The Innkeeper

Chapter 2079: Karmically bound

Since there seemed to literally be nothing else for him to do, the Innkeeper summoned a lawn chair and sat beside the two ladies receiving a massage. It would not be long before noon anyway, so he might as well spend some time here.

At the same time, he made a mental note to copy the idea of little ducks or ducklings walking on someone’s back to give them a massage. For larger, stronger guests, the size of the ducks could be increased.

"Why do I feel like you’re looking at my ducks oddly?" Eclipse suddenly asked, looking towards the Innkeeper.

"I’m not even looking at your ducks - though I do admit that I was thinking of copying the idea. It’s quite novel, and can provide both entertainment value as well as decent service as long as they are trained properly," the Innkeeper answered.

Eclipse did not say anything else, but she smirked as if feeling proud of her Waddle Brigade. The time passed leisurely, without much stress, which was nice because noon soon arrived. At 11:59 not a single one of the guests had shown up, but as soon as it became 12, they all appeared out of thin air.

Compared to their last congregation, all the Dao Lords were much more composed. Not a single one of them flinched at the presence of Little Crusty, or Nulli, or Voidmaw. Heck, even the three Wu Kongs no longer attracted much attention considering that they were on their best behavior.

Lex noticed that Nulli didn’t seem to be flirting with anyone else, so either she had been acting that way towards him and Mary purposefully, or she had a very specific type - one that he had yet to figure out.

Eclipse, noticing that everyone had arrived, reluctantly sent the Waddle Brigade to the side as she got up, her attire changing automatically to suit the formal setting.

"Welcome, everyone. I hope this little event of mine didn’t disturb you. I just felt like, as one of the technical hosts for this party, I wasn’t really doing my fair share of entertaining the guests. After all, it’s not everyday that I get guests inside my garden."

All the attending Dao Lords graciously thanked her for her consideration, not a single one of them trying to say that she shouldn’t have made the effort. What if she took it seriously? This was an opportunity to be hosted by the Primordial Queen - they weren’t going to give it up so easily.

"As such, I have asked my senate to prepare some fun activities for us all to take part in. Even I don’t know what they’ve cooked up, so let’s all see what they have in store for us."

Eclipse clapped her hands and Harriot, this time leading several other Dao Lords, appeared behind her.

"Welcome, one and all, to Primordial Garden," Harriot said in a professional yet neutral tone. "Under the instructions of the Queen, we have prepared a three part activities segment for everyone so that this visit may be a memorable one, and that you may take back some souvenirs alongside the memories.

"However, before any of you participate in these activities, due to the nature of the second activity, you must consent to being karmically bound to the activity and those that participate. No further details can be provided about the activities at this time, so feel free to opt out of the activities if you wish. Even if you opt out, you will still be allowed to attend the first activity which requires no such binding."

A sudden hush fell upon the grounds as all the Dao Lords contemplated their decision, trying to determine if this was some sort of trap. While the rest could only speculate, the Innkeeper was in such a position that he could not afford to take a risk.

"Harriot, I hope this activity won’t harm my guests. It would be highly untoward if the guests were summoned for a party, only to be taken advantage of," said the Innkeeper in a gentle yet firm tone.

The poodle was not surprised by the statement.

"Rest assured, Innkeeper, that the activities are not intended to harm any of the participants in any way. In fact, the karmic bond is more for protection than anything else. So long as none of the participants seek to harm or betray each other in the future with what they experience here today, there will be no repercussions."

The Innkeeper nodded, though he knew things couldn’t be so straightforward. Once the karmic bond was formed, regardless of the pretext used, it could become a potential weakness. Of course, there was one simple solution he could think of to address that weakness.

"Will you swear a Dao oath that the karmic bonds won’t be used for anything else?" asked Bridget.

Yes, this is exactly why Lex was fond of Ballom’s new wife. She could ask the questions he could not

"Naturally," responded Harriot. "Everyone here is a guest, so they will all be treated fairly."

With those details out of the way, many of the Dao Lords began discussing amongst themselves about what to do. A majority of the Dao Lords opted to participate in the activities, and only three chose not to participate. The three that chose not to participate still stuck around, though, to see what the first activity was that they could participate in without any bonds.

The Innkeeper also stepped forward to participate. After all, he could not leave his guests to take on any risks on his own - though Lex was internally feeling extremely stressed. If he was required to do anything at all on the Dao level for these activities, he would surely fail miserably.

It was a gamble, honestly, but he was mainly relying on the fact that Harriot said there should be no issues. At most, he’d opt out of the activity if things became problematic.

"The first activity we have prepared for you is a press briefing - one utilizing the secret information channels of the Primordial Garden. We will provide you with some breaking news that happened outside the garden while you were all in here, and then you can ask some questions. We will answer those questions based on the secret intel we have been able to gather during this time."