Wang Chuan sprang up from the ground like a carp leaping out of water, but the “infant” swiftly scurried onto his shoulder—
He frantically twisted his body, trying to shake off this slippery thing! Yet the “infant” clung to him as if it were part of his own flesh, refusing to be dislodged no matter how hard he struggled.
“Master, save me—” Wang Chuan was on the verge of tears.
Lin Yao began chanting an incantation and swiftly formed the Demon Subduing Seal, directing it toward the creature. Yan Wuyou also summoned the Wind Piercing Sword to strike at it. However, the “infant” possessed the strength of an ox, manipulating Wang Chuan’s body to dodge left and right. The two quickly retracted their attacks, fearing they might accidentally harm Wang Chuan.
Yan Wuyou suddenly remembered something. He pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve and tossed it toward Wang Chuan. The cloth landed squarely over his head—
The moment the infant touched the handkerchief, it recoiled as if scorched by blazing fire, retracting its “hands” in pain. Seizing the opportunity, Yan Wuyou slapped the Talisman Fire onto it, causing the creature to writhe and roll on the ground in agony.
This handkerchief was stained with Xiao Yuanzi’s Pure Yang Blood, which all Demons fear. However, since the blood had long dried, its power was naturally diminished and ineffective against Demons like the black-clad man.
Freed from the creature’s grip, Wang Chuan immediately scrambled behind Yan Wuyou.
Seeing this, Lin Yao released a burst of Purple Fire, enveloping the infant—
Yan Wuyou pressed his palms together, murmuring incantations under his breath. A golden Immeasurable Dharma Seal descended upon the “infant’s” head! The seal weighed down like a thousand pounds, forcing the creature to shrink continuously until it transformed into a pale gray worm, no thicker than a finger.
Under the seal’s suppression, the worm twisted and squirmed, as if struggling to break free. Yet, the more it struggled, the tighter the seal pressed down.
“What in the world is this? Isn’t it Li Niang’s unborn child?” Wang Chuan exclaimed in astonishment.
“A Sub-Mother Nascent Soul—a type of Gu worm,” Yan Wuyou narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning icy. “Someone added an extra array node here back then. Their goal wasn’t to trap Li Niang’s soul but to nurture this Sub-Gu here, manipulating Li Niang to lure living people to this place to feed it. The Sub-Gu and the Mother-Gu share a unique connection, channeling essence and blood to sustain the Mother-Gu.”
Wang Chuan asked in disbelief, “Then where is the Mother-Gu?”
“Inside the body of the one who altered the array. He must suffer from a stubborn illness, resorting to such sinister methods to prolong his life,” Yan Wuyou replied coldly.
“Is it the black-clad man from the cave?” Lin Yao caught on. “The black-clad man Li Niang mentioned is likely the same one we saw, and he does indeed suffer from a stubborn illness!”
“Correct,” Yan Wuyou nodded. “That Treasure Map was obtained from here.”
“If the black-clad man Miss Shen mentioned is a Demon, why doesn’t he absorb essence directly? Why go through the trouble of raising a Gu to sustain himself?” Wang Chuan was deeply puzzled.
“Because he’s ill,” Lin Yao said sternly. “Though we don’t know what ailment the demonic man suffers from, judging by his use of the Gu, he cannot directly consume blood and energy! Perhaps something went wrong during his cultivation of demonic arts.”
Yan Wuyou scoffed, “Not all Demons employ such direct and crude methods. The more advanced ones are far more refined!”
“Can we use this Sub-Gu to track down the Mother-Gu?”
Before Yan Wuyou could answer, a strange fragrance faintly drifted from the gu worm’s tail. Yan Wuyou swiftly waved his sleeve to cover the mouths and noses of all three, then quickly thrust his sword into the gu worm. The gray insect twisted a few times before going still, its black blood emitting a heavy, foul stench.
It turned out the gu worm had a scent pouch at its tail that could release hallucinogenic fragrance. When Li Niang was executed, this gu worm had quietly hidden itself, releasing the fragrance when least expected. However, Yan Wuyou’s profound internal energy made him completely immune to these scents, while Lin Yao—carrying Tao Tao’s Essence Crystal from the Tree King within her—was naturally unaffected by the illusory fragrance as well.
Only Wang Chuan, still unversed in the ways of demonic evils, would have fallen victim to the gu worm’s treachery had they not discovered it early, likely ending up like the desiccated corpses hanging from the trees.
As the gu worm died, Lin Yao felt a tremendous surge of warmth flood her chest! It seemed the amount of merit gained also depended on the demon’s malignancy—the more vicious the demon, the greater the merit earned.
Yan Wuyou brushed off his sleeves and answered Wang Chuan’s earlier question: “It can’t be traced. The relationship between child and mother gu worms is purely sustenance-based. When the child gu dies, the mother gu will lose its source of nourishment and perish within days.”
Wang Chuan suddenly understood: “So that’s how it is.”
Lin Yao asked curiously: “Young Master Wang, what did you see earlier? We couldn’t wake you no matter how hard we tried.”
Wang Chuan grew uneasy, his eyes darting away: “What was I doing when you saw me?”
“Smiling,” Lin Yao recalled. “We were walking when we noticed you hadn’t followed. Looking back, we found you sitting on the ground grinning foolishly. When we approached, we saw that thing clinging to your shoulder.”
Of course, Lin Yao didn’t tell Wang Chuan how the “infant” had extruded a slender “tongue” from its mouth, caressing his hand up to his neck… Had they arrived a moment later, those tendrils would likely have entered his mouth and nose to feed on his vitality!
“Seeing you smile as if bathing in spring breeze, the illusion must have been truly marvelous,” Yan Wuyou crossed his arms, his lips quirking as deep eyes took on a faintly mocking glint.
Wang Chuan hurriedly changed the subject: “We should focus on finding the temple.” Then he said to Lin Yao, “I heard Third Miss Shen went to Jade Capital Pavilion for soul pacification—I never imagined she’d learn skills there! Truly remarkable!”
“I’ve merely learned superficial things from the madam at the academy. My senior brother here is the truly exceptional one in spellcasting!”
This sudden flattery caught them off guard. Yan Wuyou twitched his lips noncommittally, thinking: Oh? Putting on an act in front of people again?
Yan Wuyou carefully observed the branches of the surrounding trees. Li Niang had mentioned seeing Third Young Master Yuan rotating these branches to change their orientation, after which the temple appeared! Those were among her final memories before death—though her consciousness was fading, they wouldn’t have been fabricated!
He walked back and forth around the branches while examining them. After a while, he tried rotating the branches’ directions. Sure enough, these branches serving as formation eyes would lock into position when adjusted, without springing back!
“It seems Third Young Master Yuan also knew his craft—and was quite skilled at that,” Lin Yao analyzed upon seeing this. “The man in black used news of the treasure map to persuade Third Young Master Yuan to bring people treasure hunting, while infiltrating the group himself. They explored here for two months before finally deciphering the formation and obtaining the treasure map.”
On the night before their return, the men in black intended to seize the Treasure Map and silence them permanently. Unexpectedly, due to Li Niang’s actions, the Treasure Map was not in the courtyard, so the black-clothed man first killed the three people in the courtyard, then tracked the trail to Mount Maoxi, where he killed both Third Young Master Yuan and Li Niang. After obtaining the Treasure Map, he did not rush to leave but added an additional illusion formation to the existing Formation here, releasing a child worm to manipulate Li Niang’s deranged soul, using it to nurture the child worm.
Upon hearing this, Wang Chuan felt a sudden clarity, but then his brow furrowed deeply: “But why didn’t the black-clad people destroy the bodies of the two?” Wouldn’t leaving them exposed risk drawing the authorities’ attention and bringing trouble upon himself?”
Yan Wuyou’s expression turned cold: “First, he was confident the authorities wouldn’t trace it back to him. Second, discarding the bodies would allow the case to be closed.”
Wang Chuan’s face lit up with admiration: “Hearing your words, Master, is more enlightening than studying for ten years! Indeed, if too many people go missing, the authorities would dig deep to investigate. But by exposing all the bodies, they would only focus on finding the one missing person!”
As his words faded, Yan Wuyou rotated the final branch, and a grim crimson temple gate abruptly materialized before the three of them.
“There really is a temple!” Wang Chuan gasped, his jaw dropping in astonishment. Having lived for two decades, the sights he witnessed tonight gave him a whole new understanding of the word “bizarre”!
Yan Wuyou ignited a Talisman Fire and tossed it inside. Detecting no anomalies, he pushed the door open and stepped in, with Lin Yao and Wang Chuan closely following.
The temple was small, consisting of one hall, one courtyard, and one bodhi tree.
Though it was late autumn, the bodhi tree remained lush and vividly green. Under the streaming moonlight, its dense layers of leaves shimmered with an eerie green glow. There was no wind, yet the leaves trembled rhythmically, one shudder after another, the entire tree resembling a colossal living entity, wildly flamboyant.
It grew with an overbearing dominance, its branches piercing halfway into the temple wall, casting most of the temple structure under its shadow. The tree’s silhouette swayed across the remaining section of the red wall, clawing like a specter, only to vanish abruptly into the darkness—
“Such a massive tree, yet there are no fallen leaves on the ground…” Wang Chuan whispered, his voice trembling slightly.
Yan Wuyou raised a hand, signaling Wang Chuan to stay silent. Then, he slowly closed his eyes, listening intently—
Lin Yao also shut her eyes, forming a hand seal for the Clarity Spell. When she reopened them, her golden pupils blazed brilliantly—
The Golden Eye Mind Clarity Art was the unique skill of the Cloud-Shrouded Hermit and had once been Lin Yao’s specialty. Wherever the golden gaze fell, Demons had nowhere to hide. However, this technique consumed too much Magical power, and coupled with her own insufficient internal energy, she seldom used it.
Under the influence of the Mind Clarity Art, Lin Yao saw another temple, identical in every way except for one thing—this tree was absent in that other temple.
“There’s a sound inside the tree.”
“There was no tree here originally.”
They spoke simultaneously.
“What did you see first when you entered?” Yan Wuyou suddenly turned to Wang Chuan.
Caught off guard by the question, Wang Chuan paused briefly before answering earnestly, “This bodhi tree. It’s too large, and its green is terrifying…”
“Exactly. It’s too conspicuous!” Yan Wuyou nodded. “Yet Li Niang claimed she saw a temple with red walls and black tiles. Look—most of this temple is shrouded in the tree’s shadow. If you don’t look carefully, you can’t even tell it’s red. Why would she not mention such an eye-catching tree at all?”
“Because at that time, this tree wasn’t here.” Lin Yao had already begun to piece things together, her voice clear and cool. “This tree appeared here only after the man in black killed Li Niang and Third Young Master Yuan.”
Wang Chuan was also starting to understand, stroking his chin as he murmured: “What exactly did that man in black do afterward to make this tree appear out of thin air?”
Yan Wuyou’s eyes glinted, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips: “Then let’s ask it!”