The Scent of the Demonic Flower
Jang Muhwi pulled a shabby-looking pouch from his inner pocket.
“Here, take this.”
“Whoa, you’re giving me something like this?”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s not money.”
“Ah….”
When Ma Uiryong let out a disappointed sigh, Jang Muhwi’s eyes gleamed.
“If you get a bad feeling, throw this into the bushes beside the main gate.”
“A bad feeling?”
“That’s for you to judge.”
“Just leave it to me, Young Master.”
Ma Uiryong tucked the pouch away and went back to noisily sucking on his candy and skewer.
Jang Muhwi watched him with a suspicious gaze.
Can I really trust him? The slight doubt he felt was, in a way, pure instinct.
The next day.
As soon as Jang Muhwi entered the administrative office, he narrowed his eyes.
The suspicious man Ma Uiryong had mentioned was deep in conversation with Mun Uik.
Jang Muhwi erased his presence and strained his ears to listen.
They were in the reception room of the administrative office.
Mun Uik kept bowing repeatedly even as he raised his voice.
“No, that won’t do.”
“What do you mean, it won’t do? We’re taking that talent.”
“I beg you. Please don’t take him. He’s an indispensable talent here. Sir.”
“If you call him a talent, he must be something special. Haha.”
Overhearing their exchange, Jang Muhwi tilted his head.
It sounded like the “talent” they were talking about was him.
It’s about time to start moving.
Jang Muhwi quietly stepped back.
He had sensed a presence somewhere nearby.
Judging by the sinister aura, it wasn’t a righteous faction warrior.
Most likely a bodyguard for one of the black-veiled executives, or perhaps an assassin they had hired.
The moment suspicion turned into certainty.
Jang Muhwi calmly returned to his seat.
The conversation had been simple.
Mun Uik was trying to prevent Jang Muhwi from being sent to the man in the black veil, while the veiled man was pressuring him to hand the young man over.
Come to think of it, Secretary Mun Uik seemed to only handle legitimate ledgers.
That explained why the door to the secret administrative office never opened for him.
The executives in charge of that place were a separate group.
Now that the bait had been taken, all that remained was to wait for the right moment.
Jang Muhwi was certain the time to uncover the dark underbelly of the Jangryong Merchant Group was near.
A short while later.
The man in the black veil appeared before Jang Muhwi.
Mun Uik sat between them with an apologetic expression.
Mun Uik was the first to speak.
“This gentleman is Supervisor Chae Bisoo, one of the core executives of the merchant group.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Jang Muhwi.”
When Jang Muhwi bowed politely, the man laughed.
“Haha. I am Chae Bisoo, Supervisor of the Flying Dragon Division.”
“Flying Dragon Division….”
“It must be unfamiliar to you. But it is true that the Flying Dragon Division is the heart of our merchant group.”
“I see. May I ask why you called for me?”
“I heard you handle your work exceptionally well.”
“You flatter me. I’ve simply been learning diligently from the secretary here.”
“After reviewing your reports, it seems less like you learned it and more like you were born with the talent… What do you think?”
“Not at all. It would have been impossible without the secretary’s guidance.”
“You caught a thief trying to smuggle out the key to the confidential vault—something even secretaries with years of experience couldn’t do—and you’re still this humble?”
“I was simply lucky.”
“How about taking on something bigger?”
“Bigger… I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“I’m asking if you’d like to become one of the pillars of the Jangryong Merchant Group. Just like me!”
When the man pointed at himself, Jang Muhwi gave an awkward smile.
“How could I dare entertain such thoughts? I’m already more than satisfied just being able to eat and live under the roof of such a great merchant group.”
Jang Muhwi waved his hands dismissively.
He was engaged in a psychological battle.
If he greedily snatched the bait they threw at him here, it would only arouse more suspicion.
When Jang Muhwi refused, they exchanged a few pointless words for a while.
Then Chae Bisoo pulled something from his pocket.
It was a very thin sheet of paper.
He unfolded it fully.
“This is the treatment we provide to the secretaries working in the Flying Dragon Division.”
“This is….”
Jang Muhwi’s eyes widened.
Of course, it was an act. Any ordinary person might have actually fallen over in shock.
The amount written there was ten times what a normal secretary received.
What he had presented was a contract.
Jang Muhwi quietly picked up a brush.
That afternoon.
Jang Muhwi stood in front of the Flying Dragon Division.
It was exactly the secret administrative office he had identified.
What stood out was that there wasn’t a single guard warrior posted in front of the building.
But Jang Muhwi knew.
Someone was watching from every corner of the pavilion, carefully concealing their presence.
Even at a glance, they were no ordinary warriors.
When Jang Muhwi arrived, Chae Bisoo came out to greet him.
“You’ve come. This way.”
“Understood, Supervisor.”
“Everyone, say hello.”
Chae Bisoo had the secretaries greet him.
The existing secretaries offered quiet bows when they saw Jang Muhwi.
Strangely, their eyes looked dead.
They seemed to have given up on life entirely.
It was completely different from Chae Bisoo’s overflowing energy, and it left a bitter taste in Jang Muhwi’s mouth.
But they weren’t the problem.
Finding traces of the Demonic Cult came first.
Jang Muhwi scanned the surrounding presences and quietly moved to the seat assigned to him.
Inside the Flying Dragon Division, a heavy and sinister aura lingered—completely unlike the external administrative office.
The secretaries all wore expressionless faces, and instead of vitality, their eyes held only deep exhaustion and resignation. They looked like puppets whose souls had been ripped out.
Chae Bisoo guided Jang Muhwi to an empty desk positioned so it would never leave his line of sight.
“This will be your spot.”
“Thank you, Supervisor.”
“Starting today, you will review these ledgers. They contain the major transaction records handled by the Flying Dragon Division over the past six months. Check them thoroughly for any errors or unnatural flows of funds. This is your chance to prove that your reputation isn’t empty.”
Chae Bisoo tapped a few thick ledgers stacked on the desk.
“Understood, Supervisor. I will examine them carefully.”
Jang Muhwi bowed once more with proper etiquette and sat down.
As he opened the ledger, Jang Muhwi tilted his head.
The transaction records were far too ordinary.
He instinctively realized this was a test.
It seemed the other side had layered multiple checkpoints to verify him.
Jang Muhwi quietly focused on the ledger.
For now, he had to rely entirely on his intuition.
As he flipped through the pages, Jang Muhwi glanced around.
Everyone was silently moving their brushes.
The ledgers they were handling had a slightly different paper color and texture from the one in front of him.
In other words, they weren’t the same type of ledger.
It meant they trusted the others enough to give them real work, but they still didn’t trust him.
It was then.
Chae Bisoo approached again.
He set a tray down in front of Jang Muhwi.
On the tray was a rather appetizing bowl of porridge.
He didn’t know the ingredients, but the steaming porridge gave off a delicious aroma.
“Have some while you work.”
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. Take your time and eat slowly.”
After speaking, Chae Bisoo quietly left.
Looking around, the other secretaries were also eating porridge.
Slurp. Slurp.
One secretary was practically shoveling the hot porridge into his mouth in one go.
It was clearly an abnormal situation.
Jang Muhwi felt the back of his neck prickle.
There were more than just one or two pairs of eyes watching him.
He quietly scooped up some porridge.
The moment he brought it to his lips, Jang Muhwi quickly hid his expression.
“Wow, this porridge is incredibly delicious….”
He muttered to himself, but it was a lie.
The porridge contained a small amount of mihoncho.
Mihoncho disrupted one’s energy and weakened their will.
The important part was its addictive nature.
Once consumed, it made the user crave more mihoncho.
The reason the porridge smelled so fragrant was because they had spared no expense on seasoning to mask the herb’s bitter taste.
Only now did Jang Muhwi understand the secretaries’ condition.
They were all addicted.
And that wasn’t all.
Their faces were pale and sickly; it was obvious they hadn’t seen sunlight in a long time.
Now he understood why the secretaries working here never showed their faces outside.
Jang Muhwi finished the entire bowl of porridge without any reaction.
With his Baekdokbulchim constitution, there was no way mihoncho would affect him.
Mihoncho, huh?
Unfortunately, mihoncho alone wasn’t enough as evidence.
He needed something more concrete.
Three days later.
As expected, they didn’t let Jang Muhwi leave the building.
What they wanted was time for him to become fully addicted.
Day by day, Jang Muhwi’s eyes grew increasingly hazy.
Of course, it was all an act.
When Chae Bisoo saw the changed Jang Muhwi, he tossed him a different ledger.
The texture and color of the paper matched the ones the other secretaries were handling.
In other words, this ledger contained the real secrets.
Jang Muhwi flipped through it.
As soon as he turned the first page, densely packed transaction records filled his vision.
Most were ordinary items like medicinal herbs, silk, and food supplies, but a few entries stood out.
Jang Muhwi casually turned the pages while pointing at each item with his finger.
He quickly cross-referenced the information he had obtained from the Haomin Sect with the records before him.
It was then.
The secretary sitting beside Jang Muhwi suddenly let out a faint groan and clutched his forehead.
His complexion was deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down like rain.
“Hey, are you alright?”
When Jang Muhwi asked in a low voice, the secretary looked around in terror.
Only after confirming that Chae Bisoo’s gaze wasn’t directed this way did he whisper in an extremely small voice.
“Ugh… You can’t stay here long. You’ll end up like me too….”
The secretary’s words were cut off.
At that moment, warriors dressed in black martial uniforms appeared from somewhere.
They dragged the collapsed secretary away.
Then Chae Bisoo approached Jang Muhwi.
“That man’s health has deteriorated, so we’ve decided to send him back to his hometown. From today onward, you’ll have to take over his duties.”
“Ah, understood.”
Jang Muhwi’s speech had become sluggish.
Chae Bisoo gave a strange smile.
The place Chae Bisoo took Jang Muhwi to was a warehouse.
He opened the warehouse door without hesitation.
The moment it opened, the scent of medicinal herbs wafted out.
Hundreds of different herbs tickled the nose.
While others might not know them, Jang Muhwi could name every single one.
There was a saying in the gangho: when war breaks out, medicine advances.
It was true.
To save lives, you needed physicians and medicine.
Thanks to that, Jang Muhwi’s nose had become extremely sensitive to medicinal ingredients.
And even more so to the herbs of the Demonic Cult.
Amid the various scents, he faintly detected the aroma of Mahwa.
Mahwa was a flower with five-colored petals.
At first glance, it looked like a mystical bloom, but it contained an extreme yang energy that the human body could not withstand.
The reason Mahwa served as decisive evidence was because it was a forbidden herb in the Central Plains.
In the past, many Taoist cultivators had consumed mahwa to aid their training.
Without exception, they had all suffered qi deviation and gone into seizures.
Records showed that countless high-level Taoist experts had died that way.
Naturally, it had to be banned.
There was only one place that cultivated mahwa.
The Demonic Cult.
Therefore, the mere existence of mahwa was proof in itself.
Now that he had found evidence, it was time to start weeding them out.