I just became the Pirate King, and you're telling me I also time-traveled at the same time.

Chapter 1068 The Old Wolf Butler's Methods

But it was definitely a laugh.

A very old laugh, the kind that comes from having seen too much and is no longer interested in anything in the world.

"Sit down," said the wolf king.

Its voice wasn't loud, but it resonated throughout the entire space. It wasn't a deliberate, magically enhanced voice; rather, it was simply the way its voice was naturally shaped—deep, resonant with its chest, like the sound of the lowest string of a cello being slowly pulled.

Two stone slabs silently rose from the ground, neither too high nor too low, just enough for a person to sit cross-legged on. The surface of the slabs was worn smooth, and when you sat on them, a warm sensation emanated from them, as if someone had just sat on them.

Chu Yang sat down. Sun Wukong also sat down. The two sat in completely different postures—Chu Yang sat cross-legged with his hands on his knees; Sun Wukong sat cross-legged but hunched over, his golden cudgel across his legs, his hands on the cudgel, his chin resting on the back of his hands, looking utterly bored.

The Wolf King glanced at Chu Yang, then at Sun Wukong, the smile in his golden eyes deepening slightly.

"It's rare to see two people sitting still like that," it said.

"Whether we see each other often or not, we'll sit the same," Sun Wukong said.

The wolf king didn't respond, its gaze shifting between the two before finally settling on Chu Yang. It seemed to be judging who was in charge, and the result was clear—it thought it was Chu Yang.

"That little fox," the wolf king said, "the moonlight emanating from her is the essence of the moon."

Chu Yang did not deny it: "She inherited the seal of Yuehua."

"Inheritance." The Wolf King repeated the word, his lips twitching slightly, whether in a smile or something else, it was hard to tell. "Yuehua sacrificed her own life, but her descendants don't have to die; they can just sit there meditating. Yuehua certainly knew how to calculate this."

Chu Yang didn't respond. Responding or not responding was both wrong; it was best not to.

The wolf king didn't expect him to answer. It shifted its position, resting its chin on its front paws, its golden eyes half-open and half-closed, looking as if it were dozing, but each word it uttered became more and more lucid.

"Do you know where this is?" it asked.

"Seal it," Chu Yang said.

"Seal." The wolf king repeated, this time genuinely smiling, his lips curving upwards to reveal half a row of teeth. "You call it a seal. We call it a cage."

It raised its head, its gaze shifting from Chu Yang to sweep across the entire underground space, as if looking at a house it had lived in for many years but had never liked.

"We've been here for a long time," it said, "so long that I can't even remember what it looks like outside anymore. I know there's a sun, a moon, wind, rain, the changing seasons, and day and night. I remember the names of these things, but I can't remember what it feels like to have the sun shining on my fur."

Its voice remained calm, so calm it was almost cruel.

"The moon. I remember its light. But I don't remember what it tastes like."

Sun Wukong paused for a moment. He looked up at the wolf king, something flashing in his eyes. He had sprung from a stone, and from birth he had seen the sky, the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars; he had never been confined anywhere for more than a day. But looking at the old wolf, he suddenly thought—what would happen if he were locked up somewhere, until he forgot the taste of the sun?

He couldn't figure it out. Because he didn't want to think about it.

Chu Yang was silent for a few moments before speaking: "You want to leave."

It's not a question, it's a statement.

The wolf king looked at him, the smile in his golden eyes completely vanished, replaced by a pure, straightforward, and unadorned emotion.

eager.

It wasn't a crazy, irrational, reckless desire. It was a desire that had been suppressed for a long time, suppressed until only a thin layer of ice remained to cover it. Beneath the ice was bottomless water, still and quiet, but it was there, so deep that the bottom could not be seen.

"I want to," the Wolf King said, just one word, but the weight of that word was heavier than all his previous words combined.

Chu Yang remained silent, waiting for it to continue.

The wolf king rested its chin on its front paws, its eyes fixed on the warm yellow light stones in the dome. The light from the stones reflected in its golden pupils, dyeing them a deeper, richer color, like a drop of resin sealed in amber.

"We didn't come here willingly," it said. "Yuehua tricked us into this place. She traded her life for our imprisonment. I used to think it was unfair. Now that I'm old, I don't think it's unfair at all. In war, you lose and you lose; there's no such thing as fairness or unfairness."

It paused for a moment.

"But is being locked up for life for losing once a mistake a bit too long?"

Sun Wukong's lips moved, but he didn't make a sound.

Chu Yang spoke up: "What do you want us to do?"

The wolf king withdrew its gaze from the dome and returned it to Chu Yang. It stared at him for a long time, so long that the temperature in the air seemed to rise a little, so long that Sun Wukong tapped his golden cudgel twice, so long that the ears of the two white wolves below the platform went from being pursed up to standing up, and then from standing up to tilting slightly forward.

"Let us out," said the wolf king.

Chu Yang did not answer immediately.

Sun Wukong remained silent.

The entire underground space fell silent, so quiet that the faint buzzing sound emanating from the light stones on the dome could be heard, like bees flying in the distance.

"We can't make those decisions." Chu Yang finally spoke, his voice not loud, but every word clear. "The seal isn't ours, Yuehua isn't our ancestor, and we didn't create this small world. We're just passing through."

The wolf king blinked. Its golden eyes dimmed briefly in the blink, then brightened again. It wasn't disappointed, or at least it didn't show it. It had lived too long; it had long since learned not to reveal its weaknesses to others.

"But," Chu Yang said.

The wolf king's ears perked up.

"We can help pass on the message," Chu Yang said. "There are people out there who can make decisions. Not us, but we can find them."

The wolf king remained silent for a few moments, as if assessing the sincerity in Chu Yang's words. The result of its assessment seemed to satisfy it, because its tail, which had been hanging down, lifted slightly, less than an inch off the ground. But that inch of distance tore open a gap in the weight that had been suppressed in this underground space for countless years.

"To what extent can you make decisions?" the wolf king asked.

"I can't make the decision myself," Chu Yang said, "but I can propose solutions."

"What plan?"

Chu Yang didn't answer immediately. He was thinking. Not just on a whim, but from the very first moment he stepped into this underground space. From the first glance at the wolf king, the first sight of the two white wolves, the first breath of this air, he was thinking.

His thought was—should he release these wolves?

It's not a question of whether they can win. Whether they can win is a matter of strength; whether they can release them is another matter. Wolves are naturally adversaries of foxes—this is what Bai Xi said, and it's something Su Wanwan has personally experienced. What would happen if you released a pack of wolves, naturally adversaries of foxes, into a world where foxes live?

He needs insurance.

"There's one condition." Chu Yang looked up at the Wolf King. "It's not my condition, it's a condition I'm going to use to negotiate with the person in charge. Whether you can accept it will determine whether there's a next round of this conversation."

The wolf king narrowed his golden eyes slightly: "Speak."

"A restriction," Chu Yang said. "Every wolf that leaves this place will have a restriction implanted within its body. There are three restrictions: First, it must never attack the fox clan without permission. Second, it must not commit evil deeds or indiscriminately kill innocent people in the outside world. Third, it must not attempt to lift or bypass the restriction."

He paused, letting his words sink into the air.

"If any one of the three conditions is triggered, the restriction will take effect immediately. There will only be one outcome." He looked into the wolf king's eyes and said, word by word, "Sudden death."

The air in the underground space suddenly turned cold.

It wasn't the temperature dropping; the atmosphere had changed. The two white wolves' ears snapped back, pressed against their scalps, their lips curled up, revealing their teeth, and a low, continuous growl escaped their throats. It wasn't a threat; it was anger. It was the body's automatic reaction to hearing an unacceptable proposal.

The wolf king did not move.

It didn't even blink. It just looked at Chu Yang, his image reflected in its golden eyes, small and clear, like a tiny person embedded in two golden beads.

The air was so heavy it felt like it was about to freeze.

Sun Wukong had already gripped the golden cudgel, not to strike, but to prepare to strike. His body leaned slightly forward, his center of gravity low, like a spring compressed to its limit, ready to spring out at any moment.

This silence lasted for a long time.

So long that the howls of the two white wolves slowly changed from anger to unease, and then from unease to confusion. They looked at the wolf king, waiting for its reaction, but the wolf king did not react at all.

It simply looked at Chu Yang.

Then it laughed.

This laugh was different from any before. It wasn't a casual laugh, nor a self-deprecating laugh; it was a complex laugh, a mixture of bitterness and relief. It was like someone who had walked a long way and finally reached the top of a mountain, only to look down and see not the grassland he had imagined, but a vast desert. He laughed not because he was happy, but because he finally knew the answer.

"Sudden death." The wolf king repeated these two words, savoring them as if considering their meaning. "What do you take us for? Dogs?"

"To be a wolf," Chu Yang said. "That's why I made this condition."

The wolf king's eyes widened slightly.

Chu Yang continued, "Dogs don't need this kind of restraint. Dogs are obedient. Wolves are not. Wolves have their own thoughts, their own tempers, and their own pride. I don't expect you to behave yourselves after you come out, nor do I expect you to wag your tails for everyone. I only ask one thing—don't touch the fox clan, and don't wreak havoc on the human world."

He paused for a moment, his tone unchanged, still the same flat and indifferent tone, as if he were saying that the weather was nice today.

"You can be arrogant if you want. You can be fierce if you want. You can take over territory, compete for superiority, and fight with other demon clans. That's your freedom. But as long as you don't mess with the fox clan and don't do evil, no one will bother you."

After hearing these words, the wolf king remained silent for a long time.

It lowered its head, looking at its chin resting on its front paws. Some of the fur on its chin was white, not a pure white, but the kind of white that comes with age and loss of color. It licked its front legs, the barbs on its tongue scraping against the fur with a soft rustling sound.

"The restriction," it whispered. "Where should it be buried?"

"Inside the body," Chu Yang said. "The specific location and form need to be determined by someone knowledgeable. I'm just proposing a plan, not executing it."

"Someone in the know." The wolf king raised his head. "Are you talking about that old fox?"

Chu Yang knew it was referring to Bai tide.

"It could be. It could be someone else. I'm not sure."

The wolf king fell silent again. This silence was much shorter than the last. It nodded after only about five or six breaths.

It wasn't spoken with its mouth, but with its eyes. The gold in its eyes suddenly shone brightly, like two lit lamps. That brightness wasn't excitement, nor was it agitation; it was the sudden relief that came after making a decision that should have been made long ago but which it had never had the courage to make.

"Yes," said the wolf king.

The howls of the two white wolves abruptly ceased. They simultaneously turned to look at the wolf king, their gray eyes filled with shock and confusion. The white wolf on the left opened its mouth as if to say something, but before it could, the wolf king's gaze swept over it.

Just a glance.

There was no threat, no oppression, not even any extraneous emotion. It was just a glance.

The white wolf shut its mouth, lowered its head, tucked its ears back in, and tucked its tail between its legs, shrinking into a quiet, gray ball of fur.

Sun Wukong's lips twitched when he saw this. He didn't say anything, but what he was thinking was—this old wolf steward's methods were more efficient than many of the stewards he had ever seen.

Chu Yang saw it too, but he didn't react at all. He simply nodded, as if the matter was over and it was time to move on to the next thing.

"Su Wanwan." When he said this name, his tone softened slightly more than when he was negotiating, but only slightly. "She is currently in meditation. I don't know how long it will take. But after she comes out of meditation, she will need to continue her cultivation and strengthen the seal. As long as the seal is not completely stabilized, you will not be able to get out."

The wolf king nodded. Its nodding was slow; even this simple action required considerable effort.

"She will get out," the Wolf King said. "The successor of Moonlight will not die here."

Chu Yang looked at it but didn't ask why it was so sure.

Some questions don't need to be asked. The old wolf, who has lived for countless years, has witnessed too much life and death, and seen too many traditions passed down. Its judgment on "who will die where" is more accurate than any living being.

"While she's in meditation," the Wolf King suddenly said, "you may stay here." (End of Chapter)