The Card Apprentice

Seeing people constantly coming and going from that store, Chen Mu’s recently darkened thoughts brightened right up. Copper sure was fast enough, he chuckled to himself, since Copper had been to the store.

As soon as he entered the store, he found out how nearly packed with people it was, mainly women.

“Shopkeeper, last time I came here to buy “Chance Encounter,” and couldn’t buy it, and this time I gave you a call, but you still haven’t put a set aside for me. What is the meaning of this?” The woman speaking was tall with a piercing voice, and you knew she was trouble as soon as you saw her.

All the girls who hadn’t made their purchase immediately joined in the jeering.

The shopkeeper’s face was all puckered up, wondering why they had to get all riled up blaming this small store keeper, when all the girls who could attend Eastern Wei Academy came from such wealthy families.

“Young ladies, you certainly can’t blame this old guy! That fellow who delivered the goods only dropped-off twenty sets. Who knew that as soon as a young lady saw them, she would grab ten sets in a breath. This old man didn’t have a chance to utter a word, before half the goods on hand were gone! Then, as you young ladies have all seen, this old man hasn’t run across any more card plays, with the remaining ten sets having already disappeared.” The proprietor rushed to apologize.

“I don’t care! I’ll sue you if I can’t buy the card play today, grrrr . . .” those terribly charming ladies had gotten into a temper without any reasonable argument.

At the doorway, Chen Mu was confused. Was the thing that was being sold there really the card play that he and Copper had produced?

Could the card play have been selling to that extent?

By the time he walked out of the store, Chen Mu’s head was buzzing.

All that for a card play? Walking along, he still felt baffled, although when he put all his doubts behind him, he was naturally really excited! Seeing what he and Copper had made become as successful as that felt more like a joke than a real accomplishment.

But sure enough what made him still more happy was that it seemed as though their income would rise quite a bit.

So many more supplies, Chen Mu sighed to himself.

He thought that he should first go back home and get to work, and then after making another set and getting some more money, he could buy some more materials. Chen Mu’s pace quickened as he wanted to get back early.

He suddenly felt something change. Turning his head around a little, he saw a figure on the road dodge away.

Chen Mu’s mind had already cooled down from his excitement. He had only had a glance just then, and although he couldn’t make out what sort of person the figure behind him was, the way that he had dodged was enough to give him some idea.

Do I look like some sort of fat cat? Chen Mu thought it a little strange given the way that he was dressed, since he certainly wouldn’t attract the attention of any pickpocket. Who could that be? It didn’t seem that he had riled anyone lately.

Wrong! He suddenly remembered that day at the classroom in Eastern Wei Academy.

After walking ahead a few more steps, he pretended to look back casually, and found the person still following him. Chen Mu could dimly make out that he was that guy that he’d brandished the chair at that day.

Was he looking for trouble with him? Chen Mu smiled coldly to himself and picked up his walking speed right away.

When faced with that sort of situation, one doesn’t want to give any opportunity to the opponent. Otherwise you could get messed up.

The person behind him was in the process of activating his communications card, but seeing Chen Mu speed up, he hurried to keep up without contacting anyone else.

Who knows how much Chen Mu’s physical conditioning had improved since before, but you could feel it by the pace of his footsteps just then. His strides were huge and fast, and the person behind him had to nearly start jogging to keep up.

Chen Mu zig-zagged through the secluded alleyways which were as difficult to navigate as a maze. If it weren’t for his experience as a young street punk, he would have quickly gotten lost in them, though not being so familiar with the area, he might as well have been lost.

“Stop!” The person behind him was gasping, and knowing that he certainly couldn’t go on like that, he blurted out the command to stop.

Chen Mu wasn’t listening and picked up his speed.

“Running away? It’s not that easy!” the person behind him shouted icily.

Looking back, he could see that guy pressing the activation key of his apparatus.

Chen Mu’s heart sank in an instant. Could that guy be a card artisan? No, he didn’t remember any very fierce types from among that gang of jerks last time.

“Ha ha, the young master didn’t bring along his fight-card from last time, which gave you two fools such an advantage. This time I’m going to give you a taste of some hurt.” That guy was laughing maliciously, while a light blue arrow-bolt formed in front of him.

He was a card artisan after all! With nothing else to do about it, Chen Mu started weaving around on foot.

Zap! A ray of light blue light grazed his left arm, and then hit the wall with a bang, splashing gravel shards everywhere, and leaving a pockmark on the wall.

A trail of blood appeared on Chen Mu’s left arm, and he smelled the fresh blood.

With any fear seeming to have been dissolved away by that smell of blood, Chen Mu’s eyes became suddenly cold and hard. Without waiting for his adversary to let the second arrow-bolt loose, he charged the boy.

Once he got close, he would have a chance at victory. Coming on like a cheetah with a monkey’s body, he planned to make use of his superior speed to mess up his adversary’s attack-rhythm.

While the arrow-bolt had about the same destructive power as the bricks hurled in a street brawl, it was a lot faster, and much harder to evade.

Protecting his face with both his hands, he dodged his way closer to his adversary. It was an effective way to dodge at bricks thrown during a street brawl, where as long as you weren’t hit in the skull, you wouldn’t lose your life.

His opponent laughed maliciously, as though mocking his over-estimate of his own strength. The second arrow bolt screamed toward Chen Mu.

Pow! There was a burst of pain from Chen Mu’s left arm, where the second arrow bolt had hit the arm that was protecting his face.

His opponent was trying to kill him. That realization made Chen Mu’s mind go suddenly off-the-rails wild. Gritting his teeth and not uttering a cry, he sprang toward his adversary with terrifying speed as though his legs were coiled.

Having gone through all those exercise gymnastics, Chen Mu’s body had terrifying explosive power.

His opponent had clearly never imagined that Chen Mu wasn’t afraid of even arrow-bolts, as his eyes flashed some uncontrolled confusion. Whether or not it was because of that, the third arrow bolt skewed a little and didn’t hit Chen Mu.

From between the two arms that were guarding his face, he could see Chen Mu’s savagely murderous face. It was especially those two eyes which were as ruthless as an enraged lion.

The third arrow bolt going astray sent the boy into a confusion. He clearly had no real experience fighting, and already intimidated by Chen Mu’s death-defying charge, he became entirely flustered as the distance between them shrank.