Huo Xingye was also surprised, but he quickly realized—Gu Qingyin was here to exorcise a ghost.
Instantly, his expression darkened, and a flash of anger crossed his eyes.
The flash was so quick, Gu Qingyin thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. After a few seconds, she concluded she must have been mistaken.
’I’m out here trying to make a living, so what’s he got to be angry about? He hasn’t sent a single message in three whole days, and he has the gall to be mad at me!’
After a few seconds of silence, Xu Shaocheng bent down to pick up the car keys. Lowering his gaze, he stepped aside to clear the doorway and said in a low voice, "Liu Daoist, please come in."
Huo Xingye also moved aside. A middle-aged man in a bright yellow Daoist robe with his hair in a bun walked in; it was Liu Daoist.
Liu Daoist held a Compass in his hand and carried a long cloth bag on his back. He spun around once upon entering, finally stopping where the female ghost had dissipated. "The Yin Qi here is extremely heavy." He glanced at his Compass again and let out a curious "Huh?" "The Yin Qi is fading."
"Did the ghost escape?" Liu Daoist’s brows furrowed. "That shouldn’t be possible. The Compass is pointing right here."
"Is it possible the ghost is already dead, and the Yin Qi is slowly dissipating?"
Hearing this, Liu Daoist had a sudden realization. "That’s right, that must be it." He looked up in the direction of the voice. When his eyes landed on Gu Qingyin, his pupils contracted, and he exclaimed in shock, "Qing Yin?!"
Gu Qingyin raised a curious eyebrow.
Huo Xingye narrowed his eyes, staring at Liu Daoist’s back.
The three members of the Xu family and Qin Zhen also had their attention drawn to him.
"Liu Daoist, you know Master Gu?" Old Xu forced a polite smile.
The shock of what had just happened was so great that he had completely forgotten he’d even called for Liu Daoist. Now the man had arrived, but the ghost was gone. He was afraid Liu Daoist would hold it against him. If the two of them knew each other, things would be much easier.
Liu Daoist snapped back to his senses. He studied Gu Qingyin intently, then shook his head hesitantly. "I must be mistaken. The person I know should be in her forties by now." The woman before him looked very similar, but she was far too young.
"Liu Ergou?"
Liu Daoist shuddered, his eyes widening. "It really is you?!"
Gu Qingyin gave a heartfelt smile. "It’s me."
’She was happy, but also emotional. Twenty years had passed, and sure enough, things and people had changed—so very much. She felt she should organize a reunion. Otherwise, she might run into old friends on the street someday and not even recognize them.’
"How do you look exactly the same as you did twenty years ago? You haven’t changed a bit!" Liu Daoist took several excited steps forward. "Where have you been for the last twenty years? Why was there no word from you at all? We searched for you for years!"
Gu Qingyin waved her hand dismissively. "We can talk about that later." She looked at Old Xu. "The ghost has been dealt with. The young lady will wake up tomorrow. Isn’t it time to settle the Fate Fee?"
’The job was done, the drama was witnessed. Time to take the money and leave.’
Old Xu was a bit dazed. He managed a couple of "Oh, ohs" before taking out his checkbook. As he wrote, he was still thinking, ’Who would have thought that an otherworldly expert like Liu Daoist would have such a down-to-earth name! You really can’t judge a book by its cover!’
Gu Qingyin accepted the check with a beaming smile. "Well then, see you if fate allows. No need to see me out."
Old Xu gave a bitter smile. He, for one, hoped they would never have to meet again for the rest of his life.
Gu Qingyin walked slowly toward the exit. Liu Daoist started to follow her without a second thought, but Huo Xingye cut him off, squeezing in front of him.
Liu Daoist chuckled internally. After steadying himself, he hurried to catch up.
Before long, only the members of the Xu family and Qin Zhen were left in the room. The atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.
Qin Zhen could barely stand it. He wanted to leave, but the matter wasn’t resolved yet.
"Let’s get a divorce," Mrs. Xu said calmly. "We’ve already reached this point. Living together from now on will just be mutual torture. Let’s just let each other go."
Thanks to the earlier interruption, Mrs. Xu had pulled back from the brink of hysteria and found her reason. She had quickly entered the "do whatever you want, I’m tired" stage. Now, all she wanted was to escape this messy situation and start over.
Old Xu subconsciously wanted to ask her to stay, but he caught sight of Qin Zhen out of the corner of his eye, and the words caught in his throat.
"Go ahead and divorce," Xu Shaocheng said, his voice hoarse. "You should have done it a long time ago."
Hearing this, Old Xu froze, then sighed in resignation.
Qin Zhen looked back and forth, opened his mouth to say something, then shrank back. He was truly caught in the middle, with no right to speak at all.
Outside the villa, Liu Daoist finally found a chance to get around Huo Xingye. He stood in front of Gu Qingyin and pulled out his phone. "Let’s add each other as friends. It’ll be easier to stay in touch. I have something else to attend to soon."
Gu Qingyin readily took out her phone and displayed her QR code.
As Liu Daoist scanned the code, he asked, "Does the fact that you’re back need to be kept a secret?"
"Nope, no need." Only after saying this did Gu Qingyin remember to ask, "Is that fool Dongfang Ran still alive?"
Liu Daoist nodded. "Not only is she alive, she’s become an elder of the Xuan Technique Association."
Gu Qingyin raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "That’s about the extent of her ambitions."
Liu Daoist put his phone away and stared at Gu Qingyin, his eyes filled with melancholy. "You left without a word back then. I never thought we wouldn’t see each other again for twenty years. If I had known..."
"Mom, time to go home."
Huo Xingye, who was standing by the car, suddenly spoke up.
Hearing this, Liu Daoist froze completely.
Gu Qingyin, however, looked back in pleasant surprise and gave a hearty "Yes!" in reply. "Coming!"
Liu Daoist shattered! Liu Daoist couldn’t accept it!
"Where did you get such a big son? You disappeared for twenty years, don’t tell me you secretly got married and had children?!" Clinging to his last shred of hope, Liu Daoist asked, "He’s your godson, right?"
Huo Xingye walked over, shielded Gu Qingyin behind him, and gave a provocative smirk. "Gu Qingyin carried me for ten months. I’m her biological son."
Gu Qingyin peeked out from behind Huo Xingye and nodded with a wide grin. "Xingye is the eldest of triplets. When my other two sons come back, I’ll introduce you. You can start preparing their first-meeting gifts in advance."
When Liu Daoist left, he was in a complete daze.
His first love from his youth had actually gotten married and had children twenty years ago. Only he had been foolishly waiting, and he had waited for twenty long years.
WAAAH—! ’I need to find a secluded spot and cry myself to death!’
Huo Xingye scoffed internally. ’As if someone like him is worthy of having designs on my mother.’
Once in the car, Gu Qingyin looked at Huo Xingye with shining eyes. "Say it again, let me hear it."
Huo Xingye kept a cold face and said nothing.
Gu Qingyin’s upturned lips slowly flattened. "Are you angry? Did I do something to upset you?"
Huo Xingye still didn’t speak.
Gu Qingyin shrugged, sat up straight, and took out her phone to scroll through short videos. They were all either handsome men or delicious food, making her drool nonstop.
The sound of slurping, SLURP, occasionally reached his ears. Huo Xingye finally couldn’t take it anymore. He demanded coldly, "Who told you to take a ghost-exorcism job? Did you tell me you were going to exorcise a ghost? Did I agree to it?"
Gu Qingyin was taken aback. "Wait, why would I have to tell you about taking a job? It’s my work! I’m going out to earn money!"
Huo Xingye sneered, "The Huo Family isn’t short on that little bit of money."
Gu Qingyin nodded in agreement, then corrected him with a serious expression. "But, son, you need to understand something. Although your father and I had the three of you, we were never legally married. Strictly speaking, I’m not part of the Huo Family."
Huo Xingye was speechless. ’Is that the point? The point is that he doesn’t want her going out to take jobs!’