Chapter 44: Despicable Greed
The scenes before Su Xiao flickered continuously. The soul memories of the Moon Wolf were too vast, and coupled with the fact that the Moon Wolf had died many years ago, the ancient soul memories had become fragmented. Su Xiao chose to intercept only a portion, focusing on matters related to the Abyss, the Atos Family, and Emperor Tayatu.
In the Moon Wolf’s soul memories, the Atos Family and Emperor Tayatu were both deeply memorable and seemingly insignificant.
The scene before Su Xiao transformed into a first-person perspective—this was what the Moon Wolf had once seen.
On the icefield, snow flew wildly. A group of travelers emerged from the blizzard. The leader was dressed in luxurious attire, with a small beard on his chin and sharp, eagle-like eyes.
“Great existence, I am Atos Baiken, here to pay my respects.”
The leader, Atos Baiken, knelt on one knee, hand over his chest, bowing his head in reverence.
“Human, this is not a place for you to come. Return. I will not involve myself in your conflicts. Regard me as the moon in the sky. A thousand years have passed; you need not fear me. We are all elemental guardians.”
The Moon Wolf stood in the wind and snow. In its wolf form at that time, its body was enormous, dozens of meters in length, standing like a mountain in the biting cold.
“Supreme existence, we have come to seek the Abyss Gate.”
Atos Baiken lowered his head even further, almost touching the ground.
“Do not pry into the power of the Abyss. Though power itself has no good or evil, living beings do. The power of the Abyss represents the extremes of two poles. If one harbors good thoughts, it is light; if one gives rise to evil, it is darkness.”
The Moon Wolf looked down at Atos Baiken and the others, as if sighing. It knew these people would not easily give up.
“The power of the Abyss has been tainted somewhere in this world. What is born from the center of that taint is what you know as the Doom Object. This is the beginning of misfortune. Do you wish to see your world crumble into dust?”
As the Moon Wolf spoke, moonlight gathered above it, forming an image: countless beings wailing, the earth collapsing, the sky swallowed by darkness—a scene of apocalypse and despair.
“The limits you can reach are not yet enough to glimpse the Abyss. Isn’t it fortunate to simply pass down generation after generation? Why pursue what you cannot control? The supernatural of this world is enough for you to explore for eons. Nothing is more splendid than civilization. Cherish what you have now. If one day, an evil god descends, I will protect you, even if it means dying in this world. That is the oath I made with my allies.”
The Moon Wolf’s voice dissipated with the cold wind, and the surrounding temperature grew even colder. Atos Baiken and the others shouted something, but the Moon Wolf ignored them, and they were forced to retreat.
The soul memory blurred for a moment, and then someone else came to the Extreme Southern Cold Land. This person was tall and sturdy, wearing an iron-black crown, seated on a steel carriage pulled by thousands of slaves.
The steel carriage stopped, and the slaves knelt in the snow. The king on the carriage strode down, eventually stopping amidst the howling wind and snow.
After hesitating for a long time, the man removed his crown and made as if to kneel on one knee.
“You are the king of humanity, the founder of civilization. There is no need to kneel to me. Human king, why have you come to see me?”
The Moon Wolf stopped in the wind and snow ahead, its massive form faintly visible, majestic and imposing.
“Supreme existence, I am Tayatu Oti, ruler of the Tayatu civilization.”
Emperor Tayatu slightly bowed his head, showing respect to the Moon Wolf.
“Are you also here to seek the Abyss Gate?”
“Of course not. The Abyss Gate only brings disaster.”
“Then why have you come here?”
“Supreme existence, I am here to visit.”
As Emperor Tayatu spoke, he waved his hand, and slaves carried gifts into the wind and snow.
The Moon Wolf narrowed its eyes. It cared little for these gifts, but the humans of this world had been visiting too frequently. Ever since the Abyss Gate appeared in this world, it had been suppressing it and could not easily leave the Extreme Southern Cold Land.
To the Moon Wolf, Emperor Tayatu’s visit was merely a small episode in its long vigil. It paid it no mind. But one day, a meteor streaked across the sky.
This filled the Moon Wolf with a strong sense of foreboding. Even it would have to give its all to resist this ominous sign.
When the Moon Wolf arrived at the landing site of the celestial meteor, the meteor had already been moved. The Moon Wolf had two choices at that time: 1. Ignore the Abyss Gate in the Extreme South and search for the meteor. If it did so, it wouldn’t be long before the Abyss Gate formed a black hole vortex that would devour everything, using this point as the center to tear the world apart.