"Who are you? How did you get in?"
Two voices, one male and one female, spoke at the same time, filled with shock and vigilance.
Standing on the stairs, Gu Qingyin let out a laugh of exasperation. She took a careful look at the man downstairs. He wore a black suit, and his icy expression couldn’t hide his handsome features. His profile was somewhat similar to her man’s, especially the mole under his right eye—it was identical.
She frowned and asked, "Are you from the Huo Family? What are you doing here so early in the morning? Huo Yunjing isn’t home."
The man downstairs looked up at the stunning woman who wore her loungewear like a high-fashion piece. His voice was deep. "You know this is the Huo Family estate and you still dare to break in? Who gave you the nerve?"
"What nerve do I need to return to my own home?" Gu Qingyin said, her expression impatient. "Leave now, or don’t blame me for what comes next."
The man sneered, pulled out his phone, and made a call, saying only two words: "Come in."
A few seconds later, a group of tall men in black suits entered, and the huge living room suddenly felt crowded.
The man looked at Gu Qingyin and said in an indisputable tone, "This woman is trespassing on private property. Take her to the police station. The officers there can help her find her own home."
Gu Qingyin grew suspicious and called out, "Housekeeper Li!"
There was no response.
The man’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’She even managed to find out the old housekeeper’s surname. Who on earth is behind her?’
The bodyguards closed in quickly. Gu Qingyin kicked one of them down. She was a little bewildered. ’What is going on? Where are the Huo Family’s bodyguards? Why are they letting these outsiders just barge in?’
Seeing her impressive skills, the bodyguards realized they wouldn’t be able to get her from the staircase. They decided to take the elevator up to flank her.
Gu Qingyin’s expression changed drastically at the sight. She turned and ran upstairs, shouting sternly, "Stay right there! Don’t you dare come up!"
The man’s eyes narrowed, and he strode up the stairs with his long legs. ’Let’s see just what she’s hiding up there.’
No matter how capable Gu Qingyin was, she was still just one person. Overwhelmed, she couldn’t stop the bodyguards from escorting the man upstairs. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to use a single talisman to sweep this menacing crowd away, but unfortunately, the Xuan Technique Association forbade using Xuan Techniques on ordinary people.
Gu Qingyin stood at the door to the nursery, her face grim and her gaze sharp as an arrow. "What exactly do you want?"
The man stared at the door behind her and asked in return, "What’s in there?"
Gu Qingyin clenched her fists, fighting the urge to attack. "I’m asking you one last time: Who are you, and what are you doing at the Huo Family’s house?"
The man’s gaze shifted to her face. Two seconds later, his thin lips parted. "I am Huo Xingye, the current Family Head of the Huo Family."
Gu Qingyin froze abruptly. The anger on her face had yet to dissipate before it was covered by a layer of astonishment. With her eyes wide and her mouth agape, she looked a little foolish.
"How do you have the same name as my son?"
"Your son?" Huo Xingye’s brow furrowed in confusion.
Gu Qingyin looked him up and down, then nodded. "My son is also Huo Yunjing’s son." At this, Gu Qingyin grew even more confused. "Wait, you said you’re the Family Head of the Huo Family. Then where’s Huo Yunjing? Did you usurp his position?"
’That shouldn’t be possible,’ she thought. ’I was only gone for half a month. Even if someone staged a coup, Huo Yunjing shouldn’t have fallen so quickly. That man may have been shameless and incredibly arrogant, but he was still quite capable.’
Huo Xingye’s expression was unreadable. "So, you’re saying Huo Yunjing was your husband?"
Gu Qingyin hesitated for a moment before nodding. "More or less." ’Although we never got our marriage certificate, we’d already done everything else. We even created three new lives together.’
Huo Xingye finally lost his patience, his face darkening as he ground out, "Then how is it you don’t know that Huo Yunjing has been dead for ten years?"
Gu Qingyin gasped, her eyes filled with disbelief. "How is that possible!" She lowered her head, raised a hand, and began to calculate. The more she calculated, the worse her expression became.
’I chased a mutant beast into a Different Space. For me, it was only two short days, but twenty years passed outside! Twenty years! How many twenty-year periods does a person get in their life? During these twenty years, Huo Yunjing died, and my babies, who were only six months old, grew into adults.’
Gu Qingyin’s breathing grew ragged, finding it hard to accept this reality. She abruptly spun around and pushed open the nursery door.
When she first learned she was pregnant, she had hesitated for a long time before deciding to move into the Huo Family estate to prepare for the birth. Every single item in the nursery, from the large cribs down to the tiny bibs, had been carefully selected by her. But after just one glance, her expression fell.
The nursery was completely empty. Not only were there no people, but not a single one of the babies’ everyday items remained.
Gu Qingyin’s red lips pressed into a thin line, and the air around her grew heavy.
"Can’t keep up the act?" Huo Xingye’s voice, sharp as ice, rang out. "Tell me, who sent you."
Gu Qingyin turned, her expression complex. "I’m not acting. I really do live here. I’m Gu Qingyin." Her gaze was frank as she looked directly at Huo Xingye and said, enunciating each word, "I. Am. Your. Mother."
’The Family Head of the Huo Family, and his name is Huo Xingye... He has to be the son I had with Huo Yunjing.’
The next second, Huo Xingye scoffed, "And I’m your dad."
A vein throbbed on Gu Qingyin’s temple. She tried to hold back, she really did, but she couldn’t. Rolling up her sleeves, she rushed forward. "You little brat! You’re asking for it!" She lunged, grabbed Huo Xingye by the collar, dragged him into the room, and slammed the door shut, placing a ward on it with a flick of her wrist.
The bodyguards outside rushed forward, but they couldn’t open the door for the life of them.
Inside, Gu Qingyin sneered, cracked her knuckles, and let her fists fly.
Huo Xingye, of course, wasn’t just going to stand there and take a beating. He had been trained as the Huo Family’s heir since childhood, so his fighting skills were by no means weak. Unfortunately, against Gu Qingyin, he was outmatched by more than just a little—they weren’t even in the same league.
The one-sided beatdown lasted for a full five minutes.
By the time Gu Qingyin was done, Huo Xingye was beaten almost beyond recognition.
Gu Qingyin sat on the sofa next to a crib and lifted her chin. "Can we talk nicely now?"
Huo Xingye said nothing. Over the past five minutes, he had tried to fight back, been shocked, and been furious. But now, he was completely calm.
"I really am your mother." The moment Gu Qingyin spoke, Huo Xingye’s expression stiffened again, his eyes filled with suppressed rage.
Gu Qingyin waved her hand dismissively, looking helpless. "I’m not trying to mess with you. Just hear me out first."
Huo Xingye waited quietly for what felt like an eternity. When Gu Qingyin still hadn’t said anything, he endured the pain and prompted, "Well? Are you going to say something or not?"
"What’s the rush? I have to figure out where to start!" Gu Qingyin’s brow furrowed. "Did Huo Yunjing ever tell you what I do?"
Huo Xingye shook his head.
Gu Qingyin tsked. "I’m a Heavenly Master. You know, the kind that catches ghosts and vanquishes demons?"
Huo Xingye watched her with a heavy gaze, not saying a word.
Gu Qingyin rolled her eyes and continued, "Back then, Huo Yunjing and I had a contract marriage. Even though we were husband and wife in practice, there was no love between us. It was mainly to treat an illness. But, well, people can’t always control themselves... and then I got pregnant."
"Because I was pregnant, I didn’t take on any jobs for over a year. Huo Yunjing was doting on me every day, and I started to develop feelings for him." Gu Qingyin paused for two seconds, then nodded. "And I think he had feelings for me, too."
"I was actually starting to think that love after marriage wouldn’t be so bad, especially since Huo Yunjing was completely my type." Gu Qingyin sighed. "But unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned."