The Card Apprentice

Chapter 140: Li Duhong

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

The three of them were sitting beside a small lake, since finding water was something you had to do first in the outer reaches. All three of them looked haggard and ashen, with the cleanest being Bo Wen who would wash his face clean every day, having a certain standard of cleanliness.

Chen Mu and Bo Wen hadn’t been talking all along, having nothing to say.

Bo Wen presented a few small animals, swinging them in front of Chen Mu. Chen Mu didn’t change his gaze as he pulled out his heating card to start a fire. The heating card could directly heat food, but to save power they would gather sticks for a fire.

The flames soon leapt up. Chen Mu started to skin the prey, which he was pretty good at after a few days.

He finished very quickly and put the prepared animal on the spit to roast. Cheng Ying, who had been gathering berries nearby, hadn’t yet returned which put a frown on Chen Mu’s face, since she should have returned by then.

Chen Mu and Bo Wen looked at each other without thinking and saw the worry in each other’s eyes.

The two of them then abruptly stood when they vaguely heard Cheng Ying’s call for help.

Chen Mu and Bo Wen very hastily flew in the direction of the call for help. Seeing Chen Mu fall behind, Bo Wen couldn’t help flashing a look of contempt across his eyes.

The two of them had set off at the same time, but now Chen Mu had fallen behind by a body length.

Bo Wen had made the assessment to himself that while he had good strength, he wasn’t much as a person. It was no wonder Bo Wen thought that way, since knowing that they had set off at the same time and Chen Mu had fallen a body length behind after such a short time, it was clear that his counterpart’s strength wasn’t at his same level. But from Bo Wen’s point of view, while Chen Mu wasn’t any stronger than he was, he wasn’t deficient either. For Chen Mu to have fallen so far behind was a classic case of not making the effort.

Chen Mu wasn’t aware of that, since he’d already taken his speed to the maximum, and he hadn’t paid any attention to Bo Wen’s disdainful gaze.

He well understood that when he wasn’t in the state of breath control he wasn’t anything more than an amateur card artisan duffer. He naturally wouldn’t take the lead in this matter of rescuing someone. How could a novice like him compare with someone who had the power to control a four-star fantasy card?

The two of them saw Cheng Ying in the blink of an eye.

She was tightly protecting a dark-skinned little boy in a confrontation with a cruel iron salamander. It was about a meter long and shaped like a lizard with a flatter head but covered in dark shining scales which gave off a metallic sheen. It would shoot out its blood red tongue from time to time, and fresh blood could be smelled from a long way off.

Chen Mu was finally seeing Cheng Ying’s methods. There were some multicolored glowing dots floating in front of her. With a serious expression, Cheng Ying was gently waving her hands very slowly, though it seemed to Chen Mu that it was taking a lot of strength to do those movements.

He saw those colorful glowing spots form into a canopy like colorful rainfall shooting at the cruel iron salamander.

There was the light sound of dense popping and splitting.

That colorful rainfall which looked so weak was actually quite powerful, and the cruel iron salamander was cringing from it, with its body shaking from the blows. But his scaly skin was thick and hard, and even though the colorful rainfall had left some pockmarks on its body, it wasn’t doing any fatal damage.

And the colorful rain had enraged the iron salamander, so that it stormed after Cheng Ying. Ignoring the rainfall, it seemed to know that it wouldn’t cause him any mortal harm.

Bo Wen had no intention of doing anything, wanting to see Chen Mu’s means of attack. The other thing that the night of the cross was famous for was the “cross.” In his eyes, Chen Mu was mysterious and strange, and it was difficult to determine his depth. During the process of their last confrontation, he had never seen Chen Mu use that “cross.” At that distance launching off the “cross” was almost certain.

The salamander moved very quickly and not in any straight line but rather moved forward in a complicated kind of strange writing pattern, which was hard to predict.

Chen Mu didn’t make a move, or to be precise, he didn’t even lift a finger.

Given his speed, he was still too far away from Cheng Ying and the bipolar thunderball card had no way to reach. The only thing he had which could harm the salamander was the tailless shuttle card which was slow. Cheng Ying would already have been torn to pieces by the salamander by time he could shoot it off. He simply didn’t do anything, not to mention that the ace Bo Wen was next to him, so what use would his moves have?

Bo Wen had an ugly look on his face, never having thought that Chen Mu would be so utterly indifferent.

Those night of the cross card artisans were really a bunch of cold blooded guys! Didn’t he know that if Cheng Ying were to die, he wouldn’t live either? Or was he so sure that Bo Wen himself would make the move?

Despite the resentment that he felt, Bo Wen didn’t dare to delay his moves. Chen Mu showed no sign of doing anything and was looking on with an expression as though what was happening had nothing to do with him.

Bo Wen couldn’t restrain himself any longer and made his move. Three fist sized blood red wavy blades lined up end to end and sunk into the salamander’s body one after the other.

The salamander’s body went stiff and its eyes went suddenly slack, while its momentum kept it charging into Cheng Ying. Seeing how fast it was coming, Cheng Ying held the child as she deftly stepped aside. The cruel iron salamander kept on coming without moving, right up until it had stopped.

Amazing! Chen Mu was quietly speechless. Bo Wen’s power was really tough. The blood sharp card wasn’t sufficient to kill that salamander, but he hadn’t thought that Bo Wen could fire off three wavy blades at the same time, which reflected a stunning level of perceptual control. And the most crucial thing was that the three wavy blades’ hits were completely coordinated, which enabled the lethality of the wavy blades to be multiplied to their maximum, which then enabled them to tear open the cruel iron salamander’s thick and hard scaly skin.

Bo Wen didn’t look the least bit pleased. To have made the moves necessary to kill an iron salamander didn’t give him any pleasure. On the contrary, he felt as though he was fed up with Chen Mu, and no one felt any pleasure after choking on their food.

Bo Wen grunted feeling extremely dissatisfied and returned alone to the camp.

Cheng Ying was a little bit confused seeing that, and she asked Chen Mu in a low voice, “What’s up with him?”

Chen Mu shook his head, “I don’t know.”

He really didn’t know.

Only after he got back to the camp did Chen Mu pay attention to the child being held by Cheng Ying. It was about seven or eight years old with dark skin and a rather scrawny body, and dark eyes which flashed like agate.

How could there be people there?

Chen Mu and Bo Wen’s spirits were suddenly in synch. If there were people there, could it be that they were already close to leaving the jungle?

“What is your name?” Cheng Ying guided patiently, sitting down.

Probably because it had been Cheng Ying who had just saved him, he was a little friendlier to her. He stuck out his little head from Cheng Ying’s chest, with his face full of curiosity, and didn’t see anything scary.

“I’m called Li Duhong.” Although the child tried to express himself as though he were a little older, his childish voice made his actions look amusing and cute.

“Where is your house, Li Duhong? Why did you come here by yourself?” Cheng Ying asked very softly.

“My house is in the mountains.” Li Duhong’s dark glinting eyes looked a little crafty, as he went on to say, “I’m lost, big sister.”

In the mountains? That manner of speaking was just too generic, since the entire jungle could be said to be ‘in the mountains.’

Chen Mu was paying attention to Li Duhong’s spirits, and quietly understood that the small child was pretending to be little. His own childhood had taught him that if you thought that a child was completely simple, you would be mistaken. Glancing at Bo Wen and Cheng Ying, the two of them were intent on what LI Duhong was saying, and it was clear that they hadn’t taken note of the deceit. Maybe to them it was normal for that little child to speak so vaguely.

“How far away is your house?”

“A long long way!” Li Duhong was waving his two little arms in an exaggerated movement and expression. Cheng Ying smiled when she saw that and couldn’t help rubbing his little head.

Chen Mu was looking on coldly, having noticed that Li Duhong’s gaze toward them wasn’t full of goodwill, even though he had been smiling all along. On the contrary, it was alert and vigilant with a sense of hostility.

He was too familiar with that look. When he was still a street punk, he would draw that kind of look whenever he entered some other street punk’s scavenging area.

He didn’t interrupt since he knew it wouldn’t do any good. And if he were to speak up, Bo Wen and Cheng Ying wouldn’t believe him. That little guy called Li Duhong looked a little bizarre. He was alert and might pull off something shady, so it would be better to look on from the side to see what might happen.

For a child of seven or eight to show up in that kind of dangerous place was quite unreasonable.

He had surmised that the child’s house was certainly not far away. Lost? It would take strength to get lost in the jungle, otherwise he would have become the supper in some wild beast’s belly before he had gone very far. Far? If it were far, how could he be so safe and sound? If it were really far away, then that small child’s strength would be more amazing than theirs, and he wouldn’t have needed them to rescue him.

Chen Mu looked like a block of wood as he fixed his attention, sitting there with no expression.

“Do you live in the mountains?” Cheng Ying asked with curiosity.

“Yes, our village is in the mountains.” Li Duhong said very cleverly.

Then Bo Wen suddenly asked, “Village? How many are there in the village?”

Li Duhong’s eyes grew round, “A whole lot. I’ve never counted them.” He looked embarrassed after he said that, as though he’d disappointed someone.

Cheng Ying saw that and hastily changed the topic, “Have you always lived in the mountains?”

“Yep, we have always lived in the mountains. Big sister, where did you come from?” Li Duhong asked full of curiosity.

Cheng Ying smiled slightly, “We came from Amay City.”

“Amay City? What place is that?” Li Duhong was still more curious. Chen Mu noticed that he hadn’t been lying judging from his expression which Chen Mu had been watching from the side.

“That is a really big place, where a whole lot of people live.” Cheng Ying smiled ever more as she was saying that, imitating Li Duhong’s intonation just then.

“Big sister, will you take me home?” Li Duhong lifted his head and asked miserably.

“Cheng Ying’s gaze fell on Chen Mu and Bo Wen. Bo Wen nodded and said, “Let’s send him back. If we run into the adults, we can ask the way.” Cheng Ying then turned to look at Chen Mu.

“I have no opinion.” Chen Mu said quietly.

Bo Wen and Cheng Ying were in high spirits along the way, not having thought that they would come across any other humans in the jungle. In the vast dangerous jungle, not only couldn’t they tell things apart, if they wanted to depend on their own strength to continue on alive, the odds would be very low.