A deathly silence filled the antique shop.
The four of them stared intently at the dark figure locked in a standoff with Su Fan.
The astrologer ghost moved to sit opposite Su Fan, taking Haley’s former seat.
The dark aura continued to spread from her, yet the space around Su Fan remained as calm and peaceful as before.
The table between them served as a dividing line, splitting the entire shop into two distinct realms.
“*……%%……￥#”
Unintelligible syllables spilled from the astrologer’s torn mouth.
She raised her hand, and all the Tarot cards scattered.
The hand-painted cards reshuffled themselves automatically, their horrifying patterns flashing by one after another.
The cards landed one by one in the positions corresponding to the twelve houses. Finally, one card drifted down from the air to settle in the very center.
The Tower.
Bankruptcy, adversity, getting burned by one’s own actions, a fatal blow…
The Ten of Swords.
Failure, conclusion, extreme criticism, danger, death.
Ominous portents appeared one after another in their corresponding positions.
A sinister wind blew, flipping over the central Death card.
The end of everything.
At that moment, the sound of a bell tolled from somewhere unknown!
In the corner, Haley and the others exchanged terrified glances.
The astrologer ghost’s spirit had passed judgment upon Su Fan.
The death knell revealed an unavoidable demise!
The oppressive, eerie atmosphere made their legs go weak, and they all collapsed to the floor together.
Paige, the most fragile among them, was already sobbing in terror.
Their only hope, the antique shop owner, was now targeted by the evil spirit within the Tarot deck. The curse’s shadow would take the boss’s life, and afterwards, they too would die, one by one!
The black aura grew denser, even beginning to seep outwards, yet Su Fan seemed completely unaware.
“Reel in this fog, I can barely see.”
Su Fan casually swiped a few times, dispersing the black mist that had drifted near, actually complaining aloud.
“And also, don’t you give an interpretation after a reading? If I could read them myself, what would I need you for?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the antique shop’s back door flew open. Su Fan, still in his chair, was lifted and flung out the door.
The astrologer ghost waved her hand, and the four others were treated the same way!
They tumbled several times on the ground before scrambling to their feet.
They found that the street, which should have been bustling, was now completely empty.
Streetlights flickered out one after another, turning the city into a ghost town devoid of human presence.
“Paige, Paxton, are you both okay?”
Grant helped his companions up, while Haley’s attention remained fixed on Su Fan the entire time.
He was still sitting in his chair, unhurried and unperturbed.
His abnormal composure even made Haley wonder, “Has he been scared stiff?”
In the gloomy sky, ten gleaming, sharp blades had appeared out of nowhere!
They plummeted straight towards Su Fan, aiming to pierce his brain and heart, just like the image on the Tarot card!
This time, Su Fan, who had shown little reaction until now, finally moved!
One of the swords falling from the sky suddenly accelerated, but its target wasn’t Su Fan himself!
The blade plunged into the ground, and Su Fan promptly wrenched it free. Wielding the large sword single-handedly, he deflected the remaining nine blades!
The deflected swords hung in the air, not yet fallen, when Su Fan’s figure blurred. He kicked them, one by one, sending them shooting towards the ghost woman who had appeared on the street at some unknown time!
The astrologer ghost was impaled by her own blades, pinned to the wall by nine swords through her heart!
Before she could even react, the final heavy sword pierced through the center of her forehead like it was cutting through tofu, sinking deep into the wall until the hilt met the surface!
The quartet, who had just been despairing and terrified of their impending doom, couldn’t process such a drastic change so quickly. They stood frozen in place like statues.
They had originally thought Su Fan was a traditional, squishy mage type who performed exorcisms—powerful but physically frail. But his performance suggested he was more superhuman than the superheroes in movies!
Were those movements and reactions even humanly possible?!
But there was no time for further amazement as strange sounds emerged from the side.
The astrologer ghost was unharmed by the blades. On the contrary, she simply walked forward, letting all the swords pass through her chest and head.
Seeing this, Su Fan looked rather interested.
He had originally thought the strange phenomena from the Tarot cards were all spiritual entities, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
This ghost had actually materialized the items from the cards and even given them vitality.
But based on what he’d seen so far, the display was limited.
He needed to see more.
Su Fan stepped forward, and the previously gentle airflow suddenly turned violent.
On the ground, dust outlined the shape of a fierce wind rapidly advancing towards the female ghost!
“&&%￥#……“
More unintelligible syllables escaped from the astrologer’s clenched jaw.
A wall in the style of medieval architecture erupted from the ground, attempting to block the raging wind!
This was a partial manifestation of the Tarot card, The Tower!
Wind blades left dense, crisscrossing cuts on the wall’s surface, making it precarious. A figure burst straight through the wall!
In three steps, covering nearly twenty meters, Su Fan closed in on the astrologer ghost in an instant. His hand shot out to seize her head!
But the next moment, a hole full of twisted, fiery thorns tore open beside them!
A ferocious demon charged out from within, its claws aimed directly at Su Fan’s left chest!
The Devil card, manifested!
Despite the sudden flank attack, Su Fan showed no intention of slowing down. The moment he grabbed the astrologer ghost, he swung his other hand violently.
Begone!
The demon flew back even faster than it had arrived, and the portal of thorns and flames snapped shut!
At that moment, Su Fan frowned and looked down at his hand.
The astrologer ghost he had just seized had, at some point, turned into a rabbit!
A bright flash passed, and the group realized the place they were standing had somehow transformed into a large stage.
Not far away, a magician with a head twice the normal size, towering like a spire, stood imposingly.
The magician held a chainsaw. With a wave of his hand, all five of them found themselves bound in chains as five large boxes suddenly appeared, encasing them!
Even Su Fan was no exception.
“No! No!!”
Pounding and muffled cries for help came from the four others’ wooden boxes.
But they were soon drowned out by applause.
The pale-faced audience below clapped incessantly with wooden expressions, seemingly awaiting the spectacular performance.
The magician bowed to the audience, started the chainsaw, and walked towards the boxes.
But just then, the foremost box containing Su Fan shattered open as Su Fan broke it from the inside.
Not only that, with a shake of his body, he forcibly snapped the chains. Then, wielding the broken remnants of the chains, he lashed out, exploding the magician’s head!
The stage, lights, wooden boxes, and iron chains all vanished.
The surroundings returned to the street.
Su Fan and the astrologer ghost faced each other from a distance.
Haley, her nerves still rattled, had just caught her breath when she saw a distorted human figure stealthily drop a lasso from a rooftop towards Su Fan.
“Look out!!”
In her panic, she screamed aloud.
She saw Su Fan, without even looking up, reach out and grab the rope, then give it a mighty pull.
The immense force traveled up the rope to the Hanged Man.
Its body plummeted uncontrollably towards the ground, landing with a heavy “thud” that cracked the tiles on the pavement.
Before it could even get up, Su Fan closed the distance in a ghostly blur and crushed its head under his foot!
CRUNCH!
A sickening sound of bone breaking echoed, and the humanoid form on the ground lay completely still.
The dark street was utterly silent. Opposite the astrologer ghost, Su Fan tilted his head and spoke.
“Got any more tricks?”
