So it turns out I'm the demon!

Staring at the mangled, bloody body before him, He Shuangying's mind went blank.

In the instant he came to his senses, he rolled to the corner of the room, drew his longsword and held it horizontally in front of him, cold sweat pouring down his face, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

Master!

Absolutely a top-tier expert!

In an instant when he was completely unaware, he could remotely obliterate a fourth-tier, fully-developed demon into nothingness.

This level of cultivation is at least two or three realms higher than his!

Time passed second by second.

The room was deathly silent, with only the stench of blood lingering in the air.

After waiting for a long time, the expected second attack did not come.

He Shuangying then mustered his courage and cautiously stood up, leaning against the wall.

He hastily pulled on his trousers, grabbed his sword, and moved like a thief to the doorway, peering out through the crack in the door.

This sight sent chills down his spine.

Outside the courtyard, Huang Dalang's several demon servants were all lying sprawled on the ground.

Without exception, they were all blown to pieces.

"Where... exactly does this come from...?"

He Shuangying swallowed hard, feeling his legs go weak.

He dared not linger any longer and prepared to flee.

However, as soon as he opened the door and took a step, he suddenly stopped.

"Wait! We haven't received that shipment yet."

That shipment was crucial to the Divine Sword Sect; if he returned empty-handed, his father would not let him off easily.

He Shuangying gritted his teeth, suppressing his nausea and fear, and returned to Huang Dalang's half-destroyed body.

A short while later, a wooden plaque was found on the corpse.

The wooden sign was engraved with four characters:

Huichun Pharmacy.

-

Huichun Pharmacy, backyard storeroom.

To prevent moisture and insects, the walls inside the warehouse were plastered with lime, and the floor was covered with a thick layer of dried mugwort.

The dried medicinal herbs are sorted and hung on bamboo racks.

The unopened items were neatly stacked in wooden crates against the wall, sealed with oil paper, and tightly bound with hemp rope.

The ventilation window high up was covered with fine copper mesh.

"Here, that's all."

Chu Lingzhu pointed to a batch of neatly sealed burlap sacks in the corner, her little face serious.

"I always felt that the smell was wrong. Although it was 'Youlan grass' picked from the miasma forest in southern Xinjiang, the medicinal properties of grass from that place are indeed stronger than usual, but the smell should not be this strange."

Chu Dahai stood to the side, looking helpless:

"Master, there's really nothing wrong with this batch of medicinal herbs. That old friend and I have been friends for decades. It's just that the situation is chaotic lately, so he's temporarily storing them with me. Even if something goes wrong, he certainly won't ask us for compensation."

"It's not a matter of compensation or not."

Jiang Mu brushed his fingertips across the dry surface of the burlap sack. "Medicinal herbs are a matter of life and death. Once something is ingested, you can't be careless in the slightest."

"that is!"

Chu Lingzhu made a face at her father.

Chu Dahai shook his head and smiled wryly, but seeing his daughter's serious and responsible demeanor, he felt quite gratified.

For a doctor, the worst thing is to be careless.

He felt at ease knowing his daughter was so cautious.

"Let's open a bag and take a look."

Jiang Mu still trusted Chu Lingzhu's keen intuition.

If she says there's a problem, then it's highly likely.

Chu Dahai frowned: "Master, the packaging of this Orchid Grass is to lock in its medicinal properties and preserve its spiritual energy. Once it's opened, the spiritual energy will leak out, and the medicinal effect will be greatly reduced..."

"It's alright, I'll compensate him for whatever the damage was."

Jiang Mu spoke calmly.

Chu Lingzhu took out a dagger and deftly cut open a burlap sack to seal it.

The bag was open.

Inside were bundles of dark green grass leaves, each leaf with seven petals, veins of a deep purple, and a strong medicinal aroma.

Jiang Mu sniffed it and found that it had a slightly bitter taste with a hint of fragrance, and there was nothing wrong with it.

"Huh...it really is an orchid?"

Chu Lingzhu grabbed a handful, sniffed it, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, showing some self-doubt.

Chu Dahai said irritably:

"I told you you were a paranoid girl, are you satisfied now?"

"wrong!"

The girl's eyes suddenly sharpened.

She held the herbs in her hand to the light, picked up a dagger, and split one of the herbs in half.

A blackish-red liquid oozed from the incision.

The originally rich medicinal aroma was immediately replaced by a putrid smell.

Chu Dahai's expression changed drastically: "This...this is..."

"This is a 'corpse orchid'!"

Chu Lingzhu's pretty face turned pale. "The Record of Strange Herbs of Southern Xinjiang states: Use the corpse of a newly deceased person as fertilizer, plant it in an extremely yin place, and it will take three years to grow."

This medicinal herb is utterly useless for saving lives; it can only be used to refine evil pills or to raise demonic creatures, allowing the bloodlines of different demonic species to fuse and mutate.

Raising demons?

Jiang Mu was startled.

Chu Lingzhu turned to look at her father, who was now pale with fright.

"Father, this is a forbidden drug strictly prohibited by the imperial court. To possess or sell it privately is to lose your head!"

Chu Dahai's body went limp and he slid down the shelf, but Jiang Mu reacted quickly and caught him.

"Uncle Chu, please calm down. Tell me, where is your friend now?"

"He...he's already back in Yancheng..."

Chu Dahai broke out in a cold sweat and instinctively grabbed Jiang Mu's sleeve. "Master, quick! Burn this batch of evil medicine! Otherwise... otherwise, disaster will befall us!"

"What's the panic? I am an official from the Demon Slayer Division."

Jiang Mu helped him sit down and asked, "Did he say when he would come to pick up the goods?"

"He said...it'll be in the next couple of days. He said he'll send someone with the token to collect it, and I can just hand it over directly."

Chu Dahai said, trembling.

Jiang Mu's eyes flickered, her mind racing.

He initially thought someone was trying to frame him by placing the batch of evil medicine in a shop under his name, so that he could be caught red-handed.

But then I thought, so many days have passed, if they wanted to frame me, they would have done it already.

The fact that the other party didn't move for a long time indicates that they genuinely considered this place a safe temporary transit point.

Is it the case that the darkness is under the lamp?

That's ridiculous.

Seeing her father so frightened, Chu Lingzhu felt a little flustered and timidly said:

"Young master, why don't you report this to your superior? This is a huge matter; if it comes to light later, you'll be implicated."

"Of course we should report it."

Jiang Mu pondered for a moment, "But this batch of medicinal herbs will not be destroyed for the time being."

Why?

"Wait for the person who will pick up the goods to come."

Jiang Mu turned to look at Chu Dahai and his daughter, and said seriously,

"I will ask the chief to secretly send people to Yancheng to investigate and arrest people. You can pretend that nothing happened here."

If someone comes to pick up the goods, notify me immediately. Don't panic, just delay a little.

"You want to go fishing?" Chu Lingzhu's eyes lit up.

Jiang Mu nodded.

Since someone has offered the bait right to our mouths, why wouldn't we take it?

Why was this batch of goods transferred to Huzhou?

He had a vague premonition that this matter might be related to a hidden mole within the organization.

This could be an important clue.

After all, if he wants to completely clear his name, he must find and clean up all the other traitors one by one.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely catch the bad guy for you!"

Chu Lingzhu clenched her small fist.

"What are you arresting? Just let me know when the time comes, and I'll come and arrest them."

Jiang Mu raised her hand and gently pinched her delicate nose. "Don't do anything foolish. Just handle the handover normally. Safety is the most important thing, understand?"

The slight tickling sensation on the tip of her nose startled Chu Lingzhu, who then blushed and glared at him with embarrassment and annoyance.

Chu Dahai, who was standing nearby, saw this scene and looked at it strangely.

This……

Didn't my daughter used to hate this spoiled rich kid the most?

How come now...

Oh no, my lovely little bok choy is going to be eaten!

Jiang Mu didn't pay attention to their reactions.

He glanced at the pile of sacks, a sharp glint in his eyes, and thought to himself:

"I wonder what kind of fish I'll catch."

Speaking of fish, Jiang Mu recalled the fish demon he had killed, and then he thought of He Shuangying, the young master of the Divine Sword Sect.

Since the last conflict, the other party has surprisingly stopped bothering him.

This made Jiang Mu very upset.

After all, the main task now is to quickly obtain an orthodox star position.

If the other party doesn't cause trouble, he can't easily make a move.

It would be difficult to send him to lead a group to search for the Divine Sword Sect and cause trouble; the sect leader would definitely not support it.

Jiang Mu pondered silently.

"It's unrealistic to expect the other party to come looking for trouble; we have to take the initiative ourselves."