Chapter 543: Chapter 285: The Ancient Tomb of Fire Worship, the Tomb Guardian and the Ancient Heroic Spirits_1

The chance to infiltrate the royal palace comes at midnight tomorrow. During the wait, Lin Xun decided to visit the last remaining site within the capital city – the ’Ancient Tomb of Fire Worship.’

[...]

[The ’Ancient Tomb of Fire Worship’ is located in a corner of the capital city. You walked for quite a while before arriving on the spot.]

[A long wall encloses this sizable cemetery filled with densely packed tombstones as far as the eye can see.]

[This place is rarely visited, devoid of human traces, but it doesn’t convey a sense of ruin or desolation. Every black tombstone has been meticulously kept dust-free, obviously maintained daily.]

[Strangely enough, each tombstone is completely black, with no inscription etched on it, making it impossible to know who is buried beneath.]

[As you ventured deeper into the cemetery, you finally came across someone performing rites in front of the tombstones.]

[It was an older man, hunched over with age, diligently cleansing a gravestone.]

[You’ve encountered the ’Grave Keeper of the Fire-Worshiping Ancient Tomb’!]

[The old man had noticed you too, glancing at you briefly before continuing his task. Suddenly, he paused, setting aside his work to approach and scrutinize you closely.]

[After inspecting you for a while, he could not help expressing his astonishment. Who are you, he asked, to carry such a strong aura of the Yama Deity.]

[Even someone who religiously burnt incense day and night in worship for several decades would never possess such a rich and pure Yama aura!]

[As if suddenly realizing something, the old man asked incredulously, could it be that you were an embodiment of one of the deities serving under the Yama Deity in the mortal world? He could find no other explanation...]

[He was so moved that he fell to his knees, pouring out his devotion. As a devout follower of the Yama Deity, aside from maintaining the tombstones daily, he burnt incense as an offering to the gods.]

[Whether it was the idol of the Yama Deity or the other deities under the Yama’s command, he worshipped and burned incense day and night without fail. But... But for some unknown reason, he felt like his faith had become tainted, like it was smeared with sludge, growing more impure by the day.]

[Though his heart of devotion had not wavered in the slightest, his faith was gradually becoming sullied...] 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

[The grave keeper bowed down deeply, pressing his forehead to the ground at your feet, earnestly pleading for the embodiment of the god that you were, to clarify his confusion.]

[Looking at the devout old man prostrating before you, you choose not to explain. Instead, you ask why there are no inscriptions on the tombstones of the ’Ancient Tomb of Fire Worship’.]

[Your question, which is known to most common folks, further reinforced his belief in your identity. He told you that the ’Ancient Tomb of Fire Worship’ is a cemetery to honor the human followers sacrificed during the divine war.]

[Since the divine war happened too long ago, the bodies of the ’Ancient Heavenly Warden’ followers sacrificed have long since disintegrated. Beneath the tombstones are no bodies, much less any grave goods.]

[The tombstones erected by later generations serve only as a means for reverence and worship, hence they bear no inscriptions.]

[He was a devout gravekeeper, committing his entire life to this place, maintaining the tombstones of the divine war heroes, and worshipping the Yama Deity day and night...]

[You could sense the old man’s faith was remarkably steadfast, deeply ingrained down to his bones. Should you reveal to him your identity as the ’Yama Representative’?]

Lin Xun’s eyebrow arched. It seemed highly likely that there was a special event involving this gravekeeper.

After some consideration, he chose the ’Yes’ option.

[You took out the ’Harvest Sickle of Tiansui Blooming Rice.’ Despite being a small, heavily rusted sickle, it bore the red-hot markings left by the ’Ancient Heavenly Warden’ himself when he lifted the seal.]

[Holding up the ’Harvest Sickle,’ you revealed to the gravekeeper your identity as the ’Yama Representative.’]

[The ’Grave Keeper of the Fire-Worshiping Ancient Tomb’s’ eyes bulged in astonishment. Could it be... Could it be that you were truly an embodiment of the Yama Deity in the mortal world?]

[He was so overwhelmed that his entire body trembled, and he could hardly speak. He could only keep kneeling and bowing to you, showing his deep devotion.]

[Suddenly, the gravekeeper seemed to think of something. He looked up and asked, the world speaks of the great general as the ’Yama Representative,’ but you said that you were...]

[You shook your head, answering the question he had had earlier. What the world doesn’t know, you explained, was that an evil god has descended upon this world, secretly sowing the seeds of evil among the people. The great general has long since abandoned his faith in the Yama Deity...]

[As a ’Yama Representative,’ you were given the mandate by the Yama Deity to traverse the mortal world. Your most crucial mission was to eliminate those who betrayed their oaths... to take down the great general!]

[However, being new to the earthly realm, you were not as powerful as the great general. To accomplish the Yama Deity’s mission appeared to be a long and difficult journey...]

[Having never met the great general in person, and only hearing rumors of the embodiment of the Yama Deity from the words of others,]

[Given the pure and dense aura of the Yama Deity you carried, along with the divine token in your hand, it was naturally more prone to believing what it saw in person.]

[The grave keeper fell to his knees again and said regretfully, oh Yama Deity, oh great Representative, he had been fooled, wickedly mistaken the treacherous traitor as the embodiment of the Yama Deity, he was truly a fool!]

[Now that he had learnt the truth, he vowed to devote himself to assist you, the Representative, in eliminating the impostor who betrayed his oath!]

A feeling of rejoicing surged in Lin Xun.

Perhaps this gravekeeper was a hidden powerful boss, like the unassuming sweeping monk, possessing immeasurable strength, yet concealed in the ancient tomb, unnoticed...

[You extended an invitation to the gravekeeper. Tomorrow night, you were going to infiltrate the imperial palace, which might lead to an encounter with the great general. Wouldn’t it be better if the gravekeeper went along with you?]