Mythical Card Maker: Starting with the Mountain Spirit

When Lin Mo saw Fang Chuchu again, she was playing with a cat on the street.

She was wearing a light apricot-colored knitted cardigan today, with a white camisole underneath.

She wore high-waisted dark brown straight-leg pants and beige ankle boots.

Her long hair was loosely tied back, with a few stray strands falling beside her ears.

Bathed in sunlight, he appeared so white he seemed to be glowing.

Lin Mo paused, a look of amazement flashing in his eyes.

He had seen many beautiful women in his previous life, but none of them gave him the same feeling as Fang Chuchu.

Her purity is tinged with a touch of languor, and her tranquility hides a hint of liveliness.

He immediately walked over and casually said with a smile, "Sister Chu Chu, you look really good in this outfit today."

Fang Chuchu was fiddling with the little kitten's whiskers when she heard this. She looked up, her almond-shaped eyes widening slightly, and gave him a reproachful look: "Haven't seen you for a few days, how come you've become so glib?"

Despite saying that, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, clearly pleased with the compliment.

Lin Mo chuckled and said evasively, "Just telling the truth."

Fang Chuchu snorted lightly, not pursuing the matter, and stood up, saying, "Let's go, the shop isn't far from here, just a few turns away."

Lin Mo nodded and followed her forward.

After turning two corners along the alley and passing through an old street lined with sycamore trees, the two arrived at their destination.

This area is very prosperous, and the streets are clean and tidy.

Not far away is the Card Master Alliance's headquarters in Wushan City.

The shops on both sides are dazzling and diverse, with a strong sense of daily life.

Fang Chuchu stopped in front of a shop with its shutter door tightly closed, took out a key, bent down and unlocked the door.

With a whoosh, she pushed the roller shutter door up, revealing the scene inside.

The shop isn't big, I'd guess it's forty or fifty square meters.

A warm, yellow chandelier hangs from the ceiling, and the floor is covered with white tiles.

The walls were painted a beige color, and several hand-painted paintings and vintage postcards were hung on the walls. Several potted plants stood in the corner, their branches and leaves gently unfurling.

It looked strangely warm and cozy.

"The original owner of this shop was Lao Zhou, who had known my dad for many years."

Fang Chuchu dusted off her hands and explained, "His son has made a name for himself in the first district, and he wants to take him there to enjoy the good life, so the shop is now empty."

Old Zhou was in a hurry to sell, and since he had a good relationship with my dad, he only charged me the cost price.

Lin Mo looked around inside and out, becoming more and more satisfied.

There's a small cubicle at the back of the shop that can be used as a lounge, saving him the money he would have spent on rent.

The location is considered prime, surrounded by dense residential areas with a stable flow of people.

Moreover, the shop itself is well-maintained and does not require major renovations; it can be opened after a simple tidying up.

"How much is this shop?" Lin Mo asked.

"The price for buying out the property is 360,000. You can also pay in monthly installments of 30,000 each month, with the remaining balance due within one year."

Fang Chuchu smiled and said, "Old Zhou didn't move the shelves and counters inside, you can use them directly."

For 30,000 a month, getting a shop like this in this location is practically a steal.

Lin Mo knew perfectly well that if it weren't for Fang Chuchu's connections, he would never have had the chance to snag such a good deal.

"Thank you so much, Sister Chuchu. I'll treat you to a meal sometime."

Lin Mo wasn't one to mince words, and immediately went with Fang Chuchu to complete the property purchase procedures.

In just over an hour, the shop was under his name.

Back in the shop, Fang Chuchu leaned back against the counter and casually asked, "What kind of shop are you planning to open? Maybe I can give you some ideas."

Lin Mo was wiping the shelves with a rag when he heard this. He turned around and smiled, "I'm planning to open a card shop."

"A card shop?"

Fang Chuchu raised her eyebrows slightly.

"right."

Lin Mo put down the rag, walked up to her, and laid out his thoughts.

"But it's not an ordinary stock shop; I want to create different types of cards based on different customer groups."

He paused, then continued, "Currently, card shops on the market either only serve high-end card makers or are just general stores that sell materials."

There are almost no people like me in this position, and I plan to fill this gap.

Fang Chuchu's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this: "That's a good idea."

She had no doubt about Lin Mo's card-making abilities.

Others may not know, but she knows it very well.

To be able to create a purple source card right after graduation is extremely rare, even in the entire Ninth District.

Do you have enough funds on hand?

Fang Chuchu suddenly asked a question.

Lin Mo paused for a moment, then casually replied, "I've prepared about 400,000."

"Over 400,000?"

Fang Chuchu frowned slightly. "Your mortgage alone costs 30,000 a month. What about the rest—stocking up, renovations, paperwork—it's simply not enough."

Without saying a word, she took out her phone and operated it a few times.

A few seconds later, Lin Mo's phone dinged.

Looking down, I saw a text message notification that 300,000 Star Coins had been deposited into my account.

"Sister Chuchu, what's wrong...?"

"Consider it a sponsorship from me."

Fang Chuchu stuffed her phone into her pocket and waved it off nonchalantly, "You can pay me back when you have money in the future."

Lin Mo opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He took a deep breath and said earnestly, "Sister Chuchu, how about this? You invest this 300,000 yuan, and we'll split the profits proportionally."

"My father gives me over ten thousand yuan in pocket money every month, why would I need your small share of the profits?"

Fang Chuchu rolled her eyes at him. "Have you forgotten that I bought an apartment building in Ping'an Residential Area before?"

Lin Mo remained silent for a full two seconds, then slowly raised a thumb: "As expected of a rich woman, money makes you willful."

Fang Chuchu was amused by his appearance and giggled a few times.

He immediately stopped smiling and changed the subject, saying, "By the way, I'm currently preparing to create a new card. I have some ideas, but something feels off. Could you give me your feedback?"

Lin Mo casually pulled over a chair and sat down, adopting a listening posture.

Fang Chuchu immediately took out a drawing from her bag and laid it on the counter, pointing to the pattern as she explained it.

She plans to create a summoning card of the living being type, based on a female swordswoman from folklore.

This female swordswoman is skilled in flying sword techniques and can take a person's head from a thousand miles away.

It can also fly on a sword, combining attack and mobility.

"This is my line of thinking."

Fang Chuchu's fingertips slid across the drawing: "Use flying swords as the core attack method, supplemented by lightness skills to improve mobility."

The problem is, I don't know how to narrate it in a way that seamlessly integrates the elements of flying swords and lightness of movement; it always feels somewhat disjointed.

As Lin Mo listened, his brows furrowed slightly.

He had heard of the real-life inspiration for Fang Chuchu, the female swordswoman.

It comes from Wei Shiyi Niang in Ling Mengchu's "Three Words and Two Slaps" from the Ming Dynasty.

He lived in seclusion in Qingcheng Mountain, Sichuan, and was a master of flying swordsmanship, capable of "taking a person's head from a hundred miles away with his flying sword."

He took two disciples, teaching them the way of the swordsman, emphasizing that "the way of the swordsman lies in punishing evil and promoting good, and never indiscriminately killing the innocent."

He once saved the merchant Cheng Yuanyu from danger and told him stories of swordsmen from all over the world.

It's not that Fang Chuchu's design is flawed; quite the opposite.

Her thinking was quite clear, and her narrative framework was very solid.

The problem lies in the narrative system she chose.

The legend of that ancient female swordswoman is somewhat thin within the existing narrative framework and cannot support a complete image of Kaling.

Even if it is eventually made, the quality will not be very high.

There are indeed very few female sword immortals in myths and legends. They are nothing more than Lady Fan in Ge Hong's "Biographies of Immortals" from the Western Jin Dynasty and Li Ji in Gan Bao's "In Search of the Supernatural" from the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

However, both stories are equally thin, and he wasn't sure if Sister Chu Chu's mental state could withstand using these two female sword immortals as the narrative background.

And whether it will trigger a backlash from this Heavenly Dao.

He himself is fine; after all, he shares the same roots as those mythological stories and has passed the scrutiny of the will of this world.

But Sister Chuchu might be a different story; we can't take that risk.

Lin Mo frowned slightly, then his eyes lit up:

"I don't necessarily have to start with the original prototype. I can change my approach and apply mythological characters from my past life to this world..."