Under Zhao Yuansong's gaze, Cao Yan could only suppress his helplessness and recount what he knew.
Having once roamed the land as a镖师 (biao shi), he naturally possessed keen observational skills and understood what the people before him wished to know.
After a moment of contemplation, he focused on matters related to them.
By this point, it was not difficult to surmise that the individuals before him were the itinerant cultivators their superiors had ordered them to find.
Zhao Yuansong and the other two learned much from Cao Yan's account.
Among these revelations were details concerning themselves.
Currently, across towns and villages within a thousand-mile radius, all rebel forces had been mobilized. Even the city guards had been dispatched, employing a vast manpower for a thorough search.
Their target, naturally, was Zhao Yuansong and his companions.
However, this situation caused the brows of the trio to furrow. They were merely cultivators of the second realm; even if suspected of being spies sent by the imperial court, it should not warrant such a massive operation.
After a brief pause, a thought struck Zhao Yuansong, and he surmised a possibility.
Perhaps the sect that had pursued them in Liufeng Commandery had some murky ties with the rebels or even the Wangsheng Tower.
And that sect clearly did not wish to let them go, thus passing their information to the rebels or the Wangsheng Tower!
It was known that this sect had pursued them across half a commandery, suggesting their importance in the eyes of their pursuers.
Though the trio did not know what exactly they possessed that warranted such a drastic effort.
They had indeed reaped considerable benefits, but these were primarily applied to their own cultivation realms; they had not obtained a single treasure.
Only Zhao Yuansong had a rough guess, that the people from that sect had likely discovered the existence of some astonishing magical treasures and cultivation techniques within that cave dwelling.
A night passed in the blink of an eye.
Given that Zhao Yuansong and the others had learned his home address, Cao Yan naturally showed no unusual behavior.
Leading over a dozen soldiers who emerged from the surrounding houses, they continued their search ahead, not even glancing back.
As the troop of soldiers departed, Zhao Yuansong and his two companions also set out again, their target being the small county town a dozen miles away.
Half a month passed quietly. After a fruitless search, despite the lingering unwillingness of the rebel leadership, they could only recall the scattered personnel.
Only the cultivators from the Wangsheng Tower continued their search tirelessly from one place to another.
Upon returning his command token, Cao Yan bid farewell to his subordinates and took a circuitous route home, purchasing some good wine and dishes.
Although this mission had been arduous, the superiors had still rewarded them with a considerable sum of silver. Captains like himself received two taels of silver each.
Thus, besides a jar of fine wine, he bought two roast chickens, roast ducks, braised pig head meat, and so on. He even bought a large chunk of soy-braised beef, which he usually hesitated to buy.
However, as he neared his home, he instinctively sensed something was amiss.
The home's door, usually wide open during the day, was now tightly shut. Moreover, the cooking smoke rising from the courtyard was thicker and more abundant than usual.
Besides his wife and children, his elderly parents lived in his home; the cooking smoke from four people for one meal would never reach such a degree.
Seeing this, Cao Yan's eyes flashed. As he walked towards his home with the wine and dishes, one hand subtly gripped the hilt of his saber at his waist.
However, just as he stood before his gate, the courtyard door was opened, and his wife, her face filled with apprehension, appeared before him.
"Come in."
Before his wife could speak, a low whisper reached his ears.
Cao Yan's heart sank. He then saw his wife signaling him repeatedly. With no other choice, he braced himself and stepped into his own courtyard.
Now that his entire family, young and old, was in their hands, he was utterly incapable of acting on any other thoughts.
"Captain Cao, we meet again."
Zhao Yuansong stood in the small courtyard, chopping firewood with an axe. He looked up, a smile on his face, and spoke softly.
Seeing the three from that night now in his home, Cao Yan felt a complex mixture of emotions. He had not expected them to not only remain but to have infiltrated the city and taken up residence in his house.
"You immortal masters, such actions are indeed improper!"
He reprimanded in a low voice, his eyes devoid of fear.
This was not feigned; it was genuine.
Even though his entire family, including his own life, was in their hands, Cao Yan, with his inherent spirit, would not adopt a fawning demeanor.
Moreover, he had come to realize that if they truly intended to act, they would have done so already, and he would be absolutely powerless to resist.
"Our actions were indeed a bit excessive. Captain Cao, please forgive us."
Zhao Yuansong put down the axe and walked up to him with an apologetic expression.
He took a deep breath and then slowly said, "Once our injuries have mostly recovered, we will quietly leave this county town. No one will know what transpired during this time."
As he spoke, he took out a large bag of silver, all of it pure, snowflake-patterned silver.
He then produced another bag of silver. Besides a tael or two of snowflake-patterned silver, it contained ordinary silver of poorer quality, and even a considerable amount of broken silver.
The former amounted to fifty taels, intended as an apology and compensation for Cao Yan.
The latter, approximately seventy to eighty taels, was to request his help, using his connections and channels, in obtaining items for healing and restoring spiritual power.
As a former镖师 and now captain of the city guards, Cao Yan naturally had his own channels to procure contraband in the eyes of outsiders.
Furthermore, what Zhao Yuansong and the others needed were not rare items; with a little care and more time, they could certainly be found.
"Not now. I have just returned home. Going to purchase these things immediately might arouse suspicion."
Cao Yan shook his head.
With the rebels occupying Fengming Commandery, many things had become sensitive. Even he did not dare to openly purchase them from shops, relying instead on some martial arts sects to obtain them.
Hearing this, Zhao Yuansong nodded and did not appear overly anxious. He smiled and joined Cao Yan and his family for a proper midday meal.
In the days that followed, Cao Yan frequently went out to visit relatives and friends, which appeared no different from his usual routine. Every few days, he would join his subordinates for drinks at a roadside stall.
But no one knew that during this time, by whatever means, he had contacted some martial artists and spent a considerable sum of money to obtain medicinal herbs for healing.
There were even three to four bottles of pills for restoring a cultivator's spiritual power.
Although these pills were crudely made, they were better than nothing and could at least speed up the recovery of their spiritual power.