The Card Apprentice

The fluctuation of the probe card had scared Chen Mu. At the beginning, when he was trying to find a way to escape from the Ning family base, the probe card had been one of his greatest obstacles. Chen Mu had done a lot of homework about how to evade the scanning of the probe card. He couldn’t find any way, and he had still had to depend on the method of breath control to escape. But, his efforts hadn’t been in vain; his understanding of the probe card was a lot deeper than it had been. So, when the ripple card had scanned him, he immediately sensed it.

The powerful side effects of breath control had prevented it from becoming a conventional weapon. Since the side effects were getting more and more powerful, Chen Mu used the dangerous method as little as possible. Chen Mu was good at being prepared. He had come up with a few ways to respond to that kind of situation, such as taking the rhythm of his perceptual vibrations as near as possible to the frequency required for the state of breath control without ever reaching the specific frequency to enter that state.

That was the technique he was using just then. The method of breath control had proven itself to be the best way to move stealthily and hide, and Chen Mu had called the specific frequency it required the “golden frequency.” The closer he got to the golden frequency, the weaker his breathing became. Using that together with the methods for hiding in the dark he had learned from the demonic woman, he had successfully evaded the probing of the ripple card.

But, his method was limited to hiding. As soon as he thought about attacking, the fluctuation in perception and energy would immediately expose him.

Chen Mu had never been able to perceive Wei-ah’s breathing; he had seemed to disappear into the vacuum of darkness. Wei-ah’s power left Chen Mu speechless. He couldn’t perceive any trace of perception on him. The most inconceivable thing was how someone without perception could control his own breath.

The spiral spring of perception inside him was spinning rapidly, and at the same time, it was vibrating toward the specific frequency. To be able to control the rotational speed and frequency of his perception without being in the state of breath control was very difficult for Chen Mu.

His mind was very calm and clear at that time, neither lax nor rushed, as he controlled the spiral column of perception within him. The situation below gradually became clear.

The fifth floor. They were on the fifth floor! But, he discovered that no matter how much effort he put into it, the images of the three people had become indistinct in his brain. It was as though as soon as his perception approached the vicinity of the three of them, something would interfere with it.

Chen Mu couldn’t help but be surprised the first time encountering such a situation.

Meanwhile, there was a flash of light from the bar-browed man’s eyes, and he called out quietly, “They are on the top floor!”

The other two were shaken, and the three ran together toward the stairs. It would have been stupid to choose the elevator at that time, no matter how much quicker and more convenient it would have been.

Just as they were making their move, there was a light hissing sound in the air.

It sounded like a very sharp knife had sliced through a thin piece of paper, changing all of their expressions.

“Careful!” The bar-browed man deployed his energy cloak in the first moment, and the other two reacted quickly. They all deployed their energy cloaks at about the same time.

Ping!

The crisp sound of the blow hit their ears hard. They were pushed off balance, hit by a powerful blow just as they had raised their energy cloaks. But, the three of them weren’t any ordinary aces, and they adjusted quickly. The redhead hurriedly tumbled back as he received the blow, while Anna floated back along the floor as though she were gliding on ice. The bar-browed man was demonstrating his superior strength as he grunted and held fast to his position. But, the power of the blow had exceeded his expectations. He became unsteady on his feet and was abruptly set back a few paces.

The three of them were terrified beyond anything they had ever felt!

None of them had discovered someone lying in ambush on the floor! Who would be able to so easily mount an attack right under their noses and have no qualms about attacking the three of them at once? How could such power not chill the heart?

Have I been hit? The bar-browed man’s heart quickly sank. The perceptual fluctuation that had flashed by just then had been a ruse! Although he knew the enemy wasn’t far away, he hadn’t detected him at all. The chill in his heart thickened.

An idea suddenly flashed through his brain like lightning. His expression changed as he decided on the spot and gave a low shout, “Withdraw!”

Anna and the redhead looked at one another, seeing the shock and horror in each other’s eyes. That was the first time their senior had given the order to retreat from battle. Could he have discovered something new?

They had always had confidence in the bar-browed man, and as soon as he’d stopped, they rushed toward the window without any hesitation.

By then, the dark building had become like a terrifying, eerie forest as the bone-chilling cold irrepressibly spread over them. The endless darkness seemed to be hiding endless murderousness as though there were some terrifying wild beast waiting with its mouth open for them to enter. It was just that the wild beast seemed indifferent about their departure.

The window got closer and closer until they could even see the fantasy card advertisements arranged on the buildings in front of them, whose rich and beautiful changing colors were so entrancing in the night. But, they weren’t giving them even a hint of warmth at the moment.

Stepping on the guardrail of the window, they leapt outside. They would be safe if they could leave through the window. The sky was the realm of the card artisan.

As soon as they escaped the situation where the enemy could see them from hiding, they still thought they would have the strength to fight any enemy.

Anna felt relieved the instant she left the guardrail of the window. They were the safest they’d been up until then. That day had absolutely been the most dangerous among their many jobs, and they still didn’t know where their enemy was. They didn’t even know what had just hit them. That kind of battle had made her afraid for the first time.

A strange whistling sound suddenly pierced the night air.

“Careful!” The crazy one and the rod-browed guy had called out together in their ashen shock.

Anna was stunned as her shoulder went suddenly numb with a ping as though she’d been bitten. What was it? She had an energy cloak! She looked at her cloak in a daze to find a finger-sized hole in it. The dizzy sensation that followed flooded over what remained of her clarity like a tide.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t hit a vital spot. Chen Mu stood outside the window of the top floor watching the two remaining comrades rescue the one who had been his target and disappear into the night. He couldn’t help his look of regret. In order to pierce his adversary’s energy cloak, Chen Mu had chosen to use the triple shot, which had a certain influence on his accuracy; he had only hit his adversary’s shoulder. Otherwise, the shot would have been lethal.

Returning to the fifth floor, Chen Mu saw all the porcelain fragments on the floor and was inwardly speechless. He didn’t know where Wei-ah had come from, but his power was incredible. Those people had probably never imagined what had hit them would turn out to be three porcelain saucers. That guy was really a human-shaped murder weapon who could use whatever was in his hands to kill someone. But, Chen Mu most admired that Wei-ah had chosen the time to make his move so cleverly. Wei-ah had taken advantage of what had originally been Chen Mu’s error. Thinking back on the scene, Chen Mu had to conclude it had been the optimal time.

However, Chen Mu didn’t quite understand the adversaries’ sudden departure. From his point of view, they shouldn’t have been so easy to scare off. It could be seen at a glance that the three of them were richly experienced battle card artisans. If it hadn’t been for Wei-ah that day and he had been alone, even if he had entered the state of breath control, he wouldn’t have had great odds for success. Especially against the rod-browed man, whose power was so unfathomable he could even detect Chen Mu’s very fine perceptual fluctuations. That was just too terrifying.

“They’ve left,” Wei-ah said.

Chen Mu furrowed his brow while he was wondering to himself what power those three belonged to in the end. Who would have such enmity toward him to send three such awesome killers after him? Chen Mu didn’t think the strength of his identity could merit such a fine welcome from such high-class card artisans, not to mention three of them.

Could it have been the employees from the daytime? Chen Mu shook his head, not thinking that very likely. Those fancy-pants didn’t have the power to back such high-level card artisan killers.

His adversary had really thought too highly of him, Chen Mu sneered inwardly. He hadn’t thought he still wouldn’t be able to return to the life he wanted after returning to the Heavenly Federation. He felt helpless. He looked at Wei-ah standing there without any feelings as though nothing had just happened. That inevitably made Chen Mu once again appreciate Wei-ah’s tough nerves.

Maybe it wasn’t anything more than a minor episode for Wei-ah, but it was making Chen Mu rather nervous. He recognized very clearly from the battle how far from those card artisans he remained. At the same time, he very clearly recognized it wasn’t going to be as peaceful around there as he’d imagined. That also led to his changing his original plans to set up a card making studio. Just then, it seemed more urgent to build a card artisan training studio.

Maybe if he could become stronger, he would be able to lead the life he had imagined. That was how Chen Mu was thinking.

It was a good thing Wei-ah was there, so he didn’t have to worry about anyone sneaking in. Otherwise, he didn’t think he could sleep at night.

The night passed very quickly, and by first thing the next morning the remaining employees had already filed into work. Since the battle had been so brief, it hadn’t caused much destruction. The employees didn’t sense there had been a thrilling battle there the night before.

Bu Qiangdong apprehensively approached Chen Mu’s office. His colleague had told him as soon as he’d entered the building that the boss was looking for him. When the boss called, he would just have to steel himself and go.

“You were looking for me, boss?” Bu Qiangdong asked respectfully.

“Mmm.” Chen Mu lifted his head and pointed to the sofa, saying, “Sit.”

Bu Qiangdong very gingerly sat on the sofa, not knowing why his new boss had been looking for him. He felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles, uncomfortable from head to toe.