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

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Belated Affection

Ordinarily, a Fierce Ghost seeking revenge is a matter of natural justice. Even if Heavenly Masters happen upon such a scene, they typically wait for the ghost to settle its personal grudge before intervening.

But the current situation was a bit tricky. Gu Xifeng had paid them, and he’d paid handsomely.

’Clients have even learned to lie now?’ Gu Qingyin was frustrated. ’In the future, am I going to have to run a full background check on every client before taking a case? No wonder the Fate Fee is so expensive these days. There’s just too much work involved.’

It was true that Gu Xifeng hadn’t killed Dai Jingyan, but he was most certainly an indirect accomplice to her murder!

"What do we do now?" Liu Ergou leaned closer to Gu Qingyin and asked in a low voice.

Gu Qingyin sucked in a breath through her teeth. "No matter what, we have to dispel her resentment first," she decided. "Once Dai Jingyan regains her sanity, we’ll see what she wants. If push comes to shove, we’ll just forfeit the final payment!"

’Twenty-five million in total, and we’ve already collected twelve and a half. Even if we don’t get the rest, we’ve still made a killing!’

Though they took money to solve people’s problems, they were still conscientious Heavenly Masters.

"You hold her down. I’ll lay out the array." Gu Qingyin estimated the time. "Should take three to five minutes."

Liu Ergou gave a solemn nod. "Got it."

Liu Ergou held a sword in one hand and a Compass in the other. Without any obvious movement, the Compass suddenly shot out a beam of golden light that landed squarely on Dai Jingyan’s ghost body.

A bloodcurdling scream immediately followed.

Meanwhile, Gu Qingyin sprang into action. Talismans and peach wood nails flew from her hands, landing with precision around Dai Jingyan and gradually forming a mystical array.

Gu Xifeng wiped away his tears. Watching Dai Jingyan scream incessantly within the golden light, he couldn’t bear the sight.

’I’m the one who did wrong, but she’s the one being punished,’ he thought. ’It’s not fair.’

On a sudden, thoughtless impulse, Gu Xifeng spun around and slammed into Liu Ergou.

Liu Ergou was caught completely off guard, and the Compass fell from his hands.

Instantly freed, Dai Jingyan charged, scattering the nearly complete array into disarray.

Gu Qingyin frowned and clicked her tongue. "Dumbass."

At the same time, her hands never stopped moving. She flung three peach wood nails, aiming for Dai Jingyan’s forehead and shoulders.

Dai Jingyan dodged with a roll, half-crouching on the floor and snarling at Gu Qingyin.

Gu Qingyin rolled her eyes. Her Spiritual Power materialized from her hands as silk-like threads, shooting out like a spiderweb. They adhered to the scattered talismans and peach wood nails, and with a gentle flick of her wrist, she pulled them back into their proper places.

Dai Jingyan’s intuition screamed at her. She waved a hand, unleashing a torrent of Yin Qi to break the array again, but before she could finish the motion, the golden light trapped her once more.

Gu Qingyin looked back and saw Gu Xifeng, trussed up with a red string and tossed to the side. She paused for a moment, then silently turned back around, pretending she hadn’t seen a thing.

As the last peach wood nail fell into place, the array was complete. An intense white light erupted, engulfing Dai Jingyan.

Gu Xifeng’s eyes looked ready to split. "Jing Yan!" he screamed.

Liu Ergou went over and kicked him. "We’re purifying her resentment! What’s with all the shouting?" he snapped. "We never should have brought you in. You almost caused a catastrophe."

’If any other two Heavenly Masters had been here today, they’d have been skinned alive, if not killed outright. It’s a good thing it was us—powerful and perfectly in sync. Hmph!’

The purification lasted a full eight minutes. When the white light dissipated, Dai Jingyan, now translucent, stood at the array’s center. She looked weak, but the clarity had returned to her eyes, which were once again a normal black and white.

Dai Jingyan bowed to Gu Qingyin and Liu Ergou in turn. "Masters," she pleaded, "please send me on to my next life."

"You’ve made up your mind?" Gu Qingyin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dai Jingyan nodded calmly.

"No!" Gu Xifeng shouted, squirming like a worm on the ground. "You can’t go!" Dai Jingyan didn’t even spare him a glance. He then looked at Liu Ergou and said urgently, "The job is over! You can go now!"

Liu Ergou dug a finger in his ear. "We’re forfeiting the final payment," he said with a sneer.

Gu Xifeng was stunned, then roared, "You’re breaching the contract! I’ll expose you!"

Liu Ergou said, "Oh. Knock yourself out."

Gu Xifeng was out of options. With red-rimmed eyes, he could only look at Dai Jingyan. "Do you hate me that much?"

Hearing his words, Dai Jingyan finally turned her gaze to him. "I don’t hate you," she said calmly. "I just hope that in my next life, and the one after that, for all of eternity, we never meet again."

Tears streamed down Gu Xifeng’s face, his heart aching so much he could barely breathe. All he could do was watch as Dai Jingyan’s form grew ever more transparent, her expression becoming more serene with each passing moment, until she vanished completely.

And with that, they were parted forever.

The Fierce Ghost was gone, but the resentment and Yin Qi in the villa were still heavy.

Gu Qingyin took out a few talismans and stuck them on the doors, windows, and walls. After she was done, she walked over to Gu Xifeng and said in a business-like tone, "After forty-nine days, you can renovate the place and it will be habitable again."

Liu Ergou went forward to untie Gu Xifeng, then carefully put away the red string as if it were a treasure. "We’ll be taking our leave, Mr. Gu."

Gu Xifeng didn’t move an inch until Gu Qingyin and Liu Ergou had left the villa.

’How did it come to this?’ he wondered. ’In the beginning, all I wanted was to get out of that arranged marriage and be with Dai Jingyan again. I don’t know where I went wrong, but one mistake led to another, until everything was irreversible.’

Gu Xifeng closed his eyes. ’My Jing Yan... she utterly despises me now.’

The moment they got in the car, Gu Qingyin and Liu Ergou divided the money. Then, they each made donations on their phones—a routine so familiar it was second nature.

"Are you free tomorrow?" Liu Ergou asked with a hint of anticipation. "Senior Sister Chen is in Yun City. We should have a get-together."

’Chen Ling?’ she mused. ’We’re not that close, but I guess you could call her an old acquaintance.’ Gu Qingyin nodded. "Alright. Just let me know once you’ve picked a place."

Back at the old family house, Gu Qingyin tidied up her study. ’These last two jobs really ate into my supplies,’ she thought. ’I’ll need to restock on yellow paper and vermillion. Most of the money I made today will be gone by tomorrow.’

’No wonder most Heavenly Masters are poor. The overhead is high, the risks are huge, and while the Fate Fee looks like a lot, most of it ends up in someone else’s pocket.’

The next morning, Gu Qingyin took a car to Antique Street and went straight to the Authentic Goods Shop.

As luck would have it, Qin Zhen was minding the shop today—and Lin Jiaqin was there as well.

Gu Qingyin’s eyebrow twitched. ’Are those two an item now, out in the open?’ she wondered.

When Qin Zhen saw Gu Qingyin again, he lacked his previous enthusiasm and instead seemed a bit awkward. Still, he greeted her with a smile, "Master Gu, here to restock?"

Gu Qingyin nodded. "Vermillion, yellow paper, and a set of peach wood nails."

Qin Zhen smiled and nodded. "One moment, I’ll get them from the back."

After he turned and went to the back of the shop, Lin Jiaqin finally spoke: "I heard that Master Gu is over forty years old, but you look like a young woman in her early twenties. Do you have some kind of secret beauty regimen, Master?"

’But I *am* in my twenties,’ Gu Qingyin thought. ’It’s just natural youth. What secret formula would I need?’

"There’s no secret. It’s just my constitution."

"If you really have a secret, Master Gu, I’m willing to pay for it," Lin Jiaqin said, clearly skeptical. "I can guarantee a price that will leave you more than satisfied."

Gu Qingyin chuckled and shook her head. "Birth, aging, sickness, and death are a part of the natural order. Not even a Heavenly Master can escape it."

A corner of Lin Jiaqin’s mouth twitched. "Is that so? Well, if the Master isn’t willing to share, then so be it."

’This woman clearly doesn’t listen to reason,’ Gu Qingyin decided. She simply ignored her from then on. ’Believe what you want.’

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