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

Qin Muyao swiped her phone, quickly searching through the videos, and handed one to Lin Fan.

The video shows a person wearing a demon mask with irregularly spreading patterns. The mask has a blue face, fangs, and horns on its forehead, making it look extremely eerie.

"Look at this! His name is Ghost Face. He also does live streams of weird confrontations. He has over three million followers. Everyone can recognize him as soon as they see this mask. That's called recognizability."

Qin Muyao pointed to the mask he was wearing and said.

"His cards are actually just average. I remember the highest one he has is a Blue Domain 3-star card, but he's all about fire, why..." She paused.

"It's because of this mask that the audience is looking forward to someone taking off his mask in the next moment; that's the sense of anticipation."

Lin Fan glanced at his mask; it did indeed have a striking appearance.

"Shall we bring one of these too?" Lin Fan asked.

He thought for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up: "Isn't there a threshold ghost inside your 'Gate of Hell'? You can make one based on its appearance; that would be much more recognizable."

Lin Fan's lips twitched: "Threshold ghost? You've seen what those things look like before. If we wear masks like that out in public, people will think we're here to be funny."

Qin Muyao chuckled: "Don't drag me in too, I've already planned out my outfit."

"So what are you planning to dress up as?" Lin Fan leaned back in his chair and looked at Qin Muyao.

Qin Muyao took out her phone and showed the mask she had just ordered.

It was a silver-white mask with fine cloud patterns carved along its edges. Two small, curved silver horns peeked out from the temples of the mask; they were not demon horns, but rather some kind of ancient totem.

"When I wear a white dress, I'll be the most dazzling one in the night!"

Lin Fan was silent for a few seconds. Wasn't this young lady most afraid of the supernatural? If she dressed up as she said, it would be strange if she didn't attract the attention of the supernatural.

However, Lin Fan didn't say much. Their purpose in going out was to find the supernatural, and if they could attract the supernatural, it would save them trouble.

"Have you thought it through? If not, I have a mask ornament here. It was a gift from them when I bought the furniture. It's quite unique."

"A gift? What kind of mask?" Lin Fan looked at it with suspicion.

"Wait here." Qin Muyao quickly got up and ran back to the next room. In a short while, she returned with a cardboard box. She put the box on the table and took out a mask from it.

The eyes are two irregular holes, and the mouth has a crooked slit, as if it was sculpted halfway and then abandoned.

Lin Fan took it and examined it carefully, turning it over and over. "What is this thing?"

"The poplar wood mask, the boss said it was made by someone, but it turned out too ugly and couldn't be sold, so he used it as a free gift. I thought it was quite unique, so I kept it."

Lin Fan put the mask on his face and looked through the two crooked eye holes. His field of vision was pitifully narrow, and he could only see a small area directly in front of him.

"You can even wear this?" He took off the mask. "Except for the very front, you can't see anything else."

"That's still better than a mask or something!" Qin Muyao snatched the mask and gestured with it in her hand.

"Look how good this is. The audience can tell at a glance that this person is not simple. Besides, why don't you just make the hole bigger?"

Lin Fan looked at her serious expression and was speechless for a moment: "Alright, alright, that's it!"

Qin Muyao nodded in satisfaction, took Lin Fan's phone, and started fiddling with it.

A few minutes later, she turned the screen around and saw that her Douyin account had been created and named "Agent of the Underworld".

The profile picture frame is a photo of the Gates of Hell, exuding a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

When did you take this picture?

"I couldn't resist taking a picture last time, what do you think? Doesn't it look impressive?"

Lin Fan nodded, looking at Qin Muyao's enthusiastic expression, and asked, "When are we leaving?"

Qin Muyao glanced at the sky outside the window, which was not yet completely dark. "I'll go out when it gets late. If I go out now, I'll be surrounded by those old men and women asking me all sorts of questions."

At midnight, the neighborhood became completely quiet.

Under the dim streetlights, several stray cats crouched by the flowerbed, their green eyes fixed on two figures in the stairwell.

Qin Muyao held up her phone stand with the camera on, and the voice changer made her voice hoarse and deep, so no one would guess that she was a girl in her early twenties.

"This is Fenglinwan Residential Area. I believe those who follow the supernatural community have heard of it. Recently, there have been quite a few strange incidents of people being injured here. Today, we'll take you here to take a look."

She turned to the side so the camera could pan across the roadside flowerbeds and residential buildings, all of which were dark and not a single light was on.

Several comments floated across the screen, and the number of viewers in the live stream slowly reached over thirty.

Why does this neighborhood seem deserted?

Did you just randomly pick some senior citizen neighborhood? These days, who doesn't stay up late?

[Hey streamer, is there something behind you?]

Qin Muyao paused, then pointed the camera at Lin Fan behind her.

Lin Fan wore the white poplar wood mask and a black hoodie, almost blending into the night. The ugly mask seemed to be floating in mid-air.

"The one behind me is 'Little Black,' my partner. I am 'Little White.'"

The moment Lin Fan's mask was seen again, the live chat exploded with activity.

That mask is so ugly!

[A young lady in white? No, that voice sounds like... my older brother?]

[Is the little black guy not talking? Is he mute?]

[He might be a big shot; big shots don't like to talk much.]

Seeing the increased number of comments, Qin Muyao chuckled, "Xiao Hei isn't very talkative, please don't mind. He's our team's main card master, responsible for safety."

[Another card seller trying to make money!]

[This is probably staged; it looks like a normal residential area.]

Qin Muyao ignored the comments and continued walking forward, with Lin Fan following behind, spreading his spiritual energy around them.

There wasn't a trace of anything strange about the neighborhood.

"This is different from what Zhou Chen said. There are no strange creatures gathered here. I've walked around for almost a whole time and haven't seen any strange creatures."

Just as Lin Fan was secretly complaining, a strange sensation came from behind him.

Lin Fan slowed his pace involuntarily, and the strange feeling vanished instantly, as if it had never happened.

"Huh, is it just my imagination?" Lin Fan frowned slightly, glanced back, but didn't see anything.

Seeing Lin Fan stop in his tracks, Qin Muyao asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Fan replied, "It's nothing," and quickly caught up with her.

"There seems to be something behind us," Lin Fan whispered.

"Don't turn around, let's go over there." Seeing Qin Muyao subconsciously turn around, Lin Fan immediately stopped her, led her around a corner, and hid in the shade of a big tree.

The comments are still floating around:

[What kind of show is this host trying to create? This neighborhood looks perfectly normal to me.]

[That masked guy walks so stiffly, is he nervous?]