meeting here, have we ever met anywhere else?"
"Why does the Venerable Gu ask this? This old monk has never left this Nirvana Silence Space since entering it."
"What about before you entered the Nirvana Silence Space?"
"Before this old monk entered the Nirvana Silence Space, it was still the Desolate Ancient Era. At that time, the Venerable Gu had not yet been born into this world."
"The current me might not have been born then, but what about the original me? The true me? It's not impossible that I experienced the Desolate Ancient Era, is it?"
Since obtaining the Nirvana Silence Space, Gu Qingfeng would visit the Old Monk every so often to seek answers, and he had heard the Old Monk chant 'Amitabha Buddha' countless times. Before, he had only found it grating and unpleasant to the ear, as if it had traversed countless eons. He had never felt this sense of déjà vu before. Why, after awakening his Id, did he feel this familiarity with the Old Monk's chant of 'Amitabha Buddha'?
"Venerable Gu, the Self does not represent the present life, the Id does not represent past lives, and the True Self does not represent future lives. Reincarnation can cycle endlessly, without end, but the illusory self has an end. If it were not so, after Venerable Gu awakened his Id, did he also awaken memories of past lives?"
"That's true."
Gu Qingfeng pondered for a moment, then said, "But why, just now when you chanted 'Amitabha Buddha', did I suddenly have that feeling of déjà vu for an instant?"
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng thought of another possibility. "Old Monk, are you absolutely certain you have never left the Nirvana Silence Space?"
"This old monk is quite certain."
Gu Qingfeng said playfully, "Your true self may not have left, but that doesn't mean an incarnation hasn't. With your abilities, manifesting an external incarnation outside wouldn't be difficult, would it?"
Gu Qingfeng wondered if the Old Monk might have manifested an external incarnation that had dealings with him in the outside world. Otherwise, he really couldn't explain that feeling of déjà vu just now.
To this, the Old Monk did not respond, only chanting another 'Amitabha Buddha'.
Whether the Old Monk did it deliberately, or whether the previous sense of déjà vu was just an illusion, this time when the four words 'Amitabha Buddha' came, Gu Qingfeng did not feel that familiarity.
"Alright, that's enough for today. We'll talk another time, of course, if there is another time..." As his words fell, Gu Qingfeng focused his mind and vanished directly from the Nirvana Silence Space.
Not long after Gu Qingfeng left, a voice sounded within the Nirvana Silence Space.
"I thought he would forever wallow in self-indulgence, choosing so-called 'going with the flow' and 'submitting to fate'. I never imagined this fellow would actually awaken his Id at this time. Heh heh."
The voice did not belong to the Nirvana Silence Monk, but to someone else—it sounded like a woman's voice.
The mysterious woman's voice carried a note of pleasant surprise and joy as she murmured to herself, "I'm truly overjoyed. I thought I had lost this bet for sure, but now it seems there's still hope."
Her tone then shifted as she questioned, "Old Monk, tell me, did you already know this fellow would awaken his Id?"
The Nirvana Silence Monk replied, "Benefactor, you overestimate this old monk. I had no idea."
"Nonsense! You had no idea?" The mysterious woman's voice was filled with displeasure as she snapped, "Do you take me for a three-year-old child? Before, this fellow was constantly wallowing in self-indulgence, submitting to fate. I urged you to intervene more than once, yet you remained unmoved. If you hadn't already anticipated he would awaken his Id, why would you be so indifferent?"
Perhaps Gu Qingfeng's existence was too special—so special that it could affect the fate of the Great Dao and the heavens and earth, affect the fate of Original Sin and the Pathless, even affect the fate of Cause and Effect, and the fate of Fate itself.
Many mysterious and unfathomable existences throughout the ages had placed their bets on Gu Qingfeng.
Da Xing was one.
The Old Beggar was one, Lady Blackwater was one.
Patriarch Blood River, Lady Langya, and even Genggu Wuming were no exception.
And the mysterious woman who had been lurking in the Nirvana Silence Space had also placed her bet on Gu Qingfeng. Although the Nirvana Silence Monk had never admitted to placing a bet on Gu Qingfeng, the mysterious woman was certain that the Old Monk, like herself, had also placed a bet on Gu Qingfeng.
Precisely because she had placed her bet on Gu Qingfeng, the mysterious woman had been closely monitoring him.
Ever since the end of the Archaic Era, when Gu Qingfeng had everything taken from him, lost his fighting spirit, and began to wallow in self-indulgence, the mysterious woman had been deeply worried. She feared Gu Qingfeng would never recover. If Gu Qingfeng continued to wallow in self-indulgence like this, then the bet she had placed on him would be a total loss—the last thing she wanted to see.
However, when Gu Qingfeng was indulging in his decline, she did not do anything. She dared not act recklessly, afraid of affecting Gu Qingfeng and making things worse through clumsy intervention, and also afraid of entangling herself in any Cause and Effect with him.
Fortunately, the Nirvana Silence Monk remained unmoved. The mysterious woman thought that since even the Nirvana Silence Monk wasn't anxious, then she need not be anxious either.
Perhaps the Nirvana Silence Monk had some method, or had already deduced that Gu Qingfeng would not forever wallow in self-indulgence.