Gu Qingyin hadn’t gone far. Ten minutes later, she was back at Tianfu Jin Garden, where Huo Xingye was already waiting by the entrance.
Gu Qingyin got out of the car, dismissed the driver, and walked up to Huo Xingye. She studied his expression and asked with concern, "You’re not scared anymore?"
Huo Xingye raised a hand to press against his chest. "I’m wearing the Jade Pendant," he said calmly.
Gu Qingyin let out a laugh. "Let’s go. First, we find the Gathering Yin Array."
Liu Ergou’s hotel was a bit far from here; it would take him at least half an hour to arrive. Gu Qingyin didn’t want to waste time just waiting around.
"Have you ever thought about learning Xuan Technique?" Gu Qingyin asked, as if making small talk.
Huo Xingye paused, taken aback. He countered, "Is Xuan Technique something just anyone can learn if they want to?"
"Of course not." Gu Qingyin gave him a strange look. "This sort of thing requires a great deal of talent. But you’re my son, so you should have inherited at least a little, right? Even if you can’t reach my level, having some ability to protect yourself is a good thing."
Huo Xingye hesitated. "I might not have that much time."
Gu Qingyin understood. She smiled and nodded. "That’s true. The burden you carry is already heavy enough."
The mother and son walked to a fountain in the residential complex and stopped.
Gu Qingyin looked around and sighed in admiration. "This Gathering Yin Array is quite large. It’s a pity I don’t have a ghost servant. Such a great resource will go to waste."
Huo Xingye was looking too, but no matter how hard he looked, all he saw was an ordinary fountain.
"What does a Gathering Yin Array look like?"
Gu Qingyin turned to look at him and, after a few seconds, asked seriously, "Are you brave?"
A true man would never admit to being a coward. Huo Xingye nodded calmly. "There’s almost nothing I’m afraid of."
Gu Qingyin nodded. "In that case, I’ll open your Heavenly Eye."
Huo Xingye’s heart skipped a beat. "The kind that lets you see ghosts?"
"That’s right. Prepare yourself mentally. Once your Heavenly Eye is open, your surroundings might change quite a bit." Gu Qingyin gave him no chance to back out, immediately asking, "Are you ready?"
Gu Qingyin raised her hand and moved it toward Huo Xingye’s eyes. He reflexively shut them, and a moment later, a coolness touched his eyelids, seeping through to cover his entire eyeball.
"Done."
The second before opening his eyes, Huo Xingye felt a twinge of fear. But it only lasted a second. Curiosity quickly took over, and he opened his eyes to a completely different world.
The first sensation was darkness.
It had been dark before, but there were streetlights, so there were plenty of bright spots. Now, however, even the areas illuminated by the lights were dim. The darkness seemed to have solidified, blocking out the light.
And the fountain before him—the water was no longer clear but murky. Something seemed to be hidden beneath the surface, and just a glance was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.
"Don’t stare into the water," Gu Qingyin warned. "The Yin Qi is too strong. Your eyes won’t be able to take it."
Huo Xingye turned his head, averting his gaze, only to accidentally lock eyes with a hanged ghost under a streetlight.
The hanged ghost, its long tongue lolling out, tilted its head and stared at him. Suddenly, it cackled and drifted closer. "You can see me? You can see me!" The hanged ghost was ecstatic. "Then come and keep me company!"
The hanged ghost lunged at Huo Xingye. Gu Qingyin saw it happen but didn’t intervene. She even dodged forward a little, as if afraid she’d be in the way.
Huo Xingye jumped in fright and instinctively backed away, but the hanged ghost still managed to pounce on him. Before he could even struggle, the ghost let out a short, sharp scream—"AAAH!"—and was flung into mid-air.
The next second, the hanged ghost spontaneously combusted, turning to ash in a matter of seconds before vanishing into the air.
Huo Xingye’s eyes went wide. It took him several seconds to recover and start gasping for air. He pressed a hand to his racing heart and looked at Gu Qingyin with a hint of grievance, his lips pressed together.
Gu Qingyin felt a pang of guilt under his gaze. She cleared her throat and said, "Now you see how powerful the Jade Pendant is, right? You won’t be scared of ghosts anymore."
Huo Xingye: "...Right."
Gu Qingyin burst out laughing. ’Her son is so cute when he’s trying to act tough!’
Huo Xingye’s face flushed hot, but he fought to keep his expression under control, striving for a calm and composed demeanor.
Gu Qingyin marveled to herself. ’Emotional control really is a required course for every overbearing CEO, isn’t it!’
After teasing her son for a bit, Gu Qingyin got down to business. The Gathering Yin Array was larger than she had expected. Brute-forcing it would be a hassle; she needed to find its weak point first.
Normally, one would need a Compass to find an Array’s weak point, but Gu Qingyin didn’t need one. Her Yin Yang Eye was more effective than any Compass.
After one lap around the fountain, Gu Qingyin pinpointed the weak spot. However, after rummaging through her shoulder bag, she couldn’t find a suitable Magic Artifact to break the Array.
She clicked her tongue. ’Oh well, I’ll just have to wait for Liu Ergou to get here. I was hoping to cause a little destruction first to put Lin Wu on alert, but what a shame.’
Gu Qingyin sat down by the fountain and patted the spot next to her. "Come, sit. Tell me about your childhood."
Huo Xingye obediently sat down and tried to recall interesting stories from his youth. Before their father passed away, the three brothers had also had a happy childhood.
"My dad doted on us, to the point you could call it spoiling. He gave us whatever we wanted, satisfying almost all our material needs." Huo Xingye’s gaze went distant as he got lost in memory. "He would also patiently and seriously guide us when we made mistakes. I can only remember him getting truly angry once."
"When we were in our second year of kindergarten, a kid in our class called us ’wild kids with no mom.’ We got into a fight and knocked the kid’s tooth out. My dad was called to the school by the teacher."
"After he understood what had happened, my dad’s face darkened on the spot. He demanded that the other child’s parents apologize along with their kid. He paid for the medical fees before he left, but those kids never came back to the kindergarten. We heard they transferred schools."
"When he got home that night, he told us very solemnly that it wasn’t that we didn’t have a mother, just that she had gone to a place very far away and it would be a long time before she could come back. But he promised he would definitely bring Mom home."
Gu Qingyin blinked, a bittersweet ache welling up in her heart.
Huo Xingye was silent for two seconds, his voice low and hoarse. "He broke his promise. Not only did he not bring you back, but he ended up losing himself too."
Gu Qingyin took his hand. "Mom’s back now," she said softly. "As for your dad... once Xinghai and Xingchen are back, I’ll perform a soul-summoning ritual if I have to. As long as he hasn’t reincarnated, even if he’s in the Underworld, I can bring him back. Then our family can be considered reunited."
Huo Xingye squeezed Gu Qingyin’s hand tightly. Several minutes passed before he gave a soft sound of assent.
After that, the mother and son were lost in their own thoughts, and neither spoke.
When Liu Ergou arrived, he saw the heavy atmosphere between the two and didn’t dare to approach.
It wasn’t until Gu Qingyin snapped out of her daze and waved him over that he walked up worriedly. "Did you two have a fight?"
Gu Qingyin rolled her eyes. "We’re perfectly fine!" She held out her hand. "Give me a set of peach wood nails."
Liu Ergou grumbled as he took them out, pained by the cost. "These are expensive. Use them sparingly. There’s no Fate Fee for this job."
Thinking of current prices, Gu Qingyin’s expression instantly turned serious. "I’ll do my best!"