The Card Apprentice Chapter 24

Aragorn's bodyguard gave a silent sigh and knew they had lost this time. Normally, he could easily deal with dozens of such hooligans by himself. But unexpectedly, the crux of today's battle was actually these two hooligans.

Chen Mu was feeling a bit excited but also somewhat surprised. He felt that today's fight was a bit different from previous ones. He had a very clear feeling of being able freely wield his power.

What surprised him though was something else.

In that moment where he struck out with his wooden stool, his opponent's movements seemed to decelerate as if in a slow-motion video. This allowed him to effortlessly strike that unlucky student. This sort of feeling was unprecedented and felt great. However, it came suddenly but also left suddenly; in a blink of an eye, Chen Mu's world reverted back to normal.

If he didn't take into account that they were at a university and his opponent was a student and not a gangster, Chen Mu would have taken his life with that blow.

Harsh reality had already taught him and Lei Zi the lesson of not giving their opponents a second chance. Anyone like them who had experienced the vicissitudes of life knew this basic point.

Looks like the exercises these past few days had some impact. Chen Mu had some guesses but was also a bit uncertain. He could feel that his control of force was more accurate and skillful. In the past, his strike would not have been so clean.

Although that suddenly slowed down world was only for an instant, Chen Mu was already deeply fascinated by it.

He was excited and not fearful at all. In fact, he even hoped that this group of people would rush at him so as to let him enter that magical world again.

Seeing Chen Mu and Lei Zi's eyes, Aragorn's own eyes flashed with fear.

These two people were different from Zuo Tingyi.

No matter how big of a conflict he and Zuo Tingyi got into, they would never end up harming each other physically; at most, they would lose some of the forces they control. This was one of the unspoken rules at Dong Wei Institute. Those previous rumours where he got dragged into the citadel garrison by Chen Xin Yi's brother and suffered untold torment were just that - rumours. In fact, he only got a stern talking to by Xin Yi's brother.

This is probably the special characteristic of conflicts between these well-to-do youths.

After they grow up, they may become actual life and death enemies. But right now, before they're completely independent, they need to have restraint. This is one of Tianyou Federation's upper society's rules.

No one else had ever brought Aragorn such trepidation before. He believed that in awhile, if all his underlings ran away or was smacked down… these two ruthless fellows would not hesitate to also raise their wooden chairs towards him. Taking a look at his bodyguard, he lost his remaining shred of hope. Right now, his bodyguard and Hong Tao were just like two roosters, staring each other down.

Thinking of that fallen brother who was still crying and curled up like a shrimp on the ground, Aragorn's felt his heart tightened.

Aragorn gave a nervous gulp. His forehead was already covered in sweat.

A hero does not suffer an obvious loss1 - he quickly thought. Though the disciplinary committee seemed bad, at most he would suffer a loss of face and not come to any bodily harm. But staying here was different! His eyes were glued to the swaying chair held in Chen Mu's hands.

Looking carefully at these two, Aragorn found that one was dressed up flamboyantly though everything he was wearing was cheap. However, anyone could tell from the glint in his eyes that this was a clever man. The other person was normal and ordinary. Ordinary looks, ordinary height and ordinary clothes. To someone like Aragorn who appreciated the finer things in life, such a person was quite coarse and plain. In terms of appearance, someone like this would be completely lost in the crowd.

But it was such a plain looking person who normally Aragorn wouldn't give a second glance at, that gave him a sense of fear. He felt that he couldn't see through this person at all. This was quite rare, as being from a merchant family, Aragorn had a very discerning eye. He did not expect that he would meet someone today he could not read at all.

Aragorn decided to temporarily compromise.

"Ok, I'll go to the disciplinary committee." Aragorn's words caused his group of underlings to give a long sigh of relief.

Thus, this matter ended just like that. Chen Mu and Lei Zi left first with no one daring to stop them. Zuo Tingyi wanted to stop them at first, but seeing that these two didn't even bother greeting them or saying goodbye, he and Hong Tao's expressions become a bit unsightly.

Chen Mu obviously did not concern himself with Zuo Tingyi and Hong Tao's expressions. Originally, Lei Zi wanted to greet them as even a blind man could see these two had quite the standing in Dong Wei Institute. Fighting on the same side today was enough to establish a basic friendship that would be useful for Lei Zi and Chen Mu's future development.

But after glancing at Chen Mu, Lei Zi did not end up speaking though he felt some regret.

Soon though, Lei Zi decided to forget about this bit of regret and excitedly said, "Heh, today's fight was awesome. Bullying weaklings2 sure felt good." But suddenly, he thought of a question, "Blockhead, did you eat some wrong medicine today? Why did you decide to butt in on today's thing? This isn't like you, yo."

"That girl helped me out once," Chen Mu's answer was simple.

"Ah," Lei Zi was surprised. "I say right, normally you aren't a busybody, how come you decided to meddle with today's thing. Come, spit it out, hehe, how did that chick help you out before? Though really, they don't seem to recognize you? They didn't even say hi after all."

"It had to do with creating Cards," Chen Mu explained that day's situation.

"Well, then today was as it should be," Lei Zi said understandingly.

Having been homeless youths before, they understood life's cold reality. Having seldom received help in the past, they all the more cherished any aid they received. Although this time, the other person only inadvertently helped out Chen Mu, Chen Mu still felt that he should repay their help. Though he did not expect to play any big role, he still felt he should try and help out. It was this line of thought that caused Chen Mu's behavior today.

Perhaps normal people would find this to be silly. But as someone who had experienced the same things as Chen Mu, Lei Zi felt it quite reasonable.

This event was only a small thing for Chen Mu and Lei Zi. From time to time though, the scene from the fight would surface in Chen Mu's mind. As for that girl, since he's repaid her kindness, no one owes anyone else anything. This was their way of life.

Do not be greedy. Do not expect too much. The priority is to stay alive. As for grudges, avenge yourself if you have the ability. Otherwise, write it down in your heart.

They did not know however, that during this time, Zuo Tingyi and Hong Tao had flipped the school upside down looking for them in vain.

Right now, Chen Mu and Lei Zi were hard at work creating their Card Film. This was not only about Lei Zi's dream but was also about Chen Mu's livelihood.

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1 - Metaphor/idiom for being smart and not willingly walking into disadvantageous situations.

2 - literally, "soft eggs".

Chapter end