As night deepened, Steward Li arranged a guest room for Li Yan. Li Yan also met the other martial artists who had gone out searching, but without exception, none had found anything.
Listening to these people recount their findings to one another, Li Yan finally understood the meaning behind the words of those two men when he arrived earlier that day.
For someone to abduct a person so silently, without leaving the slightest clue behind, the culprit was likely not only highly skilled in martial arts, but backed by no ordinary force as well.
Yet after probing around for less than half a day, Li Yan had discovered something amiss.
Though Steward Li and the others appeared extremely anxious, and every servant in the manor wore a deeply furrowed brow, everything throughout the estate remained orderly despite such chaos.
Even the food and lodging for people like them, who had come to lend a hand, had been attended to with utmost care.
Did this fucking look like the behavior of a household whose master had gone missing?
And those mistresses of the household—instead of begging heaven and earth to hire people and search for him, they still had the mood to change residences?
The more he looked, the stranger it seemed!
Once the surrounding guest rooms had fallen silent, Li Yan quietly slipped out through the window. Following Steward Li's directions, he headed straight for the residences of the Treasure Official's Manor's mistresses.
Not far from Treasure Official's Manor stood a three-courtyard private residence. From the outside, it looked no different from the other compounds, but once one stepped inside, one would discover a world apart.
Partition walls piled from intricately carved bricks and stone, elegant pavilions built from century-old redwood, gardens, rockeries, and fishponds fashioned around the terrain—all intertwined in perfect order.
Though it was merely a private residence, it carried the splendor and grandeur of an imperial kinsman's abode.
At that moment, several women were leisurely soaking in a hot spring pool inside one of the courtyard's small rooms.
Lotus lamps floating on the water reflected their lovely faces and alluring figures.
"Ugh, they had a perfectly good home, yet they insisted on coming here. I really don't know what Big Sister was thinking."
The youngest-looking woman rested her head against the edge of the pool as she spoke.
"Shh!" The woman beside her made a silencing gesture. Seeing that the others had not spoken, she chided, "You little thing, don't think that just because Master dotes on you the most now, you can say anything you please."
"Don't be fooled by how Master usually blustered about. If Big Sister didn't nod her head, would Master dare do anything?"
"Exactly. Xier, you've been married into this household for quite some time now. How can you still have so little sense?"
"If Big Sister hears those words, no one will be able to protect you!"
After being scolded by the several older women, Xier pouted. With her backer absent today, she flared up in anger—then merely flared up once.
"Speaking of which, what medicine are Big Sister and Master selling in that gourd of theirs?"
"Don't know. Don't want to know. I advise you all not to be curious either."
The woman who appeared to be the eldest among them scooped up a ladle of water and poured it down her neck as she murmured.
Though her voice was soft and gentle, the others immediately fell silent like eggplants struck by frost.
On the roof, Li Yan watched the scene inside through a lifted roof tile, his heart utterly unmoved.
Though the sight was fragrant and sensual, what had he not seen in his previous life? Besides, he had yet to awaken Old Cao's traits, so he had no interest in such things.
On the contrary, the Big Sister they had mentioned piqued his interest.
Perhaps this First Madam had some clue about Treasure Official's whereabouts.
Avoiding the servants patrolling back and forth through the courtyard, Li Yan quietly entered a room at its deepest end.
The moment he silently pushed the door open, the moisture-laden air rushing at him made him frown.
What the hell? Having a dedicated hot spring room wasn't enough—they needed a separate bathhouse too?
At that moment, a woman lounged against the edge of the pool inside the room. She raised a hand, picked up a grape, and placed it into her mouth. The scene was exceedingly sensual.
After chewing twice, her movements suddenly stiffened. A small fruit knife from the shore quietly pressed against her throat.
"Greetings, First Madam~"
Lowering his voice, Li Yan spoke coldly in a rough tone. He could clearly feel the woman's entire body tremble beneath the mist. She had obviously been frightened.
But very quickly, the woman calmed down.
"Who are you? Don't hurt me. No matter what you want, I can agree to it."
Li Yan raised his brows. As expected of the Treasure Official's Manor's First Madam—she had calmed down in such a short time, and her response was correct as well.
Though she was the First Madam of the official's household and held an extremely high status within it, out in the world, in the eyes of martial artists, she was still nothing.
"Rest assured, Madam. As long as you cooperate obediently, I certainly will not harm you in the slightest."
"What do you want?"
"May I ask where Treasure Official is?"
The moment those words came out, First Madam's body stiffened again. Then she continued, "Master has been missing for many days. Everyone in Duobao Town knows that. How could I..."
Before she could finish, the pricking sensation at her neck abruptly intensified.
"Madam, since I could appear here, it means I already know the whole story."
"Please rest assured, Madam. I was merely entrusted by someone to personally deliver an item. I absolutely will not do anything to harm your husband."
"Y-you... Are you telling the truth?"
Her voice trembling slightly, First Madam asked uncertainly.
"Heh. Your manor and I have neither old grudges nor recent enmity, so naturally I would not make enemies of you for no reason. After all, with your manor's wealth, if you wished to seek revenge against me, it would be quite troublesome for me as well."
Li Yan's words were like a demon's whisper, gradually tearing down First Madam's psychological defenses. Under threat and temptation alike, the information had already reached her throat.
Just then, a knock suddenly sounded outside the door. "Knock, knock, knock!"
"Madam, it's time to add the flower petals."
The door opened, and two maidservants entered carrying two basins of fresh flower petals.
The two approached the pool and curtsied to First Madam, then began scattering the petals into the water.
Once they had finished scattering the petals, they waited quietly to one side.
"Ah~"
A soft cry rang out, and the two maidservants hurried forward. "Madam, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing. You may leave first."
The two exchanged a glance. Though puzzled, they still curtsied and withdrew.
The moment the door closed, Li Yan quietly raised his head from the pool.
"Madam, don't make a sound. You wouldn't want other people to misunderstand, would you?"
"You!"
First Madam gritted her teeth, her face full of humiliation and fury. It was bad enough that this little thief had been hiding in the water—he had actually touched her!
But remembering the sharp weapon in his hand, she could only bite down angrily.
Before long, Li Yan obtained the information he wanted from First Madam.
Just as he had suspected, Treasure Official had never gone missing at all. He had merely hidden himself away!
As for why he had hidden, Li Yan would have to find the man before learning the details.
"Thank you, Madam, for informing me. I have offended you greatly today. Should the opportunity arise in the future, I will personally apologize to you."
After offering an apology devoid of the slightest sincerity, Li Yan quietly left the room and departed without a trace.
Yet at the same moment Li Yan left, the First Madam's originally humiliated and furious expression slowly faded. Then she raised a hand and wiped across her face, removing an exquisite human-skin mask and revealing a youthful, bewitching face.
"Heh heh, Wan Sanhuo, Li Huo—which one is your real name?"
Then the woman's face gradually turned cold. "You dared to take liberties with me. When we meet again, I will definitely send you into my Demon Sect's Soul-Shattering Cave, where you'll beg for life but be unable to live, beg for death but be unable to die... Hmph!"