Chapter 48: Being a Mom Is So Hard

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Being a Mom Is So Hard

Gu Qingyin sighed, raised her hand, and ruffled Huo Xinghai’s hair. Her voice was gentle yet firm. "You will always be my son."

Huo Xinghai’s tense expression relaxed slightly. Under Gu Qingyin’s gaze, he opened the box with his own hands.

Inside the box was a very realistic-looking doll. A piece of yellow paper was stuck to its head, and a red wooden wedge was plunged into its chest.

It was a Curse Doll.

Gu Qingyin fell silent. No wonder the backlash had started so early for Huo Xinghai; he must have used this doll to curse a lot of people.

Huo Xinghai’s hand, holding the lid, was trembling. He was panicking, completely at a loss. His biggest secret was exposed. ’What will Gu Qingyin think of me?’

"Whose birth chart is written on it?" Gu Qingyin suddenly asked.

Huo Xinghai blinked slowly, taking a moment to process before he answered hoarsely, "Fu Zimo."

Gu Qingyin was momentarily stunned, then it all clicked into place.

She had initially thought the cursed one was Feng Xia, and that was why she had broken down so quickly after her run of bad luck.

But if it was Fu Zimo, it made even more sense.

Because he was cursed, a simple blow to the head had made him bleed and fall unconscious, nearly costing him his life. It also explained Fu Zimo’s various uncharacteristically careless actions during the previous livestream.

How could someone who had been Huo Xinghai’s arch-nemesis for so long truly be an arrogant fool? It was simply the effect of the curse.

She had to admit, Huo Xinghai’s timing was impeccable. It was a move designed not just to kill, but to crush the spirit.

"Take it apart," Gu Qingyin said. "Before anyone gets killed, there’s still time to turn back."

Huo Xinghai didn’t dare to object. He obediently tore the yellow paper with the birth chart from the doll’s head. The moment the paper left the doll, it spontaneously combusted without a flame, turning into a small pile of ash in the blink of an eye.

"I’m confiscating the doll." Gu Qingyin reached out, took the box, and moved to sit beside Huo Xinghai. She asked softly, "Where did you learn about the Curse Doll? Who gave it to you?"

Huo Xinghai carefully watched her expression. "A friend I knew from before."

Gu Qingyin frowned. "What friend? Didn’t he tell you that using a Curse Doll would cause a backlash?"

"Backlash?" Huo Xinghai looked completely lost. ’Cursing someone else can cause a backlash?’ It was the first time he’d heard of it, but surprisingly, it felt perfectly logical.

"The more you use it, the more harm the cursed person suffers, and the heavier your own Karma becomes. Once it accumulates to a certain point, you’ll start to suffer the backlash," Gu Qingyin explained irritably. "It’s a good thing you didn’t kill anyone, or tonight would have been the night you die!"

Huo Xinghai’s face paled. That friend of his had never mentioned anything about a backlash.

Gu Qingyin slapped him lightly in anger. "Are you an idiot? If there were really no side effects, why would he have told you about it so easily?"

Huo Xinghai pressed his lips together and said nothing. His emotions were a tangled mess—disappointment, sorrow, rage... They all swirled together, making him wish he could rush over to that "friend" right now and stab him.

’How dare that bastard do this to me? Wasn’t he afraid I’d kill him after finding out? Or was that son of a bitch so sure that I couldn’t do anything to him even if I did find out?’

Huo Xinghai closed his eyes and took several ragged breaths, trying to stay calm, but the slight tremor in his voice betrayed his fear.

"Am I... going to die? Will it be a horrible death?"

Gu Qingyin’s heart ached as she took her son’s hand. "Don’t worry, Mom won’t let you die. The process of fighting the Karmic backlash will be painful, but I’ll be with you. Don’t be afraid."

"Mom..." Huo Xinghai asked, his voice choked with sobs, "I just wanted more people to love me. Was I wrong?"

"The desire wasn’t wrong, but your methods were," Gu Qingyin said, wiping the tears from the corner of his eye. "Mom will help you atone."

At that moment, she felt a deep sense of guilt. ’If only I had been there for my children when they were young, if I had raised them in a loving environment, none of this would have happened today.’

The more one lacks love, the more one craves it—even resorting to any means necessary to obtain that "love."

"How do I atone?"

"By returning what you’ve taken from others," Gu Qingyin said thoughtfully. "That includes money, fame, health, and so on. Every single thing that doesn’t rightfully belong to you must be given back. Not a single bit can be kept."

Huo Xinghai’s eyes turned red again. "Does that include my fans, too?"

Gu Qingyin smiled and caressed his face. "It’s better to let go of those who flocked to you because of trickery. In the future, you’ll have fans who genuinely love and support you."

A tear slid down Huo Xinghai’s cheek. He asked in a breathy whisper, "Can I really have that?"

Gu Qingyin answered decisively, "Of course you can." She squeezed her son’s hand tightly, as if transferring some kind of strength to him. "Huo Xinghai, stop caring so much about what other people think. Drop the persona and just be yourself! You will get everything you want."

Huo Xinghai stared blankly at Gu Qingyin, speechless for a long time.

Growing up, he had always been the most popular of the three brothers because he knew how to please people: always smile, be helpful, be a gentleman, be polite, excel in both character and studies...

It wasn’t that his older and third brothers didn’t understand; they just disdained trying to please others. They had always just been themselves.

Only he, through years of trying to please everyone, had lost himself in exchange for a mountain of adoration as flimsy as a castle in the sky. He had always carefully maintained his persona, never revealing his true personality.

After entering the entertainment industry, there were eyes on him wherever he went.

Huo Xinghai was exhausted, but he couldn’t bring himself to abandon that adoration. The appearance of the Curse Doll had given him some breathing room.

He no longer had to meticulously maintain his persona. If he accidentally let something slip, he was no longer afraid. He could use the Curse Doll to cover up and resolve all sorts of problems.

Only today did Huo Xinghai learn that all of it came with a price.

"The friend who gave you the doll, are you still in contact with him?" Gu Qingyin asked.

Huo Xinghai snapped out of his daze, his eyes filled with exhaustion. "Not really. His name is Xia Zelin. He’s also in the entertainment industry, a minor idol who debuted through a talent show. He isn’t very popular."

Huo Xinghai used to think Xia Zelin knew his place and never tried to ride his coattails for fame, that he was a friend worth getting close to. Looking back now... hah. ’He was probably just afraid of getting too close, worried he’d be implicated when things went south, right?’

Gu Qingyin sent Xia Zelin’s name to Liu Ergou and told him to investigate the man—his entire life story, big or small, down to the last detail.

Liu Ergou was up in the mountains training an apprentice, getting angered to the point of near-death every day, and constantly wanting to escape.

After receiving Gu Qingyin’s message, he didn’t waste a second. He immediately reported to the temple master, saying he needed to go down the mountain to rescue a fellow Daoist in distress.

The temple master was deeply moved and granted him leave without a second thought.

Liu Ergou turned around, joyfully packed his bags, and headed down the mountain that very night!

Meanwhile, under Gu Qingyin’s supervision, Huo Xinghai recalled the people he had cursed. These people were his creditors; not a single one could be missed.

They worked late into the night. Gu Qingyin took a picture of the list and sent it to Huo Xingye, asking him to investigate the current situation of everyone on it so they could provide targeted compensation.

As she was leaving, Gu Qingyin reminded him again, "Keep the Jade Pendant on."

Huo Xinghai clutched the Jade Pendant and nodded firmly.

Back in her room, Gu Qingyin yawned as she sealed the Curse Doll, then collapsed weakly onto her bed.

’Being a spiritual mentor really isn’t a job for just anyone...’

’You have to rack your brains to protect their self-esteem, guide them clearly and lucidly, lead them back to the right path, and then help clean up the mess afterward.’

Gu Qingyin buried her face in her pillow, let out a deep sigh, and grumbled, "Being a mom is so hard!"