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

When Qin Muyao woke up, it was already daylight. She opened her eyes and stared blankly for several seconds, as if processing the information in her mind.

"Awake?" Lin Fan's voice came from the table. She turned her head and saw Lin Fan sitting in a chair with several cards scattered in front of him, his face full of fatigue.

"Hmm." Qin Muyao rubbed her temples. "Yesterday... what happened afterwards? Were those two strange things resolved?"

Lin Fan handed the three cards to her. "They're all here."

Qin Muyao took the cards and looked at Lin Fan with a puzzled expression. "Why are there three cards?"

"They used cards, it's weird. These must have fallen from that maid's clothes."

Upon hearing this, Qin Muyao felt a chill run down her spine. What if those monsters started carrying cards like humans? How would she fight them?

"Aren't you going to report this to the Card Association?"

Lin Fan took out his phone and pointed to the latest call log, which showed the call from the Card Association.

"They wouldn't believe me even if I told them. People don't only believe things after seeing them with their own eyes. When I told them, they even told me to go see a psychiatrist."

Qin Muyao nodded and continued, "Perhaps this is just an isolated case!"

That was all she could think of. If the cards became widespread among the supernatural beings, wouldn't things get even more chaotic when the supernatural tide came and those beings threw out more of the card spirits from the cards?

She dared not think further and handed the card back to Lin Fan, looking at the dazzling light shining through the gap in the curtains.

She asked, "What time is it?"

"It's almost nine o'clock." Lin Fan put the card back in his pocket, yawned, and said, "You've had a good sleep, but I haven't slept all night. I need to catch up on some sleep."

"You're not going to work..." Qin Muyao glanced at him, then suddenly remembered it was the weekend. She left with a "Then go to sleep!" and put on a hat and mask, fully armed, before heading out.

Lin Fan glanced at it and then fell asleep.

When he woke up, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon.

He didn't wake up naturally; he was woken up by the noise from next door.

Lin Fan walked out of the door and saw people coming and going from the next room. Some were cleaning, and others were delivering furniture and appliances. In the few minutes he stood in the corridor, at least five or six groups of people had passed by.

Just as he was about to return to his room, Qin Muyao's voice came from the stairwell.

"Yes, 602, the one on the right."

Lin Fan stopped when he heard her voice, leaned against his door, and waited for Qin Muyao to appear before asking, "Miss Qin, are you planning to make this rented apartment your long-term residence?"

"Then we'll have to get through this month and wait for my second uncle's results before we can talk about it."

"You're going to replace all the furniture in here after just one month?" Lin Fan glanced at the movers coming and going in the next room and gained a new understanding of Miss Qin's "rich and willful" nature.

After everyone had left, Qin Muyao stood at the door of her new room, looked around, nodded in satisfaction, and turned to Lin Fan, saying, "Come in and sit down. I have something to ask you."

Lin Fan didn't think much of it and went inside. After looking around, he fell silent. Compared to his own room, it was simply not a place for a human to live.

"What is it? Just tell me!"

"Do you know how much a house defense card costs?"

Lin Fan glanced at her: "That thing is priced according to the size of the room it covers. I remember the cheapest one starts at 2. What's up, do you want to buy it?"

"Yeah, you guys often have weird sightings, right? Get one, it'll make you feel more at ease sleeping at night."

"That thing has an expiration date. If I remember correctly, it's only valid for one week after it's activated," Lin Fan paused, then added with a half-smile, "Only people like you who have plenty of money can afford this kind of card."

"So what do you usually use?"

"Most households keep some ordinary defense cards on hand, which they use as a temporary shield if something strange breaks into the house. Of course, the security of these cards is far less than that of house defense cards, but they are more affordable."

As he spoke, Lin Fan opened his phone, skillfully tapped on the card trading app, quickly searched, and then showed the screen to Qin Muyao.

House defense card (20 square meters): 30000

Shield Defense Card: 2100

Qin Muyao stared at the two prices on the screen and remained silent for several seconds.

"Thirty thousand and two thousand..." she murmured, "That's such a big difference?"

"Otherwise what?" Lin Fan looked around and continued.

"The house defense card covers the entire room, so the monster can't even touch the door. The shield card is only used after the monster has entered, and you have to hold it up yourself, like holding an umbrella. Which one do you think is more expensive?"

Qin Muyao imagined herself holding the card, with a strange creature standing in front of her, and couldn't help but shudder.

Seeing his increasingly grim expression, Lin Fan couldn't help but ask, "You... you're out of money?"

"Hmm." Qin Muyao gritted her teeth and admitted, pointing to the newly renovated items in the room, "After buying all these things, I only have 20,000 left, not even enough to buy a house defense card."

She paused, as if making up her mind, and said, "Um, could you lend me some money? I'll pay you back as soon as I have it."

"I'm broke too!" Lin Fan spread his hands, looking miserable. It wasn't that he didn't want to lend money, but the four thousand yuan in his phone wouldn't allow it.

Qin Muyao opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything.

Seeing her hesitant expression, Lin Fan spoke first: "I've used up most of the money you gave me before. If you need nighttime protection, I can extend the [Netherworld] a bit towards your area."

"It has this effect too?"

"Yes, the card energy is usually consumed faster, but you can just use card energy to recharge the card."

"How much does it cost to top up a card?"

Lin Fan then searched for it, and the price popped up on his phone: 5000.

Qin Muyao thought for a moment, then immediately took out her phone and opened the transfer interface without even blinking.

The next second, Lin Fan's phone vibrated, and a text message popped up saying that 20000 yuan had been deposited into his account.

"Take these for now, consider them my advance payment for rent and security. I'll pay you the rest when I have the money."

Lin Fan slowly raised his head, meeting Qin Muyao's gaze. "You trust me that much? Aren't you afraid I'll take the money and not do the job?"

"You dare?" Qin Muyao narrowed her eyes, pointing to the Zhang Fei card in her pocket. "From now on, I'll be living next door to you. If you really dare to fool me, I'll send Zhang Fei over for a heart-to-heart talk!"

Lin Fan smiled and continued, "So how will you live from now on? Will you have enough money left?"

Qin Muyao's expression froze; the question had hit the nail on the head.

"I'm worried too." She plopped down on the sofa and sighed. "I used to be able to make money through live streaming, but now as soon as I start streaming, my second uncle will find me through the internet and I'll be dragged back."

"Then you can just create a new account and not show your face!" Lin Fan said.

"But... starting from scratch, not being able to show my face, and not having a fan base yet, how long will it take to make money! Unless..."

Qin Muyao stared at it for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.