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

In an old villa in the northern suburbs of Jiang City.

Even in broad daylight, the curtains in the study were drawn tightly shut, allowing no light to penetrate.

The person behind the table remained hidden in the shadow cast by the ever-burning lamp, tapping their fingers absently on the surface.

On the tablet in front of him, the live stream replay of the Underworld's ruler was playing. The image was frozen at the moment when Bai Wuchang swung his mourning staff.

"Any news?" he asked, looking at the person who had come to the table.

The visitor stood in front of the table and spoke in a calm voice.

"We don't know the identities of these two yet, but judging from their card style, they are different from the trainee card maker named Lin Fan that we were following before."

"What's your opinion? Tell me in detail." The person in the shadows paused, then asked.

"The cards Lin Fan made before were humanoid cards like Zhang Fei and Zhang Jiao," the person paused before adding.

"As for the Underworld Master, the cards he makes tend to be more eerie. His White Impermanence, the black demon that appeared in the video, and the two fish monsters he made before, what were they called...?"

"Babo'er Ben and Benbo'er Ba!" the person in the shadows replied, a rare hint of amusement in his tone.

The newcomer was also taken aback. He hadn't expected that someone who usually stayed away from the outside world and hid in the villa all day would know the names of those fish monsters.

"Yes, a card maker simply doesn't have the energy to research multiple directions, let alone an intern like Lin Fan."

"Here, this is his previous message."

The visitor took out a document and pushed it onto the table. "Lin Fan went into a lot of debt to make cards, and even sold his ancestral home."

"So you mean...?"

"Lin Fan could not possibly be the manager of the Underworld," the newcomer said decisively. "He has neither the energy nor the money to support his trial and error in card production."

"Interesting!" The person in the shadows spoke slowly. "Tell me, if we win over the manager and get him to make cards for us, wouldn't our plan speed up?"

"It's not good to let two outsiders know about our plan!"

"What if we turn him into someone like us? Besides the two of us in Jiang City and two others in other places, there are still eight people who don't have suitable hosts yet."

"You mean, let them both join us?" The person who came was clearly incredulous at this decision; how could someone who does live streaming be valued so much?

"That guy named Xiao Hei is fine. As for Xiao Bai, I don't think anyone wants to stay with one woman!"

"We don't know if Xiao Hei is alive or dead now. We haven't heard from them since the live stream."

Seeing that the person sitting there remained silent and gave no further instructions, the newcomer quickly added.

"However, I have already ordered people to keep an eye on the entrances and exits of the secret realm, as well as hospitals throughout Jiang City. I will receive the news as soon as they appear."

"Hmm, if they're not dead, have someone make contact with them first!"

"good!"

......

Emergency room at Jiangshi First People's Hospital.

Several people wearing the uniforms of the Card Association were standing in front of the nurses' station, negotiating with the doctor on duty.

"Please keep an eye out for anyone with a shoulder injury who comes in for treatment tonight."

"What injury?"

"Being bitten by a strange creature may also be accompanied by mental exhaustion."

The doctor frowned: "A bizarre bite? Our hospital doesn't have a dedicated sterilization department. I recommend sending this kind of injury to a medical center directly under the Kazakh Association."

"We've already arranged for people to come over there," the representative from the Card Association said. "But just in case, please keep an eye on things here as well. If they arrive, please notify us immediately."

The doctor nodded, took the business card from the card association, glanced at it, and stuffed it into the pocket of his white coat.

The man from the card association turned and walked out of the emergency room, lighting a cigarette at the door.

"Why would someone who's just an internet celebrity receive so much attention from the higher-ups?" the young member of the Card Association asked.

The older man, feigning seriousness, said, "Who knows? We just do what we're told. You're a newcomer..."

Before they could finish speaking, their walkie-talkies rang simultaneously.

"There's been an incident at the Misty Ruins. Send some people over immediately."

"Received, received"

"We've got another job! Isn't that the place those two internet celebrities went on adventures to?!"

At the metal door of the Misty Ruins.

One by one, members of the Card Association, dressed in uniforms, emerged from the secret realm behind the metal door.

As soon as they appeared in the hall, the alarms from the monitoring equipment in their hands echoed continuously, making everyone present hold their breath.

"Didi didi"

"What's going on?" Upon seeing the people from the Card Association appear, a middle-aged man immediately stepped forward to ask.

"Minister Zhao, the energy fluctuations inside the Misty Ruins have surged! The peak value has exceeded the normal range for a D+ level secret realm."

The middle-aged man's name is Zhao Gang, and he is the deputy director of the Jiang City Card Association's Secret Realm Monitoring Department.

"A riot in the secret realm?" His voice turned somber.

"It doesn't seem like it." The testing personnel shook their heads and pulled up another set of data. "The energy fluctuations of the riot should be a short-lived spread, but look at this..."

He took out a screen and pointed to several waveforms of different colors on it.

"The fluctuations are concentrated on the eastern edge of the secret realm. The area is small, but the energy density is extremely high. It's more like... something crashed in from the other side."

Zhao Gang frowned: "Did they break in from the outside?"

He had only heard of strange things running out from inside the secret realm, but he had never heard of anything that could break through the secret realm from the outside and forcibly connect with it.

The inspectors then pulled up an image: "What's even stranger is that we also found this on the eastern edge."

On the screen, the eastern edge of the secret realm's terrain, which should have been a blurry gray area, now occasionally emits dark red light from the gaps.

"This spatial rift, no, this aura is surging in from the other side. This is the merging and connection between secret realms." Zhao Gang's voice lowered slightly as he spoke.

"Minister Zhao, you mean, the other side of the crack..." the inspector's voice trembled slightly, "...could it be another secret realm?"

"The eastern side of the secret realm?" Zhao Gang pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice.

"The neighboring city is Dongliu. Contact the Dongliu City Card Association and send them our data so they can compare and see if there are any similar occurrences."

"Okay, I'll contact them right away!"

Zhao Gang stared at the dark red crack on the screen, his mind racing.

The merging of secret realms does not only mean that two independent spaces are combined into one place; what is even more terrifying is that chaos will ensue within the secret realm.

If this leads to the emergence of a supernatural being at the level of a "King of Monsters," the danger level of this secret realm will increase dramatically, and a new wave of supernatural events may even occur.