Forged Sinpae (3)
Two weeks later.
Baek Wontae and Ihyeon headed for Chiryajeong Inn once again.
They whispered the password, then followed the innkeeper’s lead.
When the door to the secret room closed, a smile bloomed on the innkeeper’s face.
As soon as Baek Wontae sat down, he asked, “Where’s the merchandise?”
The innkeeper placed two wooden tags on the table.
Polished planks. Engraving copied exactly from the local magistrate’s office. Fine, precise seals.
Baek Wontae picked one up and studied it.
He examined every stroke, every character, every word, every line, then nodded.
“Nice. This is really well done.”
“We’re still updating the household registry documents. Soon, they’ll be valid in any county or prefecture.”
Her voice was calm, unwavering.
She sounded almost proud of Haomun’s professionalism.
Then she asked for the rest of the payment.
“Then let’s settle the balance.”
Baek Wontae opened the bundle.
Clink—
Ten taels of silver were placed on the table.
And then nothing else came out.
The innkeeper’s smile thinned.
“And the rest?”
“There is more. But…”
Baek Wontae fell silent for a moment before continuing.
“…I wanted to give you something better than silver.”
Thud—
He set something on the table.
The innkeeper’s eyes twitched.
“This is….”
“A hot item making waves around Hamwon lately. Have you heard of it?”
A herbal packet, and a smoking pipe with a bowl.
He untied the wrapping string.
Rustle.
A pile of tiny white grains.
A faint sweet-bitter fragrance drifted up from them.
There was a rumor coming out of southern Sichuan.
A new luxury good.
Something the upper class in Hamwon were going mad for, buying up in the pleasure houses.
Something that had suddenly appeared and was sweeping money clean out of the market.
The very thing Haomun had been keeping an eye on.
“…Baekhyang, then.”
“As expected of Haomun.”
“But was this really something you could hand over in bulk? According to our information, security at the distribution points is ironclad. I heard large-scale removal would be difficult.”
“I have a contact in the entertainment district. I stopped by Hamwon for a bit, and they asked me for a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“They told me to walk around and sell it for a high price.”
He deliberately lifted his voice.
“At first I was tempted, too, but that’s not the important part. If you know what this is….”
Baek Wontae let out a quiet laugh.
“Then you’ll know how well it sells.”
Reports from the information brokers who had sampled Baekhyang said it all.
- No wine, no dream-drug, can beat Baekhyang.
- One grain dissolves the Three Realms and Eight Sufferings.
The wealthy who tasted it were said to have been seized, body and soul, and the luxury market in Hamwon had been thrown into chaos.
The innkeeper said, “…You’re offering that as the balance?”
“It’s a thing you can’t even get outside Hamwon. What do you think would happen if you sold this to rich men in distant places like Beijing or Anhui?”
His voice slid in like a venomous snake.
“Once they get a taste—”
He pinched a white grain between his fingers and rolled it.
“Triple the price? Quadruple it? No. It’d be worth whatever they were willing to pay. They always want a new kind of pleasure.”
He took five taels of silver from the bundle and stacked them with crisp taps.
“Or you can just take cash.”
“…Are you bargaining with Haomun?”
“Bargaining means starting from the other side’s need to save money, right? I’ve simply offered you the normal option and an option that’s much, much better. Cash in hand, or—”
He scooped up a handful of Baekhyang from the wrapping.
Plop, plop, plop.
He let it fall before her eyes.
“Profit you can get exactly the way you want.”
The innkeeper’s expression warped.
Annoyance and curiosity mixed there, tangled together.
“If that’s the case, then taking cash would be more profitable for you. Why give Baekhyang to Haomun at all?”
“Because I need someone who can sell it.”
“…?”
The innkeeper tilted her head.
“Like I said before, I was asked to sell it. But in the end, the people who’d actually buy it are the rich, and those types are cautious. I don’t exactly have the network or the background, so it was turning into a real pain in the ass.”
He extended a hand toward her.
“But Haomun’s different. I hear you’ve got your fingers in everything from the Yeom Kingdom to every corner of the Central Plains. If so, then you’d naturally know the right customers for a thing like this.”
He tapped the Baekhyang packet with one finger.
“So I figured I’d hand off the product while I was at it and outsource the job to Haomun. Do the math. I get to cover five taels I can’t make back with Baekhyang, and Haomun gets to turn five taels into more than fifteen. Win-win, right? A nice little favor between friends.”
He leaned toward the innkeeper.
“So? What’ll it be?”
The innkeeper stared at the mask.
Her gaze was sharp enough to see straight through to the face beneath it.
After thinking it over, she finally spoke.
“Shadow Envoy.”
When the man approached, she pushed the Baekhyang packet toward him.
“Count every grain. Don’t miss a single one.”
The Shadow Envoy took the packet and left.
At the sight, Baek Wontae snorted.
“Wow, seriously? You don’t even know how many there are, but there must be a lot.”
“Haomun never treats even a single coin lightly. We need to verify whether the amount of Baekhyang matches the balance.”
“Whatever you like.”
A moment later, the Shadow Envoy returned with the packet of Baekhyang.
He bent low and whispered in her ear.
“Four hundred grains.”
Four hundred.
The market price she had heard from the information broker flashed through her mind.
Using the recent price at Geumgangru as a benchmark, one grain was worth twenty-five mun.
Twenty-five mun times four hundred grains—ten thousand mun.
Ten strings, or ten taels of silver.
At the official rate alone, it covered the remaining five taels and left another five taels on top.
The innkeeper’s eyes moved back to Baek Wontae.
He’s impossible to read. He doesn’t even know the count of his own merchandise, and even if he couldn’t find a place to sell it, he’s willing to take a five-tael loss?
And if his words were true, then by slipping it to wealthy men in other provinces, this was something that could easily fetch more than ten thousand mun.
Suspicion was Haomun’s habit, its breathing.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
He’s trying to dump it on us on purpose. Emphasizing price and rarity… then there’s only one conclusion.
A smile spread at the innkeeper’s lips.
She was sure she had seen through the truth.
Baekhyang is fake.
“You think it’s fake, don’t you?”
For an instant, the innkeeper’s breath caught.
She recovered her composure in a single breath, but the shock of having her thoughts read was impossible to hide.
“…If this were fake, then Haomun would only lose five taels. Better safe than sorry.”
“Is Haomun some sloppy outfit that just lets swindlers run loose?”
At that, a killing intent slid across the innkeeper’s mouth.
“Anyone who humiliates Haomun, we’ll chase to the ends of the Central Plains and make them pay.”
Baek Wontae nodded with easy confidence.
“Exactly. But how could I possibly try to scam Haomun? Who’d bet their life for five taels of silver? Doesn’t make sense.”
There was a faint edge of mockery at the end of his words, while his manner stayed loose and lazy.
Like an uncle messing with a little nephew.
The innkeeper was beginning to wonder what kind of man this even was.
From the moment she had ordered the forged Sinpae, she’d suspected he was no ordinary person.
And yet how could a man with no discernible inner power stand this boldly before Haomun?
The innkeeper held her ground.
“Even so, I can’t trust you completely. You and Haomun have only dealt once.”
“Hmm….”
Baek Wontae drummed his fingers on the table with five quick taps.
The sound seemed to circle the room.
Then he curled his lips and said, “You know what? Forget it.”
The innkeeper’s eyes flickered.
“…Pardon?”
Baek Wontae stood.
He neatly rewrapped the Baekhyang packet and stuffed the smoking pipe into the bundle as well.
“I’ll just sell it myself. A little legwork’s all it takes.”
His voice was light, but sharp as a blade.
“What if it doesn’t sell? Then I’ll smoke it myself. It’s mine, after all.”
The innkeeper’s fingers froze on the tabletop.
“Time’s too valuable to waste. Let’s wrap this up cleanly here.”
Baek Wontae was already walking toward the door when he glanced back and gave a casual little nod.
“Do well for yourself.”
The innkeeper’s eyes moved back and forth between the five taels left on the table and Baek Wontae’s back as he crossed the threshold.
If the profit was certain, then of course taking the five taels was the right choice.
Silver never betrayed you.
It was tangible. Concrete. Real value in the hand.
But what if all the Baekhyang in that man’s bundle was genuine?
Haomun had reach all across the Central Plains.
Wealthy merchants, noble families, trading houses, even powerful sects in the martial world.
Just let them taste it once.
How many times would the price climb?
There was nothing Haomun couldn’t do.
If it came to it, Baekhyang could just be smuggled out of one of Hamwon’s pleasure houses the way that man was doing.
But that still wasn’t a reason to dismiss the Baekhyang right in front of her.
Haomun’s rule was simple.
Never waste even a single coin.
And if profit was visible, you took as much of it as you could.
She hadn’t shown it on her face, but the moment she had to realize value, her mind grew urgent.
The innkeeper’s gaze deepened.
Creaaak!
She rose decisively from her seat.
“Wait.”
Baek Wontae and Ihyeon, who had been about to leave, stopped.
The innkeeper drew a breath and said, “Ten grains.”
Baek Wontae turned his head and looked at her.
“Let’s randomly choose ten grains from the packet and smoke them. If they’re all genuine, I’ll take payment in Baekhyang.”
A slow grin spread under Baek Wontae’s mask.