The Card Apprentice

The wind blew cold in the night, leaving Butchie still standing in the same place with no one around her. Quite a few card artisans were moving in her direction, and she could clearly hear their high-speed whistling.

The air was filled with the heavy smell of dust and smoke left behind from the recent explosion. If it weren’t for that smell reminding her, she would surely have wondered whether what had just happened was a dream.

What about that person?

Butchie still didn’t understand what had happened and why he had suddenly chosen to leave at the last moment. His hand had already been at her throat. He had only needed to twist it slightly, and she would have be dead like that colleague of hers, whose neck had been crushed. When they examined her dead colleague’s wounds, the strength of the killer’s hands was stunning.

He hadn’t had any reason to let go. She still remembered when he had charged up to her, and his eyes had shown that bone-penetrating chill. Such a chill not only demonstrated her adversary’s determination to win, but also that he wasn’t someone who could be easily shaken.

She wouldn’t have found it strange whether she were killed or had escaped. But, for him to withdraw without a sign or the least hesitation left her deeply stumped. No one would leave on the verge of taking the victory—especially not a determined ace!

Why? She still didn’t know.

Looking all around, there was long since no sign of him, and Butchie finally relaxed. While the battle had been brief, its danger and ferocity had been the most serious in her life. She had been at a disadvantage the whole time, overwhelmed by her adversary.

No matter by skill or tactics, he was always strange and hard to fathom. In those few brief seconds, she had felt more nervous than ever before. When the crisis passed, she was overcome by a deep fatigue. Her entire body was wiped out, and she couldn’t summon the least bit of energy.

“Are you ok?” That ear-piercing voice suddenly came from behind her. It was Hugo! Butchie’s spirits were roused. Although his voice was ear-piercing, the heavy note of concern to what he said calmed her.

“I’m ok.” Butchie forced out a smile.

Hugo looked all around on alert and said in a low voice, “Let’s go.” Some of the card artisans gathering could already see them.

“You lead me.” Butchie smiled bitterly.

Hugo looked a little surprised, though he didn’t say so. He pulled Butchie along by one hand as he flew into the sky. Seeing they were about to run, the swarming card artisans quickly shouted out to give chase and not to let up.

The corner of Hugo’s mouth curled up as though something were funny. Underneath the silvery, metallic mask, there was a note of mockery with an abiding chill. There wasn’t any visible action as he increased his speed and quickly left the card artisans behind. Carrying someone didn’t seem to have any effect.

The onrushing card artisans weren’t about to give up so easily and immediately exerted their strength, not letting off on the chase.

There was a body curled up in the dark shadows in a corner near the place where the battle had just taken place. With the night so dark and the corner so deep in the shadows, it would be difficult to find him even up close. The card artisans giving chase were all busy charging the two who had just left, and no one discovered there was still someone there.

It was Chen Mu.

He was clenching his teeth in the dark, and because of the excessive force on his facial muscles, his face looked twisted. He seemed to be repressing some fierce pain, with bean-sized beads of sweat seeping out and rolling off until there were small winding rivulets forming on his face. On the skin showing outside his clothes, there seemed to be something wriggling, which looked disgusting.

Only at that point did Chen Mu dare to groan. While the groan was low, it seemed to come from deep in his lungs and squeezed out through his teeth. His body was curled up in a ball and shaking incessantly. Like a tide, wave after wave of stunning pain hit him to the limit of what he could bear.

At that moment, any small child could have easily killed him.

He didn’t have the strength to think about that issue. Bone-penetrating couldn’t describe his pain in that instant. The best thing to do would be to black out, but he didn’t dare. It wouldn’t be any different than to seek death. Based on his previous experience, while the pain was fierce and hard to block, it wouldn’t last long; he just had to get through it…

Hang on! I must hang on!

That was the only thought in his mind! Behind his vacant eyes and his twisted face, there was a youthful belief that was simple and without any grandeur.

Chen Mu felt like a piece of bamboo that had been pushed to its limits and could snap at any time. Time was moving so slowly it seemed as though he soon wouldn’t even feel his breathing.

When he gradually returned to his senses, he didn’t feel the slightest joy. He only breathed a sigh of relief.

It had finally passed!

The time of the seizure seemed drawn out compared to the last time. A touch of worry floated helplessly into his gaze as he gradually regained his focus. Since he didn’t have any sense of time, he wasn’t clear about how much time had really passed, which made him wonder if it was just an illusion.

He couldn’t be certain.

Examining his body, apart from the wounds from the battle in several places, there wasn’t anything else unusual. The green thread had re-entered the depths of his body, and he couldn’t help but smile bitterly. It activated without any pattern or warning. It had already been a long time since the last time—so long he’d never thought it would act up this time.

Just as he was about to capture that female card artisan, it had acted up! Chen Mu knew what would immediately follow, so he had taken off without any hesitation!

His greedy breathing wouldn’t be considered a breath of fresh air, but the night air did bring a chill to his lungs, which slightly reinvigorated him. He didn’t know if it was because of that prison-like torture he’d just been through, but he didn’t feel too much regret about the outcome of the battle.

How could that compare to the pain?

He set his goal: He needed to quickly come up with some way to resolve it! Any sort of Central Island Firm or mysterious organization would just have to step aside.

If it were to happen again, Chen Mu couldn’t be certain whether it would drive him crazy! He really didn’t want to go through wave after wave of that bone-penetrating, unbearable pain that erased his awareness again!

However, he also knew if he didn’t find some way to resolve it, then the seizures would surely return without him knowing when. Moreover, was there anything more dangerous? His luck had been good that time, but if his adversary hadn’t been too frightened to chase him, then the one dead that day would certainly have been him.

He didn’t want to die yet.

Having thought it through, Chen Mu slowly stood up in the dark. His body didn’t seem to have been influenced by that bout of pain; it was as intact as ever and once again full of energy.

When Chen Mu returned to Heaven’s Wings, Lu Xiaoru was taken aback by what he looked like. What had happened? She didn’t quite believe Butchie could cause Chen Mu to descend into such a sorry state. Something else must have happened! Lu Xiaoru was utterly convinced of that guess, but seeing that Chen Mu had no thought of mentioning it, she chose to keep it politely to herself.

* * *

Hugo had easily shaken off those chasing him; the two sides were really too far apart in their power. Going in a big circle to be certain no one was following him, Hugo brought Butchie back to the place where the Beard lived.

Seeing their appearance, the Beard was shocked. “What? What happened?” Hugo carefully placed Butchie on the sofa.

Butchie sneered, “I ran into that guy from before and had a fight with him.” Taking the juice the Beard had brought her, she gave her thanks.

“That guy wearing the ghost-faced mask?” The Beard shrugged. What happened to Butchie the last time had gotten their attention. The Beard was responsible for that territory, and he had spared no effort to unearth any news about it. Up until that time, it had been to little effect.

There was a reason for his surprise. Pomelo wasn’t a very big place, and the card artisans who could do battle against Butchie were all well-known and named, such as Kai, who had died at Hugo’s hands. The Beard had detailed material on them there, but he didn’t know anything about that devil-faced card artisan assassin who’d just popped up. Recently, apart from that gang from the Central Repository of the Classics, no other powers had taken part.

The most annoying thing was that they didn’t even have any information about him.

“Mmmm.” Holding the juice, Butchie said with lingering fear, “It was lucky Hugo discovered him. Otherwise, nothing would have gone well for me today.”

The Beard hurriedly moved his gaze to Hugo. “You saw him? Did you cross swords?

Hugo shook his head. “When I was communicating with Butchie, I vaguely saw that there seemed to be someone behind her through the screen. By the time I arrived, the guy had already left.” He was also curious about what had really happened. Butchie hadn’t been harmed in the least, but her spirits had nearly collapsed.

Butchie then slowly told about what had happened that evening with some horror.

“Why did he leave?” The Beard had thought about it every which way and couldn’t come up with anything. “Could he have discovered Hugo would soon arrive?”

Butchie shook her head. “I don’t know either, but Hugo was still far away at that time. He had enough time to capture me or to kill me.”

Hugo nodded his agreement with Butchie’s thinking, though he didn’t say anything. He showed a thoughtful expression through his silvery half-mask.

With the three of them baffled, the communications device on the Beard’s wrist suddenly sounded. He walked into a corner to take the call and mumbled a few words. After a bit, he walked back with a not-so-good expression.

“What’s up?” Butchie hurried to ask. Hugo’s gaze also fell onto the Beard’s face.

He looked really bad. “There’s just been a huge activity at the Central Island Firm.”