The Innkeeper

Chapter 2018: Shameless Innkeeper

Hiran Kokan, the pride of the Henali race, Governor of one of their most important realms, Dao Lord of immeasurable power, feared by almost as many people as he was loved by, suddenly started to regret his life decisions as he read the first one and a half line of the Innkeepers letter.

He was questioning his life, his decisions, his wisdom, and even this situation. He did not know if he should stop reading the letter, or continue. What if reading onwards confirmed his theory? What if he was about to be invited to the eighth wedding of the Living Calamity?

One had to know, the reason she got that name was not because of how many Dao Lords she had killed in cold blood - no, for that she had a separate title. She earned the name Living Calamity because her random whims often brought calamities to the living, sometimes resulting in situations much worse than death.

It was said that her web was so powerful, it could not be destroyed by Dao Lords in less than several thousand years! Even the Supreme Emperor of the Henali, the ruler of the entire race, preferred not to mess with her.

One might wonder why that was. They might wonder why the ruler of a race that was one of the most powerful in the universe would prefer to keep distance from a single Dao Lord? Those who knew the answer needed no explanation, and those who did not know could not tolerate the burden of that knowledge to begin with!

Very simply, it was common knowledge that when Ventura turned his gaze towards the Primordial Garden, the Matron of the Endless Weave showed him why he should stay within the bounds of civility.

Those who could understand the severity of that statement knew why she must not be messed with. Wu Kong, one of the most feared Dao Lords in the universe, was still unworthy of being considered her equal. After all, she had earned her title of Dao Queen the hard way!

Now... now the Governor might be on the verge of being invited to her latest engagement! How could he not be afraid? Was this what the Innkeeper was hinting at when he mentioned that even mortals could risk their lives for what they wanted? Was he risking his life for what he wanted?

Wait, what did he want? A matrimonial union between two forces, both with one Seat of Power was literally unprecedented in the history of the universe! Over night, the Midnight Inn could go from being someone many forces were probing to becoming an undisputed ruler!

If they joined hands, it might even be possible for them to try and unify the whole universe! As long as they acted before the universe matured, they had a chance!

The Governor was on the verge of hyper ventilating. What the hell had he stepped into? He was just using the Midnight Inn as a scapegoat while he made other plans to protect his realm. Why did the Innkeeper need to take that so personally?

Holy Celestial Shit! Hiran just remembered that the Innkeeper had mentioned that he wanted to mimic the Primordial Garden inside his Inn! What was that if not blatantly admitting that he wanted to build a home for the Primordial Queen inside his Inn?!?!?

The Governor looked up from the letter towards the Innkeeper. His expression was entirely at ease, his eyes studying the Governor with mild curiosity, his aura comforting and relaxing, as if he had not a care in the world - in the universe even. It was almost like... the aura one might have if they considered themselves the owner of the whole damn universe!

The Governor forced himself to calm down, telling himself that he was extrapolating way too much, and that the situation was not nearly as critical as he was making it out to be. It was merely a tea party. It could merely be a professional meeting. After all, though the Deity Destroyer, the one Dao Lord who had killed more Deities than anyone else in the entire universe, was famous for getting married, in the countless billions of years of her life, seven marriages was not so bad.

Yes, this was entirely normal. Besides, according to legend, she was actually quite a romantic. She would not just randomly choose to marry whoever she came across!

The Governor decided that he could literally not afford to skip reading the rest of the letter. He needed to know, needed to understand the context of the upcoming tea party, not just for himself, but for the fate of the Henali, and for the fate of the universe!

’Dear Eclipse,

I wanted to thank you for inviting me to the Primordial Garden. I have heard of your gracious hospitality, and so for our first meeting, I have personally overseen the creation of a new breed of flower that I hope to present to you...’

Hiran’s knees went weak. Fortunately he was sitting, or else he might have fallen. He could not help but turn a pair of eyes towards the Innkeeper again, and the man had not a single change in expression.

He had never seen a more shameless flirt in his life! What kind of Dao Lord would write a flirty letter to the Slayer of Sages, and then have someone else read it? Why was he getting caught up in the karma between them? Hiran didn’t want this! He didn’t want this!

While the Governor of the Origin realm was having an internal meltdown, imagining impossible scenarios that would put even Velma’s imagination to shame, Lex was wondering why the Governor was such a slow reader. Had he written something unusual in the letter? Was he ambiguous? But the Innkeepers pen should have made it so that his words were impossible to misunderstand. What was going on?

Even in Lex’s wildest dreams... he could not have imagined exactly what was going on inside Hiran Kokan’s mind.