The Card Apprentice

They couldn’t kill Qiu Shanyu, nor could they leave her out of sight; there was no guarantee she wouldn’t stab them suddenly. After thinking for a while, Chen Mu decided to give her a pill Wei-ah had made, but he didn’t mention the pill’s function. He was surprised when she simply swallowed it without even asking what it was for.

Looking at Qiu Shanyu swallowing the pill without so much as a frown, Chen Mu was awe-struck. Although it wasn’t the first time he’d had to deal with her, seeing her make that decision without hesitation made him much more cautious of her.

As if she’d done something ordinary, Qiu Shanyu asked Chen Mu calmly, “What else do you need me to do?”

Looking at her profoundly, Chen Mu said, “Let’s go.”

To his surprise, Qiu Shanyu had no perception abilities. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she had been from somewhere like Eastern Shang-Wei City, but it was rare for someone from the five flourishing districts. He then realized she didn’t seem to need any perception training anyway. Although he still didn’t know what Qiu Shanyu’s position was in Faya, there were indications that she by no means played a small role. With the protection of the bronze-masked man, her family must have had a prominent place in Faya. A young lady of such status had no reason to train her perception, of course.

Wei-ah didn’t want to help at all. Left with no choice, Chen Mu carried her himself. Since his physical strength had also recovered a little, flying wasn’t a problem.

As they carefully entered the city, Qiu Shanyu wore another mask of Chen Mu’s. As soon as they got there, he took her to purchase an outfit and a mask.

In the dressing room, Qiu Shanyu held the clothes she had just bought and looked at Chen Mu from head to toe. “What? Do you want to watch me change?” she quipped coldly.

Chen Mu was suddenly embarrassed, but he couldn’t let her alone in the dressing room. Who knew what she would do if left to her own devices? Even Chen Mu knew that while he trumped her in terms of fighting skills, he was no match for that woman in terms of her twisted strategies and scheming mind. Their relationship was extremely subtle. Qiu Shanyu was Chen Mu’s captive; however, she had enough bargaining chips in her hand, so Chen Mu also had to be quite hospitable toward her.

“Fine. Look on if you’d like.” Qiu Shanyu didn’t wait for Chen Mu to answer. She turned around and began to undress in front of him. Chen Mu may have been a courageous and solid man, but his face involuntarily turned red. Nonetheless, for security reasons, he couldn’t turn his head away.

Her smooth, bare back, her petite and sexy waist, her slender white legs…

Within a minute, Chen Mu was soaked in sweat. He laughed bitterly in his heart. That task should have been given to Wei-ah, someone who was like a rock. Looking at the gorgeous body in front of his eyes… While he had never experienced a woman, he still had instincts. Thus, a pain was born in him.

Okay. She is just a monkey. Just a monkey… Chen Mu began hypnotizing himself.

The scene presented before him was enough to boil a man’s blood, but Chen Mu did a good job keeping a calm face. He acted like it wasn’t a beautiful woman changing her clothes—it was just a monkey. When Qiu Shanyu finished, she turned and saw that Chen Mu was still expressionless.

“Not bad.” Her eyebrows raised slightly. She finished by putting on the mask Chen Mu had gotten her and pressed the door button. The automatic door opened, and she stepped out.

Chen Mu smiled wryly to himself. It hadn’t been thanks to his exceptional willpower, but to his completely stiffened facial muscles that had locked his expression.

Subtly altering his perception, a few green lights flashed on his hand, and Qiu Shanyu’s old clothes immediately turned into a pile of shreds. Chen Mu then used a heat card to burn the pile of shreds into ashes.

Although watching a beautiful female monkey change clothes had been a test of his will, Chen Mu had finally confirmed that she had no extra trinkets on her, which eased his mind a little. A large windbreaker was wrapped around her petite body, and a mask painted with golden sunflowers covered her face. No matter what angle one looked at her from, she didn’t seem to be at all related to the high and mighty Madam from Faya.

“The White Commander is back.” The card artisans in the building saw Chen Mu and quickly saluted him. They had nothing but admiration toward the mysterious White Commander. He seemed mute, indifferent, and arrogant, and he never communicated with his subordinates. His training menu completely drained their strength. Nonetheless, he had earned the respect of all of those card artisans.

He would never bully them like Ma Hu would, and they never had to worry about pleasing him. As long as they focused on training well, used all of their strength for training, and enhanced their strength, they would be rewarded. Moreover, what was more exciting than receiving surprised gazes when the card artisans of other houses saw their dramatic changes? The others’ eyes full of contempt and disdain were no longer to be seen, and they could always have their chests held high!

Chen Mu didn’t respond, but everyone had long grown used to it. Their attention was quickly placed on the new characters.

A woman! The White Commander actually brought a woman back!

Like a flame, the explosive news spread throughout the building rapidly. Of course, that had to be credited to Chen Mu’s fame. Shortly after having had dinner with Miss Xu Jia, he’d brought back another woman… One could only imagine the gossip! However, no one dared to point fingers at the White Commander, not to mention ask about him, but that didn’t stop them from their imaginations.

Xu Jia was prepared to go to bed. She had finally gotten away from the hustle and bustle of the evening. As she hummed a tune, her white feet hopped cheerfully to her big bed. Suddenly, her communication card rang.

According to the communication card guidebook, frequent usage of a communication card in a short period of time would cause an explosion. Xu Jia would soon verify that.

* * *

“No one could imagine that the famous Qiao Yuan, the great maker of the numbered series of cards, was hiding in the fallen Tai-shu family.” Qiu Shanyu dropped hints of ridicule and mockery.

Chen Mu closed the door, blocking all gazes from the outside. That was his dedicated training room. He checked all the nooks and crannies, making sure there were no monitoring devices. He then took his mask off and sat cross-legged on the ground.

Qiu Shanyu voiced her dissatisfaction. “What a crude room. You don’t even own a chair.”

“Please lower your expectations.” Chen Mu didn’t look up.

“Don’t tell me you usually sleep here. You have no sofa and no bed. Do you actually sleep on the floor?” Qiu Shanyu looked at Chen Mu like he was a monster. “Are you from the Bitter Solitude Temple? They don’t even meditate like you. At least they have futons.”

“Really?” Chen Mu still didn’t lift his head. “I don’t know much about the Bitter Solitude Temple.”

Looking at the floor, which couldn’t be described as clean, Qiu Shanyu couldn’t hide her slight hesitation. She finally chose a relatively clean instrument to sit down on.

“What are you doing in the Tai-shu household?” she asked as she casually took the mask off of her face.

“Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. This kind of thing may be useful to the green thread—I mean—Green Mark.” Since Qiu Shanyu knew of the existence of the Green Mark, he didn’t need to hide it from her.

If what she had said were true, they had a common goal in searching for the demonic woman. Moreover, Chen Mu felt that Qiu Shanyu was not lying.

“I’ve heard of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, but does it work on the Green Mark? I haven’t heard about this reaction.” She shook her head.

“We’ll find out.” Chen Mu didn’t explain; he trusted Sue Lochiro’s knowledge.

“Do the Tai-shus have the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?” Qiu Shanyu was surprised. “I didn’t expect them to have these resources. However, considering its rarity, Tai-shu Yong might not even want to negotiate.”

“Well, I haven’t talked to him yet,” Chen Mu said honestly.

“You haven’t talk to him?” Qiu Shanyu sneered. “You’re really useless!”

“What do you suggest I do?” Chen Mu couldn’t help but ask. Talking wasn’t his area of expertise.

The sneer in her tone grew heavier. “What? There’s so much! For example, if you can attack the Tai-shu family straight-on, it won’t be a problem with your powers. With the help of your friend, you can even just go into Tai-shu Yong’s bedroom! Tsk, tsk. You aren’t a just person, anyway. You know what? Why don’t you kidnap Tai-shu Cheng? I bet that’s even easier!”

Chen Mu suddenly felt like asking her had been a mistake. He was unwilling to resort to such extreme methods without an urgent need. He changed the subject. “Let’s talk about the Green Mark.”

Qiu Shanyu shook her head. “That’s all I know about the Green Mark. That thing on your wrist? That’s my first time seeing the real thing.”

Seeing that she didn’t seem to be acting, Chen Mu said, “You said you could find her, right?”

Qiu Shanyu turned solemn and said, “I have to understand the situation first. Tell me about your encounter with her from beginning to end.”

His time with the demonic woman had been short, and not much had actually happened. Chen Mu had only noticed a few details. When she had learned it had actually been a woman who had implanted the Green Mark in his body, Qiu Shanyu had obviously been stunned. After she listened to his story about the demonic woman, her battle with Qing Qing, and her subsequent disappearance, a murderous look flashed through her eyes for a moment. Chen Mu’s story made her fall into deep thought.

“Star Academy actually sent Qing Qing? Could that news actually be true?” Qiu Shanyu muttered to herself.

“News? What news? Is Qing Qing famous?” Chen Mu couldn’t help but ask.

Qiu Shanyu sneered, “Qing Qing has no name. Not many people in the whole federation know her name. However, she has another identity, and you must know her. She is the only one to have successfully graduated from Star Academy’s inner academy in the past few decades—the legendary genius card artisan of Star Academy!”

Chen Mu was surprised. He had only caught a glimpse of Qing Qing and hadn’t had the chance to witness her full strength. But he’d met Qing Qing a few times at Eastern Wei Academy. In his memory, she hadn’t seemed much different from ordinary students. He’d previously thought Qing Qing was just an ordinary student of Star Academy. He hadn’t expected her to have such a shocking identity!

He thought quickly and immediately noticed something strange. The sudden student meeting between Star Academy and Eastern Wei Academy, the appearance of Qing Qing at Eastern Wei Academy, the strange atmosphere on campus…

What had Star Academy plotted in the past? What was the news Qiu Shanyu had mentioned?