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

Chapter 225: Chapter 224: Another Self

Huo Yunjing was very intelligent and caught on quickly. He spoke up to confirm, ”You’re from... a parallel universe?” He looked at Gu Qingyin. ”In that universe, you and I were married and had children?”

Gu Qingyin nodded. ”That’s right.”

Huo Yunjing fell silent, unsure of how to feel.

He had just started to accept the idea that he would have a wife and child in the future, but now he was being told that neither of them were his. He’d gotten ahead of himself.

For some reason, Huo Yunjing felt a twinge of jealousy toward his other self.

Having spent a few days with Huo Yunjing, Huo Xingchen could vaguely guess what was going on behind that expressionless face. He was actually quite similar to his own dad—pretty easy to read.

”Uncle Huo, you’ll have your own wife and kids someday too. You don’t have to be envious of others,” Huo Xingchen advised in his child-like voice.

Huo Yunjing immediately seized on the key word. ”Children?”

Huo Xingchen nodded. ”We’re triplets. I’m the youngest.”

Marrying and having children had never been part of Huo Yunjing’s life plan, but in that moment, his subtle jealousy was tinged with a hint of envy. ’Maybe having a wife and kids wouldn’t be so bad after all.’

Seeing Huo Yunjing seemed a bit lost in thought, Gu Qingyin cut in to ask, ”Why are you the one who came? Where’s your dad?”

Huo Xingchen sighed. ”Dad is a soul body, so it’s not easy for him to cross over. My older brothers are just ordinary people, so this important task could only fall to me.”

He paused, then added, ”I don’t know what went wrong when I was crossing universes, but I got younger when I arrived here.”

Gu Qingyin’s fingers twitched, and she couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch her son’s soft little cheek. ”It’s fine. You’re especially cute like this.”

A hint of resignation appeared in Huo Xingchen’s wide eyes as he let his mom squish his face.

Gu Qingyin pulled her hand back with some restraint and got back to business. ”How do we get back?”

Huo Xingchen blinked. ”I don’t know. My mission is just to guide Dad over here.”

Gu Qingyin was astonished. ”Didn’t you say your dad couldn’t come over?”

Huo Xingchen replied, ”He can’t cross over by himself. He needs Uncle Huo’s help.”

Huo Yunjing raised an eyebrow at him. ”How?”

”By using you as an anchor to establish a gateway.” After speaking, Huo Xingchen paused and proactively added, ”That’s all I know. My dad said you should be able to understand.”

Gu Qingyin blinked. ’What if he doesn’t understand?’

But Huo Yunjing just gave a calm nod. ”Can you tell me how you got here?”

Huo Xingchen thought for a moment, then frowned. ”I don’t actually remember it very clearly. My dad and grandmaster set up an array. The core of the array was your body, and the nexus was the Soul Mirror. They used it to successfully pinpoint your location, open a spatial gateway, and send me here.”

”The journey was very quick.” He paused, his little face turning serious as he added with precision, ”At least, it felt very quick to me. When I came out of the spatial gateway, I was younger, and I appeared in the Huo Family Ancestral Hall.”

Huo Yunjing was lost in thought. ’An array, a core, and a nexus... all three are required to successfully establish a location and open a spatial gateway.’

’Never mind the core and the nexus for now, what exactly *is* the array?’

Even though he didn’t have a clue yet, Huo Yunjing still gave a calm nod. ”Got it. I need some time.”

Huo Xingchen nodded in understanding. ”My mom and I can help too. Many hands make light work.” He looked at Gu Qingyin. ”Dad, our brothers, and Grandmaster... they’ve all been waiting for you for a long time.”

A bad feeling suddenly welled up in Gu Qingyin’s heart. ”How long?”

”Half a year had already passed by the time I left.”

Gu Qingyin’s vision went dark. ’It’s over! This is the second time! Even though both times were beyond my control, I’ve still vanished without a word twice now.’

Taking a deep breath, Gu Qingyin stood up and gave Huo Yunjing a deep, solemn bow. ”I’m begging you. I know this is a huge ask, and this whole affair really has nothing to do with you.”

Huo Xingchen froze for a second, then he, too, realized.

Their whole plan was based on the assumption that Huo Yunjing wouldn’t refuse. They hadn’t even considered what they would do if he didn’t cooperate.

Because he had the same face, Huo Xingchen just assumed he wouldn’t leave them in the lurch. But when he thought about it, other than that face, they were complete strangers.

Huo Xingchen pressed his lips together, also standing to bow to Huo Yunjing. ”Uncle Huo, please help us. When my dad gets here, he’ll definitely reward you to your satisfaction.”

Gu Qingyin added, ”You can name your price, too.”

Huo Yunjing fell silent. He hadn’t even processed it until Gu Qingyin spoke up: Huo Xingchen wasn’t his son, and he had no obligation to help their family reunite.

He wasn’t the type to meddle in other people’s affairs, but just moments ago, he had been subconsciously trying to figure out a solution for them.

Gu Qingyin grew nervous, thinking Huo Yunjing was going to refuse. She was already starting to consider other options. ’If I have to make the array myself, I’ll have to go to the Mystic Association to borrow research materials first...’

”The Huo Yunjing from that world... what kind of person is he?”

Huo Yunjing asked suddenly, a rare hint of curiosity in his voice.

Gu Qingyin’s train of thought was broken. She blinked, then said, ”When he was alive, he was the Huo Family Head and a very successful businessman. After he died, he became a ghost. Now, he’s an incredibly powerful Ghost King, and also a good husband and a good father.”

Huo Yunjing was struck by this. ’So the Huo Family over there isn’t a Heavenly Master Family.’

”I can help you. I’m very interested in this array,” Huo Yunjing said, the corner of his lip twitching into a slight smile. ”I’d really like to meet my other self. This might be the only chance I ever get.”

Gu Qingyin and Huo Xingchen exchanged a glance, their eyes alight with joy. ”Thank you!”

Huo Yunjing stood up. ”Let’s go. We’ll head to the Huo Family’s Book Collection Pavilion first.”

Gu Qingyin took Huo Xingchen’s hand and followed, quietly asking about what had happened in the other universe, especially on the day she disappeared.

Huo Xingchen had been in Europe at the time, so he had heard the details from his two older brothers. The beginning of the story was just as Gu Qingyin had seen in her dream.

Afterward, Huo Yunjing first dealt with Yin Bo, then joined forces with Gu Ziqian to defeat Xian Yu Fei. But just as Gu Ziqian was about to land the killing blow, the Candle Dragon suddenly appeared and took Xian Yu Fei away, leaving only Yin Bo behind.

The remaining Fierce Ghosts were taken care of by the Heavenly Masters from the Mystic Association, who arrived late to the scene.

The Mystic Association opened a special case file. The decades-old bounty on Xian Yu Fei’s head was renewed, and the reward was doubled.

After that, he built an ice chamber and an Ice Coffin and searched day and night for her lost soul.

”Dad and Grandmaster said that Xian Yu Fei and the Candle Dragon had teamed up. The former extracted your soul, and the latter sent it away. They didn’t know which universe it was sent to, so they could only use a Divine Artifact bound by blood and soul to try and sense you.”

”At first, they couldn’t sense anything at all. Dad and Grandmaster slowly expanded the search radius bit by bit. Later, with the help of an array, they finally detected your location. But the distance was so great that the signal was very faint, and it took them more time to finally pinpoint it.”

Huo Xingchen smiled. ”Mom, Dad really loves you a lot.”

Gu Qingyin ruffled his hair. ”And Mom loves all of you very much, too.”

Huo Yunjing, walking ahead, heard every single word. ’His other self is quite persistent,’ he thought.