Pursuit Arrives

It turns out the Shepherd wasn't a person who herded sheep, but a title for a type of person in Ionia. 😲🏆 ☝🐨

Since ancient times, on the mysterious continent of Ionia, gods have always conveyed divine messages to mortals. Those who could receive these messages were called "Harbingers."

Harbingers possessed extraordinary spiritual power but were unable to speak. At such times, others were needed to help interpret the divine messages and convey them to the world; these individuals were known as "Shepherds."

There were a total of four Harbingers, located in the east, west, north, and south of Ionia. Each Harbinger was guarded by three Shepherds, who respectively interpreted the divine messages of the God of Death, the God of Wood, and the God of Wind.

Whether a Harbinger or a Shepherd, after death, a god would select new individuals to take their place. All chosen individuals were twelve years old.

Therefore, every time a divine position became vacant, children aged twelve across the continent would undergo a test: they would make eye contact with several different animals at close range. Those who could instill instinctive fear in the animals were the chosen ones.

A few years ago, Noxus's invasion devastated the western part of Ionia. The Western Harbinger and two Shepherds perished, and one Shepherd went missing.

People assumed he had also died in battle, so a selection process was conducted throughout the region. The result was the selection of only one Harbinger and two Shepherds. The interpreter for the God of Wind was never found.

Without a doubt, the missing Shepherd was Zhao Xin. I have no knowledge of his past experiences. When I awoke with this identity, I was already in Tam's arena.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered the duel with the Man-eating Bear. It seemed to be a similar situation: just as I was about to be killed by the Man-eating Bear, I stared intently into its hateful eyes and saw a flicker of fear. I survived, and it appears this ability saved me!

What a miraculous thing! I not only became Zhao Xin but also the interpreter of the God of Wind's divine messages.

By the time I arrived, it was already dusk. Now that it was dark, Buck invited me to stay for the night. Since there was no rush, I accepted.

Later, we talked a lot, and even brought up wrestling. I was puzzled why one had to wrestle with a ram to seek Ageless Water. The old man gave me an explanation:

His name was Buck. He wasn't as old as he looked; he was just a bit scruffy.

In his youth, he had traveled across the ice fields of Freljord. Because he possessed extraordinary Strength, he made many friends on the ice fields, including two I was quite familiar with: Gragas the barrel-maker and Hris, the chieftain of the Berserkers.

Once, while exploring the ice fields, they discovered a particularly large Freljordian ram. It took them considerable effort to subdue it. However, they disagreed on how to divide the ram, each claiming they had contributed the most and thus deserved it.

At this point, Hris proposed a solution. He said that Freljordian rams had a characteristic: they enjoyed wrestling with other creatures. They could use wrestling to see who could last the longest, thus determining who had contributed the most.

"Hris was a Berserker, confident in his own strength, but he could never beat me in arm wrestling and always made excuses, saying his strength was all in his legs," Buck recalled their past with a smile.

"Gragas went first. He took a swig of the potent liquor he brewed himself. The taste was awful; probably only he could enjoy such a drink. He couldn't hold on for more than forty counts before being knocked down by the ram and rolling several times on the ground, haha.

Hris wasn't much better. He was defeated when we reached the fifty-something count. He was so angry he brandished his Axe, threatening to kill the ram before he'd stop. That guy has quite a temper!

To ensure fairness, we would rest for a while after each wrestling bout with the ram to allow it to recover its strength, so it was quite some time before I stepped up.

This ram's strength was even greater than I had imagined. Just as I felt I was about to give out, they counted to twenty-six. Those two guys must have been counting slowly; how could it only be twenty-six after so long? Angered, I suddenly felt an inexplicable surge of power within me. With this strength, I directly pushed the ram over. It was unbelievable!"

Buck's face was full of pride as he recounted this, considering it the greatest thing he had ever done: "I still remember the astonished expressions on their faces very clearly."

After their victory, the ram naturally belonged to Buck. In the years that followed, he encountered many strong and reckless men, but none could defeat that ram. This made him increasingly eager to find someone who could compete with the ram, so he always resolved such matters by wrestling whenever someone came seeking Ageless Water.

"Are you talking about this ram?"

"Yes, I named my companion Baru."

I was perplexed. According to Buck's account, decades had passed. It was strange enough that the ram could live this long, let alone possess such terrifying strength. Buck didn't know why either:

"Baru hasn't shown any signs of weakening over the years. Perhaps even when I die, this fellow will still be like this."

We chatted until late into the night without realizing it. Although it was the height of summer, the summit was still quite cold. Fortunately, Buck's hut had plenty of blankets, enough for us to keep warm.

Just as I was about to sleep, I vaguely heard footsteps outside. The sound was light, but I could distinguish it from the wind because Master Shadow had taught me these subtle differences. I gripped my Steel Spear and quietly alerted Buck.

Upon hearing this, Buck grabbed a stick and was about to rush out. I stopped him, picked up the only small wooden stool in the hut, and threw it out the door.

"Bang, bang, bang"... The stool was hit by several darts as soon as it left the doorway. Clearly, the visitors were not friendly!

Buck was furious. He put two fingers in his mouth and let out a whistle. Then, chaos erupted outside. It turned out Baru the ram had led the flock charging out!

We also took advantage of the confusion and rushed out. In the moonlight, a group of people dressed in black, form-fitting attire were slaughtering the sheep.

Their attire was the same as Zed's, and their builds were similar. They were indeed members of the Shadow Order!

It seemed Zed harbored a deep resentment towards me and had sent people to obstruct my path to the Kinkou Order. I never expected them to track me down here!

In just a short while, the sheep were all slaughtered. Baru was also covered in wounds. An enraged Buck, wielding his wooden club, bravely joined the fight.

All the Shadow Order members wore form-fitting black attire and moved with extreme agility, disappearing like shadows in the night. It was impossible to tell how many there were.

Seeing that Buck was a formidable opponent with his berserker strength, they changed their strategy. They left a few individuals to keep him occupied while the rest charged towards me!

I was already burning with rage. This was exactly what I wanted!