Chapter 1576: Precious Treasure Emerges

Zu An was unaware of the emotional drama unfolding in the young woman's heart. Seeing her lost in thought and silent, he asked nervously, "Didn't it work?"

He hadn't suffered any soul damage recently, so he wasn't sure if the Feather Mountain Spiritual Spring would be effective for such injuries.

"No, ah, no, it did work, and surprisingly well." Xie Daoyun first shook her head, then immediately nodded. For a moment, she found herself odd; usually, her thoughts were quite clear, but why was she so flustered today?

"It's good that it worked," Zu An breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Daoyun glanced at him, her heart skipping a beat when she saw his gentle gaze. She quickly lowered her head, her face feeling hot.

After a while, she finally mustered up the courage to open her mouth and say something, but at that moment, Wang Bolin and Zhang Zijiang approached, escorting several rebels. "General, we've captured a few alive. They seem to hold a not-so-low position among the rebels."

The situation had just been a complete mess, and some unlucky individuals hadn't managed to escape in time, getting caught by the Feathered Forest Guards who had reacted to the chaos.

Feeling ashamed and remorseful, the two wanted to do something to redeem themselves. Thus, they quickly sifted through the captives, selecting a few minor leaders and bringing them before Zu An.

Zu An found it somewhat amusing to see such a stark contrast in their attitudes before and after, but he didn't embarrass them. "You two have worked hard."

"Not at all, not at all!" Wang Bolin and Zhang Zijiang breathed a sigh of relief. They had been quite uneasy, fearing he might bear a grudge and refuse to forgive them. Now, seeing his attitude, it seemed the previous incident was forgotten.

A sudden sense of shame washed over them. Master Zu's cultivation had reached a divine level; they were no longer on the same playing field. How could he possibly bother with trivial matters involving them? It was their own narrow-mindedness.

Zu An's attention turned to the rebel leaders. "Why were you chasing Miss Xie?"

The rebel leaders looked at him in terror. Just a moment ago, this man had wiped out so many of their brothers with a mere wave of his hand. Those infamous "Blood-Handed Butchers" rumored in the martial world were mere apprentices compared to him.

"Re... reporting to Your Excellency, at first, we received reports from our brothers that a beautiful woman had beaten them in a town. Since we're all from the same group, naturally, we had to stand up for them."

Once one started, they all scrambled to explain:

"Who knew that the brothers we sent later also got beaten? We thought, 'How can this be tolerated?' At the same time, we grew curious: where did such a powerful woman—no, female warrior—come from? So, more people went to investigate, and who knew, they suffered losses again. Thus, more and more people rushed over after hearing the news. Firstly, to avenge our brothers, and secondly, to witness her skills..."

Wang Bolin sneered from the side, "I'm afraid it's because you heard Miss Xie was beautiful."

Xie Daoyun's face flushed slightly, her expression a bit mortified. These rebels had caused her so much trouble these past few days.

"That... that was part of it..." Seeing Zu An's sharp gaze, the rebels dared not conceal anything. "In our line of work, the most common topics of discussion, besides money, are women. We've never seen such a beautiful lady—ahem, a beautiful young woman—like Miss Xie before, so many people became interested."

"But we absolutely did not participate! We only followed our First and Second Bosses later."

"That's right, that's right! We were at the back earlier and didn't even charge forward. We don't know why everyone in front just vanished, and then we were scared silly and... and got caught by you."

...

Hearing them try their best to clear their names, Zu An asked, "For dealing with just one woman, isn't it a bit exaggerated for your entire army to show up?"

"It seems our First Boss took a liking to her and ordered us to capture her alive. As his subordinates, we naturally just followed orders," the rebels explained, one after another. In any case, the blame was on their boss; they, as subordinates, were innocent.

At this point, Zhang Zijiang spoke up, "I've heard much about this Scarface Yang. I haven't heard rumors of him being particularly fond of women. The reason he wants to capture Miss Xie likely isn't for romantic reasons but because he covets her identity as a runemaster. A skilled runemaster can significantly boost a military's strength."

The rebel leaders suddenly understood. "I knew our boss usually isn't into that kind of thing. Why was he so insistent on this woman this time? We originally thought it was because she was too beautiful, and it just happened to hit a soft spot with our leader."

Another leader immediately corrected, "Of course, this young woman is as beautiful as a celestial being. It's normal for us to have misunderstood our boss's intentions."

These rebels were no strangers to flattery in their daily lives, tag-teaming the praise almost instinctively, which made Xie Daoyun quite uncomfortable.

Zu An pondered for a long time after hearing this, then suddenly asked, "There's one more question: Your Shuanglong Mountain territory isn't here; it's quite far away. Why are so many of you here?"

Wang Bolin and Zhang Zijiang were startled. They had similar doubts earlier, but they had quickly dismissed them. Now, upon careful thought, something was indeed amiss.

The rebel leaders exchanged glances, then all shut their mouths, no longer as glib as before.

Seeing this, Zu An's face darkened. "Separate them and interrogate them."

Often, interrogating criminals together yields no results. Once separated, the prisoner's dilemma takes effect, making it easy to extract the desired information.

At this moment, Xie Daoyun spoke up, "There's no need for such trouble. I have Truth Talismans. If we put them on, they'll answer whatever is asked."

Wang Bolin and Zhang Zijiang instantly widened their eyes, thinking, "As expected of Master Yan's disciple, she even possesses the legendary Truth Talismans."

Xie Daoyun, however, knew her own situation well. Truth Talismans were indeed precious, but they had significant limitations: the target's cultivation must not be high, and they must not be skilled in mental energy. Yet, these talismans were very difficult to create, making them quite impractical and rarely useful.

She just happened to have a few on hand because her teacher had previously made her try her hand at the extremely difficult Truth Talismans to train her rune-making skills.

Seeing this, the rebel leaders were greatly alarmed and all exclaimed, "No need for such trouble! We'll talk, we'll talk..."

Confessing might lead to leniency. If they were forced to reveal information this way, they would have no chance to earn merits to offset their faults.

The few rebels, speaking over each other, roughly explained the situation. It turned out the Shuanglong Mountain rebels weren't headed here but to Yi County. It was said that Lu Sanyuan, the leader of the underworld, had issued a call to heroes across the land, stating that a great treasure would emerge in Yi County and inviting everyone to join the grand event.

"Lu Sanyuan!"

Wang Bolin and Zhang Zijiang were both shocked. This man commanded the most formidable rebel force in the land, a major concern for the Emperor and the court. They hadn't expected to land such a major catch this time.

Zu An was no stranger to Lu Sanyuan. His rebel forces had apparently clashed with the imperial army when Zu An was being escorted back to the capital.

At this moment, he was focused on another point: "A great treasure emerging?"

Was there truly some great treasure, or was the "treasure" a metaphor for Zhao Hao?