The Card Apprentice

“Someone has finally gotten out of Pomelo! Who could it be? What has really been happening in Pomelo? I’ll be getting to the bottom of that right away!” The host’s tone was high and excited, but it then changed. “Don’t go away! Don’t go away by any means! Don’t take your eyes off of us, or else you will regret it for the rest of your life. What will follow will be a moment seen by throngs! There will be a lot to marvel at after the following advertisement!”

Cursing abruptly sounded up in the big hall. Every card artisan who had just had his appetite whetted was dying to go up and tear that host to pieces. Even Chen Mu just stared. He couldn’t help but think the host was really funny. Bogner didn’t have that many scruples. He just hurled the abuse, cursing.

The awful advertisement made the fire in everyone’s belly grow. Fifteen seconds of that seemed to drag out forever. The ads finally finished, and the abnormally noisy big hall abruptly quieted down.

Amazingly, Wang Ze and Jing appeared on the screen. The card artisans in the big hall obviously didn’t recognize the two of them, but they still held their breaths, waiting for what was to come. What sort of earth-shattering news would come from the mouths of those two?

Chen Mu and Bogner looked at one another as their expressions turned more serious. The teams then following Wang Ze and Jing were the teams that were there when they entered Pomelo. It looked as though they were still intact. He had never thought the two who appeared on the screen would actually be people he knew. That rather surprised Chen Mu.

After he thought it over, however, it didn’t seem so unlikely. The two of them represented the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple. Unless Tang Hanpei wanted to make enemies of those two, they could definitely provide him with a certain convenience. The power of their teams was among the strongest within Pomelo, apart from the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics.

Wang Ze and Jing walked forward, and Chen Mu could see that neither of them could help their looks of relief. Chen Mu’s gaze fell onto the big boxes they each held. A reporter up front who was doing some interviewing had sharp eyes and immediately recognized Wang Ze and Jing.

“The honored Mr. Wang Ze and Miss Jing, how are you? I am a reporter from the official federation platform. May I ask you a few questions?” The reporter was cautious in the way he asked. They represented the Star Academy and the Bitter Solitude Temple, and he was nothing but an insignificant reporter. He hurried to retract his normal expression.

“The official federation platform?” Wang Ze paused momentarily and nodded. “Mmmm, but I can’t guarantee I will answer your questions.” The relationship between the official federation platform and the Big Six was a little complicated. Jing didn’t look so unhappy about what Wang Ze had done. She too understood they needed to protect their public image.

The reporter was thrilled, but he quickly restrained his emotions. “Thank you for your generosity! Can you tell me what really happened in Pomelo?”

Wang Ze’s expression became a little strange as he said with a bitter smile, “I’m not sure what to say about that, though I do think everyone will find out soon.”

The reporter was discreet; although he hadn’t received the response he had hoped for, he immediately switched his questioning. “What are those big boxes you and Jing are holding?”

Something flashed through Wang Ze’s eyes, and he hesitated before he responded. “In these two boxes are the ashes of Mr. Qiao Yuan and Mr. Mi Xiaqing. We have been commissioned by Mr. Tang Hanpei to send them to the Central Repository of the Classics. The great Tang Hanpei says they were true soldiers and should be honored.”

Whether it was that reporter or Chen Mu and everyone in the big hall, everything went dead silent! That scene wasn’t only happening there; the entire Heavenly Federation seemed stunned by those few words.

“Excuse us, but we must be on our way. Good-bye.” Wang Ze was perfectly polite toward the transfixed reporter. After speaking, he gave a look toward Jing, and they quickly departed.

“Mr. Wang Ze, Mr. Wang Ze!” Not until the group had traveled a ways did the reporter, who had been lost in shock, come back to his senses.

The party went ahead in silence. Jing suddenly opened her mouth. “What did Mr. Tang Hanpei really do in the end?”

“I don’t know,” Wang Ze said after thinking, shaking his head.

What he said just then had been deliberate. He didn’t believe the enmity between the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics would be resolved by anything he might say. The pride of the Central Repository of the Classics had been nurtured for hundreds of years. Now, in front of the entire federation, it had been trampled to pieces by Tang Hanpei. That kind of hatred wasn’t going to be resolved even after another hundred years.

As far as the Star Academy was concerned, it was a good thing. He knew Jing felt the same way.

He was still more certain that what he was doing was part of what Tang Hanpei had anticipated. That had prevented him from feeling any pride. His graceful and confident figure seemed to be hidden in the shadows for the moment in such a blurred and unfathomable time. A chill arose irrepressibly from the deepest recesses of Wang Ze’s heart. What was he going to do in the end?

They quickly encountered card artisans from the Central Repository of the Classics who had just gotten the news.

After those few short words, there was a huge uproar in the entire federation. No one questioned the veracity of the news since the one who had told it was none other than Wang Ze from the Star Academy. And, by his side was Jing, the student of Ying Chen from the prior generation of the Bitter Solitude Temple.

Most everyone was certain that the decline of the Central Repository of the Classics was a foregone conclusion. But they were equally convinced their counterattack would be fiercer and more violent than any caged beast!

The strange silence in the big hall left everyone, including Chen Mu, thinking about what had happened.

Just then, Xi Ping and Xiaobo returned. The silence immediately put them on their guard.

“What kind of excitement have we missed?” Xiaobo shrugged, looking as though he didn’t care. But if anyone were fooled by his harmless look, they would certainly die a miserable death.

Xi Ping also looked curious. Bogner didn’t lift his eyes as he tossed out the words, “Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing were both killed by Tang Hanpei.”

“What?” Xiaobo was shocked. “No way! Could Tang Hanpei be so fierce? He killed two people by himself? That’s utterly impossible! Could there have been someone helping him?”

Both Chen Mu and Bogner were shocked, and their expressions had turned ugly. Right! It was too unlikely for Tang Hanpei alone to think of killing Qiao Yuan and Mi Xiaqing. Killing and defeating were completely different concepts, with several levels of difference between them. Had someone helped him? That was a notion that would pop out of any ordinary person’s mind. Everyone was likely to believe it, but who could it have been?

Chen Mu and Bogner had already guessed the answer. The Starfish Fortification. Tang Hanpei had likely used its power! Thinking back on the Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans they had encountered upon departing Pomelo, some bad feelings abruptly arose from Chen Mu’s heart.

Bogner also had a pretty ugly expression. He looked around to see that no one was paying attention and said in a low voice into Chen Mu’s ear, “We’d better hurry up and leave. Tang Hanpei did certainly use the Starfish Fortifications, and I reckon he possibly outed us. That way, he could use the power of the Central Repository of the Classics to force us closer to him. The possibility of our being wanted by the Central Repository of the Classics is very high. When we entered the Heavenly Drum Village District, we showed our transit passes. I reckon they will quickly find that out. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll be in trouble. We’ve thoroughly offended the Central Repository of the Classics this time.

What Bogner said hit the mark of what Chen Mu had just realized. He lifted his head to look at Xi Ping. Xi Ping immediately understood and nodded imperceptibly to show he had finished what he set out to do.

Chen Mu then ordered, “We will set out immediately.”

The biting, cold wind and pervasive snow hurt when it hit the face. In that kind of environment, there was very low visibility beyond 100 meters. If one were to look off into the distance, it would all be a sheet of white.

Poor Xiaobo was pulled out for hard duty. The reconnaissance capability of the Wheel was their biggest safeguard. His whole body was giving off a whitish glow, which was the aura of the warming card. It could maintain about a 35-degree temperature within the area of a person’s body.

But the warming card had limited utility in that kind of windy weather. The wild, raging wing could blow the warmth emitted by the warming card entirely away. Still, how could that create difficulties for someone who could operate in the jungle alone for long periods like Xiaobo? He had found a low-level energy cloak card with very little strength, which was perfectly effective in blocking the wind.

From a distance, Xiaobo looked like a glowing white egg. But he wasn’t complaining, seeing the boss following him in the bitter outdoors.

The rest of the card artisans had entered the shuttle cars. In that place, the shuttle cars were a lot more useful than jet stream cards, after all. The happiest among them was Borna, who was looking at Xi Ping with great appreciation for the fantasy card he had purchased for him. Inside that card were recorded quite a few of the building methods that were unique to the Heavenly Drum Village District.

In order to leave as few traces as possible, they always avoided big cities. After some discussion between Chen Mu and Bogner, they finally decided they would head toward a place in the mountains of the Heavenly Drum Village District called the Pascal Mountainous Region. It was a vast region of snowy mountains and endless evergreen conifers. The Pascal District had no big cities—only some small forts scattered about.

However, there was plenty of disorder there. Constant fighting among the forts had been going on for many years. No power there could occupy a commanding position. Such a place was doubtlessly the best choice for Chen Mu and his party. Compared to the huge Central Repository of the Classics and Federation Comprehensive Academy, the power in those places would seem like ants in front of an elephant.

What was most important to them just then was to stay out of the wind. In Chen Mu’s eyes, their later development wasn’t as urgent. He certainly had no ambitions to unite the federation.

Hastening along for 25 days and nights without stopping, they finally arrived at the Pascal District.