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

"Woof woof woof"

Two vicious dogs, completely black with blue flames burning in their eyes, were the first to rush out of the eerie mist, staring intently in the direction where Lin Fan was.

"Holy crap! Bone-Eating Hound!" Lin Fan's pupils contracted, and he exclaimed.

He recognized the vicious dog at a glance. This thing had the ability to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune. It was a hot commodity in the card market, and it was something that was priceless and unavailable. And now, there were two of them in front of him. How could he not be shocked?

"That shouldn't be happening. I've never heard of Bone-Eating Hounds appearing in the Ghost Tide. Aren't these things all artificially bred? How could this happen, unless..."

Lin Fan stopped mid-sentence as he saw a dark figure slowly emerge from the eerie mist.

But that dark figure wasn't a ghost, it was a person!

A young woman wearing a white coat and a beret came into Lin Fan's view.

She was holding a selfie stick, talking animatedly to the camera, while the subtitles on the screen kept scrolling and the gift effects never stopped.

"Friends, look, this is the legendary eerie tide! It's all hazy and indistinct, you know, it's quite atmospheric. But I've walked around for ages and haven't seen a single eerie shadow, and it's not as scary as you all say!"

As she spoke, she twirled the selfie stick, the camera sweeping across the surrounding gray fog.

Then, the camera scanned Lin Fan and Zhang Jiao.

"Hey, look, there's someone over there cosplaying as a Taoist priest."

The camera continued to pan across the ruins, across the bloody scene in the security room, and the woman's voice abruptly stopped, the selfie stick almost slipping from her hand.

"I swear..." She swallowed the last word back, forcing out a smile that looked worse than crying.

The comments section started scrolling wildly:

【? ? ? 】

[The anchor looks behind him]

【Blood!】

[Run, streamer, or you'll be next!]

The two savage hounds in front of her seemed to sense their master's tension, baring their teeth and assuming a fighting stance.

Just as Lin Fan was about to raise his hand to stop the woman, she immediately raised her selfie stick as if it were a talisman, and pointed the camera at Lin Fan.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll unleash my dogs on you. And let me tell you, I have some really powerful cards up my sleeve, so don't force me to use them."

"What I meant was, this place is affected by the strange tide, it's very dangerous. Quickly find a place to hide and don't wander around!"

"Don't give me that!" She took a step back and continued, "Over 20,000 people in my live stream are watching you! You're all covered in blood, and there are dead bodies around. This is all evidence. If anything happens to me, you won't escape!"

Lin Fan opened his mouth, then closed it again.

The live chat is still flooded with comments:

[Screenshot taken!]

[Don't worry, beautiful lady, I've already taken a screenshot. If anything happens, I'll call the police immediately.]

There's definitely something wrong with these two.

[They're covered in blood, holy crap, could the streamer really be right?]

As Qin Muyao glanced at the comments, she slowly retreated around the two people, with two bone-eating hounds guarding her in front of her, baring their teeth and growling low threats.

"Fine." Lin Fan raised his hands, took a step back, and said, "You can go your way, I won't stop you."

Qin Muyao's eyes lit up, and she quickened her pace to walk around to the side.

The instant she passed Lin Fan

"Woof woof woof"

The two bone-eating hounds suddenly sprang up, but instead of attacking Lin Fan, they turned sharply and barked wildly at the mist behind Qin Muyao.

The eerie blue flames surged in their eyes, ready for battle at any moment.

Qin Muyao was taken aback and subconsciously turned around.

In the fog, pairs of eerie green eyes lit up one after another, floating like will-o'-the-wisps in the strange mist.

"what!"

Qin Muyao screamed and turned to run.

After running a couple of steps, she realized that she was running in the direction where Lin Fan was standing, but she didn't care anymore. She rushed behind Lin Fan, grabbed his clothes, and wouldn't let go.

"What...what is that?"

Lin Fan was pulled so hard he almost fell over. She had just said she would unleash the dogs on him, and now she was right behind him.

"The 'Deceptive Soldiers'" Zhang Jiao's voice came faintly from behind, "Appearing in droves, once the Deceptive Soldiers pass, neither humans nor animals will be spared."

Lin Fan glanced at Zhang Jiao, his clenched fingers turning slightly white: "Compared to that evil spirit from before?"

"They only have the strength of a level 1 Gray Domain cultivator, about the same as you," Zhang Jiao concluded after looking Lin Fan up and down.

"Then it's alright, Lao Zhang, let's go, let's take them down." Lin Fan straightened his back as soon as he heard this.

"How many more times can you sustain that level of exertion?" Zhang Jiao asked.

Lin Fan was taken aback: "What does this have to do with me?"

"Don't you notice your mental energy is being constantly depleted while I'm casting spells?"

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it. As soon as he did, Lin Fan subconsciously visualized his mental sea, which was now only half full, and a sense of powerlessness slowly emerged.

"One more round and we should be almost done!" Lin Fan said truthfully.

"Run!" Zhang Jiao made a decision that shocked everyone.

"What, can't you beat them?" Lin Fan almost choked on his saliva.

"We can defeat them, but there's no need." Zhang Jiao looked into the depths of the eerie fog. "They're here to scout ahead."

"Scouting ahead?"

"With these treacherous soldiers clearing the way, something big is sure to follow." Zhang Jiao sensed this and said, "We should be almost there now."

As soon as he finished speaking, the treacherous soldiers suddenly stopped advancing and knelt down on the ground.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the mist.

thump, thump, thump

The ground shook with every step I took.

Lin Fan stared at the enormous outline that was gradually emerging from the fog, his palms covered in sweat.

"Old Zhang." He swallowed hard. "How big...are you saying this thing is?"

Zhang Jiao tilted his head back and said, "It's bigger than you and I thought!"

"What are you talking about? Can't you tell how old you are? Do you think you can beat them?" Qin Muyao turned off the live stream at some point and looked at Lin Fan and Zhang Jiao with a serious expression.

Zhang Jiao glanced at her but said nothing.

Qin Muyao then looked at Lin Fan.

"I can't beat them," Lin Fan said. The sense of oppression he felt from this eerie creature was much stronger than the evil spirits he had encountered before.

"Then why aren't you running!" Qin Muyao said.

"Do you know which way is safe to run?"

Qin Muyao was speechless for a moment. She glanced around; everything was foggy, and she couldn't even find the way she came. "What do we do now?"

"East"

Zhang Jiao stood with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering in the eerie mist, giving him the appearance of a reclusive sage.

"Let's go!" Lin Fan didn't even have time to ask questions, grabbing Qin Muyao's arm. "Come on, if you don't want to die!"

The two immediately ran in the direction Zhang Jiao pointed.

Without saying a word, Qin Muyao followed Lin Fan and ran away.

Lin Fan ran a few steps and then turned back: "Old Zhang, aren't you coming?"

Seeing Zhang Jiao still standing there, his robes fluttering slightly in the eerie mist, he said, "You all go first, I'll cover your retreat."

"Cover the rear?" Lin Fan's eyes widened. "Didn't you say you couldn't win?"

"Just because we can't beat him doesn't mean we can't stop him." Zhang Jiao turned to look at him, a half-smile playing on his lips. "I'll trouble you, young lady, to help my young friend for a while; he can't go much further now."

Qin Muyao was taken aback; Lin Fan's expression was indeed a little off.

Without hesitation, and without paying any attention to Zhang Jiao, Lin Fan turned around and ran eastward.

Qin Muyao was also taken aback. After glancing at Zhang Jiao, she also left.

However, Lin Fan's pace slowed down after running a short distance. When Qin Muyao caught up, he fell straight towards her.

"Don't pretend, don't try to take advantage of this..." Qin Muyao used all her strength to support Lin Fan.

"Hey, get up!"

Lin Fan did not react.

Behind them, Zhang Jiao's calm voice came: "The Yellow Heaven... shall rise."

Above the ruins, a beam of earthen-yellow light shot into the sky, and a Yellow Turban Warrior nearly two zhang tall crawled out from the ground, blocking the huge black shadow.