The Card Apprentice

Chapter 187: Butchie

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

A youth of about 12 appeared when the courtyard door was opened. He shouted in surprise when he saw the purple-clothed young woman. “Sister Butchie!” He turned behind him and shouted into the courtyard, “Ma, Sister Butchie is here!”

The young woman called Sister Butchie bent down and pinched the youth’s childish cheeks back and forth while laughing away. “Ha! Paxy is still so tender! This skin makes me so jealous!” Paxy was wailing his complaints but likely knew resistance was futile, and he would just have to endure the ravages of the purple-clothed young lady.

Not long after, there was the sound of rapid footsteps, and a 40-something-year-old woman wearing an apron came rushing out of the house. As soon as she saw the purple-clothed young woman, she called with a voice full of excitement, “Butchie!”

Butchie set Paxy loose and stood up while pulling off her sunglasses. She looked at the woman, smiling. “Sister Mei!” Her two eyes were as clear as gemstones, and she had an exquisite face. She was about 25 or 26, though her brow revealed a mature and valiant temperament.

Without knowing why, Sister Mei’s eyes went red, though she quickly and happily said, “Come in, come in. It’s about time to eat.” Then she complained, “Don’t you know how to announce your arrival?”

“Oh, I just got here, and I have something I need to do,” Butchie said, laughing.

“How long do you plan to stay this time?” Sister Mei asked with concern as she was walking into the house.

“I think it could be a while,” Butchie said with a helpless expression.

Paxy started jumping with joy off to the side. “Great! Sister Butchie can guide me in my card artisan lessons.”

“That child only thinks of card artisans.” Sister Mei was clearly not so thrilled about her son being so obsessed with card artisans.

Once at the table, Butchie was finishing off all the food in the dishes like a whirlwind, without any manners. Sister Mei’s eyes were full of doting. “Take care eating. No worries; there’s no one here to rob you, and there’s still more in the kitchen. How many days has it been since you’ve eaten? How could you be so hungry?”

“Three days,” Butchie said vaguely.

“Three days?” Sister Mei was taken aback and raised her eyebrows. “Do you mean to say you flew for three days?”

Butchie was wolfing down her food while she was nodding. Paxy was watching her adoringly from the side, it being nearly written all over him how much he adored her. To be able to fly for three days straight wasn’t something any ordinary card artisan could do.

Sister Mei abruptly put down her chopsticks and said unhappily, “How can you be so careless with your body? It’s a lot more convenient to ride the shuttle train these days. If you keep going like that, you’ll be sick when you get old.”

Butchie kept nodding while she kept stuffing her mouth with food. Seeing her looking so embarrassed, Sister Mei couldn’t help but pick up her chopsticks to keep giving Butchie more food.

When the food was done, Butchie patted her stomach and lay down on the floor without any regard for what it looked like. Paxy crawled next to her and asked with curiosity, “What were you doing flying so long, Sister Butchie?”

Butchie lifted her sharp chin in her comfort and said languidly, “Broke.”

Paxy didn’t understand. “Aren’t you awesome, Sister Butchie? How could you be broke?”

“Impulses are the devil. I carelessly bought this outfit and spent all my money,” Butchie said without concern, then added, “Oh. I brought you a present.”

Paxy became immediately excited. “I always knew Sister Butchie was the best! What’s the present?”

“Did I hear your perceptual level has reached the bottom of the second level?” Butchie asked casually.

“So it has. Paxy has been diligent all along.” Paxy stuck out his chest, although he grew quickly discouraged about how wimpy his chest was. Still, for his perception to reach the bottom range of the second level at 12 was a pretty fine result.

“I’m giving you this fiery dragon card.” Butchie took out a fiery dragon card from her pocket, which she had bought at an ordinary card shop in Pomelo. She only had 100,000 Oudi left on her to buy a present for her little nephew. After flying three days and nights and never imagining she would find a fiery dragon card for 80,000 in any old card shop, she immediately bought it as soon as she saw it.

Paxy took the card, overjoyed, having thought he would have to wait a long time before being able to have his own battle card. He had never expected such a wonderful surprise. Once his joy subsided, Paxy ran over to hug Butchie and gave her a kiss, saying joyfully, “Ha, now I know Sister Butchie is the best!”

“Hey, the little guy really knows how to flirt with his sister!” Butchie knocked him on the noggin, putting on a look of annoyance. Seeing the flustered Paxy warmed her heart. Those three days of flying hadn’t been wasted. Still, she rather brusquely grabbed Paxy by the collar as he was about to rush off, bringing him in front of her.

“Now what wild place are you thinking of running off to?” Butchie raised her eyebrows. “With your perception at the bottom range of the second level, you can barely use the fiery dragon card. Once you reach level three, it will be a little easier for you. I’m telling you—if you use the fiery dragon card to bully people outside, never mind making your mother angry; you be careful, or I’ll paddle your butt.”

Paxy laughed and said, “Don’t try to scare me, Sister Butchie. I am very well behaved.” But, then he was tugging at Butchie’s arm. “Sister Butchie, how about you come teach me to use the fiery dragon card?”

After considering it, Butchie nodded. “Ok, but if you run into trouble, you’ll be down on your knees before your mother again, little brat.” She shouted into the kitchen, “Sister Mei, I’m taking Paxy out to play.”

Paxy’s mother’s voice came from the kitchen, “Go. Be careful, and don’t come back too late.”

While she answered, Butchie was lifting Paxy into the sky, and they flew off to more remote places. The population of Dongxing wasn’t that small, but there were a lot of remote spots. Looking around to be sure there wasn’t anyone else there, Butchie landed in a field with Paxy.

“The fiery dragon card is very simple to use. You only need to use your perception to guide the energy onto the fiery dragon card, and then you can get it to come forth. It’s so simple that I won’t say more than that.” Butchie negligently sat off to the side, sucking on a piece of straw and lying back lazily.

“Oh,” Paxy responded, only seeming to understand. He then pushed the button to activate his apparatus. His perceptual strength would have been sufficient to use perception to activate the apparatus. Paxy’s tender face was earnest, just like a little grown-up. He closed his eyes and carefully adjusted his perception.

Butchie looked at Paxy with admiration. While it might not be considered genius for a 12-year-old to be at the bottom of the second level, it would be considered excellent. Butchie really appreciated the serious expression Paxy was wearing then. After taking a look, Butchie pulled back her gaze since the fiery dragon card was so simple to control; she believed Paxy would certainly be able to launch the energy attack with ease.

Chewing on the stalk of straw in her mouth, the special, fresh taste of green grass was flooding it little by little.

Thinking of her mission at the time, she couldn’t help but worry. The enemies they would be confronting were a lot more powerful than any she’d faced before. Her gaze fell onto the apparatus on her wrist where the buckle had already been severely worn. There was a very clear mark on her wrist where she wore the apparatus.

Time had left its mark on her body, and without knowing it, she wasn’t young anymore. But, her spirits were roused once she thought about her own steadfast belief. At least she had a clear goal to strive for.

No matter how, she wanted to complete her mission. A look of firm resolve flashed across her exquisite face.

“Sister Butchie!” Paxy’s cries broke off her string of thought. She lifted her head in some surprise, asking with curiosity, “What’s up?”

Trying to hold back tears, he said, “It’s still no good. When I extend my perception into the fiery dragon card, it’s very strange how quickly it loses control, and then there’s no sign of it.”

“Impossible.” Butchie was taken aback and spoke unthinkingly. But, when she saw Paxy looking like he’d taken a blow, she immediately corrected herself. “Don’t worry, Paxy. Let Sister Butchie take a look to see if this fiery dragon card is broken.” Logically, there would certainly be a little difficulty to control the fiery dragon card at the low end of the second level of perception, but there shouldn’t have been any trouble to carry out the simplest attacks.

Taking the card, she put it into her own apparatus. Scenes from the time she’d spent practicing the fiery dragon card suddenly floated up in front of her, very far off and indistinct. The card seemed to excite some deep memories, putting her into a very brief trance.

What’s up today? I seem moody all of a sudden, Butchie sneered. Although, her movements hadn’t slowed; they were as practiced as ever. Paxy had long since swept away his haze, and he was watching his big sister expectantly. Butchie had been his idol ever since he was very small. That was since the first time he and his mother ran into Sister Butchie. He’d seen her invincible might with his own eyes as she alone took down five bad guys, rescuing him and his mother. Ever since then, he aspired to be a card artisan as awesome as Sister Butchie.

The moves she’d made back then had left a stunning trace on his mind, though he had never seen Sister Butchie make any moves since that time.

Now, he would be able to see Sister Butchie make a move! His tiny heart was immediately excited.

Of course, Paxy couldn’t compare with the power of Butchie. But, something went wrong when her perception made contact with the fiery dragon card.

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