Mom's Back. The Villain Triplets Are in Trouble.

Chapter 139: Chapter 138: A Guilty Conscience

Huo Xingjie told the butler to arrange a guest room for Gu Qingyin, then retreated to his bedroom. Hiding in the bathroom, he dialed Old Madam Huo’s number.

"Grandma, Gu Qingyin is here!" Huo Xingjie’s voice was laced with panic. "Could Huo Yunjing have come with her?"

Old Madam Huo frowned and sat up in bed. "What did she say?"

Huo Xingjie’s mind went blank. It took him several seconds to speak again. "She said she wants to take Gugu for the New Year, and that she’s staying the night here."

"She’s after the White Immortal." Old Madam Huo grew tense. "Where’s Xiao Qin? Get Xiao Qin to notify the White Immortal! Tell it to be ready!"

Huo Xingjie agreed profusely. "I’ll tell her right now, right now..."

Old Madam Huo comforted him. "Don’t worry. The White Immortal is a household god. It will protect you all."

"Grandma," Huo Xingjie asked apprehensively, "Little Uncle’s illness... what did the doctors say?"

Old Madam Huo was silent for two seconds. "Yun Zheng will get better."

After hanging up, Huo Xingjie helplessly raked his hands through his hair. ’Get better? Losing all five senses is worse than death!’

’I don’t want to end up like that!’

Huo Xingjie took out his phone and called Gugu’s mother—the person Old Madam Huo had referred to as Xiao Qin.

A message played from the receiver, saying the user’s phone was off. His eyes instantly turned red, and he threw his phone.

Huo Xingjie stared at his reflection in the mirror. A thought seemed to strike him, and his eyes grew bloodshot, his expression turning fierce.

He turned and left the room, heading straight for the attic.

Once inside the attic, Huo Xingjie carefully shut the door. He walked up to a spirit tablet, took some incense from the cabinet below, and lit it with a candle.

Huo Xingjie raised three sticks of incense above his head, knelt piously, and kowtowed. He muttered, "White Immortal, please, help me. I’m willing to pay any price."

The White Immortal, cowering in the corner, felt a flicker of temptation as its eyes darted about.

Huo Xingjie continued, "White Immortal, please help me drive the outsiders and the unclean spirits out of this house!"

The White Immortal’s eyes stopped darting. ’Fuck,’ it thought. ’If I could do that, I would’ve done it already. Would he even need to ask?’

Annoyed, the White Immortal turned to face the corner, curled into a ball, and shut down completely.

After finishing his prayer, Huo Xingjie stood up, placed the three incense sticks in the censer, and stepped back to carefully observe the direction of the smoke.

’Xiao Qin said that if the smoke drifts toward the spirit tablet, the household god agrees. If it scatters, it disagrees. Right now...’

Before Huo Xingjie could finish his thought, there was a faint SNAP, and he froze.

’What does it mean for the incense to break?’

Huo Xingjie stood frozen for a few seconds before uncertainly lighting new incense. But it broke again.

His face was grim. ’What in the world does the White Immortal mean by this?’

"Immortal, there’s an Evil Ghost in the house! Please, help me," Huo Xingjie pleaded, clinging to his last shred of hope. "Can’t you protect this household? If you help me this time, I’ll give you Gugu’s eyes!"

’The White Immortal’s heart pounded with temptation. The last time it had asked, they refused to give up the eyes, so it had settled for the throat instead. They were being generous this time, but there was no way it could accept!’

SNAP! The already broken incense stick snapped again.

Fear finally, belatedly, struck Huo Xingjie. He stumbled back two steps and fled the room.

He stumbled downstairs, completely crestfallen, and ran right into Gugu, who was just coming out of the study after finishing her Legos.

Gugu froze when she saw him, then instinctively shuffled backward. She had clearly sensed his foul mood and wanted to keep her distance.

Seeing her reaction, Huo Xingjie’s gaze darkened. "Why are you hiding? Come here!"

Gugu pressed her lips together and stood her ground, clutching Mao Mao.

Mao Mao, on the other hand, bared its teeth fiercely at Huo Xingjie.

Huo Xingjie frowned, asking in annoyance, "Where did this monkey come from?"

Gugu glanced down at Mao Mao and let out an "ah" sound.

Huo Xingjie waved a hand in disgust. "Get rid of it! What kind of place do you think this is?"

Gugu shook her head frantically. She wanted to explain but couldn’t speak, only able to let out a series of monotonous "ah" sounds.

"Shut up! You’re so annoying!" Huo Xingjie yelled. "Don’t you have a phone? You can’t speak, but you can still type, can’t you?"

Gugu quickly pulled her phone from her bag. TAP TAP TAP. She typed out a sentence and held it up for him to see.

But Huo Xingjie didn’t look down. Instead, his eyes were wide with terror, fixed on something behind Gugu. His legs trembled as if he had Parkinson’s disease, yet his body was frozen to the spot.

Confused, Gugu turned to look behind her. There was nothing there. She turned back and let out another "ah," holding up her phone.

Huo Xingjie still didn’t react.

Gugu hesitated for two seconds, then took a step forward and tapped his hand with her phone, trying to get him to take it and read for himself.

’She swore, she had really only tapped him gently.’ But Huo Xingjie let out a yell, turned, and fled. He scrambled away down the hall, looking for all the world like a ghost was chasing him.

His reaction startled Gugu, and she dropped her phone. When she picked it up, she found that Gu Qingyin had appeared beside her at some point.

Gugu’s eyes lit up. She ran over to her, her fingers flying across the screen. TAP TAP TAP. She held up the phone for Gu Qingyin to see.

_I don’t know what’s wrong with Dad. He got really scared and ran off._

Gu Qingyin smiled, patting Gugu’s head. "When people have a guilty conscience," she said softly, "they startle easily. Don’t worry about him."

Gugu tilted her head in confusion. ’What does ’a guilty conscience’ mean?’

But before she could ask, Gu Qingyin changed the subject with a smile. "It’s time for snacks. Shall we go down and see what the chef has prepared?"

At the mention of food, Gugu instantly forgot all about her good-for-nothing dad and happily followed Gu Qingyin downstairs.

Meanwhile, Huo Xingjie had fled to the presumed safety of the attic. After locking the door, he curled up in a corner, clutching his head and trembling.

’It was definitely not a hallucination!’

’He had seen a tall man standing behind Gugu. The man’s face was a deathly blue-white, and his aura was grim. He looked different from when he was alive, but that face... He could never mistake that face!’

’It was Huo Yunjing, who had died ten years ago!’

’Huo Yunjing was really here! What should I do? What should I do? Am I going to die?’

’Huo Xingjie was filled with regret. He had just smashed his phone, and now he couldn’t even call for help. If he could just get through today, he swore he would never throw his phone in anger ever again.’

During lunch, the butler noticed Huo Xingjie’s absence. He glanced upstairs, puzzled, but after a moment’s hesitation, decided not to go up and disturb him.

’The young master often stayed up all night, then slept for the entire day. He especially hated being disturbed. But with a guest present, how could he still be so willful?’

The butler sighed to himself. All he could do was entertain Gu Qingyin to the best of his ability to make up for his master’s impoliteness.

Once all the dishes were served, the butler asked with a smile, "Are you satisfied with the meal today, madam?"

Gu Qingyin gave an enigmatic smile. "Extremely satisfied."

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