That night, Dracs didn't sleep at all. He couldn't think about anything else than his lovely wife and asked again and again what he should do, but in vain. It was like a broken disc.
Fortunately, with the sun came a new day. He didn't want to stay another night here so he called the captain and told him that he needed to go and meet the Ancestor as soon as possible.
Gimmury was in a good mood, he was neatly dressed, wearing his captain uniform upon a green robe. The middle aged man gave off an impressive aura that matched perfectly with his ever stern face.
It didn't take long before he ordered Butler Jonas to fetch a carriage, so they could leave this place as soon as possible. He was also curious about how his Master had solved his night problem but he refrained himself from asking.
Before the sun had fully risen, the carriage was ready, it was not the plebeian kind, of course the third young master of the Akran clan was exuberant so his carriage was luxurious.
This time, Dracs didn't want to attract too much attention, alas, the carriage showed off. At least, it would be less troublesome than the flying sword because they were inside with the curtains closed, so no one would be able to see them.
Before long, they reached a wide hill, which had many caves in it and a big gate crafter with human bones, it was none other than the mausoleum of the Akran Clan. It gave a feeling of venerance and strangely Dracs didn't feel corruption there.
When they arrived in front of the bones' gate, Dracs was welcomed by many guards wearing silver masks, they were all cultivators in the Earth Realm, so of course it was an impressive force and also showed that the mausoleum was considered a really important place.
"Trespassers are not allowed in the sacred house of the dead." The imposant man said.
Dracs didn't dare make a rash move so he carefully took out the Ancestor's jade token and showed him.
"My Ancestor gave it to me and told me to meet him here, can you please lead the way? The burly man's expression changed radically when he saw the token and he called for another guard.
"Farek! Lead the young master to our Temple."
Then he turned toward Dracs and he said.
"First rule : be careful not to look at the fog if you encounter it, it's a dangerous phenomenon that can suck dried your vital energy if you run into it. Stay close to my junior brother. I've warned you, now it's up to you to follow my advice. And of course, your bodyguard is not allowed to enter."
Dracs wasn't happy with that but he understood that this place was special and he respected the dead so he didn't want to go against the rules of this place.
"Captain, just wait near in case something unexpected happens."
"As your command, Young Master. Rest assured that I will keep an eye on the surroundings of this place."
They looked at each other and Dracs nodded, then he entered by the bones' gate with Farek and almost instantly, he felt a cold breeze.
They were only at the entrance but the Dracs couldn't help asking himself why the Ancestor seemed far away.
Indeed, the distance between him and the Ancestor was not small, of course he could have called the old man but Dracs was very curious about this mausoleum, it gave him the feeling that many secrets were hidden there and he was slightly excited!
"Farek, right?" Dracs said.
"It's my name, Young Master." The masked man replied.
"Tell me, how long will it be before we reach our destination? The Mausoleum is quite vast after all! It's my first time entering it."
Farek adjusted his posture and replied with pride.
"The Mausoleum is standing here for the very first year of the Akran Clan, only blood related people are allowed to guard it and of course to enter it. The Ancestor is secluded in the deepest part of the crypt at the bottom of the Mausoleum. Actually I would really like to go to this restricted area, it would be an honor."
Dracs was depressed, it seemed that this strong man wasn't able to tell him if the journey would be long or not, he couldn't help but ask.
"Don't tell me that I will have to sleep in this… tomb, right?" Dracs said suspiciously.
Farek looked at him with a cold smile and replied.
"What, Young Master, don't tell me that you are scared of ghosts?"
In his previous life on earth, he was not a man that believed in those paranormal things like ghosts, etc… So he was a bit worried about how he would react if they were real ghosts here.
They were advancing at a rapid pace, but they were careful with each step they took. The walls were made of bones, literally thousands upon thousands of bones and skulls.
"Are ghosts real?" He asked with doubt.
Farek laughed loudly and looked at the young man on his left side.
"Of course they are! I can teach you some spells and techniques that work with ghosts. Do you want to learn our mausoleum cultivation technique? Since you are here, maybe you will have the right to do so."
he said mysteriously behind his mask.
Dracs was more and more curious, this environnement was peculiar, his scanner and the system had stated that the Qi here was of a very different nature. That's why Dracs asked Farek about it.
"Why is the Qi so much different than outside, it seems not right to cultivate it with the common scripture of the Clan."
"Don't be ridiculous, how the common scripture could work with this Qi? You'll understand when we'll reach the temple. It's where we are going to pass the night."
Even though he was curious about this strange Qi, Dracs wasn't an idiot and without further information he couldn't calculate anything, so he could just wait until they reached that temple.
They soon came to a crossroads where there was an altar on which stood the skeleton of a man who had two rubies encrusted in his eye sockets. On either side of him was an offering bowl waiting to be filled, with what? There was little doubt about the offering in question…
Farek rolled up his sleeve and pulled a sacrifice knife from his belt. He then said.
"Young Master, carefully observe the ritual because you will have to repeat it right after me"
He then began to sing the following words.
"The blood of the first was shed, so the blood of the last is shed. May my offering be accepted and protection granted!"
It was then that he cut his hand with the ritual knife, a trickle of blood immediately flowed from it and he clenched his fist, letting the red liquid flow into the bowl until it was full.
When the ritual was over, an almost imperceptible sound echoed around them, the two skeletal rubies flashed briefly and all the blood in the bowl was gone! Then the cut on the guard's hand also disappeared.
Farek then handed the ritual knife to Drac and said to him with the utmost seriousness.
"Your turn, Young Master."
Maybe it was something completely stupid, but Drac hadn't felt anything malicious with the system scan, so he decided to go through the ritual without questioning.
It was also the perfect time to acquire new knowledge for his virtual library. He was eager to add more information so that he could deduce more wonders.
He therefore repeated the ritual, being careful to proceed in the same way as Farek and above all to record and scan the phenomenon for future analysis.
When it was finally done he felt much better, as if he was in high spirits.
"Farek, what if we had not done this ritual?"
The guard smiled and didn't answer, but he said.
"We should go to the temple, eheh."
But suddenly he felt a chill behind his neck. He turned around reflexively and briefly caught sight of a translucent figure behind his back.
Farek looked surprised and couldn't help but exclaim.
"Young Master is talented, to be able to see a Guardian so easily, your affinity with this place is immense. The Ancestor is wise to have chosen you."
"A Guardian, can you explain it?" Dracs said excitedly.
"The Guardians are the ghosts that have pledged eternal loyalty to the Akran Ckan and bound their soul to the Mausoleum, they are all at the Nascent Soul Realm, they'll protect us until we reach the temple."
This time, Dracs was truly shocked because the Nascent Soul Realm was above the power of Taidian's father. This Mausoleum seemed to be more than he first thought, so he racked his brain and found in Taidian's memories what this kind of place should be called.
"Farek… Why, as the third young master of the Clan, I'm not aware that there's a Holy Ground but you and the others are?"
"Don't overestimate yourself Young Master, we the keepers are chosen because of our natural affinity with ghosts. It's a secret of the Clan, in every generation there's many children with the ghost affinity, it's the temple's role to find them and bring them here, but I'm not authorized to speak further about this matter."
They passed through gloomy corridors and halls made of human bones, their numbers impossible to count. How many bodies were there? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? How was that just possible?
The amazing thing was that Drac felt no corruption, only the strange Qi which was so dense that it was almost visible.
After a while, they descended a white marble staircase and took a huge hallway leading to a high-ceilinged area with a magnificent temple in its center.