People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Ya Fei squatted down, gently gathered her long sleeves, revealing a section of her snow-white wrist, and used her hand to condense ice into a bowl, scooping up a bowl of spring water to carefully sense it.

"Indeed, this spring water contains the power of heaven and earth; it is very thin, but very clear."

Just as Cao Ze was about to dive down, he suddenly heard a "splashing" sound of water.

The sound of the water wasn't loud, but everyone present was an expert at locating sounds by ear.

"It's at the bottom of the cliff."

Zi Nu took a few steps with her long, slender legs to the edge of the cliff.

Looking around, she saw a small cave about a hundred meters away at the bottom of the cliff.

If it weren't for the flowing water drawing her attention, she would have had a hard time seeing the cave hidden by the messy old tree vines.

Upon seeing this, Cao Ze let out a soft exclamation.

"That seems to be the direction from which we came out of the tree hole."

Mei San Niang exclaimed, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go take a look!"

She had always wanted to fight Cao Ze. If she could take down Cao Ze, the Qin State Imperial Censor, it would be a great achievement.

But for some reason, Cao Ze only said that Princess Ya Fei and Zi Nu couldn't catch him, and then Princess Ya Fei and the others seemed to be bewitched, and then they stopped talking, not even trying, but instead getting involved with Cao Ze, playing some kind of adventure game here.

This made her very depressed, and she didn't know how to vent her anger.

I had no choice but to shout at the top of my lungs.

No one objected to what Mei San Niang said.

Madam Mingzhu said, "You go first, I'll go pick those fruits."

The Marquis, somewhat naive, said, "Mingzhu, that's a red fruit. It's not ripe yet, so you can't pick it; it's poisonous."

"Vermilion Fruit?" Ya Fei's pretty face turned serious. "No wonder those white apes were so strong, they must have eaten Vermilion Fruit!"

Cao Ze didn't know much about the fruits and vegetables of this world—no, I mean, the rare and precious herbs.

The term "Vermilion Fruit" is probably a general term for a group of red fruits. At least the Vermilion Fruit in front of him was very different from the Vermilion Fruit he knew.

Madam Mingzhu's delicate hand, which was about to pick the fruit, froze for a moment.

How could she not know it was poisonous? She's a drug addict, you know.

She was confident that she could use the Vermilion Fruit to refine some extremely potent poisons, and even neutralize the toxicity of unripe Vermilion Fruit, thereby enhancing her strength.

But now that her aunt has exposed her, it's basically impossible for her to keep it all for herself.

"Everyone who sees it gets a share!" Zi Nu said, "We'll pick it after the Vermilion Fruit ripens!"

She has the confidence to say that.

As long as the Vermilion Fruit is on Xuannv Peak, and as long as they leave, the army can be mobilized to guard it.

Cao Ze didn't want to delay things because of three fruits whose ripening time was unknown, so he simply agreed.

He is now more eager to find the Baiyue treasure related to the Azure Dragon Seven Mansions.

After a while.

Cao Ze and the women arrived at the edge of the cliff.

He glanced down the cliff, and through the hazy miasma, it was at least a hundred feet away.

Even a master of external martial arts would die from internal organ rupture if he fell from here; at best, he would at least have a whole corpse.

Who goes down first?

Mei San Niang said in a very casual manner.

This sentence immediately silenced Cao Ze and the group of women.

I am clearly aware that there are four groups of people here now.

Jingni and Cao Ze, Lady Mingzhu and the Marquis, Zi Nu and Ying Ge, Ya Fei and Mei San Niang.

There wasn't much trust between them; rather, they each had their own stance, and neither wanted to fall behind or entrust their backs to others.

Lady Mingzhu considered backing out, but then she thought that since she had come this far, what if she was the chosen one and obtained the treasure? She would not only live a carefree life, but she might even break through to the Grandmaster level and join forces with her aunt to retrieve the animal skin scroll that Cao Ze had taken.

Cao Ze glanced at the bottom of the cliff. He couldn't see the cave, but he was certain it was below the cliff, about ten feet from the top.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Tianze and the other two may have already found the treasure. We don't have much time. Instead of suspecting each other, why don't we compromise and go down in batches?"

Zi Nu and Ya Fei both said at the same time, "Agreed."

They never intended to harm Cao Ze; at most, they would wait for an opportunity to see if they could bring Cao Ze back with them.

Madam Mingzhu stood there, speechless, suddenly feeling isolated.

They should have united against Cao Ze and isolated him together!

Based on her woman's intuition, besides Zi Nu, Cao Ze's old lover, Ya Fei was very likely having a secret affair with Cao Ze as well.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but curse Cao Ze in her heart.

Apart from that simpleton Mei San Niang and her own silly aunt, probably none of them here are clean; they've all probably been with Cao Ze.

What a bunch of despicable bastards!

Seeing that Madam Mingzhu remained silent, Cao Ze smiled and said, "Madam Mingzhu, please go ahead. We'll step back a hundred meters."

Lady Mingzhu raised her beautiful face and snorted, "Aren't you afraid that I'll leave you all behind and fight the treasure alone?"

Cao Ze shrugged. "If you had that ability, you wouldn't have..."

Madam Mingzhu coughed several times, stopping Cao Ze from continuing.

If the world knew about the shameful things that happened to her when she was the Lady of the State, how she was manipulated and played with by Cao Ze in the palace, she would really cry herself to death.

Even though she often choked up and cried in front of Xiao Caoze.

Cao Ze smiled inwardly, feeling slightly relieved.

It seems that Madam Mingzhu also wants to keep a low profile and downplay her past relationship with him.

Now that all the women are gathered here, what if they accidentally start comparing accounts? Wouldn't I be in deep trouble?

After Madam Mingzhu backed down, Cao Ze and the women retreated a hundred meters away.

Madam Mingzhu gritted her teeth and, with the help of the old vines on the cliff, descended down in just a few breaths. Upon seeing the cave, she instantly slipped inside.

Cao Ze, Zi Nu, and Ya Fei split into three groups and went down into the cave one by one.

Although the atmosphere between them was relaxed and harmonious, only they knew that they had raised their guard to the highest level.

……

Chapter 480 Kneeling and Fawning Over Little Cao Ze

"Such rich and pure power of heaven and earth!"

Ya Fei entered the cave, stood by the underground river, took a deep breath, and felt slightly intoxicated.

Only those who reach the Grandmaster realm and can perceive the power of heaven and earth can experience that exhilarating feeling.

Cao Ze squatted down and reached into the underground river.

He observed and sensed for a while, then said with some surprise, "There isn't a single fish here, not even any water plants or anything like that..."

The underground river contains such abundant natural energy that it is absolutely teeming with life, and it could easily support a large number of fish.

But there wasn't a single fish.

"I once heard someone say that water that is too clear has no fish..."

Zi Nu glanced at the crystal-clear underground river and said, "Perhaps the water is too clean, making it difficult for fish to find food."

Cao Ze nodded slightly. He also knew that very pure water generally has a low oxygen content, and that fish and algae also need to breathe.

Mei San Niang was exasperated. "Who cares if there are fish or not? Should we continue deeper into the water?"

The dark and deep cave in front of me, who knows where it leads?

If there's a problem with the cave, such as a sudden collapse.

Let alone a grandmaster, even a great grandmaster would be doomed.

"Aunt... what do you think of this place?" Lady Mingzhu whispered in the Marquis's ear.

The Marquis closed her eyes in deep thought and whispered, "My intuition tells me there is danger inside."

Upon hearing this, Madam Mingzhu's heart began to pound.

Her aunt is a grandmaster, and even her aunt said there was danger, so wouldn't she be in even more danger?

Ya Fei walked inside without turning her head.

"I'm leaving. Those who are afraid can leave now."

She is now filled with a strong thirst for knowledge.

As the guardian of the bronze box in this generation of the Zhao royal family, she has studied the bronze box countless times.

She said she wouldn't let this opportunity to find out the truth slip by.

Cao Ze said slowly, "Jing Ni, let's go."

Now that we've come all this way, there's no intention of leaving.

If you avoid danger whenever you encounter it, one day you will encounter an unavoidable danger, and that will be your death sentence.

Zi Nu followed silently, and Ying Ge took the opportunity to secretly communicate with Cao Ze, telling him everything that had happened in Xinzheng recently.

Soon only Lady Mingzhu and the Marquis remained at the cave entrance.

When Madam Mingzhu thought of the unripe Vermilion Fruit above, and then considered that the Vermilion Fruit might be nothing more than trash compared to the treasure inside, she gritted her teeth and pulled her aunt inside.

Asking her to give up the treasure inside and watch Cao Ze and that bunch of bastards get it would break her heart.

……

Tianze and his two companions didn't know how long they had been walking in the dark cave.

It was pitch black here, and our eyes had become useless.