Mythical Card Creator: Myriad Ghosts Night Parade at the Start

"Little Lin, do you want to see the big fish I caught too!"

Uncle Chen's words were like magic, full of temptation:

"Come! Look closer, how beautiful this fish is!"

Lin Chen couldn't resist and leaned closer, intending to get a good look at the big fish.

But the closer he got, the more he smelled a familiar stench of decay.

It was clearly a fish with scales as silvery-white as the moon, but as Lin Chen got closer and opened his eyes, he saw—

A completely rotten, foul-smelling, maggot-infested dead fish!

The next second, Lin Chen woke up from his nightmare.

"Something's not right, something must have gone wrong!"

He looked towards his neighbor Uncle Chen's house. The increasingly strong stench of decay was coming from there!

The author, along with Uncle Chen, is here to ask for votes and continued reading!

This is very important for the future traffic of this book!

Uncle Chen's words were like magic, full of temptation:

"Come! Keep reading, how beautiful this book is!"

Chapter 12 Anomaly: Night Fishing for a Strange Fish

My name is Qin Shengfang. I live in Building 4 of Xin'an Residential Area in H City. I'm forty-two years old, and I enjoy fishing in my free time.

Yesterday, the lockdown notice for our residential area came down, meaning no fishing for the next half month.

I was itching to go, but there was nothing I could do.

Who knew that, of all things, I heard that Old Chen from our building had, just before the lockdown, caught a big silver carp weighing over fifty pounds!

I couldn't accept that. I know Old Chen's fishing skills; he's a professional at catching nothing, far worse than me!

I've never even caught a fish that big, so how could he have?

I went to see, not believing it, and it was true!

A silver carp, over half a meter long, was hanging in Old Chen's living room.

The fish was still alive, its mouth opening and closing, its eyes rolling around. It was so big, so beautiful!

My fishing buddies and I were mesmerized and couldn't bear to leave.

It was only when it was time for dinner that I had to go home. On the way back, I thought resentfully, why wasn't it me who caught such a big fish!

All the way into the night, I was still thinking about the fish at Old Chen's house. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't sleep.

I kept feeling like the fish's eyes were staring at me when I left, as if it didn't want me to go, like it wanted to acknowledge me as its owner!

No, I have to go back and confirm again if this fish recognizes me. I need to go see it properly again!

Its curves, its scales, they were all too beautiful.

I couldn't hold back any longer!

At this late hour of the night, I arrived at Old Chen's doorstep. The door was ajar, not fully closed.

I immediately wanted to push it open. I knew that as soon as I pushed the door open, I would see that big fish I had been dreaming of!

That fish with scales as white as snow, so plump and robust!

But for some reason, I glanced at a strange double portrait pasted on the door of Little Lin's house next door, and I hesitated.

I felt like going to Old Chen's house this late at night was somehow wrong.

Where exactly was it wrong? I couldn't quite say, but it was only right for me to come and see such a magnificent fish, who could stop me?

So I pushed open Old Chen's door and was about to walk in.

But to my shock, I saw that Old Chen's living room was crowded with people!

They were all neighbors and fishing buddies I recognized!

They were all staring with wide eyes, fixed on the big fish hanging in the middle of the living room, that beautiful...

Huh?!

Wh-what happened to this fish?

This fish is nothing like what I saw during the day!

It's a long-rotted, incredibly foul-smelling dead fish crawling with flies!

Why aren't the others reacting? Can't they see it?! Or am I mistaken?

No, this fish isn't dead yet!

Its eyes could still roll like a living person's.

It... it's looking at me!

H-help!

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder...

Lin Chen placed his hand on Uncle Qin's shoulder and pulled him out.

After having that nightmare about the rotten fish corpse, Lin Chen knew something was wrong. His spiritual sense was clearly warning him.

Furthermore, the card Guardian Door Gods - Qin Qiong/Yuchi Gong was also restless;

If Lin Chen hadn't acted, they even felt an urge to summon themselves.

It seemed a supernatural entity had infiltrated the residential area!

It was very likely related to the big fish Uncle Chen had caught yesterday.

So, Lin Chen crept to Uncle Chen's house and, seeing Uncle Qin sitting there stunned upstairs, immediately pulled him out first.

Seeing Uncle Qin's utterly terrified state, Lin Chen instructed him, "Go to my house and don't come out."

Lin Chen's house had Door Gods enshrined, offering at least some protection.

Uncle Qin, bewildered and trembling, left.

Then Lin Chen voluntarily entered Uncle Chen's house – the source of the stench.

Over a dozen dazed neighbors were kneeling around the fish corpse like stars surrounding the moon.

Lin Chen could see nearly invisible fishing lines connecting each of the neighbors to the fish corpse.

According to the "Standard for General Dangerous Anomalies" from the Card Master Association, Lin Chen judged that this Rotten Fish Corpse was likely on the verge of advancing from "Anomaly Level" to "Aberrant Level."

(Level I: Anomaly Level Criteria: Entities at this level don't exhibit prominent aberrant characteristics. They can only influence humans through indirect means like auditory rumors or visual cues and lack physical damage capabilities. Severity: Causes only minor sanity contamination to humans, potentially leading to fear, anxiety, cognitive distortion, etc. The impact on humans is slow and indirect, but it does not cause substantial physical or severe mental damage. Containment Measures: Monitored, contained, or eliminated by 1-2 apprentice Card Masters. No large-scale resource investment is required.

Level II: Aberrant Level Criteria: Entities have begun to form aberrant forms, displaying certain abnormal characteristics, and possess substantial damage capabilities. Their form and abilities are still unstable, with a certain probability of directly causing onlookers to lose their sanity. Severity: May cause moderate psychological impact to individuals or small groups of humans, posing a potential substantial threat with their skills, but not reaching a catastrophic level. Containment Measures: Requires dispatching junior Card Masters for monitoring and response. The specific number depends on the situation, usually a team of 1-3 Card Masters.

Level III: Fierce Ghost Level Criteria: Entities at this level possess a complete form, with stable and clear supernatural abilities, capable of inflicting substantial damage on Card Masters. Their ability to reduce sanity is strong, capable of instantly causing a large area of humans to lose their sanity. Severity: Causes severe psychological and physical damage to individual Card Masters or human groups, potentially triggering localized panic or chaos. Containment Measures: Requires deploying at least one intermediate Card Master for suppression or elimination, usually an elite team of 3-5 Card Masters, equipped with specialized spiritual energy blocking cards.

Level IV: Disaster Level Criteria: Entities at this level possess large-scale destructive capabilities, sufficient to cause catastrophic impact on a city or larger area. Their abilities include conceptual or rare traits, making them difficult to deal with through conventional means. Their sanity-reducing ability is extremely powerful, with a wide contamination range, capable of instantly driving intermediate Card Masters insane. Severity: May trigger city-level disasters, leading to large-scale casualties, economic destruction, or collapse of social order. Containment Measures: Requires mobilizing city-level Card Master forces, dispatching at least three intermediate Card Masters for containment, usually a joint task force of 5-20 Card Masters, supplemented by city-level strategic resources.

Level V: Chaos God Level Criteria: Entities possess world-ending threat capabilities. Their abilities inevitably include some form of concept or authority, capable of subverting natural laws or reshaping reality. Severity: May cause global-scale disasters, posing an ultimate challenge to human survival. Containment Measures: Requires mobilizing global Card Master forces, forming inter-country, cross-domain super task forces, and utilizing all available spiritual energy technology and resources.)

The mental pollution from the Rotten Fish Corpse was only enough to affect ordinary humans like Uncle Qin, and it was only when it slightly spread to Lin Chen that he was alerted.

Compared to the entities Lin Chen encountered in the Myriad Ghosts Night Parade, its threat level was still a bit lacking.

However, with over a dozen people contaminated, and estimating it was about to advance, it couldn't be underestimated.

Even a lion hunts a rabbit with all its might!

Two cards were already held between Lin Chen's fingers.

The next moment, two mighty generals in armor and a heroic man in commoner's clothes appeared!

Lin Chen slowly closed the door to Uncle Chen's house;

Preparing to close the door and fight the entity!

This chapter uses a narrative perspective shift, a new attempt to make the writing more immersive. I wonder how the readers feel about the viewing experience?

Chapter 13: I'm very sorry, I couldn't let Lord Wu Song use his full strength.

The rotten fish corpse was absorbing the neighbors' vitality and spirit with its fishing lines;

Its body was visibly growing larger at an astonishing rate!