Chapter 160: Soul-Devouring Gu Insect

"Actually, we were also quite puzzled by my younger brother Wujiang's sudden misfortune. Why didn't they just kill him instead of taking his heart?" Yang Wuchan suddenly spoke up.

She looked at Tang Long hesitatingly for a moment, then said, "At first, we thought the perpetrators wanted to threaten the Yang family and demand a ransom. Later, we realized it wasn't like that at all. They only wanted my brother Wujiang's heart to use as bait, to lure our Yang family members into the 'Ancient God Temple'."

Tang Long frowned slightly, tilted his head to look at her, and asked in surprise, "Why must they lure you Yang family members to the 'Ancient God Temple'? This place isn't that hard to find, is it?"

"Yes, it's not hard to find!" Yang Wuchan nodded, her face straight and expressionless as she said, "As long as someone leads the way or marks the coordinates, anyone can find the entrance to the 'Ancient God Temple'."

Pausing for a moment, she continued, "However, even if you find the Ancient God Temple, get inside, and pass through the temple gates, you might not necessarily be able to enter the inner sanctuary!"

Tang Long was stunned for a moment. Seeing her turn serious, he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"There are many legends surrounding the Ancient God Temple. Some say it has existed since ancient times. Over the hundreds and thousands of years, more than one person has sent people to search for it..."

"Wait a minute!"

Tang Long interrupted Yang Wuchan, curiously asking, "What on earth is in the Ancient God Temple that can entice emperors and generals to come searching for it?"

There had to be some origin and pursuit, right?

Tang Long had occasionally heard of the 'Ancient God Temple' before, but he had never heard of anything earth-shattering inside it.

The 'Returning Sun Grass' was a supreme treasure of heaven and earth, but not everyone needed to 'return from the dead', so it might not appeal to everyone.

If it wasn't for the 'Returning Sun Grass', what else could it be?

Yang Wuchan said, "Rumor has it that the Ancient God Temple conceals a section of 'Dragon Wood'."

"'Dragon Wood'?" Tang Long was slightly stunned, and asked curiously, "What the hell is Dragon Wood?"

Yang Wuchan shook her head and said, "It's not a ghost. Dragon Wood is a supreme treasure of this world. Legend has it that whosever surname is carved onto the Dragon Wood, their clan will produce an emperor."

"Is it really that absurd?" Tang Long blinked his eyes and smiled. If writing a surname on it is that awesome, what if you write a full name on it? Would you directly become an immortal and ascend to heaven in broad daylight?"

"The dragon represents the supreme power of ninety-five; writing a surname on the wood brings forth emperors from the clan, and writing a person's name on it makes them a supreme sovereign destined for ultimate supremacy!" Yang Wuchan said with a completely straight face.

Tang Long rubbed his nose. She was completely enchanted and out of her mind; she was sick and needed treatment. Write a name on a piece of wood, and that person becomes emperor?

He didn't believe it!

If it were really that absurd, even if the Ancient God Temple were awesome, it would have been ransacked eight or ten times by now. How could it still be standing?

Furthermore, ever since the founding ancestor, the pursuit of becoming immortals and gods had been prohibited. Besides, in today's society, there was no talk of supreme sovereigns, emperors, or monarchs. Did she want to organize a rebellion? Unless she had lost her mind!

"I don't know if it's true or false. I only know the rumor that a section of 'Dragon Wood' exists within the Ancient God Temple, fought over by the world, yet sought by none who truly obtain it," Yang Wuchan said.

Tang Long nodded. This barely counted as a 'highlight' of the 'Ancient God Temple'. But even though this place was deep in the mountains and forests and so exposed, anyone who searched carefully could find it. Why hadn't a large number of people come here over the years?

Would the relevant authorities not know what the Yang family knew?

Therefore, there was still something fishy and unexplainable about this place.

"In the past, the entrance to the Ancient God Temple wasn't so easy to find. The reason we were able to enter so easily this time is because someone broke the formation at the entrance," Yang Wuchan explained.

Tang Long frowned and said in surprise, "You've known about this all along?"

Yang Wuchan bit her lower lip and said, "Five years ago, after Baohu and Baowen returned, it wasn't that our Yang family never thought of entering the Ancient God Temple again, but we couldn't find the entrance and couldn't get in. After my brother Wujiang's accident this time, someone specifically sought us out and told us the entrance to the 'Ancient God Temple' had been unlocked and we could enter!"

"..."

Tang Long rubbed his nose. If that was the case, many things became much easier to explain.

The problem was, who on earth engineered this to lure the Yang family over? Since the other party mastered the method to open the entrance to the Ancient God Temple, they must have been exploring it for quite a while. Why couldn't they just quietly make a fortune on their own instead of luring them here?

There were simply too many suspicious points inside!

"The formation outside the Ancient God Temple only serves as a disguise. To use your words, finding the entrance to the 'Ancient God Temple' does not mean entering the temple. Even our current location cannot be considered inside the Ancient God Temple!" Yang Wuchan said softly.

Tang Long's pupils contracted. He looked at Yang Wuchan and said calmly, "Whatever else you know, spit it out!"

"What do you want to know!" Yang Wuchan looked at Tang Long without flinching. At this point, she knew she had to be honest about certain things. When Tang Long asked her to make a choice earlier, she realized she hadn't come here to hunt for treasure, but to find the 'Returning Sun Grass' to save her younger brother Wujiang's life.

Earlier, Yang Zetian had told her to share everything she knew about the 'Ancient God Temple' with Tang Long, but she hadn't fully realized the gravity of it, so she had concealed some things. Those truly belonged to the Yang family's core secrets; some matters were unknown even to her eldest sister Yang Zetian, and were only clear to her as the person in charge.

"Have you been here before?" Tang Long stared at her.

Yang Wuchan shook her head, hesitated for a moment, and said, "The entrance outside the Ancient God Temple only opens on the seventh and fifteenth days of the first lunar month, but not just any seventh and fifteenth; it's a specific month of the year.

However, this time, an expert broke the formation outside the Ancient God Temple and rendered it ineffective. That much is true.

When Baohu and Baowen came in five years ago, I didn't come... But I watched the footage of what happened when they entered through the wireless electronic communication devices they carried."

"What are those black bugs that can control human minds?" Tang Long nodded, not pressing further on why Yang Wuchan had kept secrets from him.

"Soul-Devouring Gu worms! Legend has it that they feed on human fear, possess powerful control, and can command humans to obey their orders!"

Yang Wuchan hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Soul-Devouring Gu worms?"

Tang Long frowned. He had never heard of such creatures before. However, they were quite peculiar; they probably naturally carried a powerful magnetic field that could affect human brainwaves and induce hallucinations.

"Have you seen these bugs before? Then why didn't you warn us when we came in?" Tang Long asked with displeasure.

Yang Wuchan bit her lower lip and said, "No. When Baohu and the others came in last time, the Soul-Devouring Gu worms didn't swarm out like this. I only saw descriptions of them in my third uncle's notes."

True or false, Tang Long didn't quite believe what she was saying now!

"Let me reiterate: I don't care what kind of connection your Yang family has with this 'Ancient God Temple'; it has very little to do with me, and I don't want to get involved. I came here saying I was helping, so I'm just here to help. Aside from finding the 'Returning Sun Grass', I will not help you find anything else!"

Pausing briefly, without waiting for her to speak, he continued, "To take a step back, even if we accidentally find something, I will only hand it over to the state, regardless of whether it belongs to you or not."

"..." Yang Wuchan didn't know what to say.

After hesitating for a moment, she nodded and said, "Fine, that is your right. I came in this time purely to find the 'Returning Sun Grass' and save my brother!"

Tang Long shrugged and said calmly, "That's for the best!"

Right now, he was extremely dissatisfied. The Yang family members brought this damn mess upon themselves, making fools of themselves while dragging him into the water. If it weren't for the fact that Yang Wuchan's... performance last night was acceptable, Tang Long might have lost his temper, turned around, and walked away.

Thus, Yang Wuchan's 'warmth-sending' operation last night had actually proven quite effective!

Of course, from Tang Long's perspective, it was 'sending warmth', but who knew, she might have just been lonely, bored, and treated him like a dish on the menu.

That was hard to say!

One shouldn't be too full of oneself either; you might think of yourself as a fine meal, but in someone else's eyes, you might just be easy prey!