14: misleading people with lies

Li Songyang's figure disappeared at the alley entrance, and the night wind swept up a few fallen leaves, carrying a hint of coolness.

Zhang Xuanyi stood rooted to the spot, his fingertips caressing the rough cover of the "Myriad Laws Street Stall Law: First Draft," his heart churning.

"All who exchange true hearts for true methods shall not be forbidden."

These ten characters seemed to contain immense power, striking his heart numb.

This was not just a book; it was an acknowledgment from the higher echelons of the Hall of Law Enforcement, and even more, a banner to be raised high!

Wasn't the Wanfa Pavilion three hundred years ago branded with the crime of "shaking the Dao foundation" and ultimately disintegrated precisely because it touched upon the interests of those high and mighty sects?

Now, Li Songyang actually compared his street stall to that period of history; the weight of this was heavier than mountains.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his turbulent emotions, and refocused his gaze on his tattered stall.

At dusk, the last rays of the setting sun dyed the mountain gate steps a melancholic gold.

The crowd in front of the stall had long dispersed, but the aura, formed by countless obsessions and tears, still lingered, even more concentrated than any spirit energy.

On the cloth surface, the tear of the middle-aged woman, the blood tear of the one-armed martial artist, and Wei Zhen's tear filled with regret and unwillingness, were all solidified like amber, emitting a faint yet tenacious glow.

Just then, the cold system prompt sounded again in his mind.

"Ding! High concentration, high purity of wish power detected. 'Wish Power Economy' mode initially activated."

"Reward settlement: 150 spirit coins."

"Item function upgrade: All items traded via 'Emotion for Currency' can optionally be bound with an 'Karma Imprint'."

Zhang Xuanyi's eyes narrowed.

The spirit coin reward was expected, but what was this "Karma Imprint"?

With a thought, he focused his attention on the copper coin Wei Zhen had left behind.

This copper coin looked ordinary, but because it carried Wei Zhen's tears and obsession, it was now emitting a faint, sorrowful halo in Zhang Xuanyi's spiritual vision.

"System, bind a 'Karma Imprint' to this copper coin."

"Binding in progress... Binding successful. Karma Imprint: Loving Mother's Lantern of Return. Effect: When this item returns to its owner's hands, if the owner's heart is sincere, he can, within the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, visualize and see the deepest scene of his obsession—the ancestral hall's lights. Note: This imprint is a one-time consumable and is only effective for the original owner."

Zhang Xuanyi gasped.

This was no longer a simple transaction!

This was equivalent to materializing an obsession, a story, an irreparable regret, into a divine ability that could be triggered!

What he sold was no longer just talismans or mung beans, but a key that could unlock the shackles of the heart!

Wei Zhen said he couldn't take that "Flashback Talisman" because, as the commander of the Black Armor Division, he couldn't openly admit that his "obsession" violated the "rules" he upheld.

But this copper coin, bound with the "Karma Imprint," could quietly comfort his heart, which had long been cold and hardened by his official robes, when he was alone.

"What a Karma Imprint..." Zhang Xuanyi murmured to himself, a smile playing on his lips. "Now, my street stall truly isn't a place just anyone can come to buy and sell."

His gaze swept over a dark corner not far away.

There, a figure flashed and disappeared.

That was the wealthy retainer from earlier in the day who wanted to exchange a cultivation technique rubbing for spiritual vision. He hadn't gone far, clearly unwilling to give up, and had been secretly observing.

Zhang Xuanyi sneered inwardly.

The man's name was Qian Mo, a devotee of the wealthy Wang family in the city. He usually relied on his power to bully others, having plundered many rogue cultivators' technique manuals, which he regarded as rare commodities.

Having been exposed by Zhang Xuanyi in public earlier for his "rotten Dao heart," he had harbored resentment ever since.

"The Dao heart is the merchandise, the human heart is the price." Zhang Xuanyi's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached Qian Mo's ears. "Your merchandise is too dirty; my price, you cannot afford."

In the darkness, Qian Mo's figure stiffened, and then a chilling killing intent emanated from him, but he quickly suppressed it.

He knew that under the dual attention of the Black Armor Division and the Hall of Law Enforcement, acting now would be courting death.

But the venom in his eyes grew even more intense.

Zhang Xuanyi didn't care at all.

What he was doing was, in essence, a big gamble.

Since he was at the poker table, he wasn't afraid of a few more opponents.

As night deepened, he began to pack up his stall.

He carefully folded the tattered cloth; the four characters "Myriad Laws Street Stall" on its surface seemed even deeper under the moonlight than during the day.

He placed the charred amulet, the blood-stained mung bean, and the copper coin carrying Wei Zhen's regret, one by one, into a simple wooden box.

These were not commodities; they were contracts, the beginning of stories, and his capital to contend with this cold world.

He looked up at the mountaintop, where the Heavenly Talisman Sect's mountain gate was located, brightly lit, like a celestial realm.

And at the foot of the mountain, his small street stall stirred up a completely different kind of worldly life.

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

"Have you heard? That crazy stall owner at the mountain gate today isn't accepting money, he's accepting tears!"

"Accepting tears? What's that about? I saw it with my own eyes, a woman cried a single tear, and he let her see the last talisman her son drew before he died!"

"Not just that! Wang Wu, the one with the severed arm, exchanged a tear of blood for a mung bean that allowed him to clearly see his master's final move! He said he was going to the battlefield to engrave that move onto the bones of demon beasts!"

"The most bizarre thing is, Commander Wei Zhen of the Black Armor Division even went! It's said he also shed a tear, and then walked away distraught!"

The news spread like wildfire from the teahouses and taverns at the foot of the mountain, quickly reaching the entire Heavenly Talisman City.

From peddlers to noble families, countless people were shocked by this strange story.

Those who harbored regrets, remorse, and unspeakable secrets in their hearts tossed and turned in the darkness.

A white-haired old swordsman caressed his broken sword, recalling the final battle where he and his closest friend were separated by life and death.

A beautiful young merchant's daughter clutched a returned marriage contract, remembering the childhood sweetheart who had gone to the frontier and was never heard from again.

A middle-aged cultivator whose cultivation had stagnated for years gazed at the moon outside his window, recalling the sect's grand selection he had missed in his youth due to a moment of timidity.

Tears, the cheapest yet most precious thing in this world, seemed to become the only key to unlocking miracles on this night.

At the same time, inside the mansions of the city's major powers, lights burned brightly.

Inside the Wang family mansion, Qian Mo was reporting to the patriarch: "This fellow is spreading heresies, inciting people's hearts; he must not be allowed to live! He insulted not only me, but also the face of our Wang family!"

Elsewhere, the master of the "Hundred Herbs Hall," a family specializing in elixirs, stroked his beard and said to his confidant: "Send people to keep an eye on him. If he can truly exchange 'obsession' for 'miracles,' then perhaps there's a glimmer of hope for those in our Hundred Herbs Hall with heart ailments that even the finest natural treasures couldn't cure. Remember, it's to make friends, not enemies."

And the atmosphere at the Black Armor Division's outpost was even more terrifyingly oppressive.

Wei Zhen sat alone in the hall, the table in front of him empty, but he seemed to see the copper coin lying quietly on the street stall.

His attendant paced anxiously outside the door, his heart in turmoil.

He had never seen his lord so distraught. Who exactly was that street stall kid?

A storm was brewing.

All eyes, all undercurrents, all expectations and murderous intentions, converged on that small set of stone steps in front of the mountain gate.

Zhang Xuanyi returned to his humble abode and placed the "Myriad Laws Street Stall Law: First Draft" by his pillow.

He didn't immediately fall asleep but sat cross-legged, quietly regulating his breath.

He would no longer face it alone.

Behind him stood those ordinary people who had shed tears and harbored obsessions.

His weapons were these seemingly insignificant, yet powerful, genuine emotions that could move people's hearts.

The night wind brushed against the window frame, making a wailing sound, as if announcing the clamor of tomorrow.

Zhang Xuanyi slowly opened his eyes, his gaze clear and firm.

He looked out at the city shrouded in night, muttering softly, as if making a vow to the city and to himself.

"Tomorrow, your tears, your obsessions, all your unburnable incense... I will accept it all."

That night, countless people in Heavenly Talisman City lay awake because of him.

As for him, he slept exceptionally soundly before the storm arrived.

Because he knew that when the first ray of dawn pierced the darkness, an unprecedented grand drama was about to unfold.

And he was the sole protagonist of this grand drama.