It was time to get down to business. Huo Xingye composed himself, took a small step back, and silently berated himself for his earlier embarrassing display.
He hadn’t meant to fish for sympathy. It was probably just the darkness of the night, the charged atmosphere, and the fact that he was face to face with the mother he’d spent years hoping to find. For a moment, he hadn’t managed to hide the vulnerability deep in his heart, and it had been laid bare.
Thankfully, his mother hadn’t laughed at him. Instead, her response had been surprisingly gentle.
’A family reunion...’ A glimmer of light flashed in Huo Xingye’s eyes. ’That day will definitely come.’
Gu Qingyin took an inch-long peach wood nail and walked over to a weak point in the Array. She found the right spot and drove it in. To lure the snake out of its hole, she intentionally drove it in a few inches off-center. This wouldn’t break the Array immediately, but it would greatly reduce its effectiveness.
Soon, only two nails remained from Gu Qingyin’s set of eighteen. From the outside, the Gathering Yin Array looked unchanged, but anyone in the know would realize the Array wouldn’t last much longer.
Anyone wanting to salvage it would have to act fast.
"Just wait. They’ll probably be here soon."
Putting herself in their shoes, she reasoned that if she were the one who’d set up this Array, she definitely wouldn’t live too far away. If something went wrong and she couldn’t get back in time, the losses would be immense.
Sure enough, less than five minutes later, a slender figure came sprinting from the distance. But upon spotting Liu Ergou in his Daoist robes, the figure slammed on the brakes, spun around, and bolted.
"Hey!" Liu Ergou roared. "You coward! Where do you think you’re going?!"
Gu Qingyin was speechless. ’This is so embarrassing. My son isn’t going to think all Heavenly Masters are a bunch of goofballs, is he? Damn it, there goes our reputation.’
"You stay here. I’ll give chase," Gu Qingyin said hurriedly, then took off after Liu Ergou.
Huo Xingye hesitated for a moment before deciding to stay put. He had the Protective Jade Pendant for protection, but a Heavenly Master’s methods were unfathomable. If he were captured and used as a hostage, he would only be a burden to Gu Qingyin.
At that moment, he felt a pang of regret. ’I never should have come out here.’
That feeling of regret peaked the instant an arm shot out from behind him and clamped around his throat.
Thankfully, the situation hadn’t reached its worst. Gu Qingyin and Liu Ergou returned, holding Lin Wu captive.
Each side now had a hostage. Things had suddenly gotten complicated. The question was: what’s next? A hostage exchange, or mutual destruction?
Huo Xingye’s captor was dressed in a large black cloak. Their face was hidden by a simple, matching mask, and they’d even taken the precaution of wearing gloves. It was impossible to discern any features, not even their gender.
Gu Qingyin sneered. "Just as I thought. A rat who belongs in the gutter." She deliberately put on a look of contempt, hoping to provoke her opponent into speaking. But they were the ruthless, silent type. Without a word, they tightened their arm around Huo Xingye’s neck.
Huo Xingye’s face visibly reddened, a clear sign he was struggling to breathe.
A flicker of panic went through Gu Qingyin. ’Why aren’t they playing by the book?!’
At that critical moment, Liu Ergou came through. He pressed his sword against Lin Wu’s neck, drawing a thin line of blood. "Let him go," he threatened coldly, "or I’ll open up his throat and bleed him out."
Gu Qingyin’s heart was in her throat. Her greatest fear now was that Lin Wu was just small fry, completely useless as a bargaining chip.
The cloaked figure hesitated, then slowly loosened their arm.
Huo Xingye let out a ragged gasp, sucking in huge breaths. His eyes were bloodshot; a moment ago, he’d truly thought he was going to die. As his head cleared, a stray thought crossed his mind: ’This Protective Jade Pendant doesn’t seem to work on people.’
Gu Qingyin quietly let out a breath she’d been holding. She grabbed Lin Wu by the neck and hauled him up. "Tell me what you’re after," she demanded coldly.
The cloaked figure remained silent, extraordinarily cautious. Lin Wu, however, wheezed, "You... ants... unworthy..."
Her expression hardened. The hand on his neck tightened just enough to silence him. "I’m not interested in hearing nonsense."
Huo Xingye was stunned. The Gu Qingyin before him was completely different from the person he’d gotten to know over the past few days. She was cold and deadly, her aura immense, and her every action showed a complete disregard for human life.
’Isn’t it illegal for Heavenly Masters to kill people?’
Huo Xingye’s heart began to beat a little faster. As he looked at Gu Qingyin, his own eyes lit up, as if they held fallen stars.
’His mom... was kind of badass.’
While he was distracted, Huo Xingye heard a faint sound from behind him. It was right there, yet indistinct. His instincts screamed that it wasn’t good, and he immediately yelled a warning, "He’s chanting a Spell!"
It sounded a little childish, but the situation was urgent, and he didn’t know what other word to use as a warning. "Spell" was the first thing that came to mind.
Gu Qingyin reacted instantly. Without letting go of Lin Wu, she formed a hand seal with her free hand. A bolt of lightning materialized from thin air, shot out in a flash, grazed past Huo Xingye’s ear, and struck the person behind him.
Huo Xingye heard a muffled grunt, and the arms holding him were forced to release their grip. His heart seized. Forgetting all about his dignity, he dropped to the ground and scrambled on all fours toward Gu Qingyin.
When he looked up, he saw Gu Qingyin looking at him with a complicated expression. "Good thing no one else is around. Otherwise, your whole ’dominant CEO’ image would be ruined."
Huo Xingye froze. Then, he rose to his feet with a deadpan expression and brushed the dust from his clothes, as if nothing at all had happened.
Seeing his act, Gu Qingyin tossed aside the man in her grasp and gave him a small round of applause.
Huo Xingye’s brow twitched. Looking at the unmoving figure on the ground, he asked, his voice tight, "Is he dead?"
Before Gu Qingyin could answer, Liu Ergou said with regret, "They got away. That was just a substitute. As amazing as Qing Yin is, she was still a step too slow."
Hearing this, Huo Xingye didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.
Gu Qingyin drove the last two peach wood nails in her hand into the Array, and it shattered instantly. A few moments later, the surrounding Yin Qi had thinned considerably, and moonlight filtered through the dissipating haze to illuminate the ground.
Gu Qingyin looked up at the sky. "It’s the middle of the night."
Seeing that the matter was settled, Liu Ergou yawned. "I’ll head back and report in. We’ll see if we can find any other places like this. Since they’re plotting something, they must have set up more than one Array." He waved a hand. "I’ll call you."
Gu Qingyin smiled and waved back. "Thanks for the help. I’ll transfer you the money for the peach wood nails in a bit. Consider them sold."
Peach wood nails were a common Magic Artifact for Heavenly Masters. They could be used to break Arrays, suppress ghosts, or even as throwing weapons. Versatile and easy to carry, their only drawback was that they were consumable; once used, they had to be replaced, and high-quality ones were certainly not cheap.
Liu Ergou glanced at Huo Xingye and said, without a shred of politeness, "This set is brand new. I’m charging full price." He’d already looked into Huo Xingye’s background. It was no exaggeration to say that Qing Yin’s son was rich enough to rival a nation, so he wasn’t about to feign generosity.
Gu Qingyin shot him a glare and said irritably, "I know, I know. When have I ever shorted you?"
Liu Ergou left, completely satisfied.
Gu Qingyin chuckled and shook her head. She had just turned to say goodbye to her son when he said, "It’s too late. Why don’t you rest here for the night?"