After observing Boss Zhang's stall for some time, Hong Zhu didn't see anyone come by to sell [Lin Daiyu] cards. However, her spies, who she had sent out to search for [Lin Daiyu] cards on the black market, reported back to her privately. "Sister Hong Zhu, I found five [Lin Daiyu] cards!" "Sister Hong Zhu, I found three [Lin Daiyu] cards!"
Hong Zhu replied immediately, "Buy all of them! Make sure not to reveal your identity. Tell the sellers you're collecting them."
Keeping her instructions in mind, the two quickly bought all eight cards for their president.
Hidden behind a stall and waiting, a frustrated Hong Zhu stared intently at the black market. The person she was waiting for hadn't appeared in a long time.
According to Sister Xue, there were ten [Lin Daiyu] cards on the market; eight had been purchased by her subordinates. Where were the remaining two? If they had been bought for personal collections, it wasn't an issue, but if clubs had acquired them, it could be problematic. Thinking of this, Hong Zhu grew increasingly worried. She sharply scrutinized everyone passing through the market, hoping to identify the culprit.
Instead of spotting the seller, she ran into one of her mortal enemies, Can Yang, the vice president of the Adjudication Club.
Both Fenghua and Adjudication were top-tier card clubs in the league, with super popular players in each. There were constant conflicts between the two clubs, leading to a tense relationship.
When she turned to leave, Can Yang blocked her path, sneering, "Sister Hong, long time no see. What have you been up to lately?"
"I'm just here to buy some cards and materials," Hong Zhu replied coolly.
"Preparing for the new season?"
"Yes," she responded tersely before hurrying away.
This time, Can Yang let her go and began roaming the black market himself.
When clubs wanted to buy the highest-grade cards, they typically sent merchants to specialty card shops, where high-star cards were readily available. The black market, however, rarely had top-grade cards; it mainly offered one- to four-star cards, sold as collectibles and worthless in battles. Still, sometimes high-grade cards popped up on the black market, and clubs would then seek out their creators—often newcomers with remarkable card-making skills.
Tang Muzhou, the lead player of the Fenghua Club, had risen to fame by selling cards on the black market.
The era of Tang Muzhou's plant cards sweeping through the black market ended years ago, yet experienced players still felt a thrill recalling those times. As a newcomer, Tang Muzhou had once filled the market with plant cards stamped with his 'Tang' logo. They were quickly snapped up. Over time, Tang Muzhou earned millions through his card design skills, single-handedly reviving the popularity of Wood cards, which had been in decline.
Xue Linxiang, an agent for a trump card player, and Hong Zhu, Fenghua's president, were both figures shaped by Tang Muzhou's presence in the game.
Tang Muzhou's appearance shook up the fifth season. A large reshuffling took place, with veteran players eliminated and many new ones rising. Since then, cards of different types balanced each other, and no single type dominated. Each card player had their unique characteristics, leading to a diverse, vibrant league.
Perhaps due to Tang Muzhou's influence and Hong Zhu's penchant for hanging around, the black market became a hub for discovering talent. Now, club managers had the habit of "if idle, browse the black market."
Yet since the legendary Tang became a celebrity five years ago, no one else had risen from selling black-market cards to become a famous professional player.
Reflecting on the past, Can Yang continued wandering through the market.
Just then, he received a private message from a spy within Fenghua Club, "Boss, Hong Zhu suddenly asked members to collect beauty cards, and she's also privately set up a stall offering high prices for character cards in the black market."
Can Yang was puzzled. "Why is she buying character cards?"
The spy replied, "It's rumored that she's recently developed a liking for character cards, so she's collecting them."
Uncertain of her true motive, Can Yang instructed, "Keep investigating. Let me know if you find anything else."
After waiting in vain for the card seller at the black market, Hong Zhu decided to lure them out by opening a prominent stall labeled "High Prices for Collectible Beauty Cards," directly signaling her interest in [Lin Daiyu] cards.
Everyone knew that each club planted undercover spies in rival clubs, so Hong Zhu tried to keep her operation discreet and avoided mentioning [Lin Daiyu] cards directly. However, her actions perplexed major clubs, which began speculating on her true goal.
What left Hong Zhu speechless was that as soon as her stall opened, a crowd of card creators swarmed in, presenting her with a variety of beauty cards within half an hour.
Hong Zhu, overwhelmed by the flood of beauties, could only hope that "Chubby" would appear soon!
But Xie Mingzhe wouldn't visit that stall; he'd already decided to stop drawing [Lin Daiyu].
He'd made this choice after twice visiting the black market. In this decade-old game, countless card creators had emerged with their own styles, and character cards featuring handsome men and beautiful women were in abundant supply.
Apart from casual players who enjoyed collecting for fun, most were enthusiasts of battle cards. At the last auction, no matter how cute, pet cards only sold for a few thousand gold coins, while the best battle card, [Tuberose], fetched a price of 660,000. Players cared far more about card attributes than aesthetics.
After realizing this, Xie Mingzhe put aside his Dream of the Red Chamber beauty cards and turned his attention to Water Margin¹.
When he thought of the strong characters from Water Margin, Wu Song² came to mind first.
Having loved novels and comics since childhood, Xie Mingzhe had read the Water Margin comic series at age six. Donated by a benefactor to his orphanage, these comics had captivated him daily. He found it especially thrilling when Wu Song punched a tiger to death—he was a true hero! Unfortunately, Xie Mingzhe didn't remember Wu Song's look from the Water Margin TV series; he only recalled the black-and-white illustrations in the comic.
First, Xie Mingzhe visualized Wu Song slaying the tiger. After confirming the image in his mind, he took out Nebula paper to make a new card.
Since his memory was only of black-and-white comics, this composition was simpler than that of Daiyu Burying Flowers.
As he infused Inner Spirit, a black-and-white ink painting gradually appeared on the paper—a strong man with clenched fists, veins bulging, punching the tiger's head with deadly force. The tiger perished.
System: "Card creation successful. Please connect to the database for verification."
With experience from the [Lin Daiyu] card verification, Xie Mingzhe waited patiently. After a few minutes, he heard the prompt, "Verification successful." Skillfully, he printed his "月半" logo on the back.
It was another one-star card. Xie Mingzhe examined its stats closely.
Translator's Notes:
Water Margin is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Wu Song, a heroic character in Water Margin, famously slays a tiger with his bare hands.