Chasing Them Down

It turned out that Shepherd did not mean someone who tended sheep, but rather a status held by a certain kind of person in Ionia. 😲🏆  ☝🐨

Since ancient times, on the mysterious continent of Ionia, the gods had constantly sent divine revelations to mortals. Those who could receive them were called Harbingers.

Harbingers possessed extraordinary Spiritual Power but could not speak. At that point, other people were needed to interpret the divine revelations and convey them to the world. Those people were the Shepherds.

There were four Harbingers in total, stationed in the east, west, south, and north of Ionia. Each Harbinger was protected by three Shepherds, who interpreted the revelations of the God of Death, God of Wood, and God of Wind respectively.

Whenever a Harbinger or Shepherd died, the gods would choose someone new to take their place. Those chosen were always twelve years old.

Thus, whenever someone serving the gods passed away, every twelve-year-old child across the continent would undergo a test: they had to stare into the eyes of several different animals at close range. Whoever could make the animals feel instinctive fear was the one chosen by the gods.

Several years ago, Noxus's invasion reduced western Ionia to a wasteland. The Western Harbinger and two Shepherds died in battle, while the remaining Shepherd disappeared without a trace.

Everyone assumed he had also died, so a selection was conducted throughout the region. In the end, only one Harbinger and two Shepherds were chosen. The interpreter of the God of Wind was never found.

Without a doubt, the missing Shepherd was Zhao Xin. I knew nothing about his past. When I awoke as someone with this identity, I was already in Tam's arena.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered my earlier duel with the Man-eating Bear. It seemed to have been the same situation then: just as the Man-eating Bear was about to kill me, I stared fixedly into its hate-filled eyes and caught a trace of fear. In the end, I survived. Now that I thought about it, this ability had saved me!

What a miraculous thing! Not only had I become Zhao Xin, but I had also become the interpreter of the God of Wind's divine revelations.

When I arrived, it had already been dusk. Now night had fallen, and Buck invited me to stay for the night. Since there was no need to rush, I agreed.

Later, we talked about many things, including the wrestling match. I found it strange that anyone seeking the Ageless Water had to wrestle a ram, so the old man explained:

His name was Buck, and he was not actually as old as he looked. He was merely a little unkempt.

When he was young, he had traveled across the Freljord icefields. Because he possessed extraordinary Strength, he had made many friends there, including two I was quite familiar with: the barrelman Gragas and Hris, the chieftain of the berserkers.

Once, while they were exploring the icefields, they discovered an unusually large Freljord ram. It took all their combined effort to subdue it, but they disagreed over how to divide the ram among themselves. Each insisted that he had contributed the most and deserved it.

Then Hris made a suggestion. He said that Freljord rams had a particular trait: they liked wrestling with other creatures. They could settle the matter by wrestling and seeing who could last the longest. Whoever lasted longest had contributed the most.

"Hris was a berserker and had complete confidence in his Strength, but he could never beat me at arm wrestling. He was always making excuses, saying it was because all his Strength was in his legs." Buck's lips had remained curved upward as he recalled the past.

"Gragas went first. He took a gulp of the strong liquor he had brewed himself. It tasted absolutely terrible—he was probably the only person who would enjoy something like that. He lasted only forty counts before collapsing. After the ram knocked him down, he rolled several times across the ground before coming to a stop. Ha-ha.

"Hris wasn't much stronger. He lost when we counted past fifty, and was so furious that he swung his axe and threatened to kill the ram before he would let the matter go. That fellow certainly had a temper!

"To keep things fair, we rested for a while after each match with the ram to make sure it recovered its strength. That was why it took quite some time before I finally went up against it.

"The ram was even stronger than I had imagined. By the time I felt I could barely hold on, those two had only counted to twenty-six. They must have been counting slowly. How could it possibly have taken that long to reach only twenty-six? When I grew angry, I suddenly felt an inexplicable power rise within my body. Relying on that power, I shoved the ram to the ground. It was unbelievable!"

Buck's face was filled with pride as he spoke. He felt it was the greatest thing he had ever done in his life. "I still remember those two fellows' shocked expressions as clearly as if it were yesterday."

Naturally, the ram became Buck's property after his victory. In the years that followed, he encountered many burly brutes, but none of them could defeat the ram. This made him increasingly eager to find someone who could match it, so he dealt with everyone who came seeking the Ageless Water in the same way.

"Are you talking about this ram?"

"Yes. I gave my companion the name Balu."

I felt deeply puzzled. According to Buck, the event had happened decades ago. It was already strange enough that the ram had lived so long, yet it still possessed such terrifying Strength. Even Buck had no idea why.

"Balu hasn't shown the slightest sign of weakening all these years. Maybe even after I die, that fellow will still look exactly the same."

Before we knew it, our conversation had carried on until the second half of the night. Although it was midsummer, the mountaintop was still rather cold. Fortunately, Buck's house had plenty of blankets, enough to keep us warm.

Just as I was about to sleep, I vaguely heard footsteps outside. They were very light, but I could distinguish them through the sound of the wind because Teacher Zed had once taught me to recognize such subtle differences. I gripped the Steel Spear and quietly warned Buck.

When Buck heard, he picked up his stick and tried to charge outside, but I stopped him. I picked up the only small wooden stool in the house and threw it out through the doorway.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The stool had barely passed through the doorway when several darts struck it. Clearly, whoever had come meant no good!

Buck was furious. He put two fingers in his mouth and blew a whistle. The area outside immediately erupted into chaos. It turned out that Balu the ram had charged over with the flock!

We took advantage of the confusion and rushed outside as well. Under the moonlight, a group of people dressed in black skintight clothes were slaughtering the sheep.

Their clothing and physiques were similar to Zed's. They were none other than members of the Shadow Order!

It seemed Zed still bore a grudge against me, which was why he had sent people to stop me from reaching the Kinkou Order. I never expected them to chase me all the way here!

In only a short while, the flock had been slaughtered. Balu was covered in wounds, while the enraged Buck brandished his wooden staff and charged fearlessly into the battle.

The members of the Shadow Order were all dressed in skintight clothing. Their movements were extremely nimble, and they came and went like shadows beneath the cover of night. It was impossible to tell how many there were.

Seeing that Buck possessed formidable Strength and was not someone to provoke, they changed tactics. Several stayed behind to keep him occupied, while the rest charged toward me.

I was already burning with rage. Their move was exactly what I wanted!