The Card Apprentice

Chapter 76: Lin Jiu

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Hey, let’s go eat.” Chen Mu was awakened by Lin Jiu’s words.

Chen Mu struggled to make his expression more regular, and nodded his head, “OK.” Then he got up, and smoothly picked up the flyer and put it into his pocket.

Seeing what Chen Mu had done, Lin Jiu showed some interest and said, “Are you interested in that?”

“Could be good.” Chen Mu then asked Lin Jiu with a normal expression, “Where shall we eat?”

“Oh, let’s go to the House of Fragrant Swishes. I’ve heard they have tasty food.” Lin Jiu pointed, with a look of familiarity about where he was.

The House of Fragrant Swishes was an upscale restaurant inside of Eastern Wei Academy which had a classical style. There was a waterfall screening the entry, giving people a feeling of fantasy.

It felt secluded upon entry, as though it were cut off from the outside by the screen of water. The two of them suddenly saw the garden-style scenery in front of them, with an ancient-looking skylight bringing in the outside light. There was a slight dampness to the air, which gave one’s sprits a boost.

The layout of the scenery was extremely clever, and even someone as simple as Chen Mu couldn’t help feeling enchanted.

After some haggling, the waitress took them to a small booth.

“Eastern Wei Academy is really a great place, I’m really surprised that even this restaurant is at such a high level.” Lin Jiu couldn’t avoid some words of praise as soon as he sat down.

Chen Mu picked up the tea from the table in both hands, and carefully drank some. His expression was calm, while being actually quite nervous, since he didn’t want to be the slightest bit careless.

Lin Jiu didn’t mind seeing Chen Mu not talking as he drank his tea in a leisurely fashion. He then glanced at Chen Mu and said laughing, “That was a very sharp shot you took today, Brother Yao. It opened my eyes. I had heard that the Yao family card artisan’s close-in fighting was superbly fierce, and seeing it today, I see that it’s not an empty legend!”

The Yao family? Chen Mu didn’t know what the Yao family from Lin Jiu’s mouth was, but he guessed that Lin Jiu had probably mistook him for someone from that Yao family. He didn’t choose to correct him, but just dipped his head to sip tea.

“I wonder where in the Yao family Brother Yao stands?” Lin Jiu said with a smile, and then quickly added, “I wonder how you felt yesterday?”

Chen Mu mentally jerked his head up, and focused his vision like a needle on Lin Jiu, and then finally uttered his first word since entering the House of Fragrant Swishes, “Was it you?”

Lin Jiu’s heart jumped, as he quickly waved him off, with an expression of not being able to laugh or cry, “How could it be me? My strength hasn’t gotten to the point of being able to use the Star Lure card.”

“Star Lure card?” Chen Mu’s expression softened, as he chewed absent-mindedly.

“Ha ha, it would be perfectly normal for Brother Yao not to have heard of the Star Lure card. I only just heard about it by coincidence. At the Star Academy, it is quite well-known, though.” Lin Jiu went on to show his familiarity, “The Star Lure card can set off the Star Lure trap. It’s said that after the Star Lure card has been mastered to a high level, it can lure people into messing up their perception to the point of collapse. It is very powerful. And the more acute one’s perception, the more easily one could be harmed by the Star Lure Trap. But the Star Lure card training isn’t easy. If you want to train to a high level, you need to have extremely high innate ability. At the Star Academy right now, there are pitifully few scholars who specialize in the Star Lure card. The guy who deployed it yesterday was some kind of ace. With the decline of the Star Academy these last few years, in addition to their being sealed off unto themselves, I’m afraid that only they themselves would know what kinds of aces there are among them. There really are too many awesome things in such an old academy.”

Lin Jiu sounded full of emotion as he was speaking.

Chen Mu was digesting the information from Lin Jiu, and answered ambiguously, “Certainly awesome.”

“Still, there are generations of aces in this world, and we wouldn’t want to let the Star Academy steal all the thunder.” Holding back a cold smile, Lin Jiu said, “With the Star Lure so awesome, could it be broken by anyone? I’m afraid that brother bamboo-stalk has already been seriously injured, ha ha.”

While Lin Jiu was putting on a display of proud laughter, he was paying close attention to the fact that Chen Mu’s expression hadn’t changed at all, which filled him with awe. This person’s emotional self-control has gotten to an extremely powerful place. When did the Yao family produce someone this awesome? His brain was spinning.

“Oh, there’s even some ace who can contend with the Star Academy?” Chen Mu asked with a lot of curiosity. From what Lin Jiu was saying, the reason that he was able to escape from the Star Lure was probably because that ace had made the move!

“I’m not clear who it is, but he sure is incredibly skilled. Being able to break the Star Lure card is something we can’t hope to catch up to.” Lin Jiu suddenly responded, and then laughed, “Of course we’re not sure about Brother Yao’s strength. I have great expectations for you.”

“I won’t meet them.” Chen Mu concluded very succinctly.

Lin Jiu laughed, while still feeling unconvinced, since the Yao family way was fierce. Outsiders had commented that the Yao family was more than brave, but lacking in ingenuity. But this Yao Ke in front of him looked as hard as a rock. No matter what I say to lure him, he doesn’t respond.

Chen Mu was also contemplating. While he wasn’t clear where that Lin Jiu had come from, he had no doubt that he had the same objective as himself. Without knowing clearly what forces Lin Jiu belonged to in the end, he was clear as could be on that matter. He had also found out that Lin Jiu was broadly informed, since he had never heard of many of the things which Lin Jiu had talked about.

Such as the Yao family; and such as the Star Lure card. . .

Both of them became silent at the same time, and the atmosphere abruptly became strange.

The two of them quickly finished eating, and parted politely.

Returning to the dormitory, Chen Mu immediately activated his communications card, which only had one number, that of the demonic woman.

A glowing screen appeared in front of him, on which the demonic woman’s image appeared.

“I need to know about the strength of the Yao family’s so-called close-in fighting and about the Star Lure card.” Chen Mu directly expressed what he needed help with.

With indifferent eyes, the demonic woman nodded, “OK.”

That was how the first time communicating with the communications card concluded. As he closed his communicator, Chen Mu immediately remembered that flyer. He pulled it out from his pocket and read its conditions one by one, when he quickly determined what the goal of this so-called fantasy card making competition really was.

He remembered Qing Qing’s response that day when the little girl called Tang Tang brought up the “Chance Encounter” fantasy cards.

The requirements on the flyer were simply tailor-made for him. Most of the prizes on the leaflet were for fantasy cards which had the most dynamic moving-image content. Chen Mu was certain that he was their objective, or more precisely, the token-related skills that he had mastered!

He casually threw the leaflet into the trash can. Although that set of famous pens was precious, what was it when weighed against his life. It was easy enough for him to sort out which weighed more.

Was the token technique really so attractive to people? Such that even the Star Academy couldn’t escape it? Chen Mu sank into deep thought.

* * *

Bai Zheyuan and Wang Hao were chatting privately at the low grade fantasy card club.

“Have you found out why the Zuo household is in such dread of Chen Mu, wanting him dead, even at the expense of so many conditions.” Bai Zheyuan looked imposing.

“From the intelligence we have in front of us, Yu Xin from the Zuo household was probably killed at Chen Mu’s hand! Chen Mu has an extremely powerful battle card in his hands. Not only that, but it’s said that he is connected with a card play set.” Wang Hao said.

“Card play?” Bai Zheyuan’s frown deepened, “What kind of card play is worth the Zuo family getting into this kind of fight?”

That’s still unclear.” Wang Hao looked somewhat terrified.

“Continue looking into it.” Bai Zheyuan ordered peremptorily.

“Yes, sir!” Wang Hao immediately responded, turning around to look at Bai Zheyuan’s expression, saying carefully, “Copper hasn’t been in a good frame of mind these days, perhaps dissatisfied with our having no activity.”

“Ai.” Bai Zheyuan let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his extended fingers, “This is also something we can’t do anything about. Now isn’t the time to tear into the Zuo household, not to mention that we have no way to refuse the price they have set this time. I’ll find some time to chat with him about the matter.”

Wang Hao bowed in understanding, and then respectfully left Bai Zheyuan’s office. Bai Zheyuan’s expression was uncertain; he seemed to have some pity and some regret.

* * *

The demonic woman was very efficient, and Chen Mu very quickly obtained some information about the Yao family. What was strange was that no intelligence was found on the Star Lure card.

The Yao family was a small clan – a declining card artisan clan – which as of now had very few remaining close-fighting card artisans. Chen Mu hadn’t imagined that Lin Jiu would know so much about such a small clan. This guy really had broad experience.

There was another piece of information which got his attention. The patriarch of the previous generation of the Yao family had spent five years in the Desert Camp.

The Desert Camp was in the Northern Reaches, one of the six great academies. They were a well-matched adversary with Star Academy. Compared with the mystery of the Star Academy, people brought up a different feeling about the Desert Camp. Among the five flourishing regions, the Northern Reaches were originally known for their wild folk customs. The people were as fierce as fire, with an extremely martial spirit. The Desert Camp had also been producing large numbers of aces those last few years, with no shortages of capable people.

It was also said that the internal competition in Desert Camp was extremely intense, and known for its ruthlessness.

No wonder Lin Jiu might guess that he was from the Yao family. Seeing that, Chen Mu felt a little proud.

The demonic woman’s methods were pretty amazing to have gotten such a detailed introduction to the Yao family. The Yao family had always followed the style of close-in fighting, being skilled in something called the “fish scale cloak” shelter card, which could cover the body with a protective layer of powerful energy. If you add to that their wrestling practice from an early age, it would be a very troublesome thing once they got close.

No wonder Lin Jiu might consider him to be from the Yao family. And with the blow he gave that muscular guy today, it must have seemed to him that he must be linked to the Yao family. He can wrestle, he’s named Yao, and he’s interested in the Star Academy. When you combine those together, it led to Lin Jiu making his erroneous determination.

But there were many card artisans who had wrestling skills. For example, many of those specializing in the fiery dragon, most of whom study some wrestling skills. But those card artisans weren’t so extreme as the Yao family, their wrestling skills being used only as auxiliary methods.

Lin Jiu probably didn’t know that Chen Mu hadn’t gone beyond street fighting methods, which would never be considered wrestling skills. It was just that with his responsiveness and strength so much better than before, and having gone through so much training, he could achieve terrifying results.

Closely poring over all the material related to every aspect of the Yao family, it made a good cover identity as far as he was concerned.

The most important thing was that the Yao family had the Desert Camp in its background, which was quite useful to him. He also considered that it was the most important part for Lin Jiu.

The things that had come up that day were all as planned.

He was a rookie who didn’t understand anything. If you let him do his job alone, he would have no idea where to start. But if he were to have an accomplice, and assuming that it was a mutually beneficial alliance, that could help him to get a lot of information. It would be a lot better than searching by himself.

But there was something very important if he were considering attracting someone else’s attention, and if he were thinking of forming an alliance, which was that he would have to have sufficient power. That was why he had been so harsh that day with his hit.

He was already very satisfied then about being able to connect with Lin Jiu, as the intelligence he had gained was very important to him. On the one hand he knew that no one had been targeting him the day before, which then let him relax his uptight mind a little. On the other, regarding the Star Lure card and the Yao family, every piece of intelligence was absolutely precious for him at that time.

Then he thought about that sullen-looking guy that day, wondering where he came from.

After pondering that for a bit, Chen Mu started his training. He was mindful of what the demonic woman had said, that ‘it would be easier for you to survive in the dark.’ He turned off the lights and closed the shades, and began training like a ghost in the dark.

Chen Mu got up as usual at daybreak the next day, and practiced a set of the exercise gymnastics before going to the classroom.

There were a few people scattered about in the classroom, since for those dorks who had been partying all night, there was no other possibility except that they were asleep. Lin Jiu gave Chen Mu a smiling greeting, and Chen Mu nodded back.

Others in the class were watching the look in Chen Mu’s eyes with some trepidation, since his actions the day before had already branded him as a bad guy. He was no stranger to that scene, since whenever punks on the street run into some rough patch, they all had that same look.

He pretended to look carelessly into the corners, where the sullen boy was sitting quietly.

Chen Mu was as fascinated as always by the class, not letting himself be bothered by what was on his mind.

In any case, the demonic woman hadn’t stipulated when he should have what results, so for a rookie like him the more impatient he was the easier it would be to expose his flaws.

So, Chen Mu just went ahead and paid attention to the class.

Unlike Lin Jiu, Chen Mu was genuinely enamored with the study of card making, being very interested in the knowledge. He didn’t think that the professor’s lecture was dull at all.

Sometimes he would have the misapprehension that he was really there to study card making. And whenever he would come back to his senses from his fascination with the class, he couldn’t avoid the bitterness in his heart.

If . . . If he were truly only an ordinary student, it would be so much better!

That big fantasy card competition was in full swing like a wildfire. Just as Chen Mu had thought, with such an estimable prize, it had raised a commotion across the campus. It wasn’t only all of the students with ability that participated; even some of those card-making department professors signed on in a flurry.

But it had nothing to do with him, as Chen Mu had made up his mind to look on passively from the side.

The weekend soon arrived, which was the two days during the week when the students at Eastern Wei Academy were allowed to leave campus. Looking back at the week, apart from meeting Lin Jiu, he really hadn’t had anything to do with the Star Academy. What he had a lot to do with was knowledge about card making. Aside from listening through the rest of the classes, the teacher had also assigned some exercises which he could finish after his training, though without handing them in.

Returning to the villa, the demonic woman’s expression was as always. She didn’t ask anything about what he’d gathered at school, and only checked on the results of Chen Mu’s training, pointing out a few mistakes.

Since she hadn’t asked, Chen Mu was happy to continue his training.

Chen Mu suddenly opened his eyes at night in the dark corner. At the same time, the door was being pushed gently open.

“Get up and change your clothes.” The demonic woman tossed Chen Mu a black suit.

Chen Mu immediately changed without asking anything. The demonic woman then tossed him a ghost-faced flower fruit, which Chen Mu caught. He put it in his mouth and bit it hard. When he looked in the mirror, his face was already covered with a strange face-layer. When he looked up, the demonic woman’s face had already been covered with a strange face.

“Let’s go.” The demonic woman grabbed Chen Mu and jumped right out the window.

Everything in front of him was immediately blurry, and there was the sound of wind in his ears, but after a while Chen Mu gradually adapted to the speed.

Previously, when he had watched the demonic woman moving, Chen Mu didn’t have any strong feeling. Then he was studying her skills with stealth and cover, and finally understood where her brilliance was. She was like the wisp of a ghost, shuttling back and forth in the shadows. She was always melting into the surroundings, making it hard to notice her. There were quite a few times when they passed right by people walking, but none of them noticed their existence.

This was what it was like to be grabbed by her.

The demonic woman was heading toward the outskirts of the city.

What was she doing taking him to the outer reaches so late at night? Chen Mu couldn’t help wondering.

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