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

After Lin Fan left, Zhao Zhong stood alone in front of the fireplace, holding a cup of coffee that had gone cold, his gaze fixed on the bronze sculpture of a general on horseback on the fireplace, as if he were thinking about something.

"Uncle." Su Wanqing pushed open the door and sat down on the sofa, crossing her legs and revealing a section of her thigh covered by stockings.

"Dressed like that every day, what good man would want you?" Zhao Zhong turned to look at Su Wanqing sitting on the sofa.

Su Wanqing rolled her eyes. "Uncle, how can you be so old-fashioned? Nowadays, people can dress however they want. Forget it, I'm too lazy to talk to an old fogey like you."

Zhao Zhong brought the coffee to the sofa, sat down opposite him, and asked, "How's things going over there?"

"The card masters we recently trained are already able to enter and exit D-level secret realms independently." Su Wanqing's voice was not loud, but it carried a hint of pride.

"There have been no losses so far, and the efficiency of material collection is 20% higher than expected," Su Wanqing continued.

Zhao Zhong nodded, his face expressionless.

Su Wanqing glanced at the cup of coffee on the coffee table that someone had drunk from and asked, "Do you have guests today? It's been a while since I've seen you make coffee yourself."

"Yes, a card maker."

"Was a card maker here today?" Su Wanqing thought for a moment, looking down. "I've been in this manor all day and haven't seen anyone..."

She paused, then suddenly remembered something, "That sickly man in the wheelchair?"

Su Wanqing thought of Lin Fan, whom she had met in the hall, and couldn't help but speak up.

"You saw him? What did you think of him?"

Su Wanqing thought for a moment and shook her head: "I didn't pay much attention. He looked sickly. I didn't expect him to be a card maker."

"Uncle, you mentioned him, does that mean he has some extraordinary talent?"

"That's Lin Fan!" Zhao Zhong said.

Su Wanqing's expression finally changed slightly. "He's Lin Fan? The person the All Souls Society asked us to 'take care of' is him."

Zhao Zhong put down his cup. "Yes!"

Su Wanqing lowered her crossed legs, leaned forward slightly, and spoke in a softer voice: "Wanling Society wants us to deal with him, so why are you still looking for him, Uncle?"

Zhao Zhong glanced at her, his gaze carrying a meaningful meaning.

"The fact that the All Souls Society wants to deal with him means he has something that they fear." He paused, then continued slowly:

"The enemy of my enemy, even if he's not a friend, he's not a member of the All Souls Society, so we can use him without worry," Zhao Zhong said.

"Moreover, since he created Zhang Fei for the Qin family's young lady, creating He Jin, who is also a humanoid Kaling, shouldn't be a problem either."

"What if the All Souls Society finds out he's with us?" Su Wanqing's tone carried a hint of worry.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhong's face darkened. "Before he creates 'He Jin,' try to keep him out of the house as much as possible. If those people from the All Souls Society really discover him..."

He paused, his gaze falling on the bronze sculpture above the fireplace, his voice lowering slightly:

"If he has already produced 'He Jin' in advance, then everything will be fine. If not, then we will have no choice but to hand him over."

"Hand it over?" Su Wanqing's pupils contracted slightly.

"Yes, as long as we can keep the All Souls' Society in check, we still have a chance. Otherwise, if the All Souls' Society comes knocking on our door, what will we use to defend ourselves? Our meager resources?"

Zhao Zhong said in an almost indifferent tone.

"Moreover, they just sent a message saying that a very important person will be coming from over there in a month."

Su Wanqing frowned. "Who are they? What are they here for?"

"I don't know." Zhao Zhong shook his head. "The message only said that a 'special envoy' would be coming to inspect the foundation's operations."

He leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes briefly, and said with a hint of weariness in his voice, "But I have a feeling that these people are up to no good, and may be here to take over this place."

Su Wanqing's pupils contracted slightly, and she clenched her fist, slamming it heavily on the sofa.

"Take over? On what grounds? You built the foundation from scratch, what right do they have to take it over just like that?"

"After all these years of getting to know them, don't you know them?" Zhao Zhong said calmly, as if he had expected this to happen.

"Through their symbiotic methods, they have cultivated a group of alien beings that are indistinguishable from humans and demons. Their strength is different from before. If we hadn't been somewhat useful to them in recent years, they would have kicked us out long ago."

"Didn't we also train a group of card masters? If it really comes to that, we'll fight them to the death," Su Wanqing said.

"Those card masters can't compete with those people from the All Souls Guild."

"Then what's the point of spending so much money training them every year?"

"They can't fight them, but they can be used to hold them off for a while." Zhao Zhong's gaze fell on the coffee table, and his voice lowered.

"If that day really comes, and we try to escape, someone will have to stop those lunatics."

Su Wanqing was stunned for a moment, then understood what he meant. In his eyes, those trained card masters were nothing more than pawns that could be discarded at any time.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but ultimately swallowed it back down.

He stood up, walked to the window, and his voice became somewhat unsteady: "Now I just hope that Lin Fan can finish making 'He Jin' soon."

Su Wanqing took a deep breath. "Uncle, can that card called 'He Jin' really counter them?"

"Those strange things of theirs also come from those ancient books." He turned around and looked at Su Wanqing. "He Jin is also the only person we know who can rival them."

"So, what progress has our card maker made in producing 'He Jin'? We can't rely entirely on this Lin Fan," Su Wanqing said.

"Those idiots haven't even determined the crafting formula yet, let alone built the card story."

"Or I could contact the Underworld's administrators. Xiao Hei among them makes some really special cards, and maybe he could create the 'He Jin' we want."

"Lord of the Underworld! Don't you know that Little Black's fate is currently unknown?"

"What happened?"

"I heard they were attacked in a mysterious place!"

"【Hidden Ruins of Mist】?" Su Wanqing thought of the time she had met them in the secret realm hall.

"I'm not entirely sure which one it is. I don't object to you having them make cards, but if it's about making 'He Jin,' forget it. The fewer people who know about this, the better, just in case..."

"What if the person in charge of the underworld is also someone the All Spirits Association has put in the spotlight?"

"Yes, I didn't mention 'He Jin' to them, nor did I talk about any of the foundation's core projects. It was just a preliminary exploration of ordinary business cooperation," she replied seriously.

"That's good." Zhao Zhong paused and continued, "Now is the time when we can't easily trust others."

Zhao Zhong sat back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and frowned slightly, as if he was thinking about something.