The Investigation
I had been granted full authority over the matter concerning the Cheonjung Trading Company by my maternal grandfather.
As expected of a merchant, Grandfather preferred certainty and had given me a single token.
‘If there is anyone who does not recognize your face, show them this plaque. It symbolizes the young master of the Shanxi Yu Family. Of course, there will be no need for it in my lifetime…….’
His bitter tone lingered in my memory.
I accepted the plaque without refusal.
It was the ultimate token that served as both proof of identity for investigating the trading company and a means to bypass complicated procedures.
I immediately headed for the Cheonjung Trading Company with Muyoung in tow.
Since I had already obtained the location of the Cheonjung Trading Company and basic information about them from Grandfather, there were no issues.
The Cheonjung Trading Company was not far from where the Yu Family resided.
Their main headquarters was located in a small village that could be reached after walking for about half an hour.
“What brings you here?”
The guards at the main gate of the Cheonjung Trading Company greeted me with polite bows.
“I have come from the Shanxi Yu Family.”
“Ah, the Yu Family? May I ask who……?”
“I am Woo-jin, the maternal grandson of the family head.”
The guard’s expression changed instantly.
His demeanor became extremely respectful.
“So you are the family head’s maternal grandson. Please wait a moment. I will report this to the chief steward.”
The guard hurried inside.
“Is this all right?”
Muyoung quietly spoke to me then.
“What is?”
“I was asking whether it would be fine to conduct the investigation with just the two of us. The other party is someone bold enough to have attempted to harm the lady of the house, after all.”
“Hah, Muyoung.”
I let out a small sigh.
“Their main body is not here. Would the enemy be so careless as to be easily discovered by me? A fool who dared to target the Ju Family’s lady, just as you said?”
“Indeed…… That makes sense.”
Muyoung nodded with a stiff expression.
Those words were actually an even more dangerous statement.
Did it not imply that this matter could be far more dangerous than we thought?
Muyoung’s vigilance grew even stricter.
Shortly after, the chief steward and the guard from earlier appeared from inside the gate.
“I apologize for keeping you waiting, young master. I am Mo Pyeong, the chief steward of the Cheonjung Trading Company.”
“……I am Woo-jin.”
Chief Steward Mo Pyeong bowed respectfully.
He looked like an ordinary middle-aged man with a decent appearance.
“Please come inside.”
I followed his guidance in silence.
As I walked behind him, I spoke up.
“I heard that you have been trading with my maternal grandfather’s family for a long time. Mainly dealing in medicinal herbs and all sorts of rare spiritual plants.”
“Hahaha! That is correct. I never imagined the family head would remember our humble trading company. It is an honor.”
The chief steward nodded with a good-natured smile.
He truly seemed pleased.
“I heard that the family head’s third daughter has been ill since childhood. By chance, after hearing about our trading company, she has been purchasing over seventy percent of the medicinal herbs we deal in from the Yu Family. She is a benefactor to us as well.”
“……”
I nodded at those words.
Grandfather’s love for his daughter was quite famous even here.
Perhaps not only the Cheonjung Trading Company, but all trading companies dealing in medicinal herbs maintained good relations with him.
All of it was solely for the sake of Mother, who had been frail since childhood.
“By the way, what business do you have with our trading company?”
“I will be direct. Who usually handles the transactions with the Yu Family?”
“Hmm, the Yu Family is our largest and most regular customer. Naturally, our trading company head primarily oversees it, but when he is busy, I handle it personally.”
“Have you never sent anyone else?”
At my question, Mo Pyeong’s expression hardened.
He seemed displeased.
“I see. Your tone carries a rather sharp edge, young master.”
“I am merely asking out of curiosity.”
“Hmm. Yes. As I mentioned, the Yu Family is our largest and most regular customer. We cannot send just anyone, can we?”
“Then you must have thoroughly inspected the medicinal herbs sent to the Yu Family as well.”
“Of course. We always prioritize the highest quality goods for transactions with the Yu Family.”
Mo Pyeong’s tone gradually grew colder.
It was because my questions sounded like an interrogation to anyone listening.
“Could it be that the family head was dissatisfied with the goods we sent?”
“That is not the case. He is quite satisfied.”
I looked at Mo Pyeong and smiled contentedly.
In the end, it meant that either the head of the Cheonjung Trading Company or the man before me was the culprit.
Noticing the shift in my atmosphere, Muyoung subtly changed positions to block Mo Pyeong’s escape route.
“I have one final question. Do you know of the Zhonghai Decoction?”
“Hmm? The Zhonghai Decoction?”
The chief steward nodded as if it were obvious.
“It is a very precious item I recently acquired. It is a decoction made from rare medicinal herbs that can alleviate the symptoms of the Yu Family head’s third daughter. I believe I personally procured it. Why do you ask?”
“……”
What?
It was revealed this easily?
Muyoung, reading my expression, quietly gripped his sword hilt.
I quickly shook my head at him.
‘What is this? This reaction.’
Mo Pyeong looked puzzled, as if wondering why I was asking.
“That Zhonghai Decoction is poison.”
I took one step further and brought up the main point directly.
Upon hearing those words, Mo Pyeong froze for a moment before turning pale and beginning to tremble violently.
“P-P-Poison? T-That cannot be……! I personally…… t-tasted it…… and paid a high price to purchase it……!”
‘This man is not the culprit.’
I immediately confirmed that Mo Pyeong was not the assassin.
“It is merely medicinal tea when consumed alone. However, the moment it mixes with the herbs Mother takes, it becomes a lethal poison.”
“I-I-I did not know that. I-I am sorry……!”
Mo Pyeong’s face turned deathly pale.
He looked as though he might wet himself at any moment.
Mo Pyeong trembled and tilted his head toward me.
“J-Just now…… did you say Mother……?”
“Yes. I am the maternal grandson of the Yu Family head and the son of his third daughter, Yu Ha-rin.”
“Gah!”
Mo Pyeong collapsed on the spot as his legs gave out.
There was only one meaning to my words.
The Cheonjung Trading Company had essentially admitted to poisoning the Ju Family’s lady.
Originally, the rumor that the Yu Family head’s third daughter had married the Ju Family’s heir had been the talk of the town.
Trading companies sensitive to information naturally knew this fact better than anyone.
The Yu Family had also used that information to conduct transactions with even more trading companies from a dominant position, and the Ju Family had been able to earn enormous sums of money with the Yu Family’s support.
In any case, the Cheonjung Trading Company had essentially committed an insane act against the Ju Family’s lady.
And now, that lady’s own son stood before them.
This was no ordinary matter.
“Rest assured. I know that you are not the culprit.”
Mo Pyeong’s aura was utterly ordinary.
Even if he were hiding his true strength, at least this was not the Demonic Cult’s method.
I was the only person among all the people living in the Central Plains who knew more about the Demonic Cult than anyone else.
‘The Demonic Cult would not use such a throwing method. This is something the unorthodox factions used.’
Of course, they might disguise themselves as unorthodox factions to carry out their deeds.
However, that part was completely different from the Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s methods.
“Where did you purchase the Zhonghai Decoction?”
“I-If you go west from here toward Mount Lu, you will find a place called Jangpyeong Gate, where a market opens every five days. About three months ago, while passing through there by chance, I met a merchant selling that Zhonghai Decoction.”
“By chance?”
A sneer formed on my lips.
What were the odds of coincidentally encountering the exact medicinal herb needed by the Ju Family’s lady?
I pondered for a moment before approaching Mo Pyeong.
“From now on, I will harm you. Then I will take you to the Yu Family and imprison you.”
“Y-Yes……?”
“In the end, it is true that you delivered poison to my mother. Consider it the appropriate level of responsibility for that.”
After whispering to him, I immediately nodded toward Muyoung without giving him a chance to react.
Muyoung drew his sword and lightly cut Mo Pyeong’s calf.
“Gah!”
Mo Pyeong collapsed, and the gazes of the merchants and servants of the Cheonjung Trading Company nearby turned toward us.
I shouted at them.
“I am taking away the culprit who poisoned the Yu Family. Anyone with something to say should come directly to the Yu Family.”
After finishing those words, I turned around.
Muyoung firmly lifted Mo Pyeong and dragged him out by force.
The merchants’ murmurs could be heard, but I deliberately grabbed Mo Pyeong roughly and left the Cheonjung Trading Company in plain sight.
That night.
I locked Mo Pyeong in an empty warehouse belonging to the Yu Family.
Muyoung asked me.
“Young master, did you not say that man was not the culprit?”
“Yeah, that is right.”
“Then why did you imprison him?”
Muyoung was puzzled.
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not figure out the reason for imprisoning Mo Pyeong.
‘Because I know the culprit’s methods very well.’
What I was trying to catch was not merely the tail that had delivered the poison.
It was that madman of the world who had created the poison and even considered how to administer it to Mother.
It was to catch the Blood Hand Poison Emperor, the one obsessed with poison among the Twelve Demon Emperors raised by the Heavenly Demon.
Of course, I could not tell Muyoung this fact straight out.
Even if I did, it would be fortunate if he did not treat me like a madman lost in delusions.
“Just wait and see.”
“……”
At my words, Muyoung fell silent.
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor would definitely make a move.
That thorough and insane man would never tolerate even the slightest flaw in the plan he had devised.
* * *
A day passed.
I entered the warehouse where Mo Pyeong was imprisoned and gave him water and food.
“W-What is the meaning of this? What on earth…….”
“It must be bewildering, but please endure a little longer. That is, if you do not want to be misunderstood.”
I deliberately acted in an exaggerated manner.
I used the daytime when the Yu Family’s servants and the trading company’s procession were moving about, and instead maintained a serious expression so that they would notice me.
Perhaps because of that, even the servants who had originally been close to me could not easily approach me.
Thus, night came again, and finally, there was a bite.
‘Poison qi.’
I prepared the food to give to Mo Pyeong, just as I had done all day today.
The moment he received the food, a faint poison qi spread out.
‘A method disguised as suicide. It is him.’
The Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s hand had reached out.
It was a minute poison qi that I would never have noticed without the heightened senses I gained after regressing.
If one died after consuming the poison personally concocted by the Blood Hand Poison Emperor, not even the slightest trace would remain.
‘The Blood Hand Poison Emperor has casually killed hundreds and thousands with this kind of poison.’
I soon gave Muyoung a signal with my eyes.
Muyoung immediately headed for the kitchen, and I carried the food into the warehouse.
“There is poison in the food.”
“Hup……!”
Mo Pyeong’s hand, which had been about to receive the bowl, froze in place.
“For now, you are cleared of suspicion. However, you will have to endure a little more hardship.”
At my words, Mo Pyeong nodded.
As befitting the chief steward of a trading company, he was quite perceptive.
He had probably realized at once what I was trying to do.
I immediately pressed Mo Pyeong’s acupoint and knocked him unconscious.
Then, with a stern expression, I left the warehouse.
In front of the warehouse stood the servants guarding it.
I spoke to them.
“Mo Pyeong has collapsed. He suddenly fell after eating the food.”
“What?”
Of course, chaos erupted.
They moved in perfect coordination.
Some tried to enter the warehouse, but I stopped them.
“Bring a physician. No one is to enter until then.”
While the servants were bustling about, a whistle from Muyoung could be heard from afar.
He had finally made his move.
The true body that would lead to the Blood Hand Poison Emperor.