8 Chapter 8: The Skull Lord's Temple

"Master, I had another question…" Jason started asking again but was interrupted by Reed.

"Save it for later, we have arrived." said Reed as he waved his hands.

Upon hearing his master's words, Jason suddenly perked up and started looking around frantically. But he still couldn't see anything as it was pitch dark. Just as he was about to ask his master about it, he suddenly felt… fear?

Extreme, bone-chilling fear.

Jason was so terrified that he could not move a single muscle; he was completely rooted at his spot. He felt as if he was a tiny little hogget that had walked right into a ferocious wild animal's den. What made matters worse was the fact that the exit was nowhere in sight.

"Master, where are we?" asked Jason in a mosquito's like voice.

"Huh? What happened to you? Why are you squealing like a mouse all of a sudden?" asked Reed.

"Ah, I am really fatigued. The pain in my chest has really made me weak." Jason tried to speak normally, but still, his voice was shaking.

Reed was puzzled by this sudden change in Jason, but he continued regardless. "Well, we are at the inter-dimensional teleportation altar of the Skull Lord... I mean, the Skull Marked Sect. It is from here that we can teleport to other dimensional planes. But why are you asking this?"

"Ah, never mind, Master. I thought that we made a mistake and arrived at the wrong place. Forget that I asked. So, what should we do now?" asked Jason as he wanted to change the topic. He somehow realized that his master had not yet sensed his extreme fear for this place, and decided to hide it from him as far as possible.

Meanwhile, Reed had his own problems. 'Damn, I cannot let this brat know that this is not a cultivation sect, but the main temple of the Skull Lord. If this information slips out, this brat might make things harder for me and my plans.'

"Patience," Reed replied calmly. "I will just call one of the core disciples of the sect to disable the outer protecting formation for us. Just wait for a little while"

"Ah, alright" Jason nodded.

Soon, the entire altar was illuminated by a faint red light. As Jason turned his head around, he saw many skull markings on the walls that surrounded the altar. Jason observed that the markings were very similar to the mark he had on his chest. There was another huge skull mark on the floor of the altar which was also glowing with a blood-red hue.

Immediately after a few seconds, Jason noticed a hooded young man approaching them. That mysterious person bowed to the old man as he greeted, "Welcome back, Liai…"

His welcome greeting was halted abruptly. Confused, he looked up to his liaison, only to meet his severe disapproving gaze. This confused the man even more as he just stood there dumbly, waiting for any future commands from his liaison.

Reed, ignoring the dumbfounded gaze of the man, spoke to Jason.

"Boy, meet the head of the core disciples of Skull Marked Sect. His name is, err, Ralph. You can call him Senior Brother Ralph. In the future, in case you are unable to understand my teachings, you can ask your senior brother for help. He will definitely guide you on your path of cultivation."

"Jason greets Senior Brother Ralph." greeted Jason, but he still could not bend forward. So, he just made a fake smile and waited.

The hooded man seemed to want to say something, but he could not speak a word. Instead, Reed continued.

"Boy, you must be tired after all the pain you went through and the inter-dimensional travel that we just had. Come, I will show you to your room. There you can rest for as long as you like. I shall also arrange for a medicinal bath which will completely rejuvenate you. This will enable you to be fully prepared physically and mentally, ensuring a smooth start to your cultivation journey." said Reed.

"Won't that trouble you, Master?" Jason asked politely as if concerned about his Master.

"Not at all. This is the least I can do for all the hardships that you had to go through to date. Now come." said Reed as he gestured towards Jason.

"As you command, Master," said Jason as he started to follow that old man, but he still had his doubts.

'Why is this Master of mine personally paying so much attention to me? He directly introduced me to the top disciple of his sect. Doesn't that mean that my position in his mind is similar to that of the top disciple? This doesn't make any sense. Further, why is the Master personally escorting me to my room, when he could have asked anyone in the sect to do that for him? I don't think even Ralph would get such special treatment. Damn, everything seems so suspicious. Or is it just me who is overthinking things?'

"Boy, stop dilly-dallying and hurry up," shouted Reed in an irked manner when he saw Jason not keeping up with him.

"Yes," exclaimed Jason as he hurried to keep up with Reed.