Pastor's Tantra

After it was completely dark, Aiwass put on the priest's uniform that he had not worn for a long time, and solemnly lit three brand new candles from his bedroom. 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑔𝑙𝑒 Search for 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑐𝑜𝑚Read▲

In front of Aiwass was a silver basin on the table, filled with salt that was consecrated by Aiwass during the day.

Yulia and Ligeia sat side by side on the edge of the bed, while Janice peered into the room from the landscape hanging on the wall.

Aiwass closed his eyes to the candlelight for a long time, brewing his emotions.

The sacred and faint candlelight shone on Aiwass. Behind him cast a shadow that twisted and squirmed like a living creature.

"I would like to worship Si Zhu, the god whose holy number is three, the god who binds the body with sin thorns, the god who burns the body to chase away the darkness..."

Aiwass murmured in a low voice and closed his eyes repeatedly to pray: "Please take care of the fire of my soul...take care of me like the candlelight in the corner...

"I pay my respects to Si Zhu, the god whose holy number is three..."

His solemnity also made Yulia become nervous and tense her back unconsciously.

She had always known that her brother had the ability to strengthen the Shadow Demon and the Flame-Contrary Butterfly through self-sacrifice.

But Aiwass never showed it in front of her.

Aiwass had many things that he did not show to Yulia. Some are to prevent her from worrying, and others are to prevent her from coming into contact with anything too dangerous.

Yulia knew this very well, but she couldn't argue with it. After all, this comes from Aiwass' care and love for her, and the root is the persona she constructed in front of Aiwass - in Aiwass's perception, Yulia is weak and needs to be taken care of. girl.

There are no emergencies now, and Yulia can't suddenly change herself.

After chanting three times, Aiwass plunged his hands into the salt basin in front of him that had been consecrated with the blessing technique.

He scooped up the salt with both hands, spread out his arms, and sprinkled it around casually.

Like sparks flying upward. These white salt powders are flying and circling as if they have come to life.

They gradually shone with a faint light - slowly lighting up like stars in this dim bedroom.

The shoulder straps wrapped around Aiwass's neck moved automatically in the wind, twisting and flying like two slippery sea snakes.

He lowered his head, gently stroked the salt in the basin, and sighed in a low voice: "My child, the fleshless daughter I feed...

"—Arise, and return from the flesh of all things."

Salt symbolizes physical flesh.

After hearing Aiwass's call, the Shadow Demon, who had lost consciousness and fell into a dream, emerged from the shadow in the salt basin in front of him like a puppy that had been called by its owner.

It was an indistinct shadow. Like silt, like a swamp.

Under Aiwas's caress, the salt in the basin flows autonomously, making the sound of waves like the ebb and flow of the tide.

"I am your totem, I am your father, I am your god."

Aiwass chanted in a low voice: "You must not touch my holiness, you must not harm my body——

"However, when I die, you should be sad; however, after the day of my death, you should celebrate!"

Aiwass said, taking out a short gun from the shadow formed by the salt.

He raised the salt gun high, and then fiercely inserted the gun into his abdomen!

Yulia suddenly shivered in shock and almost screamed.

But at this moment, a pair of cold hands stretched out from behind her and covered her mouth.

"Don't be afraid, child," Yanis's voice sounded softly from behind her, "This is how sacrifice works."

"... Do you have to hurt yourself to sacrifice?!"

Yulia lowered her voice and said in a somewhat anxious and frightened voice: "Could something go wrong?"

"correct."

Yanis said softly: "This is the ritual. The essence of the ritual is to imitate, and the purpose is to transcend."

Ligeia on the side also nodded.

Today, she has also deepened her understanding of the path to transcendence through study.

The white-haired dragon girl replied softly: "There is a desire in the human heart, which is an unstoppable and inevitable instinct of 'imitation'. It is the most essential thing of human beings, and it will be repeated with external sounds. And strengthen.

"When we are still children who don't understand anything and don't know what 'self' is, we will instinctively imitate people in the outside world. Imitate their language, imitate their expressions, and imitate their every move. That comes from the snake The Father's compassion allows people to transcend the beastly path of love.

"——Thus, we changed from beasts to humans."

On the other side, after Aiwass penetrated the salt spear, the blood flowed outwards along the priest's uniform and leached to the ground at an extremely slow speed.

The shadow in the salt pond instantly began to boil violently.

It's like adding some kind of reagent - Yulia thought.

And Aiwass was still chanting the secret words from the "Shepherd's Tantra":

"You shall celebrate my death, you shall sing my holiness. You shall inaugurate celebrations, you shall hold high the scepter."

Aiwass said this and took out the second salt gun from the salt pond.

He turned his head slightly and inserted the salt gun directly into his collarbone from the side of his neck!

The severe pain caused Aiwass's pupils to contract and relax, and his lips trembled violently.

He choked and coughed up pink foam.

And a line of dark red blood gushed out from his neck and soaked into the pure white priest uniform.

The thin blood instantly spurted out in spherical shapes in all directions, and the candlelight around Aiwass seemed to dim a little, reflecting the dark red blood light.

On the other side, Ligeia was still whispering: "Some children are too good at imitating, too focused on the 'imitate me' commands, and enthusiastically follow the shadows cast by those lights. So they become 'good children' ', 'smart children'... But what they imitate is not a holy and flawless icon, but a person with bad character.

"So this incompleteness will also be reflected in imitation. Eventually, they will encounter problems that cannot be solved by just imitating the people around them - and the more enthusiastic children are in imitating, the more likely they will be when they first hit the wall. The stimulation you endure will become more intense.

"Young children have no right to refuse in front of adults. Therefore, for those who issue the command of 'imitate me', every 'no' in their mouths is like thunder, insurmountable and unvetoable.

"The inevitable failure faced in the process of imitation will strengthen the desire to imitate. This cycle repeats and falls into the abyss of being manipulated.

"And during this process, if the seeds of evil thoughts breed in the soul, they will want to escape from this cycle. This desire is [transcendence], and the seeds are [fall], [change], and [Violence]. And this kind of violence is also an extension of authority.

"——Among many acts of transcendence, the essence of 'sacrifice' is violence."

Ligeia said softly as if she was missing someone or remembering someone.

Yulia looked at her as if she were looking at another person leaching out of her body.

It was another person who had shared these "secrets of sacrifice" with Ligeia...or, rather, with Meg. One who belongs to the beyond path.

"Either because of fear of drought, or wanting to prolong life, or looking for a scapegoat, or seeking sleep after death, or seeking victory in war, or enjoying the intoxication of carnival... Ancient humans all over the world , in the end, without exception, they chose 'sacrifice'. No matter whether the victim is a human or an animal, it is a kind of group violence, a kind of violence recognized by the group.

"——The essence of ritual is imitation, and the essence of sacrifice is violence. Imitation is the proof that human beings are the sons of the snake father, while sacrifice is the fallen instinct soaked in desire deep in the human soul."

When Ligeia said this, she paused slightly. He clenched his fingers subconsciously.

She said softly: "Extraordinary people who transcend the path will have such self-destructive tendencies. They will regard themselves as a vessel, and the vessel is a kind of shackles. Those who seek transcendence will eventually have the desire to smash the shackles .

"They will hurt themselves for the purpose...not for greed, but for the purpose itself.

"...I once knew an extraordinary person who transcended the path. He completed self-sacrifice before a near-death battle. By then, even if he won, he would not be able to return, so this cannot be regarded as a struggle for survival. The sacrifices they made; they probably couldn't win, so it wasn't about success; no one valued their death, so it wasn't about honor.

"I have also thought about why they are like this for a long time... It was not until recently that I understood that the goal itself is the goal, and the extension of desire is still desire. Transcendents are always like this."

Watching Aiwass raise the third salt gun, the shadows in the salt basin instantly became silent. Ligeia's voice became hoarse.

Yulia suddenly turned around and noticed that Ligeia's pupils were shining with a bright purple glow.

Watching such a transcendent ritual resonates with the transcendent path. Just like an artist can feel beauty when appreciating other people's works, Ligeia's originally stable physical state was also deflected by the resonance of this pastoral ceremony.

The dragon scales on her body creaked, and worms seemed to be crawling under her flesh. The whole person is growing slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

And Aiwass's deep and hoarse voice still sounded in the bedroom:

"Who will be sacrificed? What will end? What words will be passed down through the ages?

"——I offer you my sacrificial song!

"My love, my son, my flesh, my inheritance, my altar, obey me—"

The salt grains suspended in the air turned into brilliant stars. At this moment, Aiwass seemed to be standing in the Milky Way.

He raised the salt gun and pointed it at his heart.

At this moment, the shadow under Aiwass and the shadow in the silver basin in front of him had completely subsided. Showing an eerie tranquility.

Yulia immediately clenched her palms and wanted to rush forward. But Ligeia grabbed her arm.

She turned around almost angrily, only to see Ligeia's face cracked like broken porcelain, with blood oozing from it. At this time, she was about four or five years older than before, and now she looked to be the same age as Yulia. Ligeia's eyes were shining with a strange purple light at this moment, but her face was expressionless.

——Just listening to the secret words of "Shepherd's Tantra" made her body start to grow.

Ligeia felt a strong thirst—the thirst came from Aiwass, who was standing in front of the salt basin, his body soaked in blood.

But her extremely tenacious rationality easily suppressed this desire, and suppressed Yulia at the same time.

Aiwass looked down at Shadow Demon pitifully and said softly: "I offer you...

"——I died in an instant."

When Aiwass's voice fell, the salt gun wrapped in shadow penetrated Aiwass's heart like the stake that killed the Moon Child.

It wasn't just a simple injury where the heart was penetrated... That kind of injury was no longer enough to kill Aiwass instantly.

This is self-sacrifice, the most holy ritual, the purest devotion.

Aiwass dedicated himself as a sacrifice on the altar to his own demon——

For a moment, Aiwass's pupils dimmed.

It was as if he was on top of the giant's cauldron and had his heart pierced by the shadow demon.

All his life force disappeared instantly.

Aiwass died immediately, his body falling backwards weakly. The shadows restraining the salt gun leached out from the three wounds like living creatures, wrapping Aiwass around.

He fell into the shadow egg. Countless shadows were like spider webs, spreading everywhere, shaking and extinguishing the three candles dedicated to Si Zhu. Then these shadows were dyed bright red, and the whole room was reflected in a terrifying blood red.

It's not like before, just a sacrifice of blood and mana. Instead, give all your life, soul, and will.

If the shadow demon makes no response, it is tantamount to a completely selfless sacrifice without asking for anything.

Aiwass will die. His life, his soul, will become part of Shadow Demon.

"……Why."

However, "Shadow Demon" sighed.

This is not the sweet voice of Miss Assassin, nor is it the cold, intellectual and mature voice of "Bayard". But a new voice that is ethereal and hoarse, like a whispering dream:

"——I am willing to give everything I have in exchange for my master returning from nothingness."

That is the final step in pastoral law.

Pastoral care must be selfless and therefore without seeking any reward.

In other words, the other party must not be restrained in any form from "repaying a favor."

Then the sacrifice of everything, including the contract, life, and soul, is the most selfless sacrifice. A very risky move to transcend.

Only when the other party responds can everything that has been given be returned in exchange.

In an instant, the shadow egg dissipated like time went back.

After Shadow Demon returned Aiwass' sacrifice, his body was still stained with blood, and an extremely weak Aiwass emerged from it. Although the wound that penetrated his heart still existed, and although his vitality was weak, he was still alive.

But behind him, stood another strange existence.

She hugged Aiwass from behind to prevent him from falling to the ground.

The demon had the upper body of a human, and looked like Bayard or Aiwass. The sad scarlet wolf eyes make people feel intense fear.

The long, silky black hair spread to the middle of her thighs and was flying wildly behind her. And a pair of illusory black wings made of shadows grew out of her back. The silhouette is like a crow's wings.

She was naked, and her key parts were covered with invisible shadows. But there were strange but very charming dark red bloodstains from his cheek to his waist. From the waist down, there is an amorphous gaseous body spraying black smoke. The skin on both arms from the elbows down is also completely matte, pitch black and transparent. The sharp claws looked very ferocious, but they did not hurt Aiwass at all when he hugged him.

When she appeared, the entire room was filled with blood.

That is the Night Demon, the upper-level demon who will bring about the bloody night when he appears.

As a superior demon that controls the power of the path of love, it also controls the power of shadow, blood and curse.

Rumor has it that the Night Stalker will grant the wishes of jealous people, give them power, and inspire them to seek revenge.

People who make deals with the Night Stalker have a common characteristic, that is, they lose their shadow during the day. And after nightfall, their shadows will control their bodies and do things they dare not do.

After satisfying the deal, the Night Demon will drain the opponent's blood and soul in a bloody night. In the end, only people will remember that the bloody night came, but no one will remember that this person once existed.

In many places, it is worshiped as a "blood god" by the stupid.

Night Stalker isn't even on the Shadow Stalker's evolutionary tree.

This is one of the highest-ranking demons extended by the Mark of Jealousy. Its status and power are equal to those of the Punishment Demon.

The Night Demon is the "executor" who helps the Fallen Sky Division harvest the souls of sinners, and is also the "debt collector" for those who made promises to the Fallen Sky Division but arrogantly broke the promise.

Night Demon stared at Yulia coldly, her scarlet, malicious pupils filled with unconcealed, almost crazy jealousy.

That gaze was enough to make anyone timid, but Yulia was just stunned for a moment, and then her gaze suddenly turned cold.

"Shadow Demon... no, I should call you Night Demon."

Aiwass's weak voice sounded.

Seeing that Aiwass had regained consciousness, Night Demon immediately handed the candle to Aiwass.

Aiwass lit the candle and held on to the flame. The method of sacrificial fire began to continuously treat Aiwass's wounds, and his body began to slowly recover.

He raised his head in Night Demon's arms and looked at Night Demon who was at least two meters tall after floating up.

"Long time no see, Shadow Demon."

He smiled and said softly: "First meeting, Night Demon. What should I call you?"

"...Call me Bayard...No, let's call me Vines."

The ethereal, hoarse, echoing voice sounded from behind Aiwass: "Vines Emile Zola Bayard...that was my former name, my master."

Unlike her past days as a shadow demon, she openly admits to her past.

Devouring all of "self", this is now her most complete form.

The corners of Aiwass's mouth raised slightly.

"It's such a pity that you can no longer become a snake, a puppy, or a kitten..."

Aiwass said softly: "How about I call you little bird?

"My loyal, loving... little crow who took my life and soul back into its mouth?"

When Aiwass's voice fell, Vignes behind him dispersed into a ball of smoke and turned into a shadowy crow with scarlet pupils, and quietly stopped on Aiwass's shoulder.

"As you wish, my lord."

Like an elegant young lady, she whispered softly.

Two chapters in one, finally caught up——

I'm super, the temperature has dropped so much recently. I slept for more than five hours yesterday, and this morning I suddenly cramped under the quilt. I had severe cramps without even kicking my legs, which woke me up directly...

Because I didn’t sleep enough, I went to take a nap right after breakfast. When I woke up, it was almost six o’clock, and my schedule was completely messed up (sad)

The good news is, I’m finally back to eating three meals a day. The bad news is that the third meal hasn't been eaten yet.

Eating 3→2 and sleeping 3→1 are yes.