Weird Cards: I've Become a Ghost

"What do you mean?"

Zhou Tai frowned.

Although he wasn't entirely sure what the magician meant, his experience in the business world gave him a hunch.

Something seems to have changed regarding what the other party promised him.

And it seems that the Night Demon Division is also involved.

"What I mean is that our affairs have been targeted by the Binhai Guiyesi."

The magician calmly explained to Zhou Tai, then paused for a moment before continuing, "I originally thought that the mess that guy left behind would hold them off for a few days, but I didn't expect it to be over so quickly..."

A thoughtful look appeared in the magician's eyes.

Although things developed faster than he expected, being targeted by Guiye Si was something he had anticipated.

Thinking of this, the magician slowly took off his top hat, then reached inside and took out a black card.

The card was as black as ink, with three stars drawn on its surface, like the shining stars in the night sky, shimmering with an eerie, cold light. In addition, there was a piece of seemingly ancient and mysterious text written on the card. As Zhou Tai stared at these words, he seemed to hear whispers from the depths of hell, filled with endless darkness and death.

"This is......"

Zhou Tai looked at the black card in the magician's hand with an extremely surprised expression.

As a local strongman in Binhai, Zhou Tai naturally knew about the existence of the strange objects. Although the alliance had regulations that private individuals were not allowed to possess strange objects, regulations were rules, but people were flexible. He had seen several strange objects at auctions in Binhai's underground black market, but the feeling he got from those strange objects combined was not as strong as the feeling he got from the strange object in the magician's hand at the moment. It was an intense feeling of death and suffocation.

As Zhou Tai stared at the black card, he couldn't help but recall the life-or-death crises he had faced during his struggles. It was precisely those profound experiences with death that forged his unwavering will to face death without fear.

Zhou Tai had thought he would never fear death again in his life, but when he saw the black card in the magician's hand that exuded a strong aura of death, the fear of death resurfaced in his mind.

"That's right, it's a strange object."

The magician calmly replied, "An object that can extend your lifespan."

Although this strange object looks like just a black card, it is actually a "transportation card" similar to those in the real world.

By paying a certain price, you can summon a "vehicle" from another world through this transportation card. Once you get on this vehicle, theoretically you can go anywhere you want, and it can even take you to the other side of the underworld like a ferryman, provided that hell really exists.

Although the abilities of this strange object sound incredibly powerful, the reality is not so simple.

To ride the vehicle summoned by this strange object, one must pay a certain price.

The cost is not money, but time, that is, the passengers' lifespan.

If you're tough enough and live long enough, you can indeed go anywhere you want to go.

However, if your fate isn't strong enough, and you're like that certain Mr. Xiao, destined for a short life, then perhaps you won't be able to reach...

The furthest place is just the next street.

As the holder of this mysterious object, the black transportation card, or "Black Card" for short, the magician not only enjoys certain privileges, but he also receives one-tenth of the "fare," which is the time that passengers have to pay.

Since obtaining the black card, after paying some price, along with three lives lost and three wrecked "vehicles," he has summoned three vehicles from another world: a taxi, a bus, and a rickshaw.

The reason he only summoned three vehicles was simply because the limit of this black card was that it could only summon three vehicles.

However, it is precisely because of these three vehicles that the magician has been able to live to this day.

However, everything has two sides, just like a double-edged sword. If used well, it is a powerful weapon; if used poorly, it is a suicide weapon.

Putting aside the costs of using this black card, the rules that must be followed in its use are extremely complicated.

First, those vehicles can only come out to "pick up passengers" at night.

Secondly, after passengers "don't have money" to pay the fare, their bodies must be properly disposed of. Not only must a grave be erected for them, but a coffin must also be prepared. Most importantly, they must be buried in a proper cemetery.

Third, unless the passenger explicitly states their destination, the travel card holder's magician has the right to decide the itinerary, etc.

If a magician breaks the rules by accident, he will not only lose ownership of the black card, but also lose a portion of his lifespan.

Therefore, the magician has only ever used this black card when his lifespan is nearing its end.

This time, in order to keep his promise to extend Zhou Tai's lifespan, he used the black card when his own lifespan was sufficient.

After all, the most important thing for a gentleman is to keep his promises.

Even though the chairman of the Zhou Group, who holds a high position in the eyes of others, is just an ant that the magician can crush at will, he still has to do what he has promised since he has made the promise.

The world has become so bad because some people make promises and then fail to keep or fulfill them.

A magician who aspires to change the world would certainly not be such a dishonest person.

However, at this moment, one of the three stars on the black card in the magician's hand, which had been faintly glowing, suddenly dimmed and eventually went out.

On the black surface, only two star patterns can be seen still twinkling, and the absence of one star means that one less vehicle has been summoned.

After a moment of silence, the magician said to Zhou Tai, "I promised you before that I would extend your life by fifty years."

"However, right now it might only extend your life by about twenty years."

To this day, the magician has only collected the time data of eighteen passengers.

However, the exact amount of time that can be collected depends on the fate of these eighteen people. As for how to determine this, it naturally depends on the degree of decomposition of their bodies. Those with more decomposed bodies can collect more time, and vice versa.

The time spans of these eighteen individuals ranged from a few years to several decades, totaling approximately two hundred years.

However, the magician can only receive one-tenth of that, which is more than twenty years.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tai's already furrowed brows furrowed even deeper.

More than 20 years have passed, and the results have fallen far short of his expectations.

He is already over seventy years old this year, and will be eighty in a few years.

The doctor told him that the illness he developed in his youth meant he would not live past eighty, which was why he took the risk of cooperating with the cultists in order to have them extend his lifespan.

As mentioned before, Zhou Tai is not a person who is afraid of death. The reason he wants to prolong his life is not because of his fear of death, but because he still has some things to do, so he cannot die yet.

However, Zhou Tai understood the meaning behind the other person's words.

It's simply that the Night Demons have already set their sights on them. If things continue like this, the Night Demons might be able to trace the clues and find this cultist and the person who made the deal with him.

After careful consideration, Zhou Tai shook his head and sighed, looking at the magician and saying in a low voice, "Twenty years is enough."

Is extending one's lifespan by more than twenty years enough?

Of course, that's not enough.

Even if he were to live for another twenty years, Zhou Tai would only live to be a little over a hundred years old.

In this world, being over a hundred years old is considered a long life, but for some wealthy and powerful people like Zhou Tai, being over a hundred years old is not enough.

But there's nothing we can do if it's not enough, since what the other party said was already very clear.

Having navigated the business world for many years, Zhou Tai understands one principle well: know when to stop and when to attack.

Given the current situation, it's clear that we have no choice but to back down.

As for whether or not to offer to make up for the more than twenty years of debt owed by this cultist...

Zhou Tai had considered it, but he immediately dismissed the thought as soon as it arose.

After all, one should not be too greedy, for being too greedy might cost one's life.

After listening to Zhou Tai's words, the magician smiled slightly and said, "A wise choice."

"In that case, I've fulfilled my promise to you, and it's time to bring our deal to a satisfactory conclusion."

After speaking, the magician slowly extended his right hand, wanting to shake hands with Zhou Tai, and in the palm of his right hand was the mysterious black card.

Seeing this, Zhou Tai's eyes showed a thoughtful look. Then, he glanced at the smiling magician, then at the black card in the other's right hand that exuded an aura of death, and finally reached out his right hand to shake it.

The moment the two shook hands, a plume of black smoke rapidly spread from their clasped hands, completely engulfing their figures and filling the entire office in just a few seconds.

Suddenly, the office was pitch black.

However, the black smoke appeared quickly and disappeared just as quickly. A few seconds later, the black smoke had dissipated, and the magician and Zhou Tai reappeared in the office.

"So this is some kind of eerie power..."

At this moment, Zhou Tai felt his body was full of strength. His physical strength, energy and vitality were rapidly recovering to the state of middle age. Even though he had long since reached the state of being unmoved by the collapse of Mount Tai in front of him, he still couldn't suppress his ecstatic joy.

He raised his arm with a hint of excitement, feeling the power he hadn't felt in a long time. He was confident that he could finish what he hadn't done before.

The magician sitting opposite Zhou Tai watched his actions, and his smile grew even wider.

However, seeing Zhou Tai's current mental state, the magician still kindly offered a word of advice.

"By the way, remember to find a place to hide for a while, otherwise if the Night Demons see you, they will definitely be able to detect the residual eerie energy on you."

Upon hearing the magician's reminder, Zhou Tai's heart skipped a beat. He quickly suppressed his joy and returned to his previous state.

He was used to keeping his emotions hidden, but this time, he lost his composure.

"clear."

Zhou Tai nodded. Although many people around him said that dealing with the Trickster Cult was very risky, this Trickster Cult member in front of him seemed to be different.

The magician glanced at him, then said with a hint of satisfaction, "Are you sure you don't want to join our cult and become one of us?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tai was visibly taken aback, but he quickly recovered.

This was the second time this cultist had extended an olive branch to him since he had known him.

But his reply was the same as the first time.

"No."

Zhou Tai shook his head and explained, "If the alliance finds out about my cooperation with you, only I will die. But if I join the cult and become a member, it won't just be me who dies."

In fact, cooperating and trading with the cultists went against his original wishes, and he would not have done so if he hadn't been forced to by time.

Although Zhou Tai had long foreseen that in the future, whoever possessed the strange power would control power and wealth.

However, he was a rigid and conservative person. In his mind, everyone's soul should be unique. If one were to merge one's soul with those strange things like a cultist, then one's soul would be defiled and one would not be able to rest in peace after death.

Of course, Zhou Tai would not say these words aloud.

After all, these are some words that could offend people.

The magician looked at Zhou Tai, who was clearly refusing, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes. He seemed to have seen through the other man's thoughts, but he just shook his head, looking somewhat regretful.

"What a pity. With your talent, you could have gone much further if you had joined our cult."

The reason why the magician spoke so calmly to Zhou Tai and was willing to cooperate with Zhou Tai, an "ordinary person" without any supernatural abilities, was because he recognized the other's talent.

Anyone who learns about Zhou Tai's path to success will be impressed by his talent.

Of course, for the magician, it wasn't so much about being impressed; he simply valued Zhou Tai's business acumen and wanted him to run a business for their cult.

After all, even cultists need to eat.

Within the cult, those neutral cult members always emphasize "making money ethically," unlike those chaotic cult members who resort to robbery when they're short of money. In the long run, this not only carries immense risk but also prevents anyone from negotiating cooperation with them, ultimately leading them down a narrow path.

Although Zhou Tai refused the magician's offer, he was not angry because it was a basic courtesy of a gentleman.

However, upon thinking of this, the magician had a sudden thought and remembered the person he had recruited in the Misty World.

Since leaving the world of ghosts and mist, he has been busy dealing with the Blood Calamity Seed and other matters, and has not had time to go find the other party.

Then, he smiled at Zhou Tai again and said, "Do me a small favor."

Zhou Tai's eye twitched.

He always felt that this favor wouldn't be insignificant.

"What kind of help?"

"Help me find someone."

"Who is it?"

"A person wearing a clown mask."