4: The bell rings three times, who is taking pictures of me?

The night wind carried the lingering scent of sandalwood, blowing over the dilapidated eaves of the woodshed, bringing with it a desolate chill.

Zhang Xuanyi slumped on the cold stone steps, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

He gasped for breath, his heart pounding wildly as if clutched by an invisible hand, threatening to leap from his throat.

Those brief moments, just the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, were more thrilling than everything he had experienced in his twenty years of life combined.

His gaze was fixed on that small, inconspicuous pile of talisman ash.

Under the dim moonlight, the talisman ash that had flown from Li Songyang's sleeve silently twisted and arranged itself, eventually outlining a circle of profound and intricate ancient patterns at the edge of the tattered cloth stall.

The pattern was incomplete, showing only a fragmented corner, yet it exuded a heart-pounding sense of inquiry.

【Warning: High-level tracking spell detected — residual pattern of the Guan Xin Array.

Spell target: Myriad Laws Street Stall (unknown grade).】

【Judgment: Spell level insufficient to penetrate the 'Origin of the Artifact Spirit'; tracking failed.】

The system's cold prompt echoed in his mind, each word like a heavy hammer striking Zhang Xuanyi's taut nerves.

Guan Xin Array!

His heart jolted, and he scrambled to his feet, stumbling back into the woodshed, rummaging through a dust-filled wooden box.

A moment later, he held a thread-bound ancient book with a yellowed and brittle cover, his trembling fingers flipping to a certain page.

It was the "dragon and tiger records" that his master had left before going into seclusion, annotated in cinnabar with the insights of successive Heavenly Masters on magical artifacts and arrays.

On a page of notes Withered yellow leaves, he found the record about the Guan Xin Array: "The Guan Xin Array is not a spell of attack, but a secret technique of Qingyuan. Using a talisman as a guide, it can illuminate the 'Origin of the Artifact Spirit,' discern its authenticity, and trace its lineage. However, this array consumes a great deal of mental energy and cannot be controlled by anyone without exceptional talent. The artifacts that can withstand the array also vary in quality; common iron and mundane objects will crumble upon contact. Only... only artifacts of the 'Myriad Laws Returning to the People' can withstand its power without revealing their origin."

Zhang Xuanyi's gaze slowly moved from the words "illuminate the Origin of the Artifact Spirit" to the last sentence—"only artifacts of the Myriad Laws Returning to the People can withstand it."

His breath caught instantly, and all the blood in his body seemed to congeal at that moment.

He stiffly turned his head, his gaze passing through the dilapidated doorframe to land on the ordinary, even somewhat dirty, tattered cloth in the courtyard.

This cloth... his master had picked it up during his travels, saying it was too ugly for a tablecloth and too stiff for a rag, so he ended up using it as a street stall cloth, convenient for packing up and fleeing.

But now, it seemed that Li Songyang, the Tianshi Mansion's once-in-a-century genius Qingyuan Envoy, was willing to expend his mental energy to use the Guan Xin Array to probe its secrets?

And this tattered cloth actually held up!

"Myriad Laws Returning to the People..." Zhang Xuanyi murmured to himself, his mind a jumble.

What exactly is an artifact of the Myriad Laws Returning to the People?

Just as he was lost in thought, the system's prompt sounded again, this time with a completely different, almost rewarding, vibrancy.

【Ding! Hidden quest triggered and completed!】

【Quest Name: True Talismans Are Not Paper, But in the Human Heart】

【Quest Description: Successfully mislead a high-level Stranger (Qingyuan Envoy Lv.3 Li Songyang), causing him to develop a sense of awe towards the Myriad Laws Street Stall and voluntarily abandon his investigation.】

【Quest Analysis: True power does not originate from the patterns on talisman paper, but from the 'belief' in people's hearts.

You used a mundane object to leverage the faith of a strong individual, causing him to fall into self-doubt. This is the best strategy.】

【Quest Reward: Item "heavenly eye mung beans" permanently upgraded!】

As the prompt faded, Zhang Xuanyi felt that in the sea of his consciousness, the originally dim "heavenly eye mung beans" trial particle suddenly burst forth with a brilliant green light!

When the light dissipated, a crystal-clear bean, as if carved from a top-grade emerald, floated there. In the center of the bean, a vertical pupil seemed to slowly open and close, discerning all things.

With a thought, he aimed this brand-new heavenly eye mung beans at the ancient bell in the courtyard.

【Target: Hundred-Year Bronze Ancient Bell (Mundane Object)】

【Status: Stained with sparse power of faith, residual traces of "Temporary Illusion Protocol".】

【Analysis: This bell, due to the fear and reverence of the law enforcement disciples, temporarily became a "faith anchor point." The illusion protocol used this as a basis to simulate the sound and light effects of a "demon-suppressing barrier."

Note: The power of faith has dissipated by 99%, returning to its mundane essence.】

So that's it!

Zhang Xuanyi instantly realized.

His escape tonight was not because his imprinted Purifying and Calming Talisman was so powerful, nor was it because the ancient bell had truly manifested its power.

It was Li Songyang and his law enforcement disciples who, upon seeing the ancient bell, which hadn't rung in a hundred years, suddenly chime, "imagined" a miracle themselves!

They "believed" it was an ancestral grand array, and their "reverence" and "fear" formed an invisible "faith fluctuation." The system, in turn, precisely captured this fluctuation and used it as energy to activate the "Temporary Illusion Protocol," turning their imagination into "reality"!

"True talismans are not paper, but in the human heart..." He savored these words repeatedly, his eyes gleaming with an unprecedented brilliance.

This system was not just a simple "photocopier"!

It was teaching him how to use human hearts to move mountains with a feather!

Just then, a chill came from the direction of the mountain path, making him shiver.

Only then did he remember that tonight's crisis was not just from Li Songyang and his group!

What about the two masked figures in black lurking on the low slope to the west?

Zhang Xuanyi held his breath, expanding the vision of his upgraded "heavenly eye mung beans" to carefully scan the surrounding mountain forest.

However, as far as his eyes could see, apart from the shadows of trees swaying in the night wind, there was no sign of anyone.

The two men in black seemed to have vanished without a trace, as if they had never appeared.

Who were they? Why did they just watch but not act?

The unknown is more terrifying than a known enemy.

Zhang Xuanyi felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

He had a strong premonition that those two men in black were definitely a hundred times more dangerous than the arrogant Li Songyang!

"Dao... Daoist Priest..."

A faint, tearful voice came from the woodshed door.

Zhang Xuanyi looked back to see Zhao Sanpao still slumped there, trembling like a sieve, his crotch wet with a foul stench.

His eyes were blank, and he kept muttering, "I was wrong... I'll never dare again... The immortal hall is rented, and the patriarch is Photoshopped..."

Clearly, the effect of the heavenly eye mung beans had not completely worn off; this fellow was still immersed in the fear of vengeful spirits claiming his life.

Zhang Xuanyi frowned, walked over, and kicked him. "Alright, stop wailing."

He didn't have time to deal with this charlatan now.

He quickly rolled up the tattered cloth on the ground, and along with the three remaining yellow papers and the leather bag containing cash, he stuffed them into his embrace.

The secret of this cloth was too great; it absolutely could not be casually spread out in the open anymore.

He looked up at the sky; a hint of dawn had already appeared in the eastern sky, and the night covering Mount Longhu was slowly receding.

A new day was about to begin.

But Zhang Xuanyi's heart felt no sense of relief that comes with the dawn.

He recalled the fleeting glimpse he had earlier of the figure hiding behind the incense burner, holding a miniature camera—Su Qingzhu.

That woman had recorded everything that had just happened.

From Zhao Sanpao kneeling and begging for mercy, the yellow paper flashing with golden patterns, to him slapping the talisman onto the bell, the ancient bell chiming loudly, repelling the law enforcement team... if she were to release these scenes, what kind of tempest would it stir up?

An obscure young Daoist priest from a small temple, with a single palm, activated a century-old ancient bell, forcing back the Tianshi Mansion's law enforcement team... just thinking about that title made his scalp tingle.

His carefully cultivated persona of a "half-immortal charlatan" would probably be transformed overnight into a true "living immortal."

By then, it wouldn't just be Li Songyang and the two mysterious men in black knocking on his door.

He took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping past the sleeping Daoist temple towards the outline of the city below, gradually illuminated by the morning light.

He knew that tonight, he had temporarily escaped a calamity with a carefully orchestrated "misunderstanding."

But that small camera might bring him a huge storm that would sweep across both the mundane world and the Stranger界.

And he was at the center of the storm.

The sky was about to brighten. The storm was also coming soon.