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

"What happened?!"

When Lin Fan finished delivering the items and left the community gate, he found a group of people surrounding the community security room, blocking a Taoist priest wearing a yellow robe and carrying a peach wood sword inside the security room.

"Master Huang, you can't leave! If you leave, who will save us?" A woman in her sixties was sitting on the ground in the crowd, grabbing the trouser leg of the man known as Master Huang.

"The Card Master Association will be here soon, so there's no need to panic." He waved his whisk, his face calm and composed, looking like a reclusive master.

"The Card Master Association can't possibly take care of everything. What if things get chaotic later and they can't look after us? It's safer for us to stay with you, Daoist Master."

"Yes, yes, everyone says that the Taoist Master's Purple Domain Card [Master of the Dao] is incredibly powerful. We definitely won't go wrong following the Taoist Master."

The crowd started talking all at once.

"A leader of a path!" Upon hearing this name, Lin Fan instantly perked up. This name! He didn't quite get the sense of its power, but instead, he developed a unique curiosity about the card with this name.

Lin Fan wasn't in a hurry. He parked his car to the side and didn't squeeze into the crowd. He started unpacking his package. He hadn't opened it immediately because of the time pressure earlier. Although he knew what was inside, the thrill of unpacking a package was still there.

There were a few cards scattered in the express delivery bag, without even a decent box. These were cheap cards he had searched all over the internet to find.

One [Yellow Turban Warrior] card, a Green Domain-level Summoning Card, which can also be used as a bodyguard. In addition, there are three blank cards. These alone cost him almost three months' salary.

Lin Fan put the card in his pocket, glanced at the security room, and seeing that there was still no movement there, he slowly walked over. After taking a few steps, he heard a few people whispering among themselves.

"Didn't the property management say they expedited the purchase of the defense card? Why haven't we received any notification yet?"

"What's the panic? Even without the defense cards, we still have Master Huang. We're not afraid of the ghost tide coming now!"

"I'm not feeling very comfortable. If this Taoist priest Huang is just a fake, then we'll have to feed the monsters along with him!"

"A strange tide!"

Lin Fan paused, stunned. He had just heard something incredible: the Ghost Tide, the Ghost Tide that produced all sorts of strange and bizarre things and left no trace of corpses.

The doubts that had been lingering in their minds now converged into a single line: Why didn't anyone express their opinion when they heard about the opportunity to become a full-time employee? Why did the delivery guy drop off his package and leave? And what did that bald guy say? And what about the cards he gave them out of the blue...?

Considering the news that the Jiang City Secret Realm had spiraled out of control again this morning, it seems that all of this was foreshadowed, and those strange occurrences were about to emerge!

Clang! Clang! Clang clang!

A thick fog stretched into the distance, from which the sound of gongs could be heard. Dark shadows could be seen moving about intermittently, which frightened everyone present. They all rushed into the not-so-spacious security room.

Lin Fan didn't have time to think and quickly followed. Compared to being in a secluded room, being alone in front of an open door was much more dangerous.

"Master Huang, the ghost tide is coming! Quickly use your cards to protect us!" The crowd erupted in chaos, with seven or eight hands grabbing the yellow-robed Taoist priest as if afraid that if they were slow, they would not be able to protect him.

The Taoist priest, who had been dressed neatly, was pulled backward and staggered until he was forced into a corner before stopping.

"Don't panic." He steadied himself and glanced at everyone. "Give me all your defense cards. It will take me a while to summon the cards, so you need to make sure I'm not affected."

The group searched their bodies thoroughly and stuffed their last remaining defense cards into the Taoist priest's hand.

Lin Fan stood on the periphery. He saw that the moment the Taoist priest took the card, the corners of his mouth on his tense face relaxed slightly for a moment.

"Make way." The Taoist priest waved his sleeve, signaling the people around him to step back a little, then put the card into his sleeve and took out another purple card.

The crowd instinctively parted to form a circle, surrounding Master Huang in the center. Lin Fan stared at the purple card in Master Huang's hand, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper, as if the card had no spiritual energy fluctuations.

Each card possesses a card spirit; even the most ordinary gray-level cards exhibit slight fluctuations in spiritual power. However, the card in the hand of the Taoist priest Huang was as still as a useless card.

Of course, only someone with keen mental power like Lin Fan can detect this, and it is also the entry threshold for card makers; ordinary people simply cannot detect it.

"Daoist Master," Lin Fan suddenly stepped forward and said, "You've taken the wrong card, haven't you? The ones you have don't show any spiritual energy fluctuations at all."

If he doesn't speak up now, and something truly strange happens, he'll have to pay with his life. He doesn't want to gamble his life on a worthless card.

The Taoist priest's face darkened at first, then he glanced at everyone's expressions and saw that they were all annoyed that the young man had interrupted him.

He then walked up to Lin Fan, holding the card, and patted him on the shoulder with the corner of the card: "Who are you? Have you ever seen the Purple Domain Card before? Don't talk nonsense here!"

Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "That's right! What are you doing, young man, causing trouble!"

"Get out of here and stop causing trouble. The ghost tide is already here, stop whining."

Listening to everyone's words, Lin Fan replied, glanced at the lifeless card slapped on his shoulder, and looked up to meet the Taoist priest's gaze.

"Is this the fluctuation of the Purple Domain Card?!"

Master Huang felt a little uneasy under Lin Fan's gaze, though he maintained a calm expression, his tone was noticeably gentler: "You look to be only in your early twenties. Could you be a card maker?"

"No." Lin Fan answered decisively. He was still an intern card maker who had never even been a card maker before, just like any other ordinary person.

He was too lazy to explain. He understood that only a true card maker could sense the fluctuations of card spirits, and the other party naturally understood it as well.

"Then what did you say? Stay put!" Upon hearing Lin Fan's denial, Master Huang's face darkened, and he returned to the center of the crowd, flicking his whisk.

Just then, someone called out in a trembling voice, "Master Huang... what is that thing?"

Everyone's eyes turned to the window, where a face was pressed against the hazy glass.

No, it's a human head!

Its dark pupils were staring intently at everyone in the room, and a long tongue protruded from its mouth, slowly licking the windowpane, making a "sizzling" sound.

Lin Fan felt a chill run down his spine and instinctively held his breath. This was the first time he had faced something so strange up close.

At this moment, all he could see in his mind was the image of that long-tongued monster. Fear made his whole body go numb, and his legs trembled involuntarily. He was truly terrified.

No matter how noisy the room was, all he could hear was his own wildly beating heartbeat and the faint sound of licking!