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

It was late at night when the Qin family's car dropped Lin Fan off downstairs. After thanking the driver, Lin Fan returned to his rented room.

He slumped into a chair, took out his phone, and saw the notification that his bank card had received a deposit. He opened the bank's app.

Balance: 200000.31

He stared at the number for three seconds, swiped his finger across the screen, found the transfer interface, and transferred the eight thousand he owed Zhou Chen, the three and a half months' rent he owed the landlord, and the various loans he had made when buying materials. He transferred the money one by one, and with each transfer, the amount in his account dropped.

After the last transaction, the balance stopped at 82,000.

Lin Fan placed his phone face down on the table, looked up at the ceiling, and let out a long breath, feeling a sense of relief at being debt-free.

Just then, a sharp scream came from outside the window, but it stopped quickly, followed by a woman's heart-wrenching cries.

Lin Fan knew without even looking that another strange phenomenon had appeared. After all, strange phenomena didn't only occur when a strange tide arrived in the world of the supernatural.

To ward off the supernatural, having Zhang Jiao act as a door god every day is not a good idea. After all, summoning him consumes mental energy, and fighting the supernatural also requires mental energy. One's own mental energy is limited, and it cannot withstand this level of consumption.

He took everything out of the bag to see if there was anything usable. There were only two cards: one was a corner card, and the other was a blank domain card.

"Domain Card!"

He suddenly sat up straight. What he needed now was not Kaling, but territory, something that could operate on its own without him having to watch over it constantly or Kaling having to be awake all the time—a territory that belonged to him.

However, the underworld is so vast that I can't complete it all at once. I might as well complete a part first and then improve it later when I have more money. But where should I start?

The Hall of Yama, the Bridge of Helplessness, the Well of Reincarnation, the Eighteen Levels of Hell... They are all too big, far too big. With all the money he has now, he can't even afford the materials for their entrance.

The threshold! Lin Fan's eyes suddenly lit up, "The gates of hell!"

Without hesitation, he turned on his computer and waited a full minute before finally reaching the desktop.

He opened the card trading website, entered his account and password, and the page redirected to the material trading area. He then typed a word in the search bar: "door".

The page refreshed, and a dense array of items popped up. He sorted them by price from low to high; he couldn't afford the cards that were too expensive.

His eyes scanned the pictures, his mind rapidly filtering through them, and he stopped when he turned to the seventh page.

【Yin Yang Rotten Wood】Architectural material card, gray area level.

Description: Taken from dead wood growing at the boundary between Yin and Yang, half of it is soaked in Yin energy and the other half is bathed in sunlight. It is hard and will not rot for hundreds of years. It is suitable for making architectural structures such as doors, thresholds, and coffins.

Price: 12,000.

Lin Fan stared at the picture for a long time. The rotten wood was black and white, with a clear boundary, like a river separating the two areas. This was the door he wanted.

He added it to his cart, then typed "token" in the search bar and scrolled down.

The token serves as proof of entry into the gates of hell; those without a token are not allowed to enter. It requires a concept, a very simple concept of "access".

【Commander Yin】Sealing-type material card, gray zone level.

Description: A replica of a Netherworld access token, containing a weak sealing power. It can be bound to a specific target as an access pass, suitable for scenarios such as access control and barriers. Price: 8,000.

Lin Fan didn't hesitate, added it to the shopping cart, and then went to guard it.

He can't make Ox-Head and Horse-Face anymore, and making Black and White Impermanence as doorkeepers would be a waste of his talents.

He needs to be the gatekeeper; he doesn't even need a name or a story, he just needs to stand there and watch the door.

Lin Fan's finger hovered over the screen for a long time before finally typing only four words:

[Remnant Soul of a Ghost Soldier] A summoning-type material card, Gray Zone level. Description: The remnant soul of a soldier who died on the battlefield. His consciousness has dissipated, leaving only instincts. He can execute simple commands.

Price: Three thousand. Six of them came straight for him, in pairs. Unlike those unscrupulous capitalists, he wouldn't make the ghost soldiers work 24/7. He'd at least let them enjoy an eight-hour workday.

"Let's get another leader, otherwise what will we do if these small fry can't stop those monsters?" Lin Fan picked another card.

【Strange Threshold】, a summoning-type material card, Green Domain level.

Description: A vengeful spirit wandering at the threshold, who died after being refused entry, and became the ghost of the threshold after death, obsessed with the matter of "entering the door".

Skill: [High Threshold] Those who cannot present valid identification will have their threshold raised by an invisible force, making it difficult to cross.

Price: 22,000

Lin Fan glanced at the card, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "Good," he thought, "it's designed to keep you out. The more impatient you are, the higher the threshold rises. When you can't climb any further, you'll naturally be forced to leave."

Another one is the foundation stone of the city gate.

【Forget-River Stone】Architectural material card, Green Zone level.

Description: Pebbles taken from the bottom of the River of Oblivion, soaked in the Yin River water for thousands of years, feel icy to the touch. Suitable for paving foundations, walkways, plazas, and other large building structures.

Price: 18,000.

Lin Fan's finger hovered over the mouse, looking at the cards lying in the shopping cart: [Yin Yang Rotten Wood], [Yin Commander], [Yin Soldier Remnant Soul], [Threshold Ghost], [Forgetful River Stone].

Total: 78,000.

Lin Fan glanced at his balance: 82,000. After buying it, he would only have 4,000 left. He was back to square one.

He took a deep breath, clicked to settle the transaction, and the moment he pressed his fingerprint, a bank deduction notification appeared, and his balance jumped from 82,000 to 4,000.

He turned off the computer, lay back on the bed, closed his eyes, and his mind was filled with images of the Gates of Hell: a gate made of rotten wood, guarded by ghostly soldiers, paved with stones from the River of Oblivion, commanded by the underworld, and the three words above the gate: Gates of Hell.

"Old Zhang, you'll have to keep watch for me tonight. Once my gate is built, you won't have to keep watch anymore," Lin Fan said to Zhang Jiao as he called him over.

"What door?"

"gate of hell!"

"What is that?"

"That's... never mind, you wouldn't know what it is even if I told you." Lin Fan ignored Zhang Jiao and lay down on the bed.

Outside the window, something was swaying gently in the wind, casting a shadow on the curtains that looked like a hand or a face. It lingered outside the curtains for a long time, as if it wanted to come in, or as if it was waiting for something.

At daybreak, Lin Fan was awakened by his phone vibrating. He picked it up and saw it was a delivery message: Your package has arrived at the Jiang City distribution center and is expected to be delivered today.

He rubbed his aching head, glanced at his phone, and realized it was time to go to work again. Yesterday he was a millionaire, today he's still a wage earner.

He put the corner card into his pocket, then looked at the blank domain card again, and the image of the Gate of Hell he had sketched many times last night floated into his mind.

Today, he wants to build a door, a door leading to the underworld.

Lin Fan opened the door, and a draft from the corridor rushed in. "The weather forecast said it would be quite warm today, but why is it so chilly?"