Chapter 5

Chapter 5

During the time Ning Zhu was unconscious, Ning Quanren had already explained the entire situation to his wife.

Miao Yun’s face turned pale as she listened. She grabbed Ning Quanren’s forearm and said: “From now on, when you go out, you must bring Secretary Sun with you. And don’t drive yourself anymore—let Old Li take you!”

Ning Quanren was also shaken by fear in hindsight and repeatedly agreed.

When he first started working independently, he had to handle everything himself.

After getting used to running around alone, he had always felt that bringing someone along was troublesome.

But now that this had happened, Ning Quanren no longer dared to be careless.

If anything happened to him, what would happen to A Yun and Xiao Zhu!

After reminding Ning Quanren, Miao Yun asked in a trembling voice: “You said Xiao Zhu was holding a card?”

Ning Quanren’s expression grew serious: “Yes. That card was pure white, with a pearly sheen. The material didn’t look like ordinary cardstock. Xiao Zhu kept murmuring while holding it—it scared me quite a bit.”

The more he spoke, the paler Miao Yun’s face became. She even unconsciously bit her lower lip.

Ning Quanren noticed his wife’s abnormal reaction and called her: “A Yun?”

Miao Yun suddenly came back to her senses: “Let’s wait until Xiao Zhu wakes up before asking her.”

Ning Zhu looked at her parents with some nervousness.

She knew her behavior had been strange, and she was mentally prepared for them to question her.

But…

How was she supposed to explain it?

She herself still hadn’t figured it out.

Miao Yun stepped forward and checked Ning Zhu’s forehead, then asked: “How are you feeling?”

Ning Zhu immediately said: “I’m fine, just… just a bit tired.”

She said it casually, but unexpectedly, Miao Yun’s expression darkened further.

Miao Yun said: “Your father already told me.”

Ning Zhu: “…oh.” She avoided her mother’s gaze.

Ning Quanren took over and asked: “Xiao Zhu, was it really just a dream?”

After calming down, he also thought it through. How could someone be sleeping in broad daylight? And if she wasn’t sleeping, where did the dream come from? It was clearly just an excuse.

Ning Zhu looked toward the slightly raised summer quilt.

The fluffy white cat was trapped inside, groping around trying to find a way out.

Miao Yun suddenly raised her hand and yanked the thin quilt open.

The fluffy white cat looked up blankly.

Ning Zhu’s heart skipped a beat.

Ning Quanren recognized it at a glance: “…It’s that card!”

Miao Yun’s lips trembled uncontrollably, as if she had seen something extremely terrifying.

Ning Zhu didn’t notice her mother’s expression. She steeled herself and decided to come clean.

There was no point hiding it.

If what Bai Ze said was true—that she needed to go to the Spirit Card Academy to understand cards—then she would definitely have to explain everything to her parents.

Ning Quanren was already asking: “Xiao Zhu, where did this card come from?”

Ning Zhu took a light breath and told them everything in detail—from leaving tutoring class, encountering the bullied cat, picking up the card, to seeing the future.

Ning Quanren was stunned speechless.

Miao Yun’s face had no color at all. Her hand was still gripping the summer quilt, as if she had forgotten to let go.

“Is this a cat?” Ning Quanren could only look at the large snow-white card.

“I see a cat. It is the card spirit of this card, called Bai Ze. It says only those with strong enough perception can see it.”

Ning Quanren was already fifty-one years old. Hearing all this out of nowhere, he really couldn’t process it.

He stayed dazed for a long while, swallowing dryly: “This… is a bit unscientific, huh.”

Ning Zhu let out a soft sigh and said: “I also think it’s unscientific. I even think there’s something wrong with my brain and I’m hallucinating. But Bai Ze says card masters have always existed, they just don’t easily reveal themselves in front of ordinary people. It says they have three factions, and I heard there are also three academies. Hmm… Dad, have you seen Harry Potter?”

“I have…” Ning Quanren opened his mouth and after a long pause squeezed out: “So you’re saying the Spirit Card Academy is Hogwarts, card masters are wizards, and I’m a Muggle?”

Ning Zhu was amused.

Her father really had a strong mentality—he could still joke at a time like this.

After saying everything, Ning Zhu felt much lighter and teased: “More accurately, the Mystic Card Academy is Hogwarts.”

The Spirit Card Academy belonged to the Huaxia Continent.

And Hogwarts was in Europe.

Ning Quanren also laughed along, shaking his head and murmuring: “The world is vast… full of wonders…”

Jokes aside, truly accepting something like “supernatural forces” was difficult for someone raised under materialist beliefs like people in Huaxia.

Ning Zhu’s expression turned serious as she said earnestly: “Dad, I’m quite curious about this. I want to go to the Spirit Card Academy to learn more.”

Ning Quanren was about to say something when his wife suddenly spoke in an unusually stern tone:

“No!”

Ning Zhu and Ning Quanren both froze and looked at her in surprise.

Miao Yun was trembling all over. Her face had gone pale to the extreme as she kept repeating: “No! Absolutely not! You are not allowed to go to the Spirit Card Academy!”

Ning Quanren paused: “A Yun…”

Miao Yun grabbed Ning Zhu’s hand tightly and said in an anxious, unprecedentedly urgent voice: “Xiao Zhu, throw away that card! Forget all of this! It’s not a good thing!”

Ning Zhu only felt her mother’s palm was icy cold, with faint sweat seeping out. She looked at her in shock: “Mom…”

Before she could finish, Miao Yun continued: “Good child, my good daughter, listen to Mom, okay? You cannot touch this thing. Never touch it for your entire life!”

Ning Quanren hurried forward and held his wife’s shoulder: “A Yun, don’t panic. You’ll scare Xiao Zhu like this. Let’s talk slowly.”

But in Ning Quanren’s arms, Miao Yun’s fear only surged uncontrollably upward.

She finally broke down completely and cried: “Xiao Zhu, don’t go! Don’t touch these things! Your maternal uncle once took a card… he was perfectly fine at first, the most filial and sensible person, but later… later he went insane! He killed your grandfather!”

The last sentence was said with a broken, hoarse scream.

Ning Quanren and Ning Zhu were both stunned. Ning Zhu quickly asked: “Uncle went missing, didn’t he? Mom, didn’t you say Grandpa died of a heart attack?”

Miao Yun was sobbing uncontrollably, speaking in fragments: “I… I saw it with my own eyes! He killed your grandfather! Miao Feng is not human! How could he do something so utterly heartless!”

Her expression was tangled with pain and hatred. Finally, it was replaced by deep helplessness: “But your grandfather’s last wish before he died… was for me not to blame your uncle…”

This was something even Ning Quanren did not know.

At that time, he was away on a business trip. When he returned, he only heard that his father-in-law had died suddenly from a heart attack.

Ning Quanren had very little contact with his younger brother-in-law, Miao Feng.

Miao Feng did not approve of his sister’s marriage and strongly disliked Ning Quanren, seeing him as a slick businessman.

Ning Quanren also saw no reason to force friendliness, and the two had always kept their distance.

Although Miao Feng did not like Ning Quanren, he was especially fond of Ning Zhu.

Every time, he would come to visit his sister and niece when Ning Quanren was not at home.

Ning Zhu had a deep impression of her maternal uncle.

When she was six, her grandfather passed away—and shortly after, her uncle also disappeared.

But even now, ten years had passed, Ning Zhu could still vaguely remember her maternal uncle.

Her uncle was much younger than her mother. In her memory, he was tall and handsome.

He was very strong—he could easily lift Ning Zhu up high and then steadily catch her again.

He loved smiling, and when he smiled, there was a dimple at the corner of his mouth.

When Ning Zhu was seven, she would always insist on going to play with her uncle. But every time she mentioned it, her mother would cry uncontrollably.

As she slowly grew up, Ning Zhu came to understand.

Her grandfather’s death, and her uncle’s disappearance…

They were all scars in her mother’s heart, wounds that could no longer be cruelly reopened.

Miao Yun held Ning Zhu tightly and kept saying: “Xiao Zhu, we are just ordinary people. Living an ordinary life is already good enough. Don’t go learning about things you shouldn’t know. Your uncle wasn’t bad. He used to be very good. He just… just…”

She glanced at the snow-white card and trembled: “He was corrupted by this thing!”

Seeing her mother like this, Ning Zhu felt heartache and no longer brought up the idea of going to the Spirit Card Academy. She could only comfort her again and again: “Mom, I’ll listen to you. I’ll listen to everything. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid…”

Ning Quanren opened his mouth slightly and let out a long sigh, carefully pulling both mother and daughter into his arms to protect them.

—

Spirit Card Academy.

The principal urgently recalled several professors who were on vacation.

Sun Mingran, as a resident faculty member, also came over.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw the young principal and several professors with solemn expressions.

Even though he was already mentally prepared, Sun Mingran still froze slightly upon seeing the principal.

Yang Huaizhou was the holder of the “Aries Card.” The “Rosary Pearl of the Goddess” on his left shoulder resonated with his clean and bright face. He was clearly already over a hundred years old, yet due to certain reasons, he had reverted to the appearance of a teenager.

Everyone was already in discussion.

The emergence of the Star God Card was a major event, and finding its new master was an even more critical priority.

Only the Combat Department Professor Gu said: “With such a strong spiritual energy fluctuation, you still haven’t found it?”

Professor Huang, in charge of tracking, shook his head: “We can only confirm a rough area—in the southern part of Huaxia, near Province H.”

“You can’t even pinpoint the city?”

“The spiritual fluctuation vanished in an instant. We’re only doing post-event detection—how could it be that easy!”

“If we don’t hurry, the Mystic Card and Illusion Card academies will steal the person away!”

“We’re already doing our best. If you can do it, you do it!”

“If I had a ‘Tracking Card’…”

“Then shut up if you don’t!”

Seeing the two about to argue, Yang Huaizhou raised his hand to calm them: “Since it’s within Huaxia, we still have a chance of finding them…”

He paused and looked at a quiet middle-aged woman: “Professor Li, please contact the Special Affairs Bureau of Province H and have them check for any recent unusual incidents.”

Li Lianwen nodded: “Alright, I’ll go now.”

After the Heavenly Fate Bell rang throughout the Spirit Card Academy, they immediately began investigating the noble families’ younger generation.

The preparatory students speculated that it was Li Jin who had obtained the Star God Card, but the professors present knew very well—it would not be Li Jin.

Because he was currently undergoing perception compatibility with one of the Twelve Zodiac Cards—the “Libra Card.”

Once successful, Li Jin would become the youngest Zodiac Card Master in history.

However, in front of the emergence of the Star God Card, this news no longer felt as shocking.

Even the “Serial No. 1” card still had twelve cards.

But the Star God Card is unique—there is only one.

It is the only “Serial Number 0.”

Yang Huaizhou had a grave expression.

He was more anxious than anyone present to find this new Star God Card holder.

Not in order to compete with the Secret Card Academy or the Illusion Card Academy for talent, but to race against the Zodiac Society.

The Secret Card Academy was one thing, and the Illusion Card Academy another—they were at most trying to recruit the Star God Card holder.

But the Zodiac Society…

They would only eradicate them completely!