Chapter 2

Ning Zhu’s cram school was in the city center. From here to the airport would take at least an hour.

That one hour felt unbearably long!

She closed her eyes and recalled the so-called 【prophecy】 she had seen earlier.

2:30 p.m.—She left the cram school, then went to the convenience store, ate something, and started playing games. She kept playing until 5 p.m.

5:00 p.m.—She took a taxi home. The road was heavily congested, and even by 5:20 she still hadn’t arrived home.

5:20 p.m.—Her mother called and said her father had been in a car accident.

5:40 p.m.—She arrived at Z University Affiliated Hospital and saw her father in the hospital room.

The time window was very clear.

The accident happened between 2:30 p.m. and 5:20 p.m.

Old Ning had gone to City S two days ago and was originally planning to return tomorrow. He probably finished his work early, so he came back today.

Then the answer was obvious—Old Ning had the car accident on the way back from the airport!

Ning Zhu habitually bit her fingernail. Even inside the air-conditioned car, fine sweat still formed on her forehead.

As long as he didn’t take a car, he should be able to avoid the accident.

If he didn’t take a car…

He could take the subway!

Ning Zhu relaxed slightly and sent another WeChat message to her father:

“I’m on the way. Dad, you must wait for me!”

Old Ning replied very quickly: “Okay, okay, okay.”

Ning Zhu turned her head and saw the plump white cat beside her.

It had retracted its small wings and was sitting very seriously on the back seat, but because its body was too round and its legs too short, the solemn posture looked somewhat funny.

Ning Zhu really couldn’t laugh. She wanted to say something to it, but was afraid the driver would think she was mentally ill.

The white cat noticed her gaze, lazily turned its head to glance at her, then looked forward again, completely ignoring her.

Ning Zhu: “……”

So arrogant.

Wasn’t it just chased by a wild dog earlier!

When Ning Zhu got out of the car, the driver called out: “Little girl, is this card on the back seat yours?”

Ning Zhu blinked. What she saw was the white cat, but what the driver saw was a card.

This cat really was strange.

Ning Zhu said: “Yes, it’s mine.”

She looked at the white cat, and the white cat looked at her.

Ning Zhu had no time to waste. She reached out and scooped it up into her arms.

The white cat slipped out of her palm and landed in her pocket.

Her jeans pocket was tight. After the white cat went in, only a faint outline of a card shape could be seen.

So it really was a card!

Looking at this eerie thing, Ning Zhu became even more determined.

Even the cat could turn into a card—there was a high probability that the 【prophecy】 was real.

She had to save her father!

Ning Quanren was waiting for her at Starbucks.

The moment Ning Zhu walked in, she saw him.

Ning Quanren was wearing a white polo shirt, and a branded pair of beige trousers. He was sitting on a wide sofa by the window, making a phone call.

He spotted Ning Zhu at a glance. After hanging up, he stood up and said: “It’s hot outside, right? I ordered you the drink you usually like… what was it, Xingxingle.”

Ning Zhu felt a warmth in her heart and corrected him: “It’s Frappuccino.”

Ning Quanren: “Ah right, Frappuccino.”

Seeing her father safe and sound, Ning Zhu’s previously tense and anxious heart finally settled down a lot.

She picked up the Frappuccino but had no mood to drink it. After they left Starbucks together, Ning Zhu asked Ning Quanren: “Dad, how are you going home later?”

But Ning Quanren said: “Dad has to go to the company later. There’s a meeting waiting for me there.”

Ning Zhu asked again: “Will Uncle Li come pick you up?”

Ning Quanren shook his head: “No, I’ll drive myself.”

Ning Zhu’s heart immediately jumped to her throat.

Ning Quanren did have a driver, but he was more used to driving himself.

Especially in situations where he had been on business trips for two or three days, he often drove himself to the airport and then drove back after landing.

Ning Zhu looked at Ning Quanren, her voice slightly tight: “Dad, can we take the subway?”

Ning Quanren paused slightly: “Take the subway?”

Ning Zhu quickly said: “Y-yes! When I was little you often took me on the subway. Back then we hadn’t moved yet, and every time we went to the city center we had to take the subway for a long time. I… I haven’t taken it in a long time…”

Her explanation grew weaker and weaker, her voice getting softer and softer.

Ning Quanren was famously a doting father. As long as it was within reason and didn’t violate any major principles, he always tried his best to satisfy whatever his daughter wanted.

But Ning Zhu’s behavior right now was too abnormal.

Ning Quanren had already sensed her anxiety over the phone, so he hadn’t asked further and had waited at the airport for a full hour.

Now that father and daughter had met, he asked again: “Xiao Zhu, what exactly happened?”

Ning Zhu: “……”

Ning Quanren patiently said: “Dad has a meeting in an hour. More than ten people are waiting. If we take the subway, we won’t make it…”

Ning Zhu said firmly: “We will! The subway doesn’t have traffic jams!”

“The subway isn’t direct. We need to transfer twice. The fastest would still take at least an hour and a half,” Ning Quanren added. “Dad has been in sales for so many years, I’m very familiar with the subway routes.”

Ning Zhu froze. She really didn’t know how to stop her father from taking the car.

Ning Quanren still indulged his daughter and said: “If you want to take the subway, how about we do it tomorrow?”

Ning Zhu: “……”

Ning Quanren continued: “It’s Dad’s fault. I’ve been too busy lately and haven’t been home much. How about this—we go to Phuket together next week…”

Ning Zhu shook her head stubbornly: “I want to take the subway.”

Ning Quanren: “……”

Ning Zhu pulled his suitcase and strode toward the subway entrance.

Ning Quanren let out a low shout: “Ning Zhu!”

Ning Zhu’s back stiffened.

Her father rarely got angry, especially with her—he almost never even frowned.

But now, Ning Quanren was angry.

Really angry.

Ning Zhu’s mind flashed back to the scene she had seen in the hospital. Her nose stung, and her eyes turned red: “Dad… just come take the subway with me once. Just once, okay?”

She suppressed the fear that was spreading wildly inside her and said in a trembling voice: “Just this once. I promise I’ll listen to you about everything in the future. I’ll go to an international school, I’ll study foreign languages properly, and I’ll get into a good university abroad…”

But Ning Quanren stood still and didn’t move. He said: “Xiao Zhu, I know you’re not the kind of child who makes trouble without reason. You must have your own reasons for doing this. But Dad also has his own work. I rushed back early specifically for this meeting. If we take the subway, it won’t just waste my time—it will waste many people’s time. That’s not appropriate.”

Ning Zhu couldn’t explain.

Even she herself felt it was absurd.

Was there really such a thing as 【prophecy】? Wasn’t it just her imagination?

But…

Thinking of her father lying in that cold, pale hospital bed made Ning Zhu tremble uncontrollably.

“Damn it, the subway is out of service,” a young couple said as they walked past them, complaining. “What were they doing earlier? They only start maintenance during rush hour!”

“Stop complaining. Hurry and buy bus tickets. If we’re late, we might not even get on a bus.”

“This is so weird. All three subway lines are shut down!”

Ning Zhu heard every word clearly, and a chill surged from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head.

But Ning Quanren relaxed instead and said: “Alright then, the subway is out of service. We’ll go to the parking lot—”

He didn’t finish his sentence when he noticed Ning Zhu’s face. It had turned unnaturally pale.

“Xiao Zhu? What exactly is wrong with you?”

“No. Can’t. Absolutely not.” Ning Zhu almost ground her teeth as she forced out these four words.

A strand of white mist, unnoticed by anyone, drifted out from her jeans pocket.

Bai Ze floated in midair, watching this scene coldly.

【Foreseeing the Future】 was only foresight.

If it could be easily changed, then what kind of “future” would it be? The very concept of 【foreseeing】 would become a paradox.

Ning Quanren would die in a car accident.

That was a fixed fact.

Ning Zhu suddenly reached into her pocket and took out the snow-white card.

Ning Quanren asked in confusion: “What is this?”

Ning Zhu did not respond to her father. Instead, she stared at the snow-white card, staring at it with all her strength.

There must be a way.

Since this card had shown her that future, there must be a way to help her father avoid the accident!

How did she 【foresee the future】?

Ning Zhu only remembered a wave of chilling cold, followed by intense dizziness and spinning.

No…

She suddenly recalled that phrase—“Star guides the path forward, piercing the mist reveals truth.”

Ning Zhu held the card and softly repeated: “Star guides the path forward, piercing the mist reveals truth. Star guides the path forward, piercing the mist reveals truth. Star guides the path forward, piercing the mist reveals truth.”

She repeated it many times, but felt nothing at all.

Ning Quanren grew anxious: “Xiao Zhu, what exactly is wrong with you? Don’t scare Dad…”

Ning Zhu couldn’t hear him at all, completely focused on the card.

There must be a way.

There must be.

There must!

Suddenly, Ning Zhu felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her, and once again she heard that distant, profound voice:

“The threads of cause and effect… shatter and reconnect.”

The voice was extremely clear, as if each word were large handwritten characters appearing directly in her mind.

Ning Zhu immediately repeated in her mind: “Threads of cause and effect, shatter and reconnect!”

This time she felt it. The bone-chilling coolness spread through her entire body, but this time there was no spinning world—only exhaustion and weakness. She felt as if she had run half a marathon without training, so tired she could barely breathe.

Bai Ze clicked his tongue softly: “…So she really triggered 【Causal Reshaping】.”

The future cannot be easily changed.

Unless causality is reshaped.

Ning Zhu saw that strange black thread. One end of it was connected to her father’s heart, and the other extended toward the distant parking lot…

Find the “cause,” cut the “thread,” and only then can the “effect” be changed.

Ning Zhu knew what she had to do.

She grabbed Ning Quanren and said: “Dad, let’s go to the parking lot.”

Spirit Card Academy.

In the empty summer campus, a massive bell echoed throughout the entire academy.

The professors who were still on campus stood up one after another, looking out the window in shock.

They saw a blazing red radiance shooting into the sky, like a rocket soaring toward the starry dome.

The starry dome, which should have been in daytime brightness, suddenly darkened. The hidden constellations lit up one after another, bursting into dazzling multicolored light.

“The Star God Card has appeared!”

“Who… who is it…”

Not only Spirit Card Academy—Mystic Card Academy in the European continent and Illusion Card Academy in the American continent were also shaken!

The starry dome blazed with brilliance.

The twelve constellations shimmered brightly.

The Star God Card, silent for a hundred years, had once again chosen its master. This magnificent and overwhelming scene surpassed even what had happened a century ago!

“Who… who exactly is it?”

After recovering from their shock, the major aristocratic families began frantically investigating all their descendants.