Chapter 385
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 385
Chapter 385. Burial (4)
In response to my question, a woman appeared from the darkness.
Accompanied by the scent of wildflowers, she was the Palace Head, Binghaerin.
“As I thought, you intend to go alone.”
“....”
She continued.
“This is a matter concerning the Northern Sea Ice Palace. I cannot just leave it to the Captain and do nothing.”
“So you want to come with me?”
“Yes.”
However, there was a reason why I did not bring Bing Hae-rin with me.
“That place is full of illegal activities. If you cannot turn a blind eye to such things, it would be better not to go.”
That's why I left Jin-ho behind.
Jin-ho is too righteous, so he definitely wouldn't be able to stand it.
Bing Hae-rin chuckled at my words.
“The Captain thinks I'm too righteous.”
“What?”
“All right. I'll be honest with you. Do you remember the masked man you saw at Yeonhwa-ru before? That was me.”
I already knew that.
Although he denied it, I was the one who smelled the orchid scent.
“Isn't it wrong to sneak into a building like that?”
His words made me laugh.
“Why are you laughing?”
“It's just... You're like a child who just became an adult, drinking alcohol and acting like you're all grown up.”
“What?”
My words may have been a little blunt.
But that was the only way I could explain it.
“Anyway, are you sure you want to come with me?”
“Yes.”
She nodded. Looking at her determined gaze, I didn't think she would be easily persuaded.
I had no choice.
“All right. But I have a condition.”
“What is it?”
“You must obey everything I say inside the temple.”
“I promise.”
“No. That's not enough.”
I shook my head and said.
“Swear on the Northern Sea Ice Palace.”
“Do you know what that means?”
“Of course.”
For someone from the Northern Sea Ice Palace, swearing on the Northern Sea Ice Palace means giving up all their martial arts skills if they break their oath.
“That is because the Palace Head is a place where you cannot act rashly. What will you do?”
After thinking about my question for a moment, Palace Head Bing Hae-rin nodded.
“All right. I swear.”
“Then let's go. Before that, please change your clothes.”
A moment later.
Palace Head Bing Hae-rin also changed into black clothes.
We were a little later than we had planned, so we moved quickly.
Then we arrived in front of a gate.
In front of the gate at the entrance to the forest, people wearing red clothes and goblin masks stood like gatekeepers.
They looked at us and said intimidatingly.
“Humans are not allowed here.”
The martial artists, who were over six feet tall, spoke in such a way that those who were timid backed away in fear.
In addition to wearing black clothes, there were two other conditions for entering the Gui Maengsi.
One was a secret password.
“We are not human, so it doesn't matter, right?”
“Is that so?”
“Then cover your human face.”
The second condition was a mask.
In order to enter the Gui Maesang, you had to wear a goblin mask.
The masks were provided by the Gui Maesang and covered the entire head.
Of course, you had to return them when you left.
We put on the masks and passed through the gate into the forest.
As we walked toward the real entrance of the Gui Maeng, I reminded the Palace Head once again.
“You must not take off your masks inside. If you do, you will be chased away by those who maintain order there.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Seo Woo and Jin Yu also nodded.
Soon, colorful lights appeared.
That was Gui Maengsi.
Thousands of red lanterns created a dreamlike atmosphere, as if we were walking in a dream.
It's been a long time.
Nothing had changed here, just like in my previous life.
There were guests wearing goblin masks and black clothes, and the Blood Sea King's soldiers wearing red clothes.
And merchants dressed in blue.
In Gui Maengsi, one had to obtain permission from the Blood Sea King to do business.
If one was caught doing business without permission, one would be killed.
This was not a metaphor; it meant death.
The permission was a pledge to pay half of the sales proceeds as tribute. In return, the authorities did not care what one sold.
I was walking down the street, looking at the merchants' tents lined up on both sides.
“Is that... real?”
I turned my head at the question from the Palace Head, Bing Hae-rin, and looked where she was pointing.
[Various poisons for sale at low prices]
In front of it were bottles that looked like they contained poison.
“Yes, it must be real.”
“Is it okay to sell poison so openly?”
“In this market, you can sell anything you want. However, we don't sell fake products. If you are caught selling fake products, you will be killed.”
“...”
“Are you surprised by that?”
It's too early to be surprised.
We continued walking, but Palace Head Byeong-hae-rin stopped occasionally.
[Selling corpses in good condition]
[Selling blood stones]
[Selling fresh blood from Chapter bones]
[Assassination requests accepted]
All of these are illegal.
I'm really glad I didn't bring Jin-ho with me. He would have been terrified if he had come.
As we went a little deeper, we saw what appeared to be prostitutes soliciting customers.
Their appearance was a little embarrassing, but fortunately, they were wearing masks.
By the way, alcohol at this time of year...
Well, they sell poison, so it's not surprising that they sell alcohol.
With all kinds of illegal things going on, it's strange that order is maintained...
“This is robbery! You want five silver coins for this?”
“Sir, you seem to be new here. The prices are listed.”
“Where is it? Give me three silver coins.”
“No.”
“Where's the rule that says you can't? Give it here!”
“Ugh. There's someone here who doesn't know the rules!”
At his shout, people dressed in red rushed over, and the man was beaten and dragged away.
It is because of them that order is maintained here.
“Is bargaining not allowed here?”
I nodded in response to Seo Woo's question.
“Yes. That is the rule here. We only accept the price written on the item. However, we cannot overcharge. If the price is unreasonable, the owner will scold us before we even write it on the price tag.”
“I see.”
I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.
How could someone who was appointed by the emperor as an inspector turn a blind eye to such illegal activities?
But if I stepped in now, it would be tantamount to committing suicide.
No matter how hard you try to eradicate illegal activities, they will always find a way to survive.
They will just go underground. So, it was better to leave things as they were.
At that moment, the sound of drums rang out.
Dong, dong, dong!
Then someone shouted loudly.
“The auction will begin in a moment! Those who wish to participate, please come to the central courtyard.”
I said to my companions.
“Let's go.”
Soon we arrived at the central courtyard. Then, someone who appeared to be a soldier handed us flags with numbers written on them.
The number on my flag was sixty-two.
Looking around, I saw that quite a lot of people had gathered in the central courtyard.
“Thank you for waiting!”
At that moment, a man wearing a goblin mask climbed onto the platform.
“We have prepared some very good items for you today. Without further ado, let's begin.”
With a wave of his hand, a man pulled up a small cart with wheels.
“This product is made of chunjamsa...”
“Oh! Chunjamsa!”
The crowd began to buzz.
I was tempted for a moment, but I didn't step forward because I already had chunjamsa that I had received from His Majesty the Emperor.
“We'll start with 100 nyang.”
“Five hundred! One hundred and thirty silver coins!”
“Seven hundred! One hundred and fifty silver coins!”
In the end, the silk was sold for two hundred silver coins.
Several other items were sold in the same manner.
“The next item is Binglian, a magical medicine that can only be found in the North Sea. As you may know, it is the best medicine for burns. It also increases the inner arts of those who have mastered the martial arts of Yin by a whole level!”
At that moment, the body of the Palace Head Bing Haerin trembled.
“What's wrong?”
“That... That must be the item we handed over.”
“Is there any proof that it is that elixir?”
“The color of the Bing Lian Shi is not completely transparent yet. That means it has not been harvested for more than a month.”
I also knew that.
I only asked just in case. I also knew that the source of the Bing Lian Shi was the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
“Let's start at 500 silver coins.”
People were competing to get their hands on the ice crystal.
I also had to get my hands on it for my own purposes.
“3,000 silver coins! 3,000 silver coins! Is there anyone else?”
I shouted while holding up a flag.
“Sixty-two! Three thousand five hundred silver coins.”
“Three thousand five hundred silver coins!”
Then the person who had bid three thousand silver coins shouted loudly.
“Four thousand silver coins!”
I raised my flag again and shouted.
“Sixty-two! Five thousand silver coins!”
“Five thousand nyang! Five thousand nyang! Is there anyone else?”
When the price rose to five thousand nyang, my competitor couldn't say a word and hung his head.
“It's sold!”
Bing Hae-rin said with surprise.
“You say it's for our work, but five thousand nyang? You don't have to go this far.”
After all, 5,000 silver coins was a large sum even for Bing Hae-rin, the Palace Head.
I just smiled. This wasn't the end.
“The next item is also a medicinal herb. We'll start with 50 silver coins for this Seol-sam.”
“Sixty-two! 100 silver coins!”
“Forty-one! 200 silver coins!”
“Sixty-two! Three hundred silver coins!”
“...”
And so, I won the bid for Seol Sam for three hundred silver coins, and I also won the bid for Seol Maesil, which came next, for three thousand silver coins.
At this point, Palace Head Bing Hae-rin didn't know what to do.
Even though he was wearing a mask, his expression was clear.
After that, I bought Bingru and Sangyeopcho.
I spent almost 10,000 nyang at this auction.
Hmm, I can understand why Palace Head Bing Haerin reacted that way.
My bodyguards, on the other hand, are indifferent.
When the auction ended, a man dressed in red approached me.
“Please come and collect your items. And as you know, if you don't have the money to pay now...”
“Don't worry about that. I brought plenty of vouchers.”
“Then please follow me.”
We followed him into a building.
It looked like a building for managing items to be auctioned.
Perhaps that was why the security was very tight.
After waiting for a moment in the room we were led to, the man in red entered with a box.
“I apologize for keeping you waiting.”
“It's fine.”
“Here are the items you won at the auction today.”
I opened the box.
Bingryeonsil, Seolsam Seolmaesil, Bingrumae, and Sangyeopcho.
There were five types of elixirs in total.
Now it was time for Geum-ryung to play her part.
I pretended to examine the elixirs and put both hands inside the box.
Then I sent a telepathic message to Geum-ryung.
- Geum-ryung. Can you keep these elixirs for me?
- What?
She was asking if she just had to keep them. She probably wanted to eat them.
“I'll give you a silver coin later.”
“Kui!”
Geum-ryung likes medicinal herbs because they are expensive, but what she likes most is money.
Geum-ryung stuck her head out from her sleeve and swallowed the medicinal herbs in an instant.
This was a ability she had discovered recently, which allowed her to store money and medicinal herbs in her stomach.
The downside is that she can only store expensive things.
From that, it seems that Geum-ryung is a spiritual beast.
After confirming that Geum-ryung had swallowed the elixir, I took out the fake elixirs I had put in my other sleeve.
Then, pretending to examine the items, I quickly put on a serious expression.
Seo Woo, who had been watching from the side, asked cautiously, as he had already been informed.
“What is it, Liege?”
“Is there a problem?”
Jinyu Musha asked.
I sighed, shook my head, and asked the man who brought the box.
“Can you guarantee that these items are genuine, on the reputation of the owner of this place?”
“Of course.”
He replied confidently.
“These are all genuine.”
“Then why are the items I received fake?”
“What? Fake? That's impossible.”
“I can't believe it either. I've heard of the reputation of this pawn shop. They never sell fakes. Then why... Huh.”
I explained in detail why I thought they were fake.
“If you don't believe me, call an appraiser and have them appraise them.”
He called the appraiser with a look of distrust on his face.
The result was obvious, wasn't it?
The appraiser appraised the items and was taken aback.
“I'm sure these were real when I appraised them.”
“They must have appraised the real thing, but when it came time to submit the product, they submitted a fake.”
“Tell the owner immediately!”
Listening to their conversation, I smiled triumphantly.
This will cause quite a bit of trouble for the person who handed over the elixir.
Now, let's move on to the next step.