Payment

There was silence in the room as the two looked at one another. The Innkeeper was as calm and stoic as ever, while Ming Jie was having rapid mood swings. First there was alarm, for he thought he had revealed a secret he was meant to keep close to himself. Then there was panic, as he realized that even if the secret hadn't been revealed, his reaction might have tipped off the Innkeeper. Then there was ambivalence, as the Innkeeper was not showing any reaction at all whatsoever, which led Ming Jie to wonder if he was over-thinking things.

A part of himself was also admonishing himself. He was not an inexperienced man, but his extreme emotions had made him vulnerable, otherwise he would not have made such a basic mistake. But what he needed to decide now was how to react. The Innkeeper did not seem at all perturbed by the knowledge that he had a system, so maybe it wasn't a big deal at all.