The Card Apprentice

Once he woke up, it was already broad daylight. Chen Mu stretched and let out a pleasant yawning sound. Those past few days of training day and night, he wasn’t even getting three hours of sleep. That past night was the first time he’d slept well for several months.

Still, as soon as he’d cleaned up, he immediately started the day’s training.

He started with the exercise gymnastics. The demonic woman had given them a high evaluation, except that since it was comparatively mild, it wouldn’t be so useful in battle, although it would continually improve a person’s health. Chen Mu kept doing the training without interruption, since no-one knew better than he did what his body was like previously. It was all a credit to these exercise gymnastics that his health was then so good.

After he’d finished the exercise gymnastics, he started the perceptual training. Since he was snatched by the demonic woman, he’d barely made any progress with his perceptual training, on the one hand because he didn’t have the time, and on the other because he didn’t want to expose that mysterious card in front of the demonic woman. But she didn’t seem to have any interest in his possessions. After she’d given her fairly positive evaluation of the tailless shuttle card, she didn’t even look at anything else.

When Chen Mu probed her a little, the demonic woman dropped the phrase, “One method is enough for killing people.”

Even in his trembling fear, he had to admire the demonic woman. And he somewhat understood her strengths; not greedily biting off more than you could chew was something everyone could understand. But to be tempted by nice things in front of you while still being able to stay true to yourself was some very powerful self-discipline.

That was a form of strength.

From then on, he had set the goal for himself; he certainly wanted to go on living, no matter who the adversary was!

His training became more targeted, which was a change from before when he would just follow his interests. No matter how hard the struggle, he wouldn’t flinch.

The reason to restart his perceptual training was very simple. He only had one means to attack, which was the tailless shuttle card.

He needed to learn to control his perception. He knew that he would have pitifully few or even zero opportunities to act if he ran into danger, but he would still train tirelessly to improve his proficiency. Because once he did get a chance, that would be his only choice.

Those few days of training had given Chen Mu a lot of benefit, especially some of the skills imparted by the demonic woman. Combined with what he’d learned about releasing power in the unwinding game in the simple water world, he was making rapid progress. When he returned to the simple water world, that was especially obvious. It was a lot easier than before.

Sitting in the simple water world, he started the dull and agonizing perceptual training.

He didn’t know if was because of all the suffering of the past few days or what, but the excruciating suffering he’d originally gone through in the perceptual training was now quite a bit lighter.

It was already noon by the time the perceptual training was done. After a hasty lunch, he dove right back in to the training.

He’d emptied the living room of his house, while leaving dozens of beverage bottles strewn about. He hadn’t been using any of the professional training guidelines, not wanting to attract anyone’s attention.

The demonic woman had always said that what gave you away was always in the details.

High speed running, sudden turns, side rolls, endless quick turns, his movements were getting quicker and quicker. His body was as flexible as a monkey, while the burst strength that he would occasionally show would look like a charged cheetah to most people.

He didn’t have much time. It would be a lot better if he could train for about a year before being drawn into that business.

Of course, he quickly got rid of the silly notion. But Chen Mu had discovered that those kinds of thoughts were coming less and less frequently. He smiled wryly to himself that it seemed as though he was starting to get used to that sort of life.

But he still didn’t know how Copper was doing. Thinking about when it was, the Victoria opening would be in two weeks, and he didn’t know how well-prepared Copper was.

Chen Mu couldn’t help another wry smile. Whether Copper was dead or alive, he hadn’t found out by now, so how could he be concerned about some opening ceremony. Just hoping that he was safe, he let out a big sigh in his mind.

Shaking out his head, and putting all those distractions to the back of his mind, he regained his firm focus, and concentrated his whole mind on the training in front of him.

* * *

Zuo Tianlin was frowning, “What? You still haven’t found him?” he looked at Ming Hui with some displeasure, and said with an icy voice, “Has it been so long since you’ve seen a knife that you’ve grown rusty?”

Ming Hui gave a reluctant wry smile, “We’ve already looked everywhere in the town of Burlington, and have searched the drainpipes three times. Based on the clues, we’ve determined that he’s already entered the outer reaches. We’ve combed through all of the outer reaches within three hundred kilometers of the town of Burlington and saw no trace of him. But we accidentally discovered something else in the outer reaches.

Zuo Tianlin knew that Ming Hui had never wasted words, so since he’d mentioned ‘accidental discoveries,’ it must have been something of value, and while his face softened, he said, “What did you discover?”

“We found about twelve corpses.” Ming Hui continued on, after taking a look at Zuo Tianlin, “The way they died was very strange. We didn’t find any wounds on their bodies. From the three bodies that we brought back, we did find that while there was no external harm, their internal organs had been utterly destroyed. We’ve uncovered all their identities; they were free-lance card artisans.

“What does this have to do with us?” Zuo Tianlin muttered.

“The time when those card artisans died corresponds very closely with the time that Chen Mu entered the outer reaches, and furthermore, the place where they died is very close to the town of Burlington. We also found some tatters from Chen Mu’s clothes in the vicinity, from which we could establish a distinct connection between the two.” Ming Hui flashed a look of wisdom.

“So, Chen Mu killed them?” Zuo Tianlin couldn’t quite believe that inference.

Ming Hui shook his head, “There is no way that Chen Mu could have killed those card artisans, given his strength. And the card artisans didn’t have that same kind of hole all the way through like Yu Yin’s wound. Not only that, but the way that the card artisans died was very strange, and we have found no related clues. This was clearly someone else’s doing.”

“What person?”

“We still don’t know. But judging from the crime scene, where we didn’t find Chen Mu’s corpse, I would surmise that there is a good possibility that he was taken away by the ace who killed these twelve card artisans.” Ming Hui said calmly.

If Chen Mu knew that someone had made such an accurate conjecture without having seen it with his own eyes, he would certainly bow down in praise.

“Taken away by some ace?” Zuo Tianlin laughed coldly, “Our little genius has run into his lucky star. Let’s see if that raises the level of his threat to us.”

“Looking at the current conditions, that’s the way it is.” Ming Hui indiscreetly agreed.

“What do you think we should do?” Zuo Tianlin looked at Ming Hui a little dissatisfied.

After some thought, Ming Hui said, “Although he’s a genius, he’s only one person. He could pose a threat to us, but that would be after a few years, or even a dozen or more. But right now, we are looking at a better opportunity. I think that we should put a lot more energy into this.”

What Ming Hui said made Zuo Tianlin do some pondering once again, and after about one or two minutes, he nodded, “What you’re saying is right! We do indeed have the chance to solve a bigger problem with a little effort now. What’s the situation right now? What is the Star Academy up to?”

“The situation is a little complicated. There’ve been a lot of card artisans who’ve come to Eastern Shang-Wei City recently, and they have plenty of strength. They also seem to have heard some rumors.” What Ming Hui said carried a note of concern, which was rarely seen with him. He immediately followed on, saying, “The second group from the Star Academy has arrived, and this time they’re all aces. We’ve already looked into a few of them, who are inner academy aces. It looks as though the rumors weren’t groundless.”

“Eastern Shang-Wei City is going to get disorderly.” Zuo Tianlin murmured. The two of them looked at each other, each seeing the anxiety and concern in the other. As far as the Zuo family was concerned, no doubt it was a rare opportunity, but if they were even slightly careless, they could also be crushed to pieces.

* * *

Chen Mu was walking slowly in the campus; such high-density training had to increase the burden on his body. If he kept straight-on training like that, Iron Man might not even be able to stand up to him. Just then he was relaxing his muscles.

Walking along slowly and relaxing, he carefully experienced the acidity in his muscles going up.

If you wish to bring the control of your body closer to your intuition, you have to understand your body better. This was one of the things that the demonic woman was always saying. Chen Mu well remembered nearly everything she said. Since she never wasted any words, everything she said was bound to be useful.

Suddenly, the chatting between two girls not far away floated into his ears.

“Big Sister Qing Qing, have you seen “Chance Encounter?” the sweet voice of a little girl. This girl was wearing a milky white old-fashioned dress, having layers of folds with a lavender lace trim, and she looked like a small princess. She was lovely and innocent looking, provoking adoring pangs. She was also Zuo Tingyi’s little sister, Zuo Tang.

Qing Qing obviously really liked Zuo Tang, and asked her with a soft chuckle, “What is the ‘chance encounter’ that Tang Tang is talking about?”

“A card play! A very good card play! Big Sister Qing Qing, you have to see it! We can’t buy it anymore around here, and last time my brother ruined a set, although he fortunately later paid me back with one.” Zuo Tang was pulling Qing Qing’s arm, remembering what happened the last time, not being able to help pouting like a child, complaining, “He said he was doing some sort of research. What is there to research about card plays. My brother is stupid!”

Qing Qing thought about her next move, “Could it be that your brother also likes to watch card plays? He doesn’t look like it.”

“How could he like card plays? The only thing he knows is how to do is to head right in to his card making lab every day. He’s never played with me since I was little. Now that I bring it up, it was strange, no one in the whole school was able to crack this card play.” Zuo Tang had remembered that crackathon, and was immediately a little bit excited.

“Ha ha, was it really that awesome?” Looking at Zuo Tan’s genuinely cute look, Qing Qing couldn’t help spoiling her by stroking her little golden head.

“Really, really! They ruined a lot of equipment, and still didn’t crack it. Even my brother couldn’t do it!” Zuo Tang was afraid Qing Qing didn’t believe her.

“Even your brother wasn’t able to crack it?” Qing Qing had become a little bit interested. After learning to get along with him for a few days, Qing Qing already knew that Zuo Tingyi was an extremely outstanding young card master. Even though his strength wouldn’t mean much at the Star Academy, it was still going to exceed that of most ordinary card masters.

Qing Qing was naturally interested in a card play that even he couldn’t crack.

“Yeah, my big brother didn’t only ruin my card play, he also ruined many pieces of equipment. He wasn’t in a very good mood those few days.” Thinking of that, Zuo Tang felt bad for her older brother, “Who knows what whoever made this card play was trying to do!” She continued to talk about what had happened in the school about cracking “Chance Encounter.”

“Does Tang Tang still have “Chance Encounter?” Qing Qing asked with plenty of interest.

“He he, Big Sister Qing Qing wants to see it too, goody goody, I’ll go and get it.” Zuo Tang felt that it would be really fun to be able to share the things that she liked together with Big Sister Qing Qing.

Nor far away, Chen Mu couldn’t keep the cold sweat from pouring out of his forehead. Maybe Zuo Tang hadn’t been able to hear what the meaning was in what that girl called Qing Qing was saying, but how could Chen Mu not get it?

It was very clear to him what it was about “Chance Encounter” that could get those peoples’ attention. The ‘token’ composition! He only just now found out about the waves that the card play that he had made had been making at Eastern Wei Academy. He suddenly realized that if he hadn’t been chased down, and if he hadn’t run into the demonic woman, then his situation wouldn’t have been any better.

Wouldn’t it be trivial for them if they wanted to check him out? And unlike for the demonic woman, the mysterious card in his hands would have a fatal attraction for them. An innocent man gets in trouble because of his wealth, and he could easily imagine what his own last act would be.

It was a good thing that he’d already changed his identity. He suddenly felt himself very lucky. No matter what danger he had run into before, at least he was still alive just then. If those things hadn’t happened to him, there was a good possibility he’d already be dead.

Qing Qing suddenly turned around, and her gaze caught Chen Mu behind her with her gentle eyes, “Classmate, is something the matter?”

From the outside, Chen Mu’s situation just then wasn’t good, his forehead was covered in sweat, and he didn’t look well.

“Oh! Are you sick? Seeing Chen Mu’s face, Zuo Tang was taken aback.

Chen Mu reluctantly said, “I didn’t sleep well last night, and I might have caught a cold, I’m just out for some air, since I have some discomfort in my chest.” He didn’t actually know who the two girls in front of him were. Although he’d heard what they were called, ‘Qing Qing’ and ‘Tang Tang’ were common enough names as far as he knew, and they didn’t get his attention. He assumed that they were two ordinary classmates, so his expression was unexpectedly calm. If he’d known that the two in front of him were the demonic woman’s targets – Star Academy students – he probably wouldn’t have been able to remain so calm.

Qing Qing asked with a little concern, “Do you need us to take you to the clinic?” Both her concern and her manner of speaking were just right, not overly familiar, and keeping a certain distance, while still showing concern, making anyone feel comfortable.

Chen Mu gratefully said, “No need. I’ll be fine after I go back myself and drink some hot water.”

Bidding farewell to the two, he walked directly to where he lived. Thinking back on the dialog between the two girls, Chen Mu suddenly realized! It was very odd just then to hear the dialog between the two of them with that Qing Qing finding what that Tang Tang was saying about some kind of crackathon so unfamiliar. She was obviously not an Eastern Wei Academy student! At that time, it wasn’t only Eastern Wei Academy students who could be inside the school. There were also Star Academy exchange students, as well as the newly recruited students. The manner of that Qing Qing wasn’t at all like a new student, and so her identity was as clear as life.

A Star Academy exchange student!

Chen Mu’s back was instantly saturated in cold sweat. Since the second group of Star Academy exchange students had only just arrived, their name list wasn’t among the materials that the demonic woman had given him.

He then remembered Qing Qing turning around without any provocation. She had certainly discovered something, or perceived something! Was it his heart beat, or a change in his breathing that got her attention?

Having himself come so unexpectedly close to contact with a Star Academy student, Chen Mu felt like his heart would jump right out, with such a fear looking back, after the fact.

And the sensitivity expressed by Qing Qing worried him even more. Compared to her, his own already elevated sensory perception would be considered retrograde.

The Star Academy students were scary after all.

* * *

When Qing Qing had returned to the exchange student dormitory, she saw Wang Ze and some others discussing something, and she smiled and said, “And what are you discussing?” Seeing Qing Qing return, the group stopped the discussion one after another.

Wang Ze explained, “They were just wondering how to find out who the bugs are that are mixed in among the students.”

“So, there are twenty percent more card artisans recruited this year than last. And you can tell on sight that a lot of those guys are aces. With more power than the professors here, it’s not obvious why they would race over here to be students.” Said a Star Academy student.

Qing Qing mildly smiled, and said lightly, “What are you going to do after you find them? Kill them all? Or kick them all out of Eastern Wei Academy? We are also outsiders.”

They all looked at each other, dumbly. They had only just realized that they weren’t students from there, and they were suddenly discouraged.

Wang Ze saw Qing Qing’s gaze turn his way, and he quickly put up his hand, putting on an innocent look, “I wasn’t participating in the discussion, if you don’t believe me ask Chen Jiu.” And then he added a phrase, “I see them unoccupied on top of being idle, and having something to discuss is not so bad.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

“Bian Yun, come and look at this card play.” Qing Qing handed over the card play “Chance Encounter” that Zuo Tang had gotten for her.

Bian Yun was one of the three top card makers at Star Academy. He came along that time in order to help people resolve card-related issues. If card making was a fine and delicate specialty, Bian Yun was rather gruff. With big brassy eyes, and a steel-wool like bushy beard, his face would be called ferocious. When he talked it was more like droning, but at a low pitch to break your eardrums.

“Card play? When did Qing Qing get interested in card plays?” Bian Yun was a little puzzled when he took the card play from Qing Qing’s hands.

But when he took a look, Bian Yun couldn’t stop a shout of surprise.