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

The two were awakened early in the morning by the faint sound of an ambulance siren outside the window.

When Lin Fan opened his eyes, he saw Su Wanqing staring at him with a rare look of scrutiny.

"Did you plan to do something last night?"

Lin Fan rubbed his still-heavy head, not immediately responding: "What are you doing?"

Su Wanqing raised her hand and pointed to the center of the bed, where a faint bloodstain still remained on the bedding.

"What do you think? If there hadn't been a knife, and you had moved your hand just a little further forward, wouldn't you have touched me?"

Lin Fan's face flushed instantly. It would be abnormal if he didn't have any feelings for someone as stunning as Su Wanqing.

But such words obviously cannot be said aloud.

He coughed lightly to calm himself down: "Who sleeps with a knife in the middle of the bed? Isn't that dangerous? I just accidentally bumped into it."

"Oh?" Su Wanqing raised an eyebrow slightly, a faint smile flashing in her eyes. "Oops, I saved you quite a few seats, how did we manage to run into each other?"

Lin Fan felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, and his face involuntarily turned red.

Seeing Lin Fan's reaction, Su Wanqing smiled slyly. The next second, she suddenly leaned forward slightly and said in a low voice, "What if I said... you could touch me?"

The air fell silent for a moment.

Lin Fan visibly froze, his gaze instinctively meeting hers. His throat bobbed, and he couldn't help but look down at Su Wanqing's alluring figure.

"Since you've put it that way, if I really do nothing, wouldn't that be a bit unmanly?"

Su Wanqing was clearly not expected him to respond like that. Her eyes widened slightly, and she quickly turned her head away, her ears turning red.

"I was just saying, you actually dared to think that way!"

Su Wanqing had originally intended to tease Lin Fan when she saw his blushing face, but she didn't expect him to answer so seriously. Now it was her turn to feel shy, and she reached out to push Lin Fan away.

Lin Fan seized her wrist, a blush creeping onto his face.

"You didn't just say that casually."

The two were already very close, and when Lin Fan pulled her like that, she almost leaned directly into his arms. Through the thin bathrobe, she could even feel the heartbeat coming from Lin Fan's chest.

Su Wanqing visibly stiffened for a moment.

"you......"

Just as he was about to say something, he noticed that Lin Fan was looking down at him, and the atmosphere suddenly became somewhat dangerous.

"Knock knock knock"

A knock on the door broke the silence in the room.

"Let go." Her voice was noticeably weaker.

"Are you sure?" Lin Fan looked at her.

"I..." Su Wanqing had just opened her mouth when Lin Fan suddenly let go of her hand.

Losing her support, Su Wanqing swayed and almost fell back into Lin Fan's arms. "You did that on purpose, didn't you!"

She glared at Lin Fan, her face turning even redder.

"Didn't you tell me to let go?" Lin Fan waved his hand innocently.

"you......"

Su Wanqing was speechless for a moment after being choked by his words, and could only angrily grab the pillow next to her and throw it at Lin Fan.

Lin Fan caught it and said, "I'll go see who's here."

Lin Fan opened the door.

A young woman in her early twenties stood outside the door, wearing a black uniform with the words "New World Foundation" printed on it, and carrying two bags in her arms.

Seeing the door wide open, she immediately called out, "Su..."

But when she saw that the person who opened the door was a man, she was clearly stunned for a moment and subconsciously took half a step back.

She looked up at the room number, then looked down at her phone, and her expression gradually became strange.

"That's right...this is the place..."

Looking at her, Lin Fan couldn't help but find the person in front of him somewhat amusing: "Are you from the New World Foundation?"

"Huh?" The girl snapped out of her daze and quickly nodded. "Yes, yes, I'm a technician from the city foundation."

After she finished speaking, she couldn't help but glance at Lin Fan a couple more times, and muttered softly, "Why is there a man in Sister Su's room...?"

"What did you say?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing!" The girl quickly waved her hand, then, as if suddenly realizing something, pointed to the logo on her clothes.

"Oh, by the way, how did you figure out I was from the New World Foundation?"

Lin Fan's lips twitched.

"Doesn't it say that on your clothes?"

The girl looked down and suddenly realized, "Oh, right, I almost forgot."

Looking at her somewhat confused expression, Lin Fan didn't know what to say for a moment.

Just then, Su Wanqing's voice came from inside the room, "Is that Xiaotang here?"

Upon hearing the voice, the girl immediately stood up straight and became serious. "Sister Su! It's me, Xu Xiaotang!"

"Come in, don't stand outside!"

Upon hearing Su Wanqing's call, Xu Xiaotang didn't even glance at Lin Fan, and went straight inside with the things in her hands.

"Sister Su, these are the things you asked me to tell you to do. They're all here." Xu Xiaotang put the things on the ground; they contained two sets of clothes.

"I was wondering why you wanted me to buy another set of clothes, turns out there's someone else here."

Her gaze then involuntarily fell upon the messy bed, which hadn't been tidied up in time, with traces of blood on the sheets.

"Sister Su, you...you guys...you can't..." She pointed to the bloodstains on the bed, finally managing to gather her words, "Um, did I come at the wrong time? Should I leave first?"

Su Wanqing followed her gaze and saw that she was pointing to the bloodstains left by Lin Fan touching the longsword. Su Wanqing said somewhat irritably:

"Xu Xiaotang, what are you thinking about all day long? It's not what you think. I told you to stop looking at strange things. That's the bloodstain on his hand."

"Wow, Sister Su, you're really good at this. I've only ever seen this kind of scene in anime."

Su Wanqing rolled her eyes at Xu Xiaotang and poked her round little face with her finger. "Shut up! I told you to watch less stuff. What's going on in your head these days!"

Su Wanqing didn't say anything more, and went straight to asking, "How's the matter I asked you to investigate going?"

When it came to serious matters, Xu Xiaotang's face finally showed some seriousness.

"I've never seen anything like the 【Purification Talisman】 before. Neither the Foundation's database nor the previously collected records of secret realms contain any detailed information about it."

"The only recorded instance of its circulation was at that auction some time ago."

"Even you can't find it?" Su Wanqing was clearly surprised.

After all, although Xu Xiaotang usually seems a bit absent-minded, she is in charge of intelligence filing at the New World Foundation. If you don't know something, you can't go wrong by asking her.

Xu Xiaotang nodded, then shook her head. "But I do know that this thing was originally brought back by Mr. Zhao."

"Since he brought the item back, he must know its origin."

"I know that. If I could find out, why would I need to contact you?" Su Wanqing was speechless.

"Although I'm willing to go through fire and water for Sister Su, well..." She scratched her head, somewhat conflicted, and continued.

"It doesn't feel right for me to investigate my own boss's secrets." Xu Xiaotang's expression immediately became somewhat conflicted. "It would make me seem very unprofessional."

Su Wanqing said with a hint of helplessness, "So did you investigate or not?"

"I checked a little bit." Xu Xiaotang held up two fingers, indicating a very small distance between them. "Just a little bit."

Tell me about it!

Xu Xiaotang did not speak immediately, but instead made her own request.

"Sister Su, you've been transferring me to that place where there are hardly any people around for so long. When are you going to transfer me back to your side? I need someone to talk to, don't I?"

Su Wanqing glanced at Lin Fan, as if to say, "Look at how much I've sacrificed for you."

"Okay, okay, I promise you."

Hearing Su Wanqing speak, Xu Xiaotang lowered her voice and said, "Mr. Zhao has been secretly investigating a secret realm called 'Yellow Spring Well' for the past few years."

"And the timing of the appearance of the [Purifying Talisman] coincides with the return of the secret realm team he sent out from that secret realm."

"There are other secret realm teams I don't know about?"

Su Wanqing was puzzled again. She thought her uncle had told her everything about the New World Foundation, but now it seemed that Zhao Zhong was hiding some things from her that she didn't know.

Seeing that Su Wanqing wasn't in a good mood, Xu Xiaotang wisely refrained from continuing the conversation.

"The Well of the Underworld?" Lin Fan frowned slightly, feeling that this also seemed to be related to the underworld.

Xu Xiaotang nodded, "However, I can't find any information about that secret realm either. I only know that it's not a fixed secret realm, but a constantly moving rift."

"Or does it appear randomly?" Lin Fan asked, puzzled.

"Well, since Mr. Zhao was able to find that secret realm, he must have a way to find the entrance to it."

"So, we still have to ask Zhao Zhong!" Lin Fan realized at this moment that there was no way to avoid Zhao Zhong.

In the study of an old villa in the northern suburbs of Jiang City, the door was slowly pushed open, and the night wind blew in through the crack, almost extinguishing the light of the ever-burning lamp on the desk.

"I've brought the item back," the person said in a low voice, then placed a black wooden box on the desk and slowly opened it.

Three [Purification Talismans] gleaming with a bluish-green light lay quietly inside.

"Three?" The person sitting in the shadows was clearly taken aback, his tone even carrying a hint of surprise.

"I originally thought there was only one. If it weren't for the outbreak of the strange tide and the chaos in the manor, which gave our people the opportunity to search inside, we probably wouldn't have found it."

The person in the shadows remained silent for a few seconds, then slowly spoke:

"Zhao Zhong from the New World is quite good at hiding things. Have you found anything else?"

"Nothing for now." The person shook his head. "But I suspect Zhao Zhong moved everything else beforehand. I don't believe Zhao Zhong only has this many secrets."

"Hmph." The person in the shadows sneered and continued, "After Wang Bo completes the 'Human-Demon Symbiosis Ritual,' we'll have him replace Zhao Zhong."

As he spoke, his fingers tapped lightly on the table, the tapping sound echoing throughout the study.

The person standing in front didn't continue speaking, as if hesitating about something.

The person in the shadows slowly raised their head. "What's wrong? What else is it? Just say it."

The visitor remained silent for a moment, then finally spoke in a low voice:

"Wang Bo... is dead. We only brought back a headless corpse."

"Bang!" The table shook violently, and the person in the shadows suddenly stood up, but the next second, he bent over and coughed violently.

"Cough...cough cough..." The sound was as if he was coughing up his lungs.

"Lord Zhang Rang, you must take care of your health." The person who came quickly stepped forward to support Zhang Rang.

Zhang Rang raised his hand and tightly covered his mouth with a silk scarf. It took him a while to catch his breath.

"The next eunuch is about to awaken, but we can't even find a suitable vessel... How could someone we've trained for so many years just die like this? Who did this?!"

"Cough...cough..."

Zhang Rang's tone was clearly filled with anger.

"This wave of strange events has seen the emergence of four Ghost Kings, and it's said that Wang Bo was beheaded by one of them!"

"Four Ghost Kings!" Zhang Rang's tone softened as he looked at the newcomer. "Was the Ghost Tide dealt with by your Card Association people?"

"No, I specifically told them to go later, but by the time they arrived, the eerie tide had already receded."

"Could it be that someone managed to take care of all four Ghost Kings in such a short time?" Zhang Rang tapped the table slowly, his tone full of disbelief.

Those are four Ghost Kings, not beings that any ordinary force can deal with.

The newcomer spoke in a low voice: "According to the survivors, a Taoist in a yellow robe appeared in the manor at that time. The Taoist was half human and half ghost."

Finally, he made his move and killed Red King Barton with a single blow, only then did the eerie tide recede.

"The Yellow-Robed Taoist..."

Zhang Rang's eyes shifted slightly, as if something had suddenly occurred to him. "That young man who appeared at the Qin Group before, named... named Lin Fan, was he also using the Yellow Robe Taoist technique?"

Upon hearing the name, the newcomer immediately shook his head, "Impossible, Lin Fan only uses Blue Domain level cards."

"A being capable of directly killing the Ghost King must be at least an eighth- or even ninth-star being in the Purple Domain."

"In such a short time, it's impossible for a Blue Domain card to grow to this extent." The person said with great certainty.

Zhang Rang leaned back in his chair and nodded slowly. "It certainly sounds unlikely, but if it really is him, then things will get interesting."

The newcomer seemed to have thought of something: "If it really is Lin Fan, you mean...?"

"Yes, we are also lacking a suitable vessel right now. If it really is that person named Lin Fan, turning enemies into friends would be a good choice."

"What if he doesn't, or he's unwilling to join? What happens to the new container?"

"Let's pick a few suitable people from the association to keep in reserve. If we really can't find any suitable ones, then there's nothing we can do!" Zhang Rang tapped his fingertips on the table and said with some helplessness.

Upon hearing this, the visitor looked at Zhang Rang and said, "What do you think of Zhao Zhong from the New World? He's a veteran of the All Souls Society, and he's asked to join our Ten Attendants several times before."

"Hmph, that person..." Zhang Rang said with some disdain, but finally nodded: "Let's add him to the shortlist first. After all, he was a candidate for a vessel before."

"good!"