Chapter 108: A Peaceful Night

"Other three entrances?"

"You entered one cave, right? There were five cave mouths in the Black Sea Gorge. I entered another one. There are still three left," Moon stated calmly.

"Fuck! They’re all treasure troves?" Axe cursed, eyes glinting with excitement.

"Don’t be so happy. They can be very dangerous," Moon noted.

Oshan chimed in, "The packs are still searching for that place, right?"

Moon nodded. "They haven’t found the real entrances yet, but they’re getting closer.

If we want the materials, we have to go before they find them."

Nox’s jaw tightened. "When?"

"Tonight after dinner." Moon took another sip of tea.

"Lupine can help me transfer most of the treasure into one side of the Lost Realm.

Then we can abandon the other parts or hide them.

But first we need to conquer them—I mean, we need to open them.

As long as we claim ownership, Lupine can help rearrange the realm."

Moon spoke calmly.

He had been thinking about this for a long time.

He could not give up the other three gates.

Axe grinned. "Well, that sounds just right. But can we open them?"

"Hmm."

Moon looked at all of them and felt a quiet sense of hope.

The courtyard was now safe enough for Marina and the others to stay.

And the Lost Realm was no longer quiet.

It was becoming lively.

He needed to make a real home there—one where he would not need to hide or flee anymore.

.

.

.

The sound of the kitchen drifted out with the savory smell of roasting meat.

Moon could hear laughter and the clatter of pots, mixed with Marina and Amelia’s soft voices gossiping about the neighbor from the east side who had been cheated at the market.

The hum of cooling tea still lingered on the stone table in front of him.

Axe had gone outside with Oshan a while ago.

Nox sat nearby, tinkering with a jade plate in silence.

Moon just sat there, thinking about nothing in particular.

For a long time, he could not pin down the feeling in his chest.

Without noticing, he started humming a tune he had long forgotten.

Maybe it was because of Marina’s bright chatter. Or maybe the clinking of the pots. For a moment, he almost felt like he was not a fugitive anymore.

After a while, he sent his consciousness into the Lupine Palace.

What he found nearly choked him.

"Leo, stop it..." he grumbled.

The little red wolf froze mid-air, still trying to jump high and spit fire at Lupine’s back.

Lupine was currently flying around the hall while clutching his burning ass.

From the other side, Rio calmly splashed icy water, putting the flames out with precise little bursts.

The sheer stupidity of the situation made Moon’s forehead throb.

Both pups looked up, stupefied, the moment Moon’s soul presence filled the space. He rubbed his temple and said, exasperated,

"Master, how could you even get burned? And... in that place..."

He could not finish the sentence from embarrassment.

Lupine was a soul entity.

He should not burn unless he was deliberately riling the pups up.

"Ahem. Ahem."

Lupine cleared his throat, shook his robe once, and the burn marks vanished as if they had never been there.

He stood elegantly in front of Moon.

"Look at your mates. You need to teach them manners. Manners, okay? They have no respect for their elders at all."

"Is this how you teach manners?" Moon asked dryly. "You could have just frozen them."

Lupine combed his beard and pretended not to hear.

Moon sighed. "Anyway. I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" Lupine’s tone turned serious.

"If I keep people inside here, what happens when I go out? Where will they be ejected?"

Lupine combed his beard thoughtfully. "You want to take them to the gorge inside the palace?"

"Hmm. Isn’t it safer? I can’t use a transportation array. It consumes too much energy, and we are four people this time."

"You can’t take them inside the Lupine Palace," Lupine said. "People will always be ejected at the same place they entered."

Moon’s mood deflated. He pointed at the two wolf pups. "What about them? I’ve been keeping them in here."

"They are not human right now. You can keep beasts and other things here and use the space as storage, but not people."

Moon blinked. "Aren’t they also human?"

"Not in this form. Right now they count as your pets."

Moon coughed.

He suddenly wondered what Leo would do if he ever heard he was being called a pet.

"...Umm. Then I’ll keep them here for now."

Lupine walked back and forth as he spoke.

"One thing I must remind you, Moon. Once you reach the cave mouths, the Lupine Palace cannot be used to take things out or as storage anymore. The place will be sealed. You need to break the seal of other places first."

"Hmm. I’ll be careful. So I need to bring the necessary things in my storage necklace?"

"Yes."

Moon hesitated. "Do you have any more storage rings or pouches?"

Lupine’s eyes narrowed. "Why? For your mates?"

"...Actually, yes. What if we get separated later?"

Lupine stroked his beard. "I may have one or two. But why would I give them to you?"

"What do you want?"

"I initially need to find my sword, Nightmare, first. But you are still too weak for that. Still, you can help. When you go inside the caves, search for any Nightshade gold plates or tokens you find. There are thousands scattered around the Lost Realm. I need them to repair my statue. It’s incomplete right now."

"I’ll remember."

Moon pulled his consciousness back and took out his cauldron.

Nox lifted his head from where he had been engrossed in his formation work in the yard.

"You want to refine pills now?"

"Let’s make some preparations. Poison pills and sleeping powder."

Nox nodded. "Wait a little. I have something." He stood up.

Moon looked at his hands curiously. "What is it?"