THE INNKEEPER

Chapter 1491  OH FU-

“I have looked into the causality of this incident, but it’s extremely warped,” said a Dao Lord, leaning over a table that showed the live image of the Guidance Dome, sucking in enough Divine blood to operate for days of use every second.

“It’s not just because the Heavens Guidance itself is interfering with all traces of Karma. It’s also because the guest in question reeks of too many powerful beings. On him I have discovered traces of the Artica race, of elite members of the Versalis Bank, of the Henali, some Deities as well, and an undetermined number of traces whose identities cannot be discerned.

“Someone or something has also cast a very powerful protective spell on him, so much so that we cannot learn any personal details about the guest through prying. In fact, the only reason we can even tell that there is a powerful spell to begin with is because it revealed itself when several of our Dao Lords tried to divine his past. It appeared like a warning and disappeared as soon as we stopped investigating.”

Silence. A deafening silence filled the room with over 20 Dao Lords, each of them appearing increasingly solemn as time went by. This was no longer about the astronomical wealth that the Seraphim was losing each and every second, although that was painful as well. No, it was clear to them now that someone had made a move against them, yet not only did they not understand who was the one making the move, they didn’t understand why, either.

They had dissected the situation in every way possible. They looked at Lex as a human. If the Humanoid Alliance was making a move, then the move was premature. The conflict between them was still subtle, and didn’t call for such a blatant offense. If this was their first move, they would only fall to a disadvantage by provoking open hostilities at a time when the Angels weren’t ready to lay claim to the realm.

If it was the Henali, it made even less sense. The Henali had their hands full trying to mature the Origin realm and holding off other contenders for their realm. The Ventura Bank was also putting a lot of pressure on them, so there was no need to split their resources in other places.

The thought of the Midnight Inn making a move against them was even more absurd. There was simply no reason for them to compete with one another, for there was no shortage of guests for resorts and inns. Besides, a lone Dao Lord, no matter how powerful, should not be arrogant enough to offend an entire congress of them. Besides, how exactly would a lone Dao Lord place such a powerful protection on Lex? It wasn’t possible.

“This is not something we can ignore, and this is not something we can merely speculate on. We must contact Hiran and ask him the background of this guest, and what exactly his intentions are for sending him here.”

None of the other Dao Lords spoke, so they were in agreement. With an exasperated sigh, one of the Dao Lords pushed a crystal out over the center of the table. It pulsed a few times, as if it were a beating heart. For a few hours the crystal continued to beat, during which time Lex remained entranced by the Guidance.

The Dao Lords did not lose their patience at the lack of reaction though, for one of the most important things to remember was the alternating flow of time. It had been a few hours here, but it may not have been even one hour where the recipient of the call was.

Eventually, though, the crystal stopped pulsing, and instead began to morph into another shape altogether. Before their very eyes, the crystal turned into a living breathing Henali.

“My, my, what a prestigious audience I have today,” said Hiran as he looked at the room full of Dao Lords, not in the least bit intimidated. Why would he be? He was just a projection of sorts.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting this to happen when I woke up this morning. To what do I owe this prestigious honor?”

“Woke up this morning? I’d be surprised if you slept at all within the last billion years,” said one of the Seraphim.

“Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today,” Hiran continued with the sleep themed metaphors, not really bothered by how agitated the Seraphim seemed.

“Excuse my colleague, Hiran Kokan,” said another one of the Seraphim Dao Lords. “He is just upset because of recent events. The reason we called you today was for a very specific piece of information. Would you mind sharing the background of the guest you sent to our resort?”

Hiran’s expression finally changed a little, though he was still in a playful and curious mood. Why wouldn’t he be? Ever since Sanguis Pluvia had been exiled from the Origin realm, the stability of the realm was back on track to help it mature quickly.

“I could get into the very nitty-gritty details of Lex’s life, if you wish to know. He was born and raised in my realm, after all. But what’s in it for me?”

The Seraphim felt an urge to yell and curse at the shameless Henali, who had caused them to bleed out immensely. Instead, they explained the situation briefly.

“We suspect that someone wanted to use a person like him as an agent, enacting an insidious scheme. At the moment, we do not consider Henali to be conspiring against us, despite the fact that he came via your invite. As a result, please be cooperative for the sake of our continued trust and divulge the relevant information.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Hiran said, not phased by the Seraphim’s attempts to pressure him. “You tell me why you want to know that information, and I’ll share with you what you want to know.”

The Dao Lords did not immediately answer. Each interaction between beings at their level had countless layers simply because of their ability to think on and plan on such a deep level. On the surface, it seemed like this was a normal request from Hiran. They were the ones who called him, so it was only fair they respond to a request of his.

Looked at from another angle, underneath the surface, this might be a way for Hiran to receive an update on a plot he himself had prepared. It would let him know how things were going, and at what stage his plan had reached. This was, of course, assuming that this was all planned by Hiran to begin with.

But just as there was a different interpretation right beneath the surface, there were countless more the farther they looked. Hundreds of thousands of possibilities played out in their minds as the Seraphim deliberated on how much information to share. But ultimately, it was all irrelevant.

Their action, at the moment, would be dictated by their current need, not by any future threat. They were not afraid of threats. Rather, it was the unknown that was more intimidating.

“The guest you sent went for his Heavens Guidance around a day ago,” one of the Seraphim finally spoke. “It has now been 23 hours and 54 minutes, and he is still in there. Not only can we not identify why this anomaly is taking place, any attempts to investigate the guest himself, for who might be using him, has revealed a protective barrier so powerful that a dozen Dao Lords combined couldn’t penetrate it! It was so well hidden that we would never have discovered it, if not for the fact that the barrier revealed itself as if to threaten us.

“Hiran, this is no longer about the immense loss the resort is going to suffer for this Heaven’s Guidance. It will take thousands of years to recover, but we can tolerate that. What we cannot tolerate, however, is an unknown threat blatantly mocking us.”

Hiran frowned, which took the Seraphim by surprise. A Dao Lord shows no expression save the ones they want to show to the world, so a frown from a Dao Lord was a powerful thing. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.

“The gist of the matter is, there really is no deeper background. He is from the Midnight Inn, and the Innkeeper is his mentor. Some time ago, the Midnight Inn did the Henali a great favor, so I wanted to repay it. Yet when I was about to enter the Midnight Inn, I discovered a dangerous aura, and stayed out.

“Now I cannot say for certain if this has anything to do with your current predicament, for the owner of that aura is not the quiet type. If he made a move, you would not get a silent and harmless barrier. You would get an invasion that you cannot stop.”

“Who did the aura belong to? You need not worry about anything else. Just tell us, and leave the decision of what to do to us.”

Hiran just shrugged.

“It belonged to Wu Kong. Or probably one of his clones. Who can say, really? Now I’m saying this for the record – neither I, nor the Henali have any affiliation with Wu Kong, nor are we willing to get involved in any actions relating to him. Good day.”

Hiran’s crystal body shattered, leaving a room full of bewildered Seraphim.

“OH FU-“

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!