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

Renji Hospital, Dongliu City.

When Lin Fan opened his eyes, the glaring fluorescent light shone directly into them.

He stood there for a few seconds, his mind blank, and he had no recollection of how he got here.

While he was in a daze, he felt a faint pain in his right shoulder. As his consciousness gradually cleared, the pain gradually turned into a piercing pain.

"Hiss~" Lin Fan gasped.

Wasn't I in a secret realm? Had I been rescued?

He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and saw a familiar face beside his hospital bed.

Qin Muyao was fast asleep, her head resting on her left arm.

Lin Fan tried to pull his numb arm away, but he overestimated himself. As soon as the phone moved, Qin Muyao looked up.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

Qin Muyao froze for a second, as if she hadn't yet come back to her senses from a dream.

Then her eyes widened suddenly, she immediately stood up, slid the chair back, and quickly walked to the door of the ward.

She didn't go far; she just stood at the doorway and shouted loudly into the corridor.

"Doctor, doctor, the patient in bed number 7 has woken up."

Lin Fan then noticed that Qin Muyao's clothes were covered in mud and blood, and her hair, which had been tied up, was now loose.

The elegant Miss Qin from before is gone; she now looks no different from someone who has fled during a disaster.

"Keep quiet, just press the button by the bed, what's all the noise about!"

A doctor jogged to the ward door, first giving Qin Muyao a verbal reprimand, and then went to Lin Fan's side.

He quickly glanced at the data on the various instruments beside the bed; nothing abnormal was found. He then looked at Lin Fan's wound before speaking to Qin Muyao:

"There's nothing wrong with it now, let's observe it a little longer..."

After explaining some precautions to Qin Muyao, the doctor added a final reminder.

"I know you're worried, but you can't shout in the hospital and disturb other patients' rest."

Upon hearing this, Qin Muyao quickly apologized, saying, "It won't happen again. I'll be more careful next time."

The doctor glanced at the two of them, then closed the door behind him as he left.

Only Lin Fan and Qin Muyao remained in the room.

Lin Fan was about to speak when he found his throat was so dry that he couldn't make a sound.

Qin Muyao quickly went to Lin Fan's bedside, picked up the water glass on the bedside table, inserted a straw, and brought it to Lin Fan's lips.

"Have some water first!"

Lin Fan put the straw in his mouth, took two sips, and felt much better as the cool water slid down his throat.

"What about the vengeful spirit by the pool?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

At this moment, Lin Fan only had the memory of the battle between Bai Wuchang and the vengeful spirit in the pool in his mind; he knew nothing about what happened after that.

"A lot happened after you fainted..." Qin Muyao recounted the process of Zhang Fei annihilating the vengeful spirit and transforming into a black evil ghost.

"You mean the wound on my leg was inflicted by Zhang Fei?" After hearing Qin Muyao's words, Lin Fan looked at his bandaged leg and said in shock.

"And what about Zhang Fei now?"

Qin Muyao put down her water glass and took out the blood-soaked image of Zhang Fei, the evil ghost, from her pocket.

Lin Fan stared at the card for a few seconds, then handed it back to Qin Muyao, looking at her with a determined gaze. "Don't worry, I'll make sure Zhang Fei returns to normal."

Qin Muyao put Zhang Fei back in her pocket without saying a word.

"And then?" Lin Fan asked. "How did we get out?"

Qin Muyao leaned back in her chair, took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down.

"After I retrieved Zhang Fei, I put you on the back of the Bone-Eating Hound and headed towards the exit of that secret realm." Qin Muyao's tone became somewhat serious.

"But halfway through the race, I realized something was wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"There are more and more strange things in the secret realm, and the closer you get to the exit, the more strange things there are."

She paused, as if recalling the scene.

"When I brought you near the exit, I found dozens of eerie creatures gathered there, as if waiting for something!"

"What could be guarding the door so strangely?" Lin Fan asked, puzzled.

"I don't know." Qin Muyao shook her head. "I didn't dare to go that way at the time, so I had the Bone-Eating Hound lead us to find another exit."

"And then we came out?" Lin Fan frowned slightly, but Qin Muyao's expression told him that it wasn't that simple.

Qin Muyao paused, then met Lin Fan's gaze.

"Ever since we appeared in that area, those eerie creatures have seemed to have sensed something and have been relentlessly pursuing us, as if we have something they want on us."

Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat, and the word "King of Devils' Mark" popped into his mind, but he didn't show it on his face after glancing at Qin Muyao.

"And then?"

"Later, the Bonehound found a crevice on the east side, and I had no choice but to take you inside."

Lin Fan stared at her: "Is the exit on the other side of the crack?"

"No, it's another secret realm." Qin Muyao's expression became somewhat subtle. "A B-grade secret realm."

Lin Fan paused for a moment.

There is a full two major levels between B-grade, D+, and B-grade. The highest level of the D+-grade monsters is no more than the Blue Domain.

However, in a B-level secret realm, there are countless strange creatures of the Blue Domain level, and quite a few of them of the Purple Domain level as well. For them to enter a B-level secret realm is no different from suicide.

"How did you survive?" Lin Fan asked.

Qin Muyao shook her head: "We were lucky. The Bone-Eating Hound led us for a few minutes and found another exit, and then we arrived here, Dongliu City."

"Dongliu City, isn't that a place near Jiang City? The distance between us is at least a hundred kilometers. Did we just get here like this?"

Lin Fan's pupils contracted, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Yes, that's the truth!"

Lin Fan glanced at Qin Muyao, who looked rather disheveled, and was surprised to learn that she had gone through so much since he had fainted.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"A full day and night," Qin Muyao said. "The doctor said the wound on your shoulder had a strange poison. If you hadn't woken up today, you might... Luckily, you woke up."

"A day and a night..." he repeated softly, as if he hadn't expected to be unconscious for so long.

He glanced down at the gauze on his right shoulder, then at Qin Muyao's tired face, and a strange emotion welled up inside him.

"Have you been guarding this place the whole time?"

"Otherwise what?" Her voice was muffled. "You're lying here all alone, without a single person you know. What if you don't wake up? Who's going to collect your body?"

Lin Fan looked at Qin Muyao and remained silent for a few seconds. Judging from her disheveled appearance, he knew how dangerous this path had been.

"Thank you," Lin Fan said. "If it weren't for you, I might not have made it out."

"You saved me too, so let's call it even."

Qin Muyao was silent for a while, as if she was thinking about something, before suddenly asking a question.

"Lin Fan, those strange things you guys are doing..." Qin Muyao paused, then finally spoke, "Are they because of the Demon King's Mark?!"