Upon hearing the Grass Ghost Granny's words, Ying Chen and the other two immediately tensed up, their gazes snapping to the old woman.
This old crone had indeed lied before!
She actually knew the whereabouts of the Soul Locking Gu!
"Speak quickly!" Elder Guo urged impatiently.
The Grass Ghost Granny glanced sideways at Elder Guo and coldly uttered four words: "A dog flaunts its master's power."
Elder Guo felt as if a raw nerve had been struck. His dark face turned beet red, and he looked as if he were ready to fight the Grass Ghost Granny to the death.
Fortunately, Ying Chen shot a look at the Grass Ghost Granny, making her tremble like a cicada in the wind. She dared not change the subject further and quickly continued, "Back then, the High Priest provided that person with an address."
"However, that address was written on a piece of paper by the High Priest and not seen by anyone else. After giving the address to the leader of the enemies, the High Priest said he knew nothing more and had told them everything truthfully. He hoped the leader of the enemies would spare the Ancestral Witch Cult."
"The leader of the enemies took the address, and it's unclear whether he believed it or not. In any case, he left them with a warning: 'The monk may flee, but the temple remains. If you dare to deceive me, my previous words will take effect immediately.'"
"In other words, if they couldn't find the Soul Locking Gu, he would mobilize his forces and erase the entire territory of the Sheng Miao Black Witch from the map! The thought of tens of thousands of people dying and rivers of blood flowing made everyone in the Ancestral Witch Cult tremble."
"We always thought we, who were skilled in playing with Gu, were ruthless; little did we know that after meeting these people, we finally understood what true ruthlessness meant! We could at most toy with the lives of a few individuals, but with their words, they toyed with the lives of tens of thousands!"
"Even the usually calm High Priest couldn't help but tremble, begging them to kill fewer people and show mercy. However, all he received in return were repeated cold laughs, followed by the enemies departing."
"Watching their retreating backs, all the members of our Ancestral Witch Cult collapsed to the ground. Unprecedented fear and lingering dread filled everyone's eyes!"
"Outside, the screams and cries of children and women continued to echo. After the aftermath, the Miao village suffered heavy losses! Nearly a thousand people died! Everywhere were shattered limbs, blood, and charred corpses! And this was just the enemy 'showing off' a little. If they had unleashed their full power, perhaps not a single person would have survived!"
"Remember, at that time, there were over a dozen Miao villages within the territory of the Ancestral Witch Cult. If the enemies had truly, as they claimed, erased the entire Ancestral Witch Cult from the map, then the tens of thousands of people in these dozen Miao villages would likely have all died because of us!"
"In the end, the High Priest made a painful decision to sever ties with those Miao villages entirely, allowing them to transition from Sheng Miao to Shu Miao, no longer having any connection with the Ancestral Witch Cult! Only the current village was kept as the main stronghold of the Ancestral Witch Cult."
"After those people left, we also constructed numerous fortifications, attempting to resist their modern weaponry. But unexpectedly, they never returned until today. We don't know if they truly found the Soul Locking Gu, or if something happened to them during their search, and they perished long ago in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains."
At this point, the Grass Ghost Granny sighed and looked at the three of them.
"Now you understand why I reacted that way upon hearing about the Soul Locking Gu? That is truly a tragic history that I cannot bear to speak of again!"
Master Gui secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Fortunately, he had investigated the information related to the Soul Locking Gu much earlier.
At that time, people did not have such taboos.
If he had been any later, he might not have survived leaving this place!
*Pat...*
Ying Chen casually tossed the Grass Ghost Granny onto the ground.
Despite the Grass Ghost Granny's lengthy rambling, there was only one truly useful piece of information.
That was: only the High Priest knew the whereabouts of the Soul Locking Gu!
Therefore, Ying Chen, too lazy to waste any more words with the Grass Ghost Granny, directly commanded, "Lead the way, take us to see your High Priest."
The Grass Ghost Granny looked at Ying Chen incredulously. "I've told you everything I know, and you're still not satisfied? Do you also intend to do as those people did ten years ago and force the High Priest to reveal the location of the Soul Locking Gu?"
"And why not?" Ying Chen retorted.
The Grass Ghost Granny was stunned for a moment, then a sinister glint appeared in her eyes. "No, no. Since you wish to see him, I will take you to him."
With that, the Grass Ghost Granny got up and walked into the village.
Ying Chen followed closely behind.
Elder Guo and Master Gui hurried to catch up, asking in hushed tones, "Immortal Master Ying, isn't this a bit too rash? What if they've set up some traps or poisons? Won't we be walking into a tiger's den?"
Ying Chen glanced at them and suddenly struck their Dantians.
Both of them immediately vomited, expelling the Gu worms hidden within their chicken porridge!
Master Gui was relatively fine; after spitting them out, he merely let out a sigh of relief.
However, once Elder Guo was rid of the Gu worms, he instantly became spirited and full of confidence, as if he were a changed man. "Bah, tiger's den? I am the tiger! This journey is clearly a tiger entering a flock of sheep!"
"Let's go, today I must catch a few fat sheep to feast on!"
Elder Guo strode proudly, chest puffed out.
The Grass Ghost Granny, who was leading the way, couldn't help but whisper those four words again: "A dog flaunts its master's power!"
This time, the Grass Ghost Granny didn't play any tricks. It seemed she understood that playing tricks in front of Ying Chen was useless.
She directly led Ying Chen into the entrance of the Ancestral Witch Cult!
Calling it an "entrance" was an understatement. Compared to the Xuan Xiu sects outside, it was practically pathetic.
It wasn't necessary for it to be resplendent or magnificent, but at least it should have been imposing and solemn.
Yet, within the entire stronghold of the Ancestral Witch Cult, not a single decent building could be seen.
Only the grand hall carved into the mountainside in the distance had some semblance of structure.
The hall was pitch black, and faint rustling sounds could be heard, as if countless malevolent spirits, ghosts, snakes, and scorpions were hidden within.
At the entrance of the hall stood solemn stone statues.
These statues were likely the successive leaders of the Ancestral Witch Cult.
As they passed by these stone statues, a faint smell of decay could be detected.
It seemed as if these statues were all cast from real people!
Elder Guo and Master Gui involuntarily moved a little further away from the statues.
*Crack!*
Just as Ying Chen and the other two reached the entrance of the hall, a snapping sound came from within, followed by the dim glow of phosphorescence.
This illuminated the already eerie and terrifying hall, making it even more so.
Figures clad in black robes, like specters, began to appear around the hall.
Finally, an old man holding a staff emerged.
The old man's gaze was mocking as he looked at the three of them.
Suddenly, he heavily struck the ground with his staff and asked, "I heard you are also here for the Soul Locking Gu?"
"What, do you also have guns?"