The Innkeeper

Chapter 2186: The Innkeeper is actually...

The urgency of the knocks aside, the sudden blaring warning notifications pushed Lex’s mind into a state of heightened attention. One second was really not a lot of time, and yet for an alert immortal, it was still more than enough time to do a lot.

Lex opened the door, aware that if whoever was knocking could shake the whole damn Inn and system with their knocks, the only thing holding them back was their own decision to not break down the door. At the same time, he hid the Butter Knife in his sleeve just in case he needed it.

Honestly, he could more or less guess who was knocking. There were very few guests who could evade the detection of the system.

As soon as the door opened, Wu Kong appeared right in front of the desk and transmitted his message via spirit sense, immediately letting Lex know what the situation was.

Another system notification sounded in his mind, but Lex could not pay attention to it now. Wu Kong had alerted him to an emergency! The Dream realm - a realm that had been sealed through the joint effort of multiple Sage races countless billions of years ago - had somehow been unsealed.

The Dream realm was exceptionally dangerous, but more importantly, extremely troublesome to deal with. All living beings that had the potential to dream could become victims to the Dream realm, which could connect to all dreams across the universe.

Previously, when someone’s dream was connected to the Dream realm, they were temporarily transported to the realm. The frequency was, honestly, not that great however it still posed a dire risk to many forces across the universe. One of the most common methods of ambushing Dao Lords back then was to artificially induce sleep and put them into a dream state, forcing them into the Dream realm.

The goal was not to actually defeat the Dao Lords, but instead to forcibly transport them elsewhere, leaving their original location undefended. This became a glaring security threat to countless forces across the universe. Thus, with the initiative from the Primal race, the realm was sealed from the rest of the universe.

That in itself was not such a bad thing, as the realm was not destroyed. It was a Mature realm with many unique qualities and resources. More importantly, its presence had already become a part of the universe’s framework since it was one of the earliest realms to mature.

However, now that the realm had been unsealed for some reason - a feat in and of itself a miracle - the effect of the realm’s unique ability to reach out to dreamers was much greater. Perhaps because it had been deprived of visitors and dreamers for so long, it was forcefully connecting with countless beings across the universe, making them fall asleep and pulling them in.

This had never happened before, which is why it was difficult to predict what other changes the realm might be experiencing. Traditionally, as long as one woke up they would return to their original place, but Wu Kong doubted that things would be so simple this time around, so he requested that the Innkeeper send a tavern alongside him to establish an artificial exit.

Time was too short, and the urgency of the situation was too great. More importantly, while Wu Kong left a lot of things unsaid, Lex could make a few conclusions of his own. What were the chances of such a thing happening in the middle of a war being completely unrelated to the war? The chances were few to none, meaning it was likely that this was the next progression of the war.

He would have liked to stay out of it, if it weren’t for the fact that apparently even guests and workers from the Inn were being sent to the Dream realm. With limited time, and a decision that needed to be made, Lex quickly picked one of the available taverns that could be readily moved, and sent it alongside Wu Kong.

Barely a moment later, both Wu Kong and the tavern disappeared. That was, perhaps, one of the most intense seconds of Lex’s life, yet what was done was done. He could only hope that he had made the correct decision.

He was especially concerned about the tavern. Not all taverns could just be ’given’ to others. Most taverns could only be moved using the system’s own ability. A few taverns, though, such as the Castle tavern which could shrink into a snowglobe, could be given to others.

The one given to Wu Kong this time couldn’t shrink. Instead, it was built on a massive foundation, and wheels underneath, making it movable.

Seeing that Wu Kong was gone, and there was nothing going amiss, Lex spread his awareness across the Inn. Now that he was aware of the phenomenon, he noticed the many missing workers and guests, no longer affected by whatever had been keeping him from noticing.

He then turned his attention to the numerous system notifications. Most of them were generic warnings, one was a quest that had been issued, and completed apparently, making it the fastest quest he’d ever completed. There was one notification, though, that was somewhat troubling.

He went through all the notifications one by one, instead of jumping right to the last one.

Warning: Unstable element detected. System integrity being compromised!

That was one of dozens of notifications he got in the split second that Wu Kong was knocking, and it had already been taken care of.

New Quest: A new frontier has been discovered. No dream can be a good dream without the Midnight Inn. Gain access to the Dream Realm!

Quest Reward: Dreamy Mirror!

Remarks: Mr. Sandman, give me a dream...

New Notification: Remote Projection has made contact with ’unidentified’. Remote Projection capabilities compromised. Host details may be compromised.

That last notification was the one that had him worried. Wu Kong had touched the Innkeeper’s projection with his spirit sense. Had he seen through the system? If that was the case, how should he react? At least he knew Wu Kong worked for mother Nuwa.

Unbeknownst to Lex, within the Dream realm, Wu Kong stood there, not paying attention to the Dream realm itself. Instead, he was pondering over the major secret he had just learned.

The Innkeeper... was not actually inside the Midnight Realm! He had everyone fooled! He was actually alongside Mother Nuwa!

He’d seen the image when he touched the Innkeeper’s projection - he was inside a hall, face to face with Nuwa, in the midst of some cooperative technique! What were the two of them plotting? What was it that required the both of them to work together?

Suddenly, he could not help but remember a rumor he heard inside the Primordial Garden about... the identity of Lex’s actual parents, and couldn’t help but tremble. He may have stumbled onto a secret even he couldn’t handle! That explained why Lex’s sisters were even crazier than him.

Within the Temple of Fasting, Lex continued to receive the inheritance of the Masterless technique, unable to move away, entirely unaware of what a certain monkey thought of his family.