The Card Apprentice

Chapter 146: A Gifted Composition (I)

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

“The kid says that the person just then was his third brother.” Bo Wen was describing the situation. No matter how big the grudge was between the two of them, they could put it aside for a while. The situation was a lot more serious than they had thought, and they had no way to know what the village the kid came from was really like. But one thing they were certain of was that the village would be more powerful than Bo Wen and the rest of them. And they could see from how they had acted that they weren’t benevolent. That had made them have to be very cautious. Even though Bo Wen and Chen Mu were enemies, after so many days of travelling together they had established some mutual trust

Although that trust was somewhat fragile and unreliable, when it was compared with a bunch of complete strangers who were powerful and had a certain hostility, that was enough to allow them to drop their prior grudges for a while.

Chen Mu agreed, “That’s about what I thought.” His face was a waxy yellow, which was something that the demonic woman had coated him with which he still hadn’t been able to peel off, and which had to be amazing for how long-lasting it was. If it weren’t for that disguise, Bo Wen and Cheng Ying would have been able to see how haggard he looked after coming out from the state of breath control.

“I think they might be in contact with us right away.” Bo Wen took on a stern look, and the way he said “contact,” it was understood by everyone to be a dangerous contact.

After thinking it over, Chen Mu suddenly said, “Let’s go directly to their village.”

Cheng Ying’s expression changed, “Wouldn’t we be walking into their trap?”

Bo Wen said with a cold smile, “I was thinking of bringing that up too. We’re not their equal in the jungle, and we wouldn’t be able to get away from them. Given that, it would be better to go straight to their village, to see if we can find some opportunity.” He paused for a bit and then said, “Moreover, we still have the kid on our hands.”

Cheng Ying opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed it.

They hadn’t tried to keep what the three of them had been talking about from Li Duhong. His face had turned white when he heard what Bo Wen said.

Seeing Bo Wen and Chen Mu with that rare identical opinion, Cheng Ying then realized that it was probably the best way to deal with their plight just then.

Li Duhong then understood that apart from Cheng Ying, the other two weren’t so well disposed toward him, and he’d better not play any more tricks. Especially Chen Mu. Every time Chen Mu’s look grazed over him he would feel a chill over his whole body. The battle against the brilliant apes fixed in his mind that the man wasn’t someone he should provoke.

Surprisingly, Li Duhong fit right in after that. He wasn’t afraid, since he knew for sure that nothing would happen to him before they saw the people in the village. The only thing he was worried about was that if some conflict were to develop between them and the people in the village, he could be killed.

The little guy was weird, but he had become a lot more honest, and his normally shifty black eyes had become a lot more docile.

Chen Mu had also gone back to being ordinary, not seeming to be any different from an ordinary plodder, although both Bo Wen and Cheng Ying didn’t have any more doubts. Bo Wen was even wondering to himself whether that kind of ability to change his temperament wasn’t another skill of the “night of the cross,” which would enable them to hide in a crowd without being found out. Thinking that he’d seen through Chen Mu, Bo Wen couldn’t help marveling to himself how extraordinary the “night of the cross” really was. Some of the skills that didn’t seem to matter might be incredibly ingenious when put together.

Chen Mu suddenly turned around and said to Cheng Ying, “Let me take a look at your card.”

Cheng Ying was taken aback, and then immediately got excited. She hurriedly took out her card from her apparatus and presented it to Chen Mu with both hands. Why wouldn’t she be excited? Chen Mu was a card master with an “A” level of contribution points, and she never thought she would strike it so lucky. For card artisans, a suitable and powerful card would directly determine their battle power.

Chen Mu was thinking of the same thing, since for them at that time every bit of fighting strength was precious. Cheng Ying had rich experience and a lot of accomplished skills, but she was limited by her battle card, which could only bring a limited amount of power into play.

It wouldn’t be practical to tailor a new card for her, so Chen Mu wanted to see if he could make some improvements to that card.

Cheng Ying’s battle card was called the “starburst rain,” and it would emit small fine energy beams. Although it could cover a large scope, it had rather low power. Chen Mu had an idea as he looked it over.

“I will need linked stone, ten-scent grass, woodgrain, and the amber sap of the hibiscus.” Chen Mu said.

Cheng Ying went through her bag in a hurry, pulling out several materials along the way, “I have ten-scent grass and woodgrain, plus the amber sap, but I don’t have the linked stone.”

Chen Mu shook his head, “That won’t work.”

Cheng Ying’s disappointment was palpable, but there was nothing she could do, since linked rock was a very precious material, and extremely rare.

Bo Wen then opened his mouth, “I have some here.” He took out a yellow crystal about the size of his thumb from the bag stuck to his waist. It was a very fine piece of translucent linked stone, without any impurities. If such a linked stone were put up for auction in any city, it would go for over fifty million Oudi. Bo Wen put it in front of Chen Mu.

Suddenly excited, Cheng Ying could only incoherent say “Thanks!”

Bo Wen waved her off not to mention it, while his gaze fell to Chen Mu, wanting to see how he might modify a card in such a tough environment. The study of cards was known to be a fine life, which needed to be accompanied by precision equipment. But in that place, never mind precision equipment, there wasn’t even any simple ordinary equipment. A card master was basically someone who made cards, which didn’t come from nothing.

But after so many days of contact, Bo Wen had a certain level of understanding about Chen Mu. He wasn’t a big talker, and he wasn’t full of himself, and he wasn’t that likely to open his mouth to seize that job. People are curious, and Bo Wen was no different. He had never understood how the “night of the cross” had cultivated such a geek. Could it be that they had mastered the simultaneous study of both card artisan and card master skills? He didn’t really believe it. Those two things couldn’t be studied together. That was the iron rule deeply rooted in every card artisan and card master’s mind.

But he had to accept the fact of what was going on right in front of him.

Chen Mu looked around until his gaze fell onto a piece of green stone. He walked over and moved it to where they were. It was the most ordinary rock of the sort used for building material.

“Shape it into a small bowl.” Chen Mu said to Bo Wen.

Bo Wen very readily swapped out for his blood sharp card. A palm-sized bright-red wavy blade appeared, calmly floating above his palm. Bo Wen very casually cut the green stone, which demonstrated how strong his control of perception was, as well as his deep understanding of the wavy blade-type card, neither of which Chen Mu could equal.

The very fine red wavy blade was extremely sharp, and it cut through the green stone as though it were tofu. After a moment, Bo Wen had cut out a small bowl.

Li Duhong was looking on wide-eyed, as he watched with a great deal of curiosity while Bo Wen manipulated the bright red wavy blade to cut the green stone. He thought it was magic, and then he looked like he really wanted to touch it.

Chen Mu took the green stone bowl which Bo Wen had carved out, and put several materials into it, and then poured in some of the twin hook beast’s blood that Cheng Ying had given him before. The other three were staring into the small bowl in front of Chen Mu without blinking, all of them very curious.

Chen Mu pulled out a heating card from his own card-wallet, which he had brought with him just in case.

The heating card was a widely-used card, as for example, nearly every household had a heating pot at whose core was a heating card. Not only that, but a heating card was something that every card artisan needed for its broad utility. It could heat things within a certain scope, and the range and temperature were controlled through the heating card. The manipulation of the heating card also took some skill, such as that shown by Chen Mu just then.

The blood in the bowl started to steam a little, while the people all around didn’t feel any heat. That demonstrated the extent to which Chen Mu could control the heating card, with all of its heating energy concentrated in the bowl, and none of it lost.

The smell of the blood in the bowl gradually turned pungent, and all of their faces showed repugnance, with only Chen Mu staying rock-still. That kind of pungent smell lasted for three minutes, when it suddenly disappeared, and in its place was a rich and refreshing fragrance.

The three of them were all taken aback and then looked intoxicated. Even Bo Wen, the aristocratic offspring of a wealthy clan, showed the same expression of intoxication. A big clan like the Eastern Ning’s pursued a life of luxury, and what they spent on spices each year was a huge expense. A youth destined to rise like Bo Wen had already grown used to using all sorts of fragrances, though he had never smelled anything so rich without its being overpowering. It smelled like a fragrance that was comfortable to bask in.

It was the opposite of heavy scents, which often had an overpowering feeling, only suited for use by uninhibited women. If a fragrance was rich without being overpowering, it would be among the finest. For example, the yellow bee fragrance, which was the essence of the fire flower. But all those exceptional fragrances had a sky-high price. Even the grand families wouldn’t be able to use them. So, he couldn’t help himself from secretly writing down the materials.

The scarlet color of the liquid in the green stone bowl was fading from where it started, and after five minutes, it was already clear, and the scent had gradually grown subtle from its richness at the beginning, as though it almost wasn’t there, making people unconsciously struggle to capture its ethereal faint fragrance.

Linked stone, woodgrain, ten-scent grass, the amber sap of the hibiscus had all disappeared, with only a half bowl of clear liquid there, slightly rippling, until it was discovered that the clear liquid in the bowl was slowly becoming viscous.

That was when Chen Mu opened the bag of the “weak water” pen set.