The Salt Operation Begins
“……It really is salt.”
Hwang-no tilted his palm with a gentle flick.
The salt granules spilled down like the finest sand, scattering softly.
Just because the grains were fine didn’t automatically make the salt premium.
But as the saying went, a good-looking rice cake tasted better, and when the particles were this small and uniform, their value naturally rose.
Its flavor and quality are on another level entirely.
Most people thought of salt as nothing but salty, yet it could carry a surprising range of subtle tastes.
The difference between cheap salt and the highest grade came down to those very nuances.
And the salt extracted from these waste stones boasted the most refined, luxurious flavor imaginable.
In short, it was a product with staggering market potential.
To think they were throwing this away as worthless rock.
When Hae-yeon’s solution was sprayed onto the waste stones, the intense heat left pure salt behind.
Hwang-no had just tasted a pinch of the freshly made salt, and that single sample was enough to convince him it rivaled or even surpassed anything sold in the markets.
Official salt can’t even compare.
Official salt—also called public salt—was the product sold by the state.
Since salt was a government monopoly, the salt distributed by the authorities was known as official salt.
Even though the state guaranteed its quality, the product itself was disappointingly poor.
That was exactly why the common people preferred private salt—smuggled salt—over the official variety.
As a result, the share of smuggled salt in the overall market was enormous.
If someone entered that market with superior quality and competitive pricing?
Dominating the entire smuggling trade wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
What a remarkable child.
How much effort must she have poured into creating this salt?
Hwang-no smiled without realizing it as he gazed at the sleeping Hae-yeon.
Exhausted from her research, she had delivered her essential report and then collapsed into sleep as if she had fainted.
“Didn’t I tell you, old man?”
Jeok-un spoke up at that moment.
When Hwang-no lifted his eyes, Jeok-un grinned and continued.
“I said the kid would definitely pull it off. See? She did it.”
“……!”
Jeok-un spoke with open pride.
His tone was playful, yet Hwang-no could not simply brush it off as a joke.
The more I see it, the more I realize just how extraordinary he is.
Jeok-un was like a great mountain.
From a distance one might think, Ah, so that’s how tall it is.
But those who actually climbed it could only be awed by its vast slopes and dizzying height.
The more Hwang-no looked at Jeok-un, the more he learned, the more he could only call him extraordinary.
One clear example was how people spoke of him outside these walls.
“The Black Heaven Mad Dragon? Goes without saying. The man’s insane about fighting, isn’t he?”
“A lunatic, plain and simple. Doesn’t care who he fights.”
Yes. To the outside world, Jeok-un was mostly seen as a madman and kept at arm’s length.
His martial prowess was acknowledged, but people believed he lacked any profound or mysterious depth of strategy.
But the truth is completely different.
The way he had handled the Geumhwang Sangga, and now this matter with Hae-yeon…
If he truly lacked profound strategy, how could such insight appear?
And what about that reckless drive that could only be called bold?
That was why Jeok-un made for such a strange lord.
What exactly does he plan to do in the future?
It was impossible to guess easily.
Yet Hwang-no believed.
No matter what it was.
Even if it meant the world itself would shake and be overturned.
He will surely accomplish it.
Hwang-no was certain.
“Ugh? Y-you want me to take full responsibility for all this salt?”
“That’s right.”
“S-so… you mean I have to s-sell it…?”
“What, should I donate it instead?”
At Go Bok-gil’s question, Jeok-un clenched his fist.
It was the price for making him repeat himself.
“Ughhh……”
Go Bok-gil feared the fist, but he still could not simply accept it and let out a pained groan.
“Then what do you suggest? Should I go sell it myself?”
The whole situation had begun the moment they discussed what to do with the produced salt.
The instant the topic arose, Jeok-un had pointed at Go Bok-gil without the slightest hesitation.
“B-but something this important… how could someone like me……”
“Aish. That’s exactly why I’m giving it to you, Bok-gil.”
Jeok-un spoke with a grin, but his words carried an iron will.
Don’t even dream of refusing.
“Hic……”
In the end, Go Bok-gil accepted the task while on the verge of tears.
His face had turned deathly pale, revealing exactly how he felt.
It was understandable. Getting caught selling smuggled salt was punished almost like treason.
“C-Chief!”
“What.”
“A-all the other salt merchants act like they don’t, but they’re all connected to high officials! And behind them stands the imperial family!”
This was an open secret.
Official salt was not revenue for the imperial family but for the nation—money that went into the treasury.
Yet the imperial family needed to increase its own wealth to fund its luxuries and to maintain face by giving gifts of silk to its ministers.
That was why they used smuggled salt.
By leaving just a few holes open, an enormous amount of funds flowed in.
And if anyone acted even slightly out of line, they could issue a suppression order and have their heads chopped off.
In short, it was perfect black money with zero repercussions.
“So?”
“I-I mean, shouldn’t we have some backing too? If we just start without it……”
Jeok-un cut Go Bok-gil off.
“Who said we don’t?”
“……Pardon?”
“We have our own backer.”
“???”
Go Bok-gil blinked rapidly.
He had lived here for quite a while now, yet he had never seen so much as a low-ranking official, let alone a high one.
When had they built such a connection?
Ah, maybe he prepared it in advance?
Considering Jeok-un’s usual decisiveness, Go Bok-gil misunderstood and his face brightened.
“T-then we also……?”
“Yes. So get everything ready so we can transport it anywhere. Officially, we’ll say we’re selling the waste stones. The dissolving process will happen at the contact point. That’ll be better for security.”
“Y-yes.”
Jeok-un issued commands like a storm.
Go Bok-gil was so busy understanding and memorizing each order that he completely missed the chance to ask more about their mysterious backer.
“My lord, have you decided on a name for the merchant group we will operate?”
Hwang-no asked at that moment.
Jeok-un smiled with complete confidence and revealed the name he had prepared.
“Seolyeom-hoe.”
The association that would sell salt as white as snow.
There was deeper intent behind Jeok-un’s choice of name, but that was a matter for the future.
Thus, not only a trading business but a smuggling syndicate that would seize all the wealth of the Jiangnan region was born in that instant.
Just as every sunrise was followed by a sunset, the once-noisy streets of Changsha had quietly settled.
The traces of the celebratory feast held for Jeok-un’s return could only be found in the lanterns and scattered scraps of paper.
Otherwise, it was just another ordinary night in Changsha.
Is this the place?
In the deep hours when only night watchmen moved about, a mysterious figure completely wrapped in black clothes and a black bamboo hat stared at the residence.
Three characters were written on the signboard.
Baekya-dae.
Indeed. This was the headquarters of the White Night Unit.
Let’s go in.
The man in black melted into the darkness and infiltrated the grounds.
Occasionally a worker passed by while yawning, but no one noticed him.
The same was true of the Baekya-dae members.
Finally the man in black reached the deepest part of the residence.
Jeok-un’s personal quarters.
Is he sleeping?
The interior was quiet.
The lights were out and only the faintest presence could be felt.
Convinced that his target, Jeok-un, was asleep, the man in black lightly leaped onto the eaves, slipped through a gap in the rafters, and entered the ceiling.
Here it is.
The moment only one final step remained.
Whoosh!
“……!”
A lantern suddenly flared to life, filling the room with light.
Where is the target?
The man in black first checked the bed.
His target, Jeok-un, was not there.
Yet at the same time he was in the room.
He was sitting in front of the wine table.
“You’re too late.”
As if he had known someone would come, there were two cups and two chairs at the table.
Hah. So he knew I would come.
While the man in black let out a dry laugh inwardly, Jeok-un spoke.
“Eon I-gyeom, or should I call you Heo I-gyeom? Which do you prefer?”
The man in black—Eon I-gyeom—did not answer.
He could not be certain he had been identified yet.
“Dust is falling. Stop squirming around up there and sit down properly.”
When Jeok-un spoke with clear annoyance, Eon I-gyeom descended from the ceiling without a sound.
“Eon I-gyeom, sit.”
At the second command, Eon I-gyeom bit his lip and removed his mask.
Swish.
“Since when did you know?”
“From the beginning?”
“……?”
“You were leaking your energy all over the place like an amateur. How could I not notice?”
“……I see.”
Jeok-un’s words were complete nonsense.
The movement technique Eon I-gyeom had used was the Phantom Stealth Step, a secret art of the Eastern Depot.
He had even layered it with the Eon clan’s method of completely concealing one’s presence.
Even a master of the Profound Realm would have found it difficult to detect him.
Yet Jeok-un had identified him perfectly.
“What is your business?”
“First, I wish to apologize for my rudeness. As you know, given my position it is difficult to visit while the sun is still up……”
Before Eon I-gyeom could finish, Jeok-un cut in.
“Whatever. It’s not like the imperial palace bastards have ever had any manners. This isn’t exactly new.”
“……”
“Anyway, you came at the right time. I just decided on something I need you to do.”
“—!”
The words “something I need you to do” sharpened Eon I-gyeom’s gaze.
From the choice of words alone, it was clear the man before him was only thinking about how to use him.
I must keep my mind sharp.
The advantage in information lay with the opponent.
The other party already knew his identity and what he desired.
So he would give what he must, but not everything.
Eon I-gyeom raised his wariness to the maximum.
But perhaps it really is just coincidence. He might simply be familiar with the Eon clan’s energy……
Therefore he would hide any expectations as much as possible.
The more he revealed what he wanted, the more he would be manipulated.
Whether he knew Eon I-gyeom’s thoughts or not, Jeok-un revealed the “task” he had in mind.
“I’m thinking of starting a salt smuggling operation.”
“!!”
“I need you to cover our backs.”
Eon I-gyeom’s mouth fell open before he could stop himself.
He had tried to keep a poker face at all costs, but it shattered instantly.
Salt smuggling?! Is this man insane?
The blunt words nearly flew off his tongue, but he swallowed them and softened his reply.
“Are you not aware that salt smuggling is treated as treason? And you want me—a member of the Eastern Depot, which answers directly to the imperial family—to help you with it? Did you truly believe I would agree?”
Jeok-un shrugged.
“Why not? It’s not as if you joined the Eastern Depot out of loyalty to the emperor anyway.”
“!!”
Because he had steeled his heart, his expression did not crumble.
But he could not prevent the momentary clouding of his eyes, the windows to the heart.
“In the end, you’re only using the Eastern Depot to recover your clan’s lost treasure, aren’t you?”
If he did not truly serve the emperor and the imperial family with loyalty, wasn’t it laughable to speak of “the imperial family’s direct subordinate”?
Jeok-un’s point was simple.
Let them join hands and help each other for mutual benefit.
“……Mutual benefit. I believe I have already paid the price.”
“……?”
“The Tongseong-hyeon incident. If I move the government offices, do you think Tongseong-hyeon will remain in your or Sado-cheon’s grasp?”
Eon I-gyeom spoke with an unyielding attitude.
There was no room for compromise.
If one tried to suppress such an opponent, he would not bend—he would break.
“Everything you propose is one-sided. To speak of our clan’s treasure without any evidence whatsoever……”
The moment Eon I-gyeom began to methodically dismantle Jeok-un’s claims.
“One spirit’s true nature descends into the Qian Palace.”
“There the soul and po separate; the soul resides in the heavenly heart……”
Jeok-un began to recite the verses without end.
As Eon I-gyeom listened, his face grew steadily paler.
“H-how…… how do you……!”
“Hoo. That’s the end.”
Eon I-gyeom let out a sound like a groan.
Having finished every line, Jeok-un wore a faint, knowing smile.
“Well? Is this enough evidence?”
Eon I-gyeom’s eyes shook violently as if struck by an earthquake.
And it was only natural.
The verses Jeok-un had just recited were none other than the very foundation and root of the Eon clan’s secret arts.
They were the Soul-Dispersing Heart Art.
One spirit’s true nature descends into the Qian Palace.
There the soul and po separate; the soul resides in the heavenly heart.
The latter verses… the lost half that even I did not know.
But what shocked him even more was something else.
How does he know the missing latter half?!
Jeok-un had recited every line of the latter section that had been burned and lost—passages even Eon I-gyeom himself had never seen.