Pastor's Tantra

When Haina walked home, the sun had not yet reached its peak in Eagle Point Village.

To this day, she has not been home for four years.

In the past four years, the restaurant closest to the school entrance has been opened and opened again and again, and has changed its owners three times.

She has also changed from a country girl who knew nothing and was uneasy every day when she first came to Glass Island, to a personal disciple of the Grand Arbiter, becoming friends with the founding family and the future Her Majesty the Queen... At least she was embarrassed. Ripe.

But my hometown has not changed.

The air around me, the height of the trees in the mountains, the depth of the dirt road dug with my feet...no matter what it is, nothing has changed here.

It's as if time has stood still here.

The hourglass stops spinning, but the sun and moon don’t move. The smoke from distant kitchens still rises like it did in childhood.

At that moment, Haina had an illusion.

It's as if I'm living in a false painting, and now I'm the one in the painting again.

Suddenly, Haina stopped.

She noticed a small tree protruding from the roadside.

It was far away from the woods, standing alone on the roadside. Because of this, Haina recognized it almost immediately.

She moved closer and found the scar on the bark of the tree.

Haina stretched out her hand to keep it level, made a slight gesture, and then hit her soft chest with the heel of her palm.

She smiled helplessly and reached out to gently touch and caress the scars on the tree.

She still remembers it.

This is the trace left behind when she ran from here to school in Bagpipe Town.

At that time, her family heard that she was going to the town to study alone, and they were happy and worried at the same time. She was only thirteen or fourteen years old at the time, standing there in a small ball, not understanding anything. How can the family feel at ease?

So they gave Haina a self-defense dagger.

Although it is a dagger, to Haina, who is thirteen or fourteen years old, it is just a short knife.

That is indeed a good knife. Even from today's perspective, it is indeed a good weapon.

It has a beautiful blue-green blade, as beautiful as a lake. If you face the sun, you can also see the gradient from dark blue to dim yellow from the side... just like the night sky in the evening.

Haina vaguely remembered that the blade was engraved with curved Elvish language... Haina didn't know Elvish at that time, so she just used it as a decoration; but later she learned Elvish, but she can no longer remember it. What is written on this dagger?

Compared with the blade, the scabbard looks much plainer.

Haina could feel courage just by holding it. Whenever Haina feels restless before taking an exam, she will gradually calm down as long as she holds it.

Later she couldn't remember where the knife went. Haina had the impression that she had not thrown away the knife. But she couldn't remember when she stopped carrying daggers when she went to school.

But the family didn't blame themselves for losing the dagger. Maybe she stayed at home, or maybe she didn't tell her family... Who knows?

And this mark was left by a careless hand when passing by when the beautiful dagger was still on his body.

She originally just wanted to record how tall she was when she went out to study. Let's look at how tall he has grown after graduation... But after that, he forgot about this tree.

Perhaps because I see it when I run back and forth every week, I gradually regard it as part of the roadside scenery, and I can no longer see this small tree. It wasn't until now, when Haina came back again after four years... that she saw it again.

The tree is exactly the same as before. There is no change in size, and even the shape of the crown is exactly the same. The scars he left on the bark of the tree are still at their former height...except for a layer of scar-like traces, it's as if everything is still yesterday.

Haina gently touched the scar on the tree.

She closed her eyes, feeling nostalgia well up in her heart.

In a daze, she seemed to hear the squeaking sound of growing trees. She imagined that everything changed with time, the spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the small trees gradually grew up. And when she opened her eyes again, it seemed as if everything was just an illusion from the past that stayed in her mind.

"It's time to go home."

Haina murmured in a low voice, her tone became calmer, and the smile on her face became happy.

When she opened her eyes, her pupils had turned completely yellow.

At this time, Aiwass was feeding the young griffon with fresh meat.

The gryphon, which has not yet learned to speak, wolfed down its food.

Angelica, David's mother Nadia's gryphon companion, is standing next to Aiwass at the moment.

"...If you don't plan to walk her or play with her, you can't let this child eat too much."

The big white gryphon made a gentle voice: "As long as she is not hungry anymore, you have to take the meat away. If she tries to attack you or wants to snatch the meat, you will scold her loudly."

"It's easy to tell whether she's eaten enough. For such children, as long as their eating speed slows down significantly, they are not hungry anymore."

"Just call her by her name, Aunt Anjie?"

Aiwass asked: "Is this okay?"

Angelica nodded: "Yes. Shouting the other person's name loudly is a simple command of the authoritarian path. Just like pointing your finger at someone is a simple curse, and singing is a simple spell.

"The power of the path contained in these behaviors is very weak, and humans can hardly feel it. But for the lives that correspond to the path, it will become very clear.

"Just like pointing your finger at the devil will make the devil angry, singing to the goblins will make them happy... As long as you yell at the griffons, they will immediately know that they have done something wrong."

“What about the simple acts of the path of love?”

Lily, who was standing behind Aiwass, suddenly raised her head and asked.

Angelica's eagle head winked mischievously and replied with a smile: "Of course it's kissing and making love. This is how the Lake Fairy charms people's hearts."

"Where's the Dusk Road?"

Aiwass asked.

"It's an inscription."

Angelica replied: "Portraits and statues are half the path of beauty and half the path of twilight. So artists can easily sense the power of the twilight path.

"Compared to painters, photographers are purely Dusk Road professionals. Taking pictures of the real world and saving them is the most typical Dusk Road behavior.

"Because of this, the invisible dead who also belong to the Dusk Road are easily traced by photos. Because they sense the breath of the Dusk Road. There are many horror stories based on this principle."

"I see……"

Lily nodded, thoughtfully.

At this moment, the griffin in front of Aiwass suddenly seemed to be choked. It shook its head and rested for a while, then continued to move closer to grab the large piece of meat steak in Aiwass's hand.

"That's enough, Aiwass." Angelica reminded.

Aiwass immediately took back the steak and shouted: "Stop, Liz! Don't eat it!"

The little griffon named Liz shook her head aggrievedly.

Liz obviously understood.

But she didn't attack Aiwass, she just looked at Aiwass quietly with wet eyes, nudged him and made a soft and delicate sound.

Aiwass felt a little soft-hearted for a moment.

But he strengthened his will and said firmly: "You're not hungry anymore, Liz. Don't eat - I don't have time to play with you."

Liz shouted again when she heard this.

It's not as clear and loud as an adult falcon, but as clear and crisp as a bird.

Aiwass handed the fresh meat to Lily and asked her to wrap it. Then he touched Liz's head and neck for comfort.

Unlike David's Emily, Liz is taller. Or maybe because she is older, she is more obedient than Emily.

Her fur is half black and half white, and she has entered the moulting period. Now I can carry a person on my back. Even Haina wearing light armor can carry it, let alone Aiwass.

But there were three of them in their party. Even if you don't count the luggage, there are Aiwass, Lily and Sherlock. Liz would definitely not be able to carry it.

Phillip could have been asked to help bring everything there, including Liz - as the Great Guardian's companion gryphon, he was much more powerful than his peers.

But Philip left the Glass Island with George. Faced with this situation, Angelica could only call her best friend.

"Anjie!"

A loud female voice came from outside, and then a white griffon that was slightly larger than Angelica flew directly into the yard of David's house.

"Carmela!"

Angelica was very happy and went over to nuzzle her: "Let's talk when we come back. Let's get ready to set off. We'll probably arrive before evening - I'll take Aiwass and Lily, and you'll take Sherlock and Liz and the luggage.”

"Okay, no problem. Where's Sherlock?"

"On the way, we should be there soon."

Aiwass explained.

Hearing Aiwass's voice, Carmela came over and looked at Aiwass: "Is this the Moriarty of this generation? He looks more handsome than his father."

Aiwass was a little surprised when he heard this.

Can gryphons actually recognize human faces?

On the contrary, he could hardly recognize the appearance of these griffins... He could only judge who was who by their size, voice and personality. Not to mention which griffon is good-looking and which is not.

As if she guessed Aiwass's thoughts, Angelica explained warmly: "It's not about appearance, we can't tell what human beings look like.

"Gryphons' aesthetic standards for humans are related to humans' adaptability to the authoritarian path. Simply put, they are calm, steady, loyal, majestic, and reliable. People who are adaptable to the authoritarian path, in our opinion... Just like when you see a cute cat.”

...Oh, no wonder.

Avas immediately understood the mentality of the two rows of griffons squatting at the entrance of the palace. To them, it's probably like humans squatting there every day to watch a group of beautiful cats walking around and meowing.

So that’s it, they’re squatting there and sucking people in...

And Aiwass also understood the devil's aesthetics.

If the griffon, as an authoritative creature, has such an aesthetic, then the devil's aesthetic should also be related to the desire for transcendence...

Aiwass glanced back at Lily's shadow.

Then he probably understands how he tamed the shadow demon.