Filled with a thick fog of evil god’s breath! This resembles the evil fog that was before the small fishing village. Mo Hua felt a faint sensation in his heart, realizing that what he sought was getting closer. The thick fog spreading over the Smoke Water River likely concealed the altar. Moreover, this aura was much denser than that in the Bi Shan demon cave and the river god temple in the fishing village. This altar was definitely not ordinary! Mo Hua’s gaze brightened slightly, and he felt a faint anticipation in his heart. But at the same time, a thread of warning arose within him, as if something “terrible” was hidden within this thick fog, inside the altar, some unknown danger.

“What could it be…” Mo Hua slightly frowned. The spirit boat continued to sail deeper into the thick fog. The surrounding night was omnipresent, gloomy and somewhat oppressive. After a long time, the spirit boat stopped. The thick fog seemed to have faded a bit. But Mo Hua’s divine soul was still restless, as if something was constantly teasing his inner desires. This tease was very obscure. If Mo Hua hadn’t cultivated the Shocking God Sword and Blood Prison Pupil Technique, and sensed his life soul and seven souls, he might not have been able to detect these subtle changes at the divine soul level.

“The fog has faded, but the desires are still strong.”

“The dense fog on the outer layer is to prevent people from spying.”

“And this inner fog, which looks faded, is secretly hooking people’s ‘desires’, making them excited.” Mo Hua’s gaze slightly narrowed. After the spirit boat stopped, there was no movement outside. After a moment, someone suddenly knocked on the door and said in a low voice: “Dear guest, please close the door, you cannot go out.”

Mo Hua looked at Ye Hong, who was also frowning, unsure of what was happening. This was his first time here too, and he didn’t know the rules inside this Rouge Boat, or what schemes were hidden within.

“Wait in the room for now, and quietly observe the changes…” Mo Hua said.

“Okay.” Ye Hong nodded. After another moment, there was the sound of water outside again, sporadically, from far to near. It seemed like other boats were approaching. Then there were light footsteps, as if someone was boarding the ship. Mo Hua could faintly perceive a greasy scent of rouge, suggesting that a group of females had boarded the ship. At the same time, light, charming voices drifted over, one after another, tugging at the heartstrings. Mo Hua frowned, knowing in his heart that the Rouge Boat’s “business” had probably begun…

About an incense time later, the movement outside stopped. Then someone knocked on the door again, saying, “Apologies for the wait, dear guest. The feast can now begin.” The person at the door said only this sentence, then left and knocked on the next door, repeating the same phrase, “Apologies for the wait, the feast can now begin.”

Footsteps echoed in the corridor. Everyone came out of their rooms and converged towards the great hall. Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then said to Ye Hong: “I’ll go see. You… just stay here, don’t go out for now.” Although Ye Hong was at the peak of Foundation Building, inside the Rouge Boat, this cultivation didn’t count for much. Moreover, his appearance suggested he was an elder who stayed in the family year-round, managing family affairs, and rarely fought with others. His experience and methods in killing were very limited. Not to mention, he had the enmity of his son upon him and was depressed. If he encountered any situation, he might not be able to control his emotions well and act calmly. Therefore, it was better for him to stay in the cabin and not go out. With his son’s enmity upon him, Ye Hong didn’t want to leave, but he wasn’t a reckless person either. He knew he knew very little about this matter, and blind inquiry could very likely be counterproductive and ruin important matters. Therefore, he gritted his teeth, cupped his hands to Mo Hua, and said, “Then… I’ll trouble Young Master.” Ye Hong bowed deeply to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua nodded, then restrained his breath and slowly opened the door. The moment the door opened, a wave of rouge scent rushed out, mixed with the thick fog. This interwove with the desires in the fog, making one’s heart itch unbearably. Mo Hua looked inward with his divine sense, held his breath, guarded his heart, and discarded distracting thoughts. This way, he suppressed the vulgar desires and cleared his heart’s worries.

Outside the door, there were already many people, in twos and threes, gathered together and walking towards the great hall. Mo Hua, dressed as a young servant, also quietly followed. The cultivators along the way, teased by desires and excited in their thoughts, didn’t notice Mo Hua. Before even reaching the great hall, he could vaguely hear the sound of dance music. After walking a moment more, he entered the great hall. Mo Hua looked up and saw that the place where plays were performed during the day had changed programs. A group of females, adorned with flowers and branches, wore hazy veils and thin clothes. They danced charmingly to the string music. Under the thin gauze, their bodies, as white as snow, were sometimes hidden, sometimes revealed. The people in the great hall gazed greedily, looking as if they were drunk and stupefied. Mo Hua also stared blankly for a while, then found it somewhat boring. Was this all? Not properly dressed, scratching their heads and posing, what was so good to look at? Mo Hua shook his head.

However, having reached the great hall, he naturally wanted to observe the situation. Mo Hua continued to pretend to be a young servant, restraining his breath, and stood in a corner. Occasionally, he would serve tea or pour wine, appearing completely in place. The great hall was originally noisy with many voices, and no one could see through him. Mo Hua just silently observed like this. After observing for a while, he roughly understood some of the dynamics. This was a “business.” The females on the stage were all “goods,” and the so-called singing and dancing were just a means of self-display for the goods. As goods, they naturally had grades. The females on the stage were also divided into different grades, and their “value” differed, as did the cultivators they received. Mo Hua wasn’t sure if they were all truly forced. From a few glances, Mo Hua could only roughly determine that a part of the females were indeed forced. Although they wore veils, there was a layer of resentment between their brows, indicating their unwillingness. But some others were different. Some had cold faces and didn’t care, some were accustomed to it, and some had other schemes, their eyes flirting as they fawned over the males in various ways. There were even some females with joyful expressions. It seemed they were intoxicated by vanity, self-satisfied that their appearance could make so many males indulge and pursue them.

“Human hearts are indeed very complex…” Mo Hua sighed slightly. Besides the females, the males in the hall were also different. Some people were indeed just here for the “flower wine.” They ate good food, drank fine wine, and watched the charming dances of the females on stage, their expressions indulgent. Some people, after watching, showed greed in their eyes. They called a young servant and pointed out the dancing females on stage. The young servant nodded and went to make arrangements. Afterward, this person would stand up and return to their room, and the female who was dancing on stage would also change. Mo Hua didn’t fully understand what happened after returning to the room, but he could roughly guess. This was one type of male.

Some disciples, however, were completely different. Their interest was clearly not in women, but in holding wine cups, toasting everywhere, flattering, and building relationships. Among themselves, they formed cliques. Within the borders of Gan Xue state, sects formed one circle. The private associations between disciples of different sects and families formed another circle. Outside, paying respects to guests and making friends were just ordinary relationships. But here, drinking wine together and doing some romantic things together naturally created extraordinary bonds. They were all disciples of families and heavenly prides of sects, with extraordinary talents and boundless futures. In the future, they might all hold important positions in families, sects, and other major forces, and even the Dao Court Department and the Central Dao Court. At this time, using beauty as a means, associating with each other, they could naturally form a mutually supportive group in the future to seek private benefits. Those with noble origins, associating with others, could add to their advantage. Those with slightly worse origins needed to actively climb and expand their connections.

Mo Hua secretly sighed in his heart. No wonder this ticket was so expensive, costing ten thousand spirit stones. This wasn’t just a ticket for a “show.” In the eyes of those with intentions, this Rouge Boat ticket was equivalent to an “entry ticket” to the power and nobility class. Mo Hua looked around again. The cultivators among the seats were all very unfamiliar to him; he recognized almost none of them. But they were young, arrogant in demeanor, and he knew at a glance that they were all disciples of families and sects. They might include disciples from the Four Great Sects, the Eight Great Gates, the Twelve Streams, and even the Hundred Gates of Gan Xue, as well as some disciples under the Hundred Gates. Mo Hua felt secretly alarmed and his gaze was heavy. This situation might be even more serious than he had thought…

And besides these people, there were some disciples who were comparatively special. They had deep cultivation and extraordinary temperaments. At this time, they were just drinking by themselves in the great hall and didn’t even look at the females on stage, as if these females were all just “common rouge.” Mo Hua, while serving tea and pouring water, quietly stared at them. After about half the wine was consumed, some manager-like people came. They respectfully walked up to these disciples, whose identities were clearly more noble, and said something in a low voice. The hall was noisy, and Mo Hua was far away, only roughly hearing words like “already prepared,” “please move,” and so on. Then these people seemed to understand. They each stood up, left their seats, and walked out of the great hall. Some young servants also followed. Mo Hua’s heart stirred. “Something’s happening!” He thought for a moment, his eyes turned, and he also quietly moved his steps, naturally blending into the team. There were many young servants in the team; one more of him didn’t make much difference, and one less of him didn’t make little difference. Moreover, his actions were natural, his demeanor composed, and he had already been pouring wine in the great hall for half the day, so no one suspected him. And within this team, everyone walked silently, not speaking, and no one questioned him. He was naturally even less likely to be exposed.

The Rouge Boat’s “screening” was mainly done during the boarding time, and the security was extremely strict. Once on the ship, the rules were much more relaxed. This was probably also because everyone on board were “dear guests,” and strict checks on the ship could easily offend people. A group of people quietly left the great hall like this. Mo Hua followed with a serious face and blended into the crowd. They passed through corridors and reached the deck, where the night fog was dense, and the river water was dim. They couldn’t see the scenery, only the spirit boats connected end to end, with their lights lit, sailing on the Smoke Water River. Under the cover of night, these bright lights revealed some strangeness. And between the spirit boats, they were connected by iron chains. Narrow bridges were laid on the iron chains for cultivators to pass between the spirit boats. At this time, not only on Mo Hua’s ship, but on all the spirit boats, the “dear guests” with special identities all came to the deck and converged towards the center of the long line of spirit boats along the iron chain bridges. Mo Hua lowered his head and hung his hands, silently following. In less than a cup of tea’s time, they reached the center of the fleet, a larger, more luxuriously decorated, and more extravagant large ship.

Everyone boarded the large ship. And many of them, without knowing when, had already put on masks to cover their faces, seemingly not wanting to show their true faces. Of course, there were also those who were open and aboveboard and didn’t cover their faces. On the large ship, the “big scene” Mo Hua had expected did not appear. Inside the large ship, there was no larger or more luxurious great hall, nor was there a gathering of people reveling in “wine pools and meat forests,” that kind of unbearable scene. On the contrary, the interior of the large ship was very low-key, and many secret rooms were set up inside. From the outside, all the secret rooms looked almost the same. And these “dear guests” with special identities relied on the tokens in their hands to walk to their respective secret rooms. After opening the door and entering, they didn’t come out again. After that, Mo Hua didn’t know what happened. The team continued to move forward, with people entering rooms non-stop, and the number of people remaining becoming fewer and fewer. Mo Hua took advantage of a corner they passed, naturally turned, and then concealed himself, disappearing without a trace.

After concealing himself, Mo Hua found a remote corner in the ship’s cabin and secretly hid. Then he began to think about what to do next… This large ship was completely different from what he had envisioned before. All the secrets were divided and sealed inside one by one secret rooms, leaving him somewhat at a loss as to where to start. Even if he wanted to investigate, he didn’t know which one to start with. Once he investigated wrongly, was exposed, and was discovered, he would be floating on the Smoke Water River, with no village in front and no shop behind. It would likely be more ominous than auspicious. Of course, the most important thing was, how to pry open these secret rooms? Mo Hua picked an adjacent secret room, his gaze flickering. He used heavenly mechanism derivation to calculate several times, and roughly knew the situation in his heart. He quietly exhaled in relief. “Good, just a second-grade array…” This ship was used to entertain Foundation Building realm sect disciples, and it was only active within the second-grade state boundary, so a second-grade array was enough. Although it was a second-grade array, they were all pure second-grade high-level arrays, which clearly required some effort. The types of arrays were also numerous, covering the five elements and eight trigrams, reinforcement, soundproofing, image display, and anti-wall penetration isolation arrays, all kinds. Mo Hua’s second-grade array foundation was very solid, and he was widely involved. He could solve the arrays on these secret rooms, but it would take a lot of time. Moreover, people were coming and going in this corridor, and as long as he made a move, he would definitely be discovered. There was simply no opportunity for him to calmly crack the arrays on the secret rooms.

“Are there no other ways?” Mo Hua was just pondering when suddenly, footsteps sounded nearby, and someone came. He immediately restrained his thoughts, held his breath, and hid himself well. On this large flower ship, many places were equipped with image display arrays, but it was impossible to cover everything. Ordinary cultivators who were proficient in concealment might not be able to discern the position of the image display array. But Mo Hua was both a concealment cultivator and a skilled array master. He could see where the image display arrays were at a glance, so finding a safe position that wouldn’t break his concealment was not difficult. Just like this, Mo Hua quietly hid. After a while, someone walked past in front. It was a female, wearing a pink robe, with a charming figure. A faint scent of flowers drifted from where she passed. She didn’t discover Mo Hua and walked straight past him. Mo Hua originally didn’t care, but he caught a glimpse of the female’s face out of the corner of his eye and was suddenly stunned. He didn’t recognize her, but she looked a bit familiar… Why? Mo Hua was a bit puzzled. He thought carefully for a moment, then suddenly remembered. Hundred Flowers Valley! This pink-clothed female was a disciple of Hundred Flowers Valley. Before, through Hao Xuan’s connection, he had first sought out Wang Chen, wanting to board the Rouge Boat through the restaurant in Gui Water City, but was unsuccessful. On the way back, he saw a carriage from Hundred Flowers Valley driving out of Gui Water City, found it suspicious, and then followed it all the way to Hundred Flowers Valley. Several beautiful female disciples got off the carriage and entered Hundred Flowers Valley. One of them was this pink-clothed female who had just walked past.

“Hundred Flowers Valley…” Mo Hua’s heart stirred, and he immediately quietly followed. This female was light on her feet, shuttling between the secret rooms with familiar steps. She was clearly very familiar with this flower ship. After walking for about an incense time, she stopped in front of a secret room and reached out to knock on the door. After a moment, the secret room’s door opened, revealing a female’s face. Her eyebrows were exquisite, but she wore heavy makeup. This female was unexpectedly… Hua Ru Yu! Mo Hua was slightly surprised in his heart. She was unexpectedly on the ship too! Hua Ru Yu looked left and right for a bit, seeing no other people, then lightly blamed, “Why are you just coming?”

“I…” The pink-clothed female hadn’t even opened her mouth when Hua Ru Yu shook her head and said, “Come in and talk.”

“Okay.” The pink-clothed female nodded and entered Hua Ru Yu’s room. Then Hua Ru Yu closed the door. Mo Hua frowned. “Can’t hear…” Hua Ru Yu definitely had tricks up her sleeve on this Rouge Boat. And there were definitely secrets between her and this pink-clothed disciple from Hundred Flowers Valley. But once they closed the door, he couldn’t hear anything… “Need to find a way…” The secret room was against the corridor, and the door was sealed very tightly. The wall couldn’t be broken through either. Then… try from the outside? Mo Hua remembered that there should be doors and windows near the water outside the ship. He nodded, remembered the position of the secret room, then looked for a way nearby, and finally found a ventilating window from the end of the corridor, in a corner.

Mo Hua climbed out of the window to the outside of the ship, then stuck to the wooden beam of the flower ship and walked to the location of Hua Ru Yu’s room. Outside the room, there was indeed a window near the water. However, this window was tightly closed, and he couldn’t see the scene inside the room, nor could he hear the slightest sound. “Need to break the arrays on the window.” Generally speaking, the arrays outside the spirit boat were tighter than the arrays inside. The difficulty of breaking the array from the outside was much greater than breaking the array from the inside. Mo Hua was a bit apprehensive. He observed the arrays on the door and window for a bit and was suddenly surprised to discover that the arrays laid out on the door and window were unexpectedly God Fog Arrays. Moreover, under the God Fog Array, there was also a God Lock Array. Within the God Lock Array, there was a thread of evil aura, as if some demons were sealed inside. Mo Hua pondered for a bit and suddenly understood. The external defense of the Rouge Boat must be stronger than the internal defense. Therefore, someone had laid down double divine path arrays outside this large Rouge Boat, adding sealed demons outside to prevent others from spying. Ordinary arrays laid down outside the large Rouge Boat, no matter how complex, could be cracked by some people. But divine path arrays were different. These arrays were almost lost in transmission, and basically no one could do it. Adding some demons to raise, it was basically foolproof. Mo Hua also had to nod in agreement, “Indeed a good idea.” Then he just solved this divine path array. At the same time, some demons’ evil thoughts sealed inside the array drilled into his sea of consciousness and were instantly crushed to death by him. Other arrays, he would still need to spend some effort on. But divine path arrays were much simpler.

Mo Hua broke the arrays, took out a small dagger, and secretly dug a small hole in the window. Then he leaned his eye to look. This way, he could see the scene inside the room. A red powder bed, a colorful phoenix screen, a rouge makeup box placed in front of the bed, and exquisite jade wares placed on all sides. At a glance, it was a female’s boudoir. At this time, Hua Ru Yu and that pink-clothed female disciple were sitting in front of the table, their lips slightly parted, talking about something he didn’t know. “No sound?” Mo Hua was startled. There seemed to be a soundproofing array laid out inside the room. Mo Hua thought for a moment, took out a silver needle, wrapped it with an iron wire, and stabbed it into the key point of the soundproofing array along the gap of the window. On the silver needle, he used micro-carving techniques to carve a hearing array. The wire at the end of the silver needle was wound around his ear. Like this, he could hear the sounds inside the room.

“You don’t think too much…”

“What’s bad?”

“Appearance and figure are gifts from heaven to us females. Naturally, we should ‘make full use’ of them…”

“But…”

“Nothing but…”

“You think, your origin is not good. If you marry normally, you can only marry those ordinary males. With your appearance, how can those common men match?”

“This Rouge Boat is different. The cultivators who come and go are all talents from famous families. They are either noble or high-ranking. Even if you don’t marry them, having a few nights of ephemeral encounters won’t make you suffer.”

“Grasp the opportunity well, don’t waste your appearance…”

“Let go of those meaningless self-respect and shame, and you can experience the taste within…”

“Yes, Teacher…”

“Don’t call me Teacher here.”

“Yes, Sister.”

“Good, you go. Young Master Zhao is still waiting for you.”

“Okay.” The pink-clothed female nodded, then, whether resigned to fate or having thought it through, her expression relaxed a bit, and she gracefully retreated.

Mo Hua frowned. What a good Teacher Hua, she really knows how to “teach” people. Shameless herself, she still uses these words to coax and spoil others. After the pink-clothed female left, Hua Ru Yu was the only one left in the room. She began to loosen her clothes, preparing to bathe in the room. Mo Hua felt there was nothing good to see, so he didn’t plan to look. Just at this moment, the sound of knocking on the door rang again. Hua Ru Yu’s gaze sank slightly. She put on her clothes, walked to the door, looked outside, then her face filled with smiles, and she welcomed the person outside in.

The person who came in was a male, wearing a mask, with one sleeve dangling empty. He seemed to have a broken arm. “Broke one arm…” Mo Hua’s pupils shrunk. He didn’t need to think anymore. After entering the room, the male directly took off his mask, revealing a fair and handsome, but somewhat sinister face. Hua Ru Yu stepped forward and hugged the male. The two looked at each other, their eyebrows filled with deep affection.

“Xie Lang, why are you just coming?”

“Did you miss me…”

“Mm, terribly.”

“My good Miao Er…”

Their words were full of lingering affection. Mo Hua listened with his teeth aching and felt somewhat nauseous. A moment later, he involuntarily secretly sucked in a breath of cold air. It really was Shui Yan Luo! Moreover, this Shui Yan Luo was unexpectedly involved with Hua Ru Yu! This pair of wicked lovers!