The Card Apprentice

The next day, the two of them left the restaurant. They had both changed their appearance again. Chen Mu was already trying to adapt to his new role as Yao Ke. Still his little sister, the demonic woman was now Yao Rou.

She was too awesome, seeming to have in her hands an endless supply of money. Like the villa which rented for 100,000 Oudi a month in which they now lived. It was supplied with every kind of equipment, including a specialized card artisan training studio.

Chen Mu was in the studio, stripped to the waist, breathing heavily while dripping with sweat. The little fruit that the demonic woman provided was becoming a little useful, as his muscles were a sexy bronzed color, which his real body would never have.

His disposition had undergone some intense transformation during these days of intensive training.

His eyesight was still sharper than before, his movements more vigorous, and his whole manner was full of power. None of his mild temperament from before was anywhere to be seen.

“Keep going.” The demonic woman’s voice was icy. By now, she could speak perfectly idiomatic Federation dialect fluently, and was to the point where she could read historical biographies that even Chen Mu found complicated.

Chen Mu’s expression hadn’t changed, while he tumbled around on the floor. Seen briefly, you would think he was doing something indecent. But those who knew the ropes would understand how reasonable his current movements were.

The first roll in the middle of a dodge was one of the most common and most effective skills. This ordinary-seeming roll contained a lot of technique, such as how to reduce one’s target area, or how to minimize the inertial bodily injury from a roll during a run at high speed, or how to use one’s core strength for better agility, and so forth.

“Stop.” The demonic woman shouted with a calm expression.

Chen Mu stood up panting, not saying anything, only taking care of regulating his breath. He was covered in dust, and looked rather embarrassed. From start to finish, he would never complain no matter how things went, since at least he was alive. He knew that his current training could help him to survive dangers, and so he was never lazy, and would drill frequently.

Although he didn’t have any choice, having a way to continue his stuggle to survive was something worth considering. He had already realized that his mission was certainly dangerous. He didn’t know why Star Academy had really come there, and he didn’t know why the demonic woman was so interested in that gang from the Star Academy.

But he knew that the collision between the two of them was not likely to be very friendly. He had unfortunately become the demonic woman’s man, and if he wasn’t very careful, he would certainly be the first to suffer.

So, he very diligently took in every kind of technique that the demonic woman imparted to him, though up until then everything that the demonic woman taught him was about dodging and hiding.

“There’s not enough time for you to master my killing techniques.” She said very directly to Chen Mu. Chen Mu drew in a large breath and kept listening.

“You know only a very few things apart from the tailless shutter card, which has good power, despite being slow.” She continued, “If you run into danger, the first thing you need to do is to hide yourself; hide in the dark. And then use the tailless shuttle card.”

Chen Mu didn’t say anything. He carefully stored away everything she said in his memory. When the time came, that could save his paltry life, since he still didn’t want to die.

The demonic woman got a case, inside of which was a leather belt, a pair of shoes, and a pair of strange boxing gloves and kneepads. And there was a dried fruit about the size of a jujube pit.

“Sandwiched in the belt are three poisonous smoke bombs, that will also affect you. They make the hands and feet weak, cause churning in the blood and qi, leaving no power of concentration, and then a rash appears, and finally death. If you don’t drink a half liter of olive oil within an hour, you will die just the same as your victim. Remember; within an hour.” She spoke calmly to Chen Mu as though she were narrating some ordinary matter. She continued on by taking out the pair of shoes, signaling for Chen Mu to put them on.

Chen Mu nimbly swapped out those shoes.

“The bottoms of these shoes are dressed up with some elastic grass.” The demonic woman motioned for Chen Mu to run around a little.

Carefully testing out what was under his feet, Chen Mu started to run ahead very slowly. Whoa! The sudden speed nearly caused him to lose his balance, and he immediately pushed down on his feet, not knowing how big the bounce-back would be! Chen Mu bounced right back up, watching his head just about bump into the ceiling, which he quickly fended off with his hand, and then he fell back down. He immediately took a roll, to disperse the forces.

“You’ll have to practice with the elastic grass. Be light on your feet.” She added, looking at the embarrassed Chen Mu.

She continued by taking out the boxing gloves and knee pads, saying, “These four pieces are made from the wall-climbing lotus.” After she spoke, she picked up some water that was next to her and sprinkled it on the gloves and knee pads.

The gloves and knee pads absorbed the moisture like desiccated desert plants in the rain, and they then unfolded. They were dark, with each piece about the size of the palm of a hand. The demonic woman put them on and walked toward the wall.

What he saw next left Chen Mu dumbstruck. Just like a gecko, the demonic woman was moving about freely on the slick vertical wall. After the brief demonstration, she jumped down.

She tossed the fist-gloves and kneecaps to Chen Mu, and then tossed out a phrase, “This is very simple, and you can refine it yourself.”

Chen Mu’s gaze fell finally on the dried fruit, and he asked, “What is this.”

“Put it in your mouth,” the demonic woman said.

With a look at the dried fruit, he put it in his mouth as she had told him to.

“Crunch it.”

Chen Mu hesitated, but he did crunch it. Its outer skin was very thin, and he easily crushed it with his teeth. His mouth quickly filled with a salty taste.

Something suddenly started to squirm in his mouth, and then it started to come out, crawling all over to cover Chen Mu’s face. After an instant, there was nothing in his mouth, while his face seemed to be covered by a thin membrane. The feeling just then of having something squirming in his mouth had made him want to vomit.

“This is the fruit of the ghost-faced flower.” The demonic woman said coldly, taking him to a mirror to look.

In the mirror was a strange foul face, piled up in black folded layers, which covered the length of Chen Mu’s face, even wrapping up his neck. There were dark red spots on the surface, which stepped up the terrifying foulness a few notches.

Every expression that Chen Mu made was distorted on that face, such that he then looked harsh and relentless.

“It can be used repeatedly. When you’re not using it, take it off and put it into a heavy salt solution, where it will return to its original form.” The demonic woman continued her introduction, “The face that appears is different every time. Aside from giving you disguises to take along, it can also be used for protection. It can stand up to damaging forces that aren’t too strong. Remember. Not too strong.”

When she’d finished speaking, she turned around to leave and dropped another phrase without turning back around, “Become familiar with these things these next few days.”

In Chen Mu’s eyes, those things could be said to be magical, especially that ghost-faced flower. Apart from the terrifying feeling of having things squirming in one’s mouth after crunching it, it was magical in all other ways! Chen Mu didn’t mind crunching it over and over again, and then putting it into the heavily salted water again, and watching it return to its original shape.

He proved that what the demonic woman had said about its being a different face every time was really true. The different ghost faces all gave a completely different feeling, with some creepy and spooky, some terrifying, and some looking quite evil . . .

What caused him the most suffering was the wall-climbing lotus. He would sometimes climb half-way up, and find his hands and feet in the air, leaving his whole body with only one spot sticking to the wall, which left him hanging in midair. Or sometimes he would go two laps stuck to the wall. Falling from five meters was a common occurrence.

By comparison with that, the elastic grass shoes were a little easier. Chen Mu only fell fifty or sixty times before mastering their tricks. By the time he had fallen maybe seventy times, he could already make turns while speeding along, pretty much at will. The one thing that he was thankful for was that he had luckily learned how to roll on the ground.

As for the leather belt, aside from taking out those three smoke bombs and very carefully examining them once, he never dared to touch it again.

* * *

Qing Qing and Wang Ze were strolling through the campus. Although Eastern Wei Academy didn’t have a big name, its environment was outstanding, with the whole school a scenic district. And with the recent sealing off of the campus which prevented outsiders from entering, the Eastern Wei Academy could be called secluded and peaceful. The thing that Qing Qing liked to do most each day was to stroll around the campus.

Many of the Eastern Wei Academy students were familiar to those two top students from the Star Academy, with people always greeting them along the way. Qing Qing had a quiet and soft manner, which wasn’t favored by many of the men in the Eastern Wei Academy, but which many of the women liked very much. And so, there were many more people greeting Qing Qing than Wang Ze.

Wang Ze paid no attention that that sort of thing, as the two of them were quietly chatting.

Wang Ze said, “The new round of student recruitment at Eastern Wei Academy will start in a few days.”

“Recruitment?” Qing Qing seemed a little surprised. “They recruit students now?”

Wang Ze laughingly explained, “Eastern Wei Academy has two recruitment cycles every year, one for each of the spring and fall sessions; now is fall recruitment. Haha, I’ve heard that they’ve raised the threshold quite a bit again for this cycle.

“It seems as though we’ve given them a lot of help.” Qing Qing said languidly.

“They’re taking sponsorship fees this time, which might soften things,” Wang Ze lightly smiled, “and I reckon that there won’t be just a few bugs mixed among them. I’ve seen a lot more glazed eyes recently than I’ve seen before.”

“They should do as they please.” Something occurred to Qing Qing which made her sigh inaudibly.

Wang Ze very deftly sensed something emotionally odd about Qing Qing, and immediately asked thoughtfully, “Is anything the matter, Qing Qing? Aren’t you feeling well?”

While it might look to outsiders as though they had an inevitably romantic relationship – Wang Ze had suffered quite a bit for this within the Star Academy – in fact, their relationship was quite pure. Wang Ze and Qing Qing had entered Star Academy the same year, though Qing Qing was quite a bit younger than Wang Ze, and he had taken care of her as a little sister all along.

The relations between the two of them became less frequent once Qing Qing was admitted to the inner academy, later on. Finally, that year, Qing Qing became the first student from the inner academy in ten years to come out, while Wang Ze also became a leader among the students of the outer academy, and had been entrusted by the president with the important task there. They hadn’t become estranged because of this, but had picked up from where they were before.

Qing Qing smiled broadly, “It’s nothing. I was just thinking that Eastern Shang-Wei City could start to become a little wild.” Looking around, she continued, “I don’t know what might start happening on this peaceful campus.”

“Not to worry.” Wang Ze smiled lightly, and then full of sincerity, “I have enough trust in our actual strength, and in any case, we still have our Qing Qing here. You are our trump card.”

“Oh? It seems that Qing Qing must also be diligent.” Qing Qing flashed a brilliant smile, while Wang Ze burst into laughter, not paying attention to the slight bitterness in Qing Qing’s smile.

* * *

Chen Mu stood in front of the Eastern Wei Academy entrance, looking at its large gate that he had gone through so many times, and couldn’t help his strong feelings. He remembered when he had been selling power cards to Uncle Hua, and he was so admiring of the students who could enter the Eastern Wei Academy to study. But his former dreams were being realized in a different manner, and all he felt was regret without the least bit of joy.

What lay ahead for him? Untold danger! The gate of the great academy had suddenly become a dense jungle in his eyes. Inside were innumerable ferocious beasts, and enemies hiding in dark places. . .

Chen Mu then abruptly sobered up from his feelings and put himself on guard, wondering what was wrong with him. If you lose your courage now, you’ll certainly die without your whole corpse.

Steadying himself, and straightening up his mind, he resumed being the chill Chen Mu, striding over to the recruitment office.

“Hello, this is my sponsorship letter.” Chen Mu had walked over in front of an instructor responsible for guiding students who was by the campus gate, and he pulled out the sponsorship letter than had already been prepared. In the new identity that the demonic woman had created for him, he was the son of some nouveau-riche person. That person had died later from some sudden misfortune, leaving behind a fortune for his two children. The good thing about being nouveau-riche was that Chen Mu didn’t have to learn any new etiquette, since no-one would be surprised at any cloddish activity within the scope of their disdain.

That could be very convenient for him.

The teacher took his sponsorship letter, and pointed to a pile of people not far away, “Yes, go over there, there will be someone to guide you when the time comes.” His manner of speaking was rather disdainful. At Eastern Wei Academy, those who had entered by virtue of high sponsorship fees were often discriminated against by teachers, and by the students who earned high grades.

It was only those like Zuo Tingyi who came from a good family and who could also rely on their native ability to test-into Eastern Wei Academy, who could earn everyone’s respect.

Chen Mu walked over to that group of people, as he’d been told. Casually sizing them up, each of the people in that gang was dressed up in fancy and unusual clothes, being very particular about what they wore, all very trendy. All the women were dressed gorgeously, and Chen Mu could smell the strong perfume from a long way off.

With his six highly acute senses, Chen Mu suddenly rubbed his nose in discomfort, and went off to the side a few steps without thinking.

He had suddenly attracted some disdainful glares.

“Where did that clodhopper come from?”

“Who knows. These days clodhoppers are proliferating like trash. What the hell is he doing?”

“I just watched him rubbing his nose, hehe, maybe he’s a virgin? What do you think chicken, shall we tune him up?”

“This yokel? Isn’t that like splashing your old lady with mud?

Given Chen Mu’s hearing, it was as though he had moved many steps closer, and he heard everything quite clearly. So, he smirked to himself as he tried to withstand his impulse to rub his nose again.

Chen Mu consoled himself that he could train his patience by suffering through that kind of abuse.

After about half the day, an instructor finally came over and took them to a classroom. This teacher was named Feng, with the given name of Zi-ang, and he sounded rather mild, though there was some impatience in the way that he looked at the sponsored students. The activities were all rather cursory, with the gang of sponsored students all troublemakers who weren’t paying any attention to him, while just amusing themselves.

Chen Mu couldn’t help another smirk. He felt that he wasn’t going to get along with the people all around, as he didn’t know how to deal with them. He had no experience in that regard.

When Professor Feng was announcing the free activity times for the next couple of days, the whole classroom cheered right away. In an instant, the only one left in the classroom was Chen Mu and the sneering Feng Zi-ang who was shaking his head.

Feng Zi-ang was a little astonished to see Chen Mu there.

“Teacher, might I ask where my dormitory is?” Chen Mu asked, finding it very strange that those students didn’t seem concerned about where they were living.

“Oh.” Feng Zi-ang became a little flustered juggling the material in his hands, while he asked, “What’s your name?”

As soon as he saw him, Chen Mu knew that he had almost certainly just become a teacher. He opened his mouth and said, “I’m called Yao Ke.”

“Yao Ke . . . Yao Ke . . . I found you! You’re in B3, banner 2, unit 301. Your key is in the packet of materials which was sent to you.” Teacher Feng had quickly found the information.

“Thank you.” Chen Mu left the classroom after he finished talking, leaving a Feng Zi-ang, who was at a loss for words.

After asking the way, Chen Mu soon found where he lived. He hadn’t anticipated that it would be a suite of rooms for one person, and that it would be fully equipped. But he quickly felt at ease. Although he didn’t know how much the sponsorship fee was, there was presumably still wool on that sheep. For such a gang of playboys, where would they be willing to live if the conditions were poor?

But it was still OK, since for Chen Mu it was quite a bit more convenient. He carefully locked the door, scanned all around, fixed things up a little, and with the serious sleep deprivation that he’d suffered those few days, he finally couldn’t help falling asleep in a dark corner.

It was at that moment that he recalled the demonic woman’s words, it will be easier for you to survive in the dark.