The Card Apprentice

Chapter 91: To Meet

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

Chen Mu was thinking deeply as he rode on the shuttle train. The trip was undoubtedly his ultimate danger, especially at the point of getting off. If he could get through it, he wouldn’t be so far from true safety.

The trip was all underground for six hours from Eastern Shang-Wei City, and the shuttle train couldn’t stop in the middle.

Chen Mu carefully looked around where he was sitting. He’d already ridden the train quite a few times and was no stranger to it.

There was a woman of about thirty sitting next to him, wearing pain clothes without any accessories, who looked very kind.

“The Legend of Master Shi” was still playing in the coach. The workers on the train had made it their standard fare for the train when they found out how well it was received.

The woman beside him was watching “The Legend of Master Shi” card play with rapt attention. It was clearly her first time seeing it, as she was really taken in. She would sometimes cover her mouth in a gasp, or frown with concern about the fate of the protagonist.

Looking discreetly all around, he didn’t find anyone suspicious. Since everything was normal Chen Mu could relax a little.

He closed his eyes. With all the things that had happened in a row that day all giving him a feeling of urgency, it had made him feel worn out. He needed to rest, not knowing if he would run into some situation after a while, when his exhaustion would make his responses slower.

Suddenly without any warning it seemed as though something were squirming under his skin! Chen Mu was terrified when the feeling spread all over his body, and he opened his eyes.

Strongly restraining his pounding heart, Chen Mu glanced at the woman next to him who seemed very absorbed and wasn’t paying attention to him.

He carefully pulled up his sleeve and his face immediately changed.

A very fine light green thread could be vaguely seen creeping slowly along under his skin. The strange feeling that Chen Mu had just experienced was coming from that squirming. It would have been very difficult to find if he hadn’t been looking so closely, as it was a very fine light green filament as fine as a hair.

It was that green thread! Chen Mu was hit by a thunderbolt, as he was filled with terror. He would never be able to forget that scene when the demonic woman had drawn that green thread out from the corpse.

The spirit went out of Chen Mu’s eyes. He didn’t know if the feeling of the green thread creeping had sharpened because of his terror, but it saturated his back with sweat.

Although Chen Mu had guessed that the demonic woman had certainly done something to his body, he had never thought of the horrifying thread! Compared with that, the slowly-acting poisons that he had been imagining were like harmless snacks. He didn’t understand what the green thread really was. But he knew how deadly it was from his own witness.

It was squirming! What would it do next? Bore into his veins? Or pierce his heart?

Despite his mental endurance being stronger than before, he still felt a deep terror and despair.

Chen Mu would cut himself and impulsively draw that green thread right out. But he quickly discarded the idea. He would have to wait until he was calmer and could do some research.

The slowly squirming thread seemed to be carelessly hitting Chen Mu’s nerve fibers, and he felt a pain from his skin through to his bones. He couldn’t help a suppressed groan.

The sound of it startled the woman sitting next to him who was watching the card play. She then quickly pulled herself together and asked with concern, “Is something the matter with this student?” Chen Mu’s age had made it easy for her to assume that he was a student.

Pain! Chen Mu’s brain was buzzing, and everything around him seemed very far away. He didn’t hear what the woman beside him had said with his whole body in such pain that he would quickly lose any responsiveness at all.

The pain went through his whole body! It wasn’t only his arm. That light green very fine thread must have been several dozen meters long, enough to cover his whole body.

The fierce pain had made Chen Mu’s body curl up.

“Classmate, what wrong with you?” The woman next to Chen Mu had clearly been alarmed by Chen Mu’s appearance of suffering.

The youth next to her wasn’t making any sound, but his body so curled into a ball was trembling violently. She knew that would only happen under the most extreme suffering.

She became very worried. There weren’t any doctors on the shuttle train, which would have to wait until they arrived at Amay City. But there were still two hours before getting there. Seeing how the youth looked, he could be in danger at any time.

This kindly woman bent over, and lightly patted Chen Mu’s back, who had already curled into a ball, hoping to make him feel a little better.

Very quickly, she felt as though what she was doing was having some results, as his trembling was somewhat relieved. That made her very happy, as she kept patting Chen Mu on his back with her left hand.

Finally, after half a minute, the youth had started to calm down.

Chen Mu’s slack eyes started to regain their focus little by little, while the feeling in his body, the sound of the rushing shuttle train, and the talking of the people all around him gradually returned. His sweat soaked clothes were all stuck to his body very uncomfortably.

If there hadn’t been all that sweat to remind him, Chen Mu wouldn’t have been able to tell if what had just happened was a dream he’d just had while sleeping. The pain had been as overwhelming as a tide, and its departure had been like the wind, leaving without any trace.

Chen Mu was very warmed by the light patting and the concern and good feelings. He slowly straightened up, and thanked the woman beside him very sincerely, “Thank you madam!”

“Do you feel a little better? What happened just then? It scared me.” The woman asked with concern, since she really had been alarmed by Chen Mu’s look of suffering.

Chen Mu only said vaguely, “It was nothing, just an old ailment.” He had no idea himself, nor any idea about where he could find out about it.

“Ah!” The woman was surprised, and she looked at Chen Mu sympathetically, “Does it happen often? That must be awful!” She paused, and then said, “I know a few very famous doctors . . . ”

Chen Mu looked at the woman gratefully, but he still cut her off, “It doesn’t matter, it’s really a small problem.” Given his special circumstances, he didn’t know what sort of trouble would come from going to a doctor. The weird and unpredictable green thread might make those doctors curious, and for him just then, too much attention would be fatal.

Chen Mu also believed that ordinary doctors would have a difficult time succeeding to treat him for what the demonic woman had done.

Seeing Chen Mu so adamant, the woman changed the subject.

Chen Mu felt very grateful to the kind-hearted woman, and he could feel her concern for him. It was a feeling that he hadn’t had for a very long time.

Ever since the deadly pursuit from the Zuo household had started, Chen Mu had been increasingly gloomy, and was still more clearly so after running into the demonic woman. Running into danger at every turn had frayed his nerves. Having to be careful always to keep his distance from everyone around him gave him a much colder disposition that he’d ever had.

If you were to say that he had been living in the depths of a dark abyss, then the woman’s concern was like a ray of sunlight which made Chen Mu feel perfectly warm. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful woman in the world, without any doubt.

Chen Mu suddenly saw something very familiar hanging from the woman’s neck, and couldn’t help asking, “Madam, could you let me look at that thing you are wearing?”

“Are you talking about this?” She picked up the card hanging on her chest with her fingers, and seeing Chen Mu nod, she took it off to give it to Chen Mu while smiling lightly, “This is something left to me by my father that I recently had repaired, and now keep with me.”

No wonder he had recognized it, Chen Mu realized as he took it! It was the three-star energy cloaking card that he had recently restored, which contained that composition from which Chen Mu had gotten so much benefit.

He remembered the shopkeeper saying that the owner of the card was named Madam Ning. Could the one in front of him be Madam Ning?

Chen Mu asked cautiously, “You are Madam Ning?”

The woman was stunned, and looked at Chen Mu with wonder, “Do you know me?”

Chen Mu smiled lightly, while the muscles in his face were a little stiff, making his smile harder to look at than being about to cry, “I restored this card, and the shopkeeper sent along your invitation. I was very rude. I never thought you were Madam Ning.”

Madam Ning covered her red lips in astonishment, “Oh! You are that mid-grade card master? Good Lord, so young and already a mid-grade card master! That is too astonishing!”

He didn’t know why, but it was very easy to talk with that Madam Ning, having none of that feeling that his heart was in his throat that he always had at school where he always had to be so careful. He shook his head, “I’m no mid-grade card master, just a student at Eastern Wei Academy.”

“But, doesn’t one have to be a mid-grade card master to restore a three-star fantasy card?” Madam Ning had a dubious expression, though she quickly burst into a smile, “No matter what, thank you for repairing what my father left behind. I am truly grateful.”

“You are really too polite. It was my obligation.” Chen Mu quickly responded. He didn’t know if it was because he was far away from Eastern Shang-Wei City, but Chen Mu felt very relaxed. Even that kind of polite talk came more easily than it ever had.

Madam Ning was very happy to have found out that Chen Mu had restored her father’s card, and she very warmly said, “I have always wanted to ask you to eat by way of thanks, but the shopkeeper said you were always rather busy. Running into you today, you should certainly stop for a while at my humble house. You can’t refuse today.”

She was looking expectantly at Chen Mu.

Chen Mu was thinking that he didn’t want that rare good-hearted woman to get wrapped up in his troubles. He could only smile bitterly, “I’m afraid that today won’t be convenient either, as I have very important obligations. If you have some time next time, I will certainly pay a visit.”

Chen Mu knew that his paying a visit next time was nothing but a lie, since once he was off the train and through his final crisis, he would be leaving Amay City with the greatest possible speed. It was just too close to Eastern Shang-Wei City, and he wouldn’t be safe there.

Madam Ning could tell that he was evading her, which sharpened the concern in her eyes, knowing that he certainly did have something to do. She said with disappointment, “That really is a pity. But you must certainly come next time.”

The two of them kept chatting for a while, and without their knowing it, the shuttle train had already arrived at the Amay City station.

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