The reason the Mysterious Woman was both mocking and ridiculing the Old Monk, repeatedly claiming he was using Gu Qingfeng to scheme for the position of True Lord of Original Sin, was actually quite simple. Her goal was to deliberately slander the Old Monk, using this method to force him to speak, to force him to reveal the truth.
For now, what she knew and could confirm was that back then, when the Old Monk taught Gu Qingfeng Buddhist Law, his purpose was to plant a seed of Karma within Gu Qingfeng.
The purpose of planting this Karma might indeed have been to make Gu Qingfeng ignite the Original Sin Karmic Flames at Wu Dao Mountain, awaken the Original Sin Source, and thus trigger the Original Sin Calamity.
The question was:
What exactly was the Old Monk's ultimate goal in orchestrating Gu Qingfeng to trigger the Original Sin Calamity?
In other words, what exactly was the Old Monk betting on Gu Qingfeng?
Was it the Dao, or Wu Dao?
If it was the Dao, was it the same as Genggu Wuming, wanting to use Gu Qingfeng to slaughter the Original Sin Source, thereby protecting the Dao?
The Mysterious Woman had long suspected that the Original Sin Calamity of the current era was not formed by normal Karma, but was meticulously arranged by Genggu Wuming. By setting up numerous Karmic threads, she forced the Original Sin Calamity to occur in the current era.
Because in the Desolate Ancient Era, after the Wu Dao Era opened for an instant and then collapsed and vanished, the Original Sin Source, along with many other Dao Sources, fell into a deep slumber.
If it were normal Karma, the Original Sin Calamity would only descend when the Original Sin Source revived. Moreover, once the Original Sin Source revived, it would also give birth to a new consciousness. The emergence of a new consciousness meant a second Wu Dao Zun Shang would appear in the world.
Genggu Wuming, by arranging various Karmic threads, forced the Original Sin Calamity to descend. At this time, the Original Sin Source was still in a state of slumber, its consciousness in chaos. If the Original Sin Source were forced to revive, it would have to seek an Original Sin Incarnation.
Original Sin being in a slumbering state, even if forcibly revived, would be extremely weak.
This was the best opportunity to slaughter Original Sin.
Furthermore, if Original Sin was forced to revive, it had to seek an Original Sin Incarnation. Genggu Wuming could also, by arranging various Karmic threads, force the Original Sin Source to seek the Original Sin Incarnation she had designated.
This way, the chance of slaughtering Original Sin would be much greater.
It was precisely for this reason that the Mysterious Woman once suspected that Gu Qingfeng might truly be a Karma Incarnation of Genggu Wuming. The purpose was to wait until Original Sin had no choice but to select Gu Qingfeng as its True Lord, at which point she could seize the opportunity to devour Gu Qingfeng's consciousness and completely slaughter the Original Sin Source.
The Mysterious Woman had always believed that Gu Qingfeng igniting the Original Sin Karmic Flames, awakening Original Sin, and triggering the Original Sin Calamity was a Karmic arrangement meticulously set up by Genggu Wuming.
Doing so not only forcibly triggered the Calamity, but Gu Qingfeng awakening Original Sin almost equated to forcing the Original Sin Source to have no choice but to select Gu Qingfeng as its True Lord.
Yes.
She had always thought so.
It was only after realizing the Old Monk's true identity was that of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, and knowing the Old Monk had once incarnated as Da Fuzi to plant Karma within Gu Qingfeng, that she understood.
Gu Qingfeng awakening Original Sin and triggering the Calamity was not a Karmic arrangement by Genggu Wuming at all, but one set up by the Old Monk.
In other words.
The Old Monk did what Genggu Wuming was supposed to do.
This was also what the Mysterious Woman found most incomprehensible. In her view, if the Old Monk truly wanted to protect the Dao, there was no need for him to incarnate as Da Fuzi and plant Karma within Gu Qingfeng, because Genggu Wuming would definitely do it. Moreover, when it came to arranging Karma, no one could surpass Genggu Wuming.
Looking across all of heaven and earth, ancient and modern, probably only Genggu Wuning had the confidence to arrange various Karmic threads to force the Original Sin Calamity to descend ahead of time. Only Genggu Wuming had the confidence to arrange Karma to force the Original Sin Source to choose the Original Sin True Lord she designated.
Other than her, no one else could.
Even if the Old Monk's true identity was Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, he wouldn't have that level of confidence.
So the question arose.
Clearly, Genggu Wuming had more confidence than the Old Monk. Genggu Wuming didn't do it, but instead, the Old Monk did. Such a major event, possibly the only chance to completely erase the Original Sin Source—logically speaking, Genggu Wuming wouldn't hand it over to someone else to do. And even if Genggu Wuming were willing to let the Old Monk do it, the Old Monk might not dare to accept. Once he failed, the Old Monk would become a sinner against the Dao.
If Genggu Wuming didn't exist, the Old Monk taking the risk might be worth it.
The key point was, with Genggu Wuming present, the Old Monk had no need to take this risk. Such a simple principle, the Old Monk couldn't possibly not understand.
It was like a pair of blood brothers who went through immense hardship to find their father's murderer. The elder brother had the full capability to kill the enemy and avenge their father, while the younger brother lacked that strength. Yet in the end, the capable elder brother didn't act. Instead, the weaker younger brother went to fight the murderer to the death.
This situation was clearly abnormal.
Yet, this abnormal situation had indeed occurred.
The Mysterious Woman thought and thought, and couldn't help but consider one possibility.
Perhaps between Genggu Wuming and the Old Monk, one of them wasn't aiming to protect the Dao, but was aiming for the Wu Dao Era.
But.
Was that possible?
In the Mysterious Woman's view, it wasn't very likely.
One must know that Genggu Wuming was the incarnation of Karma, the envoy of Fate. How could she possibly yearn for the Wu Dao Era? If the Dao were slaughtered, Karma and Fate would cease to exist. For Genggu Wuming, that held no benefit whatsoever.
Could it be that the Old Monk yearned for the Wu Dao Era?
That also seemed unlikely.
Others might not know, but the Mysterious Woman was aware that the concept of 'Karma' originated from the Buddhist Dao. Before the Desolate Ancient Era, the Buddhist Dao had always maintained Karma. Most importantly, Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha entered hell to save all beings, promoting the idea that good and evil have their retribution, the law of Karma.
The Old Monk was a staunch guardian of Karma. He couldn't possibly yearn for the Wu Dao Era.
Looking across all of heaven and earth, ancient and modern, anyone else might yearn for the Wu Dao Era, but Genggu Wuming and Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha definitely would not.
Since neither of them yearned for the Wu Dao Era, why did the Old Monk take Genggu Wuming's place and plant Karma within Gu Qingfeng?
Was the Old Monk guarding against Genggu Wuming?
Or was it that the Original Sin True Lord Genggu Wuming initially designated wasn't Gu Qingfeng? Gu Qingfeng wasn't Genggu Wuming's Karma Incarnation, but someone else was. The Old Monk didn't trust Genggu Wuming, so he took matters into his own hands and pushed Gu Qingfeng into that position.
Could that be it?
She didn't know.
The Old Monk never spoke from beginning to end. No matter how the Mysterious Woman mocked or ridiculed him, no matter how she provoked, slandered, or even insulted him, the Old Monk never spoke, not even a single word.
The Mysterious Woman could only guess on her own, but try as she might, she couldn't figure it out.
The more she couldn't understand, the more conflicted the Mysterious Woman became. The more conflicted she was, the more her head ached. The more her head ached, the angrier she grew.
She couldn't help but shout loudly: "Old Monk!
What exactly are you betting on him? What is Genggu Wuming betting on him? What kind of devious game are you two playing!"
"And that so-called Zhenjue who taught him 'human nature,' and that so-called Old Master who taught him 'principle'—I've already guessed their identities! You three old fellows must be conspiring together!
You must be!"