Chapter 176: Sealed Memory

There should have been something. Even a faint glimpse of what lay hidden within Ugo would have given Moon something to work with.

Yet nothing happened.

Only the glow continued to rise higher and higher as the scroll slowly rolled up.

Moon watched the process unfold, his brows drawing together slightly.

Had he expected too much? Perhaps Ugo’s spirit was concealed too deeply to reveal itself through the contract.

Soon, the scroll had nearly reached the end and was about to seal the contract.

Just as Moon began to feel a little disappointed and his soul wavered, a sudden pressure swept through the sanctuary, making the ground vibrate for a second.

It lasted only a breath.

But Moon felt it clearly.

His heart trembled.

So Ugo’s spirit had responded.

A faint trace was enough for now. As long as there was something there, he could find a way to force it out later.

Before Moon could investigate further, the air shifted, and the scroll sealed with a vibrant golden light, followed by a faint, swirling green glow.

The moment the scroll scattered, their connecting line broke.

And in that very instant, Ugo pressed his lips against Moon’s.

He grabbed the back of Moon’s head and pressed him down, deepening the kiss.

Moon’s eyes widened in surprise, but Ugo’s eyes remained closed.

His chest was trembling beneath Moon’s body, the movement so distinct that Moon could feel it even through their clothes.

For a moment, Moon didn’t know how to react.

He felt conflicted.

He hadn’t seen or sensed any deep emotion from Ugo through their connection. Nothing had surfaced from the depths of his heart, and the soul contract had revealed almost nothing.

Yet the tremor he felt against his own chest was very daring.

It was as though Ugo were suppressing something deep inside him, something that had nearly broken free during the contract.

Moon’s thoughts stirred, but before he could make sense of the strange feeling, the kiss deepened almost making him breathless.

Ugo held him close, refusing to let him slip away. The trembling in his chest gradually subsided, growing weaker with each passing moment until it finally disappeared.

Then everything went still, leaving a deep slumber born from the soul fusion.

Moon finally huffed as he tried to catch his breath.

He lifted his head and looked at the man beneath him, only to find that Ugo’s head had tilted to the side.

His expression was peaceful, and his eyes remained closed, making him look as though he had fallen into a deep sleep.

Moon stared at him in disbelief.

He had been kissing him to the point of suffocation just a moment ago, and now he had actually fallen asleep like that.

Moon looked at the man’s gentle sleeping face, and his heart throbbed. He had finally felt the connection.

A peaceful and silent connection.

’How come he just fell asleep in the middle of kissing?’ Moon couldn’t help asking the Goddess.

[How would I know? That’s your man,] the Goddess replied.

’Is he okay? He was suppressing something earlier. Is it his wolf spirit?’ Moon wondered before asking her directly.

[That’s his wolf spirit.]

Moon’s eyes flashed with surprise.

’He can do that? He can even suppress his wolf spirit?’

[Sigh! My child, apparently, he can’t. But his spirit wasn’t fully awake, so he just sent it back with a little push.]

Moon was confused.

Axe’s spirit had simply come out like that. He still felt a sense of awe whenever he remembered that phantom. How could Ugo’s spirit be so fragile?

As if guessing what he was thinking, the Goddess spoke up again.

[Not everyone can do that. And this suppression isn’t good, either. He suppressed it with his willpower, which also suppressed his memories. That’s why you can’t see his deepest emotions, either.]

Moon suddenly felt a little betrayed.

Even though seeing someone’s deepest emotions wasn’t always a pleasant experience, he could still catch glimpses of their past and understand them better.

By suppressing his memories, hadn’t Ugo blocked him out entirely?

A sudden wave of anger surged through him.

Yet the man was in a deep slumber, looking so innocent and gentle that Moon couldn’t bring himself to wake him up and shake some sense into him.

’Why did he faint now?’ he grumbled.

[Well...]

The Goddess hesitated.

’What is it?’ Moon pressed.

[He... probably entered a dream? Like in your memory?]

"What?!" Moon shouted.

"Hell, no! He just blocked me out of his memory. Now he is seeing my soul fragment? Isn’t that utterly cheating?!"

He was so angry that he almost threw Ugo off the platform.

But he couldn’t. Otherwise, the man would probably die from the disturbance.

Moon gritted his teeth, then stormed out of the sanctuary and teleported to the Lupine Palace, leaving Ugo lying there alone.

[Um... maybe he did it so you wouldn’t fall asleep, too. It would be a disaster if you faced something in a dream right now. Isn’t that good?] the Goddess tried to coax him.

’Even if he had good intentions, he still needed to ask me first! I wanted to see the fragmented memories and emotions in his soul!’ Moon grumbled in his mind.

He sat down in a corner of the Lupine Palace, sulking.

Totally ignoring the three pairs of eyes staring at him.

.

.

.

In his deep slumber, Ugo wasn’t in any good position.

At first, when their souls connected, Ugo felt a hard pull.

Deep inside him, a roar vibrated through his very being. But then he felt the body in his arms shiver and got distracted.

In that fraction of a moment, the pressure erupted outward, as though his beast were trying to break free.

However, when he looked at Moon’s face, crumpled in pain, he suddenly remembered that Axe and Moon had been in a deep sleep for half a day.

So, he kept distracting himself with scattered thoughts.

He thought of his master, RuYi, of kissing Moon, and of the little bud he had felt inside Moon.

Gradually, his wolf calmed down.

It was as though, sensing the ecstasy in his heart and sharing in his joy, the wolf had also settled.

But the spirit was still a trapped one.

The moment the contract sealed, it slammed into Ugo’s consciousness, once again trying to break free.

At the same time, Ugo felt as though something were pulling his consciousness away from his body.

He tried to hold on, but the scene before him gradually disappeared.

He pressed his lips against Moon’s to distract himself, pushing his scattered thoughts deep into his memories.

Soon, his consciousness began to drift apart.

The stone platform, Moon, and the Stardust Sanctuary all faded from his sight.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a garden surrounded by fences.

Ugo looked down and froze.

He had no hands or feet. His body was nothing more than a small green bud growing from the soil.

’What happened to me?’

Before he could figure it out, a little boy crouched down in front of him. The boy had round eyes and a curious expression as he examined the bud.

"Mummy, why isn’t this bud growing?"