Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 843 Even an old dog has a few teeth

Above the grassland, the sky gradually became gloomy.

Thunder gradually rose and a light rain began to fall.

The mobilized animal army is marching in the rain.

The white horse carried the fox, their furs were soaked by the rain. Aleister had thrown the staff aside after his previous research failed.

"Do you think we have a chance of winning?"

Bai Ma asked.

"What's up, buddy?"

Aleister said bluntly: "Too much stress and depression?"

“The pressure is indeed great,” Bai Ma said in a deep voice, his voice was clear and penetrating, giving people the feeling of a brave man, “but I will not give up.

"Because I carry the hopes of the pack on my shoulders. I must not fall, and I must not fail..."

"——But when you say this, it means you are actually nervous."

The wet fox sneered.

The white horse fell silent.

And Aleister finally confirmed...the white horse was not the crown lord Arthur.

Or at least it's not "entirely" Arthur.

Although he had only met Arthur twice, Aleister was sure that if it were Arthur, he would never hesitate at this time.

That tough guy with an extremely cold and hard will has the iron willpower to endure all the pain and torture. He will never hesitate or hesitate until the metal fatigues and breaks completely. If the white horse is completely based on the crown master, then this silent and strong feeling should be the focus of the portrayal.

It was precisely because of this sense of disharmony that Aleister vaguely grasped the key to this promotion ceremony...

...Perhaps, the white horse does not refer to the crown master.

Or maybe there's a deeper secret...

This painting is adapted from Jacob's novel "The King on the White Horse", which hides the story of Arthur defeating the High Heaven and becoming the Silver Crown Dragon. But there is another possibility, that is, "Arthur's Story" is just its appearance, specially for those who know something about the secrets of the Pillar God, but not too much.

In other words, "the story about Arthur" is only the second layer.

There is a deeper secret hidden here.

The destruction of the Helasar Empire was such a "trivial matter" that it was obviously not worthy of the history of the Pillar God's ascension as its cover. And what else could Aiwass and Aleister know about this matter?
The fox stood on the horse's back, lost in thought.

One advantage of this kind of fairytale style painting is that many details can be blurred, just like in children's animation. If you want to go somewhere, you just need to decide and cut the storyboard.

Whether it was the pre-war mobilization, the march, or the war... if it were a normal story, it would take more than half a month. But Aleister only had two hours here.

Every time I come back from that door, the time here will fast forward a lot.

The first choice Aleister saw was to ask her "What story does this fairy tale tell?", and the answers were "The Rift War", "The Heaven Punishing War" and "Both".

The question wasn't difficult, so Aleister quickly chose "Both" - and apparently, everyone else chose this answer.

When she came back, she became Bai Ma's staff. While Bai Ma was preparing for the war, that annoying baboon came over without knowing the tact - if he hadn't come, Aleister would never have taken the initiative to kill him.

As soon as he left, Aleister took the initiative to chase him and decisively killed him before he could make the next round of choices.

When Aleister drove it away and White Horse launched a general mobilization before the war, the second problem arose:
"Who do you think will be the final winner?"

The three answers correspond to "Red Bear", "White Horse" and "Golden Lion" respectively.

Aleister chose the white horse without hesitation, and the dead wizard should be the one who chose the golden lion.

As for the other person who never showed up, he should have quietly chosen the white horse and continued to stand with Aleister.

After choosing this answer, when Aleister came back again... the plot had already jumped to the part where the White Horse asked the King of the Golden Lion for help.

The white horse thought the lion was arrogant, and the lion thought the white horse was stupid - but they both agreed that no matter how arrogant or stupid the other was, it was not as good as the red bear. So they didn't need to fight each other to let the giant bear take advantage, so they decided to disperse.

At this time, Aleister held the baboon's staff in his mouth the whole time, shaking his head and showing off.

Golden Lion must have seen all of this and must have discovered that his staff had disappeared... but he did not react at all throughout the whole process.

——He was a cowardly king.

Aleister immediately determined his identity.

That doesn't look like the Herasil Empire...

The last monarch of the Helasar Empire was not a coward by any means. Rather than being a coward, he was actually very brave...

Combined with Bai Ma's current personality, Aleister finally became suspicious.

"Think about it carefully, Your Highness... You said before that if you had to have a carnivore as a monarch, you would choose a golden lion."

The fox, drenched by the rain, gave an elegant and cunning smile: "But is there a possibility that horses can also eat meat?"

After saying that, she jumped off the white horse, leaving the horse to think for itself first.

She planned to look for new sources of intelligence and see where she could complete some tasks to advance the progress.

At this moment, an old voice suddenly sounded from beside her:
"—Are you going to seek another job?"

Aleister looked over when he heard that.

That's an old dog.

A white old dog that looked unusually dirty because of its age.

It looked a bit like a schnauzer, with a long white beard and uncut hair covering its eyes, giving it a scruffy look.

Although the dog looked small, Aleister didn't look big either. They were about the same height, and if you looked closer, he really looked like an old man.

"……you are?"

Aleister asked cautiously.

"I am an old nameless dog," the dog bared his teeth, "I just came to remind you something. You don't need to know my name."

"-Lalo?"

Aleister blurted out. Seeing the surprise on the dog's face, Aleister smiled and said, "It's really you."

"...Your words are meaningless."

Lalo shook his head, and his tone suddenly became sad and rhythmic: "You should wait for old Lalo to reveal some flaws before guessing. Then old Lalo will be very sad - because I will look like a dog."

"Because you're funny, Lalo!"

Aleister smiled and said, "You are the most interesting among these people! That woman... should be the monarch you protect, right? You took the initiative to come to me. Are you planning to clear the level with me?"

Unlike the old wizard - the first person who came to Aleister would almost certainly die, but the second one would almost certainly not die.

She planned to keep Lalo with her, which would also be a form of surveillance.

Old dog Lalo obviously knew the true meaning of Aleister's words.

He just smiled, and the bearded dog spoke strange but rhythmic words:
[Because I am made of wind, whenever I roar, my heart is filled with emptiness]

[I just want to burn out before I die, so that I can still see my ashes]

As soon as Lalo finished speaking, Aleister felt his body suddenly warm up.

The two small canines were drenched by the rain, and their fur instantly became dry and fluffy, with two balls of dim orange-red flames emanating from their bodies.

"Is this... a poem you wrote?"

Aleister was a little surprised.

He tasted a strange sense of death from this poem.

"Well," Lalo smiled, "I just wrote it... Is it okay?"

"It's much better than the one in the preparation room." Aleister said honestly.

The old dog laughed: "What kind of poem is that - it's just scolding them!

"They are all ungrateful traitors. They only think about themselves... Either they are rebels, or they are a bunch of perverts, lunatics, and criminals. It's not right for Old Lalo to scold them!"

"...You seem to know me?"

After hearing this, Aleister finally realized what was wrong with Lalo's attitude towards him.

Lalo hated the Moon Children and Demonologists, but he had no hostility towards Aleister, who was both a Moon Child and a Transcendent. It was as if he was deliberately avoiding her. Even when he was scolding her the most, he just fought side by side with her. But at the same time, he did not deliberately say good things about Aleister.

New moon rituals are different from full moon rituals.

Because the Crescent Moon Ritual has no teammates by default, if someone shows a close relationship with someone who knows each other outside the field, they will easily be killed by the others. So from this perspective, the distance between him and "Big Snake" Aleister is actually to protect her.

"Did you mean 'Orochi' or 'Aleister'?"

The old dog Lalo grinned, revealing two rows of sharp and neat teeth: "Of course I know you. I also know that it was you who killed Hong Xiang - the bastard who broke the contract and killed the king.

"I want to thank you on behalf of Xingtian - although I also know that you are definitely not from Xingtian."

"My last name is Crowley."

Aleister smiled and said, "Aleister Crowley. Isn't that the name you guys gave me?"

"I was there on the day the name was born, so of course I know about it. But if you like," Lalo laughed, "the Crowley family will be yours in the future - this is a gift of gratitude to you. They are military personnel and are on the same side as us."

"The military...you took the princess to join the military? That person should be the princess, right?"

"Yes, if we want to form a stable military government, there must be at least one legitimate successor here. Otherwise, there will always be people who suspect that it is a military coup... God knows, the army is really here to save us this time!"

Old Lalo raised his head, wagged his tail, howled and swore, and made a pitiful sound: "Without them, Xingbi would probably be in chaos now! Although Old Lalo himself doesn't like order, even the worst order is always better than real chaos... What do you think?"

"I think you're right."

Aleister nodded in agreement.

Unlike most demonologists, demonologists like chaotic social atmospheres, because chaos means danger and opportunity. Loving adventure and looking for opportunities is one of the typical characteristics of transcendental Tao.

But that was not the case with Aleister.

Because she does not need to find opportunities through "chaos". Her purpose itself is full of desire for transcendence.

"Is this how you view Xingtan?"

Aleister pondered and asked, "What about Narcissus? What do you think?"

"The people on Narcissus' side... haha, they don't understand the situation at all. Without freedom, there is no sorrow... Those mages have already forgotten how they were defeated by Xingti."

Lalo sneered, his voice becoming low and serious again: "A group of mages are all busy with their own research. Who has the time to manage those worldly affairs? Everyone is a mage, everyone wants to climb higher, everyone is studying those noble and profound truths, then who should be entrusted with the people's problems? Who will sacrifice themselves?
"You know, the Narcissus are more tolerant of foreigners than their own people. Just like the Theocracy is better to those who do not believe in the Ennead than to those who believe in the Celestials - they understand that not everyone needs to pray. But if you know this but still choose the way of the Celestials, then you are acting like a dwarf.

"And the Narcissus people are the same... They know that foreign countries don't have such a keen social atmosphere on the path of wisdom. But in this social atmosphere that advocates the path of wisdom, if someone still doesn't have the level of the path of wisdom, they will be considered a 'fool' by others. In the Narcissus language, there is a special derogatory name for such people, called 'meat donkey'... It means a stupid donkey that can't run fast and no one wants.

"Whoever is truly responsible for people's affairs will be laughed at by others because of the slow progress of wisdom. Then who will manage the country in the end? They do have ability and smart brains, but politics requires more than ability...it also requires attitude, responsibility and persistence."

This time, Lalo did not choose to use clownish words. Instead, he spoke with very clear logic and a very calm tone, expressing the facts that were so sharp that the mages could not accept them.

The old dog glanced at the void and said maliciously, "They thought they could steal the power of the Son of the Moon, and used wisdom to forcibly get their hands on the secret of the Son of the Moon's immortality. They tried to analyze and replicate the transformation ritual of the Son of the Moon, but in the end, they were all contaminated and turned into mutant Sons of the Moon... Their souls were imprisoned in their bodies, and stuck together with the contaminated flesh and blood.

"This can be considered as a kind of immortality. But they didn't expect that it was just a conspiracy. Instead, they were controlled by the Blood Sky Master and were about to be slowly dragged into the dream world and turned into the Blood Sky Master's apostles.

"Of course we all know this, even Hong Xiang knows it. Just like the King Slayer was waiting for the 'perfect man', they are also waiting for their opportunity... a final solution that can solve all problems and free them from the state of being controlled by the Blood Sky Master.

"Because they have been so successful all the way that they have become too arrogant. When they really hit a wall, they will know that they are powerless. From the very beginning, the mages should not have the freedom to put themselves on the scale... They will eventually suffer the consequences of their own actions.

"Of course, before that - maybe they will go crazy first. But I hope they won't provoke me. The backstab of the Narcissus Principality is the last straw that caused the disintegration of Star Antimony. If Mr. Pelican really dares to come in front of me and say something nonsense..."

The old dog Lalo growled in a low voice, and once again took a vision of the surrounding void, baring his teeth at the wizard who might be here: "I will let the noble wizard know...

"—Old dogs have a few teeth, too."

There was a kind of open-mindedness in his words that Aleister was very familiar with.

That is the cruelty of disregarding one's own life and death.

Aleister immediately understood why the other party told him so many things...

——Because when this loyal old dog entered this ceremony, he never thought about getting out alive.

(End of this chapter)