Once you step inside, there is no turning back.

"Did you bring your gear?" Tang Long looked at Bao Hu and asked.

Bao Hu hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently: "I brought it!"

Given the Yang family's financial resources, they would undoubtedly equip their core armed guards with gear. That was certain; even if it wasn't displayed in front of ordinary people, it definitely existed.

Tang Long said calmly, "Hand me a short blade!"

A short blade?

Bao Hu hesitated, drew a short dagger called Tiger Tooth from his waist, and asked, "Junior Uncle, will this work?"

"It will!" Tang Long weighed it in his hand. To him, the difference between cold weapons and firearms wasn't very significant. The crucial point was that these things provided preparedness against any eventualities, and they were often intended not for dealing with malevolent entities, but for dealing with people.

If they could come here, others could come too!

"Get everything else ready, watch out for your own safety, and speak up beforehand if any issues arise!" After issuing his instructions, Tang Long turned to Yang Wuchan and asked, "Eldest Miss, are you certain you want to go in as well? If worst comes to worst, you can take two people and stay outside until we come out!"

After all, they had shared an intimate night, and Tang Long was somewhat reluctant to have Yang Wuchan follow them inside. Her presence or absence made little difference.

"I'm going!" Yang Wuchan gritted her teeth. She felt somewhat uneasy not following them into the "Ancient God Temple." Besides, wasn't the very reason she came to stay by Tang Long's side and take certain precautions?

Tang Long looked at her and said no more. Since she had decided to go in, then in she would go. Everyone makes their own choices in life, and others cannot control them.

The "Hundred-Face Fiend" and the "Mountain-Suppressing Stele" had both served as warnings to Tang Long; neither of these things was easy to deal with.

And they hadn't even entered the "Ancient God Temple" yet.

Moreover, since someone had lured Tang Long here, what was their intention? Did they want to use his hands, or perhaps the hands of the Yang family, to find something inside the "Ancient God Temple"?

Until the very end, everything remained an unknown variable!

After walking for about another hour, they finally reached a valley situated in a relative depression.

"The Ancient God Temple!"

Bao Hu and Leopard Print spoke almost simultaneously. Uncontrollable terror filled the eyes of both men—a fear originating from the depths of their souls, as if some invisible force were influencing them and generating that terror.

Tang Long frowned; this valley was indeed rather strange.

"Let's go!"

Taking the lead, he walked inward. Since they had already come, they had to go in anyway.

A huge, human-shaped cave appeared halfway up the cliff face. It was roughly a dozen meters high and shaped very much like an inverted letter 'U'!

"The entrance?"

Tang Long frowned and asked softly.

"Yes!"

Leopard Print nodded. Bao Hu stood there with a stern face, remaining silent.

"Supreme Lord Laozi above, all evils begone!"

Tang Long let out a roar, his voice echoing in the valley, growing seemingly louder and louder.

Yang Wuchan thought Tang Long was performing some kind of ritual again, but before she expected it, after finishing the roar, he turned his head, flashed a wide grin at her, and said, "Just building up our courage first!"

"..."

Yang Wuchan was somewhat speechless. Was it really a good idea to act goofy and make jokes at a time like this?

Tang Long put away the smile on his face and took the lead into the cave. It didn't matter whether this was truly the "Ancient God Temple" or not; even if it were the gates of hell, since they had arrived, they had no choice but to push through.

The deeper they walked into the cave, the brighter it seemed to become. Yet after proceeding for some twenty or thirty meters, the surrounding environment seemed to dim. Was this place capable of 'absorbing light'?

Some special substance seemed to be condensing in the air. From this point onward, the deeper they went, the more oppressive it felt in their hearts.

"Ahead!"

Leopard Print pointed forward, seemingly reminding Tang Long of something.

Tang Long nodded, looked over at Bao Hu, and inquired, "Do you have any impression of this place?"

Bao Hu shook his head expressionlessly: "No, I just feel as though I've been here before, a very familiar feeling, and... it feels like something is calling me to go inside!"

Tang Long frowned but said nothing. Such psychological suggestions took many forms, and he had no way to completely help the other person eliminate them. To put it bluntly, these things relied entirely on oneself; external forces could hardly help, as it was fundamentally a psychological issue.

After advancing about two or three hundred meters, the surroundings became completely pitch black, as if they had entered some kind of tunnel, before Tang Long saw the thing Leopard Print had mentioned.

Furthermore, the surrounding walls bore dense traces of artificial excavation; this place was not naturally formed!

A modest-sized stone stele, standing a little over a meter tall, stood erect in the center of the cave entrance. Light shone upon it, casting an alluring red glow reminiscent of old cinnabar smeared across its surface. However, Tang Long's heart skipped a beat—this was definitely not the trace of old cinnabar, but rather... human blood.

The effect of blood permeation!

Walking closer, there were indeed traces of man-made carvings, slashes here and there, as if someone had wanted to destroy the inscriptions on the stele.

Yet upon closer inspection, or viewed as a whole, it gave off an indescribably eerie sensation!

"Onmyoji?"

Tang Long muttered to himself.

Yang Wuchan suddenly produced a silver chain from somewhere, wrapping it around her wrist as she followed behind Tang Long and asked, "What is an Onmyoji?"

With a dark expression, Tang Long replied, "Those Japanese bastards' stuff!"

"Japanese bastards?"

Yang Wuchan said, "You mean those Japanese bastards came here before and altered the inscription on the 'Mountain-Suppressing Stele'?"

Tang Long nodded, walked to the front of the 'Mountain-Suppressing Stele', crouched down, and gently stroked the mutilated carved lines with his fingers.

The marks did not look like they had been formed recently; judging by the weathering of the carvings, at least a hundred years had passed. Therefore, it probably had very little to do with the Yang family, as they had only obtained news of the Ancient God Temple and come to explore it a little over thirty years ago.

Logically speaking, this place wasn't that hard to find, and reaching it wasn't particularly difficult either!

"An array? A formation?"

Another hypothesis was that someone had set up something outside to deceive and blind onlookers, which was later broken by others. Moreover, very few people ever came into such deep, primeval forests.

This explained why not many people knew about this place!

"When was the last time you came here?" Tang Long looked up and asked Yang Wuchan.

"The last time? Five years ago!" Yang Wuchan thought for a moment and said, "Right after Bao Hu and the others returned."

"And you've never been back since?" Tang Long frowned and turned his head back.

Yang Wuchan said, "That's right, we've never been back since. After all, the losses last time were rather heavy, and we returned empty-handed!"

Tang Long stared intently at the altered symbols on the 'Mountain-Suppressing Stele' and asked, "In your third uncle's diary, was there any record regarding the things on the Mountain-Suppressing Stele?"

"He only wrote that there is an ancient taboo here. No matter who comes, or how many people go in, there is a fifty percent probability they will remain inside, offering up their souls as sacrifices to the gods in the temple!" Yang Wuchan said.

Tang Long nodded and asked no further. A fifty percent probability was practically equivalent to having none; there was a chance of coming out, and a chance of staying behind. The ancestors did everything with a sliver of leeway—within a certain-death situation, a single gate of life remained. Whether one lived or died depended entirely on luck.

Yet things were different now. The former 'Mountain-Suppressing Stele' had still been quite peaceful, but now, after being tampered with by a Japanese Onmyoji, the meaning had changed.

However, the Onmyoji who altered the 'Mountain-Suppressing Stele' was definitely no ordinary figure. Even in contemporary Island Nation, you couldn't find one or two such people; calling them a national-treasure level figure would be no exaggeration.

Altering the 'Mountain-Suppressing Stele' required paying with one's life—meaning an Island Nation Onmyoji master had sacrificed his life right here.

No one is a fool; why would the Island Nation casually invest a 'national treasure' level existence here? The mystery behind this was monumental!

After a long while, Tang Long finally stood up!

Gazing at the ink-black cave entrance ahead, Tang Long frowned. No matter what tricks those Japanese bastards were pulling inside, since they had reached this point, they had to go in.

"Let's go!"

Tang Long stepped past the 'Mountain-Suppressing Stele', walked seven paces, then suddenly stopped and raised a hand to signal: "Wait!"

Yang Wuchan and the others halted, looking at him with bewilderment, failing to understand his meaning!

Tang Long furrowed his brows deeply and muttered, "Deadly baleful Qi?"

"What is deadly baleful Qi?" Yang Wuchan stepped up behind Tang Long and asked in a low voice. She looked ahead; aside from the cave mouth, there was nothing unusual to be seen.

Tang Long shook his head without answering, merely saying softly: "Once we walk in, there's no turning back!"

To be tainted with 'deadly baleful Qi' meant it was a narrow escape of nine deaths and one life. The probability of coming back out was no longer fifty-fifty; only one in ten would survive. This was the handiwork of an Onmyoji!