"I... I have no idea why Nong Yu would..." the Madam said with a wry smile.

For Zou Feng, this only served to confirm his suspicions about Nong Yu.

Nong Yu was an Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist, after all. It was unlikely she would just come to terms with things so easily.

Nor would she contract such a bizarre illness so easily.

’In all likelihood, this is just a front—a plausible excuse for what she’s planning to do next...’

After that, Zou Feng asked no more questions and went back to listening to the music.

In the meantime, while pretending to wander around the Shuyu Boat, Zou Feng confirmed that Nong Yu was, in fact, still aboard.

She looked as if she were genuinely ill, lying all alone in a cramped little room.

Zou Feng even listened through the wooden wall for a moment before returning to his own room.

「Late that night.」

Zou Feng, who had appeared to be fast asleep, suddenly shot upright.

He had been on high alert for any disturbance on the Shuyu Boat, and he had just clearly heard something fall into the river.

’What a coincidence. Is something really happening tonight, of all nights?’

In a flash, Zou Feng leaped out the window, reaching the outside of Nong Yu’s room in just two steps.

But by then, Nong Yu, who had supposedly been lying in the room at death’s door, was long gone.

Clearly, the sound of something hitting the water was Nong Yu throwing herself into the river.

The woman had claimed to have contracted a venereal disease, so it would seem perfectly normal for her to throw herself into the river in a state of depression.

Afterward, no one would pay any more attention to this already inconspicuous Courtesan.

Similar "tragedies" played out time and again in the many brothels.

However, Zou Feng was certain that Nong Yu was Yuchi Jue’s "Great Medicine."

That meant this whole incident with Nong Yu was clearly just an act.

It was all to create a plausible, unremarkable reason for her disappearance.

’So, if my judgment is correct, all I have to do is follow Nong Yu now that she’s in the water. I can follow the trail right to Yuchi Jue.’

But Zou Feng wasn’t in a rush. At his command, Xiaolv had already entered the water ahead of time and was tailing Nong Yu, so things were under control for the moment.

Zou Feng now had two choices.

The first was to not inform his teammates, act alone, and take all the credit for himself.

But this was a mission assigned by Su Qingyu. Even if he took down Yuchi Jue by himself, he wouldn’t be able to keep the Immortal Treasure.

’Still, it stands to reason that I’d get first pick of an Immortal Treasure...’

The second choice, naturally, was to notify his teammates—especially to get Zeng Xiuyuan to knock it off. It was time to stop getting fucked and get back to business.

After a moment’s thought, Zou Feng decided to go to Zeng Xiuyuan’s room and knocked softly on the door.

From inside the room came a medley of, naturally, indescribable sounds.

The unfortunate clients had no idea that Zeng Xiuyuan was actually a man.

This was one of Zeng Xiuyuan’s twisted hobbies. He actually disliked clients who were already inclined toward men.

He preferred to use his particular skills to make men with no such interests mistake him for a woman...

Sometimes, when the mood struck him, Zeng Xiuyuan would even deliberately reveal his identity at the crucial moment to enjoy watching his partner’s hysterical breakdown.

Of course, since he was on a mission, Zeng Xiuyuan couldn’t indulge in the pleasure of revealing his identity. For the past several days, he had restrained himself and continued to play the part of the top courtesan.

At the sound of the knock, the cries of the clients inside came to an abrupt halt.

A moment later, Zeng Xiuyuan walked out, looking as if nothing were amiss.

"Is it really Nong Yu?"

Zou Feng had, of course, already told Zeng Xiuyuan about his suspicions regarding Nong Yu.

"I’m almost certain of it. Let’s go. If our luck holds, we’ll be able to drag Yuchi Jue out tonight!" Zou Feng said.

Zeng Xiuyuan nodded and said gravely, "Yuchi Jue may be seriously injured, but we can’t be careless. I’ll notify Master Zhong and Leng Jing first..."

As he spoke, he took out a Communication Jade Talisman and tinkered with it for a moment.

Even though he had notified Zhong Zhe and Leng Jing, there was no telling how long it would take for them to get here.

Zou Feng and Zeng Xiuyuan couldn’t just wait around, however. They had to go after Nong Yu immediately.

After all, relying on Xiaolv alone to do the tracking wasn’t completely foolproof.

The two of them quickly entered the water. With their strength as True Qi Realm masters, they moved through the river like fish, their speed astonishingly fast.

Even in the murky river, Zou Feng could still see the faint glow emanating from Xiaolv, and he quickly caught up.

Nong Yu hadn’t swum very far underwater.

She was only about a mile or so from the Shuyu Boat.

She had stopped and was now feeling around for something on a stone wall at the river’s edge.

Her actions alone confirmed Zou Feng’s previous theory: there really was a hidden waterway beneath the river.

A moment later, Nong Yu successfully found the entrance.

She pushed aside several large rocks, revealing a deep, dark underwater cavern.

It went without saying that such an underwater cave could harbor all sorts of dangers.

But Nong Yu didn’t seem to care in the slightest and swam inside without hesitation.

Not far away, Zou Feng and Zeng Xiuyuan exchanged a look and immediately followed her in.

The waterway wasn’t long. After swimming for about a hundred feet, the space suddenly opened up, no longer the cramped passage from before.

Moreover, there was light coming from above.

Nong Yu was already surfacing, climbing out of the water and onto the bank.

Once she was out of the water and had moved some distance away, Zou Feng and Zeng Xiuyuan slowly broke the surface.

A quick survey revealed that this was clearly an underground cavern connected to the waterway.

"There’s a cavern this large underneath Zhao Hua City?" Zeng Xiuyuan said, observing his surroundings in surprise. "How did Yuchi Jue find this place? It’s the perfect hiding spot, almost impossible to discover..."