The Mysterious Card Maker: Starting with Zhang Jiao's Deification

The auction was held as scheduled the following day.

Lin Fan put on the white peach wood mask and changed back into Xiao Hei's outfit. Da Niu, on the other hand, was wearing an obviously ill-fitting black suit and stood next to Lin Fan with a face full of excitement.

"How is it? Doesn't it look like a manager?"

"..."

Lin Fan paused for two seconds, then straightened Da Niu's collar. "Da Niu, you're wasting your talent by not being my bodyguard!"

"It's alright, I'm doing two jobs!" Da Niu chuckled.

Just then, Da Niu's phone rang. He answered the call and said "okay" a few times before hanging up and looking at Lin Fan.

"Miss Su said that we should go to the front hall first to attend the banquet and have something to eat, and then we will all go to the underground auction together."

The two walked to the front hall.

The hall was now completely different from before, divided into two areas.

The "Radiant Hall" on the left is only open to those with a gold-plated admission ticket.

The "Starlight Hall" on the right is the area for regular admission tickets.

There was even a light blue light barrier between the two sides, which was obviously the effect of some kind of defense card.

As soon as Lin Fan appeared, the crowd outside the hall stirred.

"Holy crap! It's Xiao Hei!"

"Little Black, the ruler of the underworld, has arrived!"

Some people immediately picked up their phones and started live streaming.

"Brother Blackie! Why is it that you're the only one from your Underworld administration? Where's Sister Whiteie?"

"..."

Da Niu, who was next to Lin Fan, immediately switched into "agent" mode.

He spread his arms, blocking all the enthusiastic fans who were about to cling to him, completely separating Lin Fan from them.

"Back off! Back off! Don't push!"

With great difficulty, the two finally made their way through the crowd to the front hall, where Da Niu's clothes had been torn.

Da Niu scratched his head awkwardly. "Mr. Lin, I'll go back and change my clothes. Wait for me."

"Alright, go ahead!" Lin Fan knew that with Da Niu's disheveled appearance, the people inside definitely wouldn't let him in.

Lin Fan looked down at the black and gold invitation in his hand. Just as he was about to ask Da Niu how to use it, Da Niu had already disappeared.

He stood there, unsure which way to go, because the invitation didn't seem to belong to either the Flowing Light Hall or the Starlight Hall.

Just then, he overheard the conversation of two passersby.

"If you don't have a ticket, you'd better leave now. Didn't you see that even the Qin family members were stopped at the entrance of the Flowing Light Hall?"

"The Qin family? Which Qin family?"

"Besides the Qin family, which is a renowned card-making family, which other Qin family is there in Jiang City?"

"Tsk, the people from the New World Foundation are ruthless enough, they don't even give the Qin family any face."

When Lin Fan heard the words "Qin family", he was slightly stunned. Almost subconsciously, the image of Qin Muyao appeared in his mind.

Why did the Qin family come? Didn't they disdain attending the banquet hosted by the New World?

But soon, Lin Fan realized the reason: [Zhang Fei, the Warrior of Ten Thousand]! Zhang Fei had already become a demon, and now that this Purifying Talisman, which can purify demon values, had appeared, the Qin family couldn't possibly not come.

With that thought in mind, Lin Fan turned and headed straight for the Hall of Flowing Light.

At this moment, a large number of people have gathered at the entrance of the Hall of Flowing Light.

Old Master Qin stood there with a dark face, reprimanding Qin Chuan beside him without any politeness.

"You can't even get a few tickets. I've gone to the trouble of accompanying Mu Yao here, and now look what's happened—we can't even get in the door!"

Qin Chuan stood beside Old Master Qin, his face full of helplessness. "How was I supposed to know you'd come today? Besides, didn't you used to dislike attending events like this the most?"

Meanwhile, the security personnel standing nearby had a forced smile on their faces.

"Old Master Qin, Second Master Qin, we are really sorry, we are just following the rules from above. All permissions must be verified today."

Without additional slots, we can't let anyone in.

Old Master Qin was clearly getting impatient.

"Go and call your Chairman Zhao over here. I want to see him..."

But before he could finish speaking, Qin Muyao, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke softly.

"Grandpa, you and Second Uncle go in. I won't go in. Just take pictures of the things for me later."

After saying that, she turned around and prepared to leave.

But the moment she turned around, she froze, her gaze fixed on the mask on Lin Fan's face.

Lin Fan acted as if nothing had happened, walked straight to the security guard, and handed him the invitation.

"This invitation...which way should I go?"

The security guard's expression changed instantly upon seeing the black and gold invitation. "Distinguished guest, please come inside!"

Lin Fan didn't rush inside. Instead, he asked, "Can this invitation allow me to bring two more people?"

"Yes." The security guard nodded immediately.

Lin Fan pointed to Qin Muyao beside him, "Give her one of the spots."

"And the other one?" the security guard asked.

"There's still one person who hasn't arrived," Lin Fan said.

The security guard hesitated for a moment, then explained:

"According to the regulations, any additional accompanying persons must enter at the same time. Once inside, they cannot leave at will until the end of the auction. There will also be people inside specifically checking invitation permissions to prevent anyone from sneaking in."

"So strict?" Lin Fan was somewhat surprised. He turned to Qin Muyao, "Miss Qin, why don't we wait together?"

Qin Muyao was a little stunned when she saw Lin Fan. She only came back to her senses after Qin Chuan patted her lightly.

"Mu Yao, are you alright?"

"Okay, Second Uncle, you and Grandpa go in first, I'll come in in a bit."

Qin Chuan looked at the masked man in front of him, then at Qin Muyao. With her affirmative gaze, he and Old Master Qin went inside.

After the two had walked far away, Qin Muyao suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Lin Fan's wrist.

"Come with me."

Before Lin Fan could react, she grabbed him and pulled him out of the hall, stopping only when they reached a secluded corner.

She turned around, her gaze fixed intently on Lin Fan.

"Aren't you going to take off your mask? Don't think I won't recognize you just because you've changed your voice changer. Don't forget, this mask was a gift from me."

The scene was quiet for two seconds.

Lin Fan, looking slightly helpless, said from behind the mask, "I didn't say I wasn't myself."

"The Card Association's report is out. I don't have the Ghost King's mark on me!" Qin Muyao then said.

Upon hearing this, Lin Fan fell silent, because he knew that Qin Muyao had already guessed and understood what his previous actions towards her meant.

"Did you already know that you were being targeted by the Demon King's mark?" Qin Muyao stared intently at Lin Fan, her voice trembling slightly.

Lin Fan was silent for a moment, then finally nodded slightly, "Yes."

Qin Muyao's fingers tightened little by little. "So when you suddenly made me leave and deliberately sent me back to the Qin family, you were actually protecting me?"

She looked up at Lin Fan, and her eyes, which had been somewhat dim, seemed to light up again.

Lin Fan leaned against the wall. "Otherwise, what am I supposed to do? Leave you next to me, so that when those strange creatures come knocking, we can pair up and make them even happier to eat?"

Hearing Lin Fan's seemingly casual words, Qin Muyao couldn't laugh at all.

"I'm not joking with you." Her eyes were glistening with tears.

These past few days, she has been thinking that the mark on her body caused all of this.

However, when the Card Association's report came out, she had some doubts in her heart, but she didn't dare to ask. But now, when she heard Lin Fan admit it...

The emotions that had been suppressed in her heart for so long suddenly dissipated, and she knew that she had a reason to stay by Lin Fan's side again.

She didn't know when it started, but she felt very safe and secure whenever she was by Lin Fan's side!

Just as Qin Muyao was about to say something...

"Da da da"

The sound of high heels clicking on the ground grew closer.