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

"Xiao He and the others are dead." In Zhao Zhong's room, Su Wanqing stood in front of the desk and reported to Zhao Zhong.

Zhao Zhong sat in a chair, holding a freshly brewed cup of coffee, his face showing little emotion.

He simply took a small sip of his coffee.

"Reassure their family and provide the highest possible compensation. Don't make too much of a fuss about this. Tell everyone that Xiao He died in the line of duty after encountering a powerful and bizarre monster in the secret realm. Don't mention the All Souls Society."

"Understood." Su Wanqing nodded, her gaze involuntarily turning to Lin Fan. Their eyes met in mid-air, and Lin Fan understood her meaning.

Zhao Zhong had no idea that Lin Fan already knew about the relationship between the New World and the All Souls Society. Su Wanqing's gaze was clearly a reminder not to let it slip, since the fewer people who knew about such things, the better; saying too much would only make things more dangerous.

Zhao Zhong waved to Su Wanqing and said, "You can go out now. Mr. Lin and I have something to discuss privately."

Su Wanqing nodded, and before turning to leave, she unconsciously made a shushing gesture with her hand.

"Click".

The door slowly closed, leaving only Zhao Zhong and Lin Fan in the office.

Zhao Zhong put down his coffee, leaned back slightly, and looked at Lin Fan.

"Mr. Lin, has He Jin's card-making direction been finalized? Did you make any new discoveries on this trip?"

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Zhao Zhong didn't waste any time with small talk; his first words to Lin Fan went straight to the point.

Lin Fan wasn't too surprised by this. At this moment, Zhao Zhong probably only cared about He Jin. In his eyes, his foundation could only be saved with He Jin.

"We've got some leads." Lin Fan nodded and continued, "Since 'He Jin' is someone who can rival the Ten Attendants, his card-making direction is most likely related to the imperial court."

"The imperial court?" Zhao Zhong's eyes flickered slightly.

"Hmm." Lin Fan continued, "The Ten Attendants are essentially a eunuch force, and since He Jin can fight against them, his status and position must be extremely high."

"Judging from the previous fragmented images, he was wearing armor, which makes him seem more like a military general than a civil official. Therefore, the direction of card production should lean towards the court and military generals."

Zhao Zhong nodded, a hint of joy in his eyes, and quickly waved for him to continue.

"Since it's about military generals, the corresponding materials should lean towards that direction as much as possible, such as general-type cards, fragments of ancient battlefields, weapon-type cards, and even some things with the concept of 'army'."

Seeing that Zhao Zhong had no objection, Lin Fan continued, "Especially weapon cards, it's best to prepare more of them."

"Weapon-type cards?"

"Hmm." Lin Fan nodded and continued, "The core of a character card is often tied to its identity. A military general can't live without a weapon, just like a butcher can't live without a butcher's knife. He Jin..."

When Lin Fan finished speaking, he suddenly paused and stopped talking. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

He almost blurted out that He Jin was a butcher. Zhao Zhong had collected information over the years, but none of it mentioned He Jin's background.

If he were to suddenly reveal He Jin's identity as a butcher, Zhao Zhong would only ask one question: what is the basis for this information, and how did he find out? He wouldn't be able to explain himself clearly then.

"What's wrong with He Jin?" Zhao Zhong asked.

Lin Fan paused, flipped through the documents in front of him, and carefully considered his words.

"As a military general, He Jin must have plenty of weapons. Trying out different weapons might help with card making." He said this so naturally that Zhao Zhong couldn't detect anything unusual.

When Lin Fan mentioned the weapon card, he actually had his own plans in mind.

After receiving the mind-blocking drug from Xiang Qian, he had become fully aware of a problem.

That means I rely too much on mental energy. If my mental energy is cut off, I'll be no different from a cripple.

Although I still have the [Netherworld] card to use, its energy consumption is equally terrifying when using that card.

A short burst of success is fine, but if it becomes a protracted battle, one may be dragged down and killed.

Although weapon cards are also powered by card energy, their card energy consumption is not as terrifying. If you have a weapon card, you won't be completely helpless even if you encounter mental blockade again in the future.

But Zhao Zhong was clearly unaware of Lin Fan's true thoughts. He nodded, "General, weapons, the palace..."

A smile suddenly appeared on his lips. "It seems you've had quite a haul this time. I'll have someone find these things as soon as possible."

"Go back and rest for a bit. The cards should arrive tomorrow. We'll need Mr. Lin's help with the card production then."

After chatting with Zhao Zhong for a while, Lin Fan returned to his room.

When Xiaoyun saw Lin Fan return, she led him to the bathroom that had been prepared beforehand.

The hot water in the bathtub was clearly freshly filled, and even carried a faint floral fragrance. On the wooden table next to it, there were several plates of cut fruit.

Lin Fan didn't stand on ceremony. He really wanted to take a bath and rest for a while. He sent Xiao Yun away and lay in the bathtub by himself. The tension that had been building up for so long finally began to relax.

"Knock knock knock!" Just as Lin Fan closed his eyes, there were several knocks on the bathroom door.

"Who is it!"

"Mr. Lin, it's me, Xiaoyun. Miss Su has brought you some things. Where would you like me to put them?"

"What is that!" Lin Fan removed the hot towel from his face and said to Xiao Yun outside the door.

Xiaoyun hesitated for a moment before speaking: "It's a card box. Miss Su said that you should see what's inside for yourself."

Lin Fan was also taken aback. A card box? The cards he had just talked about with Zhao Zhong, had they been found in such a short time?

"Just leave it by the door, I'll be out in a bit!"

Xiao Yun outside the door responded softly, followed by light footsteps.

Lin Fan quickly rinsed off and then walked out of the bathroom. The moment he stepped out, he saw Xiao Yun standing next to the door, holding a red card box in her hand.

"Mr. Lin, here you go!" As soon as Lin Fan came out, Xiao Yun immediately handed the box to him.

He opened it and saw that it wasn't the cards he expected. The top one was the [Prison Suppressor] card that had fallen towards the money, and below that were two sets of 10 cards that could be replenished.

"This was delivered by Miss Su. Did she say anything?"

Xiaoyun nodded. "Miss Su said this is what you deserve, and that's all..."

He picked up the [Prison Guardian] card; this wasn't some symbiotic card, it was a genuine Purple Domain card.

"Where is Miss Su?"

"I saw Miss Su go east, probably to the woods. I didn't go to check, after all..."

"No, it's nothing. I might be making cards during this time. If you run into Miss Su, please give her a thank you for me."