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

It had already gotten dark.

Renji Hospital in Dongliu City, in the inpatient department.

Most of the lights in the corridor were off, making the room dimly lit. The nurse on duty at the nurses' station was dozing off at her desk, with a cup of coffee next to her to keep her awake.

In bed number 7, Lin Fan leaned against the headboard, chatting with Qin Muyao.

"You mean that 'Among all the monkeys on the mountain, my butt is the reddest,' how much did you tip?" Lin Fan's voice was filled with disbelief, almost thinking he had misheard.

"Ninety-seven hundred thousand." Qin Muyao, lying on the cot, tossed her phone to Lin Fan and continued speaking.

"After adding other miscellaneous tips and deducting the platform's commission, this is all the money we get."

Lin Fan picked up his phone. The screen displayed the earnings details from the backend. He stared at the number, tapping it with his finger, "Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands... Six hundred and eighty thousand? Just from one live stream?"

"Live streaming from the secret realm is a popular field. If I hadn't been in such a hurry to get you to the hospital and hadn't had time to grab those material cards, we could have easily made a million this time."

"Hearing what you say, I think I could have come to the hospital later," Lin Fan said with a pained expression. "Three hundred thousand yuan—that's enough to buy so many medical supplies!"

Qin Muyao turned her head, a smile appearing on her lips. "Are you sure? If there's a next time, I'll pick up the materials first and leave you there to fend for yourself."

"Life is more important. If such a day ever comes, I hope Miss Qin will save my life." Lin Fan met Qin Muyao's gaze and said casually.

"That's more like it." Qin Muyao snorted, pulled the blanket up a bit, turned over, and continued speaking.

"But to be honest, we shouldn't go into the secret realm again. There are too many strange things inside, and you can easily die there. We were lucky to get out of there this time."

Lin Fan nodded. Although no powerful monsters appeared in this D+ level secret realm, the hordes of monsters inside did make him a little scared.

If it weren't for Zhang Fei turning into a monster as the price, the two of them would probably be two vengeful spirits at the bottom of the pool by now.

"It's not too late to go in when we're stronger, after all, we only have one life!" Lin Fan said.

The two exchanged a glance and reached a tacit agreement not to enter the secret realm again, at least not if their strength was insufficient.

Lin Fan suddenly remembered something, "Tell me, who exactly is this 'Among all the monkeys on the mountain, my butt is the reddest' guy?"

"He must be someone who doesn't lack money. Look at the backend, I think I saw a private message from him saying that he also wants to make cards," Qin Muyao said with a yawn.

Lin Fan opened his phone and looked at the messages in the Douyin (TikTok) backend.

"Among all the monkeys on the mountain, my bottom is the reddest: Little Blackie, can you make me a card? Price is no problem. Reply when you see this, or you can call me at 188****8880."

"He's already given so much in tips during his live streams, so making cards for him would be a waste..." Lin Fan sighed. "Are all rich people this 'inhumanly extravagant'?"

As he spoke, he looked up at Qin Muyao. At this moment, she had closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and the corners of her mouth were raised, as if she was having a beautiful dream.

After glancing at the sleeping Qin Muyao, Lin Fan chuckled softly. He reached out and dimmed the bedside lamp, then remained silent.

Qin Muyao has been exhausted lately. During the day, she has to run around handling procedures and finding doctors, and she also has to feed him at mealtimes.

As the eldest daughter of the Qin family, she would curl up on that nursing bed at night, where even turning over was difficult.

Even in order to save herself, her only fighting force, [Zhang Fei, the Warrior of Ten Thousand], has been corrupted and is temporarily unusable.

If she encounters anything strange again, the only [Bone-Eating Hound] she has left won't be of much help.

"After-sales service," Lin Fan muttered the word under his breath, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Yes, the Zhang Fei card was made by him. Now that there's a problem, it's perfectly reasonable for him to be responsible for repairing or compensating.

As for making a new card "casually" during the repair process to ensure the safety of the "client," that's normal business procedure, right?

Lin Fan thought to himself, and successfully convinced himself.

He picked up his phone and opened the card trading website.

The page loaded for a few seconds, then a bunch of colorful GG banners popped up: "Beautiful female anchors are online to chat with you," "Limited-time discount on secret realm exploration equipment," "One card can buy you a house"...

Lin Fan frowned and closed the pop-up windows one by one.

Finally, the page returned to normal, with the items neatly arranged. Seeing this, Lin Fan was now in a dilemma again.

Which direction should card making take? Qin Muyao still has some requirements for the cards; they can't have bizarre appearances, but they must be powerful.

Zhang Fei is a fierce and violent general, requiring strong mental strength to control him. Although Qin Muyao's mental strength is not weak, it doesn't quite match Zhang Fei's style.

She needs a steady and reliable Kaling who can shield her from danger in critical moments, ideally someone who can form a team with Zhang Fei.

A name suddenly popped into Lin Fan's mind.

Guan Yu!

Zhang Fei's sworn brother, the Martial Saint Guan Yu, was a man of calm and collected character, unlike Zhang Fei who would easily lose his temper.

If Guan Yu could be recreated, then ordinary monsters would not dare to provoke or get close.

After determining the direction, Lin Fan quickly checked the strange materials related to Guan Yu in the card shop.

The page refreshed, and rows of products popped up. He scrolled down one by one.

[Headless Martial Soul] Gray Domain Level Summoning Card

Lin Fan looked at the card on the screen, pondered for a moment, and decided to give up the idea of ​​using it to make cards.

Although Guan Yu was defeated at Maicheng and beheaded, transforming into a headless warrior's body, which is connected to this [Headless Martial Spirit], the Gray Domain level is indeed a major weakness.

Even if Guan Yu is created later, he would only be at the Green Domain level at most, which is obviously not in line with Guan Yu's identity.

[Red-Faced, Bearded Demon] Green Domain Level Summoning Card

[Red-Faced Ghost General] Blue Domain Level Summoning Card

Lin Fan looked at the two cards in front of him.

【Red-faced Ghost General】 can be upgraded to Purple Domain level when paired with other Blue Domain cards, but the upper limit of 【Red-faced Bearded Ghost】 can only be Blue Domain level. Isn't that a bit too weak?

His fingertips darted back and forth between the two, unsure of which to choose.

He wasn't this conflicted when making his own cards. You know, Zhang Jiao's materials were even taken from other people, so why is it so difficult for Qin Muyao?

He thought for a moment, then added both cards to his shopping cart, planning to decide which one to keep after finalizing the other materials.

Just as he was about to examine other materials, his nose suddenly caught a whiff of an unusual floral fragrance, sweet and seemingly coming from the direction of the corridor.

No way! Where is the fragrance of flowers coming from at this hour?

Lin Fan quickly spread his mental energy outwards, and in the corridor outside the door, someone was turning the doorknob of the room.