The Card Apprentice

Chapter 165: The Big Bug

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

The terrified youths gathered together, though they showed a lot more strength than when they had encountered the swarm of ants. They were growing up very quickly. They had closed ranks unconsciously to give themselves some feeling of security. Within the group, Li Duhong had fixed his gaze on Chen Mu with his closed eyes, knowing that Chen Mu was certainly up to something. Although he didn’t know why Chen Mu closed his eyes, he remembered very clearly the time when they had run into the brilliant apes; Chen Mu had also closed his eyes at the outset.

The teacher is surely up to something! Li Duhong’s little face flushed a deep red as he burned with anxiety.

Ever since the last time, Chen Mu had started to be more moderate toward the use of breath control. The powerful side effects made him believe if he were to enter the state of breath control without restraint, he would very likely perish in that state. He felt he was making a deal with the devil, putting his own life on the line in exchange for some temporary strength.

It was a messed-up bargain for sure, although every time he was about to face danger, he would find he had no other choice!

What a helpless life!

Chen Mu opened his eyes and shot up from the ground into the forest like an artillery shell bursting from a cannon.

The teacher has made his move! Li Duhong was wringing his little fists, and it was hard to hide the excitement on his face.

Seeing Chen Mu make his move for the first time, the other children all dropped their jaws, watching stunned as Chen Mu made his gorgeous attack, so full of explosive power. At that moment, the encampment, which had been in an uproar of terror, abruptly turned extremely peaceful!

The peace lasted five seconds. The encampment roared back to life!

“Good Lord! Mr. Chen really is an ace!”

“Teacher Chen had talked about how he could fly. Mr. Chen is really awesome!”

“Way too cool! I want to learn to fly!”

Li Duhong was looking disdainfully at those buzzing children, sunken into their fanaticism. They completely forgot how fanatical and worshipful he had been that day. The shock of Chen Mu’s sudden move had softened the terror in their hearts.

Li Duhong was gazing spellbound toward the deep jungle, bound never to forget the teacher’s eyes for his whole life! Although Chen Mu was normally quite good-natured, even, and moderate, Li Duhong still knew underneath that mild exterior was hidden a pair of eyes that held the grim reaper’s chilly contempt for life or death.

Chen Mu was very quick; the “big mud fish” let him shuttle effortlessly through the jungle, and in the state of breath control he was able to discern Wei-ah’s position in an extremely short time. If some ace were to carefully observe the scene, he would be stunned to discover that Chen Mu’s way in was made of countless very fine threads. The winding path of those little threads was the optimal path under the circumstances.

That had required some kind of stunning calculation ability.

Chen Mu found Wei-ah.

Wei-ah had a calm expression as he confronted a large-scale bug encased by a carapace. As soon as Chen Mu saw such a large bug standing a couple of meters tall, with its carapace shining black, he knew how hard it was. With its body supported by six legs, it could move with extreme nimbleness and grace. It had two shining, black sickle-shaped claws in front, on top of which were crammed rows of barbs as thick as a thumb. The sharp barbs struck a chill straight to the heart. Its pair of rich, green little eyes were fiercely staring down Wei-ah.

Chen Mu felt the bug was invincible as soon as he saw it. Its whole body was covered by the hard carapace, and the pace of its movements on those feet was extremely quick, with no awkwardness at all. Wei-ah looked like a delicate baby in front of it with empty fists.

Chen Mu then finally saw how Wei-ah fought.

Wei-ah suddenly charged the big bug, with the speed of his movements too hard for Chen Mu to capture, even in the state of breath control. Chen Mu made an almost unconscious calculation, which floated up some rough data in his mind. He calculated that in that first instant, even in the state of breath control, he would be defeated without any doubt if he were facing Wei-ah. Chen Mu’s reaction time was far deficient!

The big bug was evidently rather scared in the face of Wei-ah, the two barbs of its forward claws glinting coldly. It raised them toward Wei-ah, who was charging it.

It exceeded his own reaction time! Chen Mu once again reached his discouraging verdict. If he were facing that big bug, he couldn’t come up with any better method than to run away.

Or maybe trying to strike with the tailless shuttle while floating in midair was a tactic worth trying.

Under the state of breath control, Chen Mu had neither grief nor joy. He felt cool as though he were watching himself from the side while his brain made a quick analysis.

Wei-ah suddenly bent down from his waist with his whole body nearly stuck to the ground, dodging the two cold, terrifying flashes as he drilled into the big bug’s belly.

Peng!

A sound reverberated in the jungle as though something had pounded hard on a steel plate, hurting Chen Mu’s ears in midair and nearly dropping him from the sky.

The big bug had been kicked up into midair by Wei-ah!

Too fast! Wei-ah’s leg just then had been as quick as lightning, and Chen Mu could only see a ghost of it. That had been Chen Mu’s first time being unable to discern his adversary’s moves while in the state of breath control. The power of Wei-ah’s leg had kicked the big bug seven or eight meters into the air.

Wei-ah withdrew slightly, waiting for the big bug to fall.

Wei-ah could then only be seen disappearing into a ball, circling around the big bug’s body, launching his frantic attacks. The dense hits pounded the ears incessantly along with a big bang, and the over-two-meter-tall big bug kept spurting off.

It was Chen Mu’s first time to encounter such a fierce style of attack. He naturally wasn’t scared in the state of breath control, though a rough set of data was produced in his brain like bright red numbers, incomparably eye-grabbing.

He had no way to keep up with his adversary’s tempo! His success rate would have been less than 8 percent!

That set of calculations and rough data kept hitting Chen Mu over and over. While his gaze was still as indifferent as ever, a rare fluctuation still appeared in Chen Mu’s frame of mind.

The vitality of the big bug was incomparably resilient, however. Even suffering Wei-ah’s attacks, which were like howling wind and torrential rain, it remained completely unharmed. It shook right back up, looking only slightly wilted, though its two brilliant green eyes were still fiercely staring at Wei-ah.

One man and one bug confronted one another again. That series of confrontations just then—so fast the eye couldn’t see them, like sparks from a flint—lasted only a few seconds.

There was no expression on Wei-ah’s face, but it could be seen from his heaving chest that it hadn’t been an easy series of moves for him.

“Do you have a way?” Wei-ah suddenly opened his mouth, having discovered Chen Mu earlier.

Chen Mu said nothing, while he directly shot off three tailless shuttles!

Three in a row! A strange howl suddenly sounded as they shot toward the big bug.

The big bug was stunned, and its feet moved fast, wanting to dodge the tailless shuttles coming from the sky. But, the speed of the shuttles had exceeded its imagining, and it was only able to move away by a small step.

Pa, pa, pa!

Three tailless shuttles struck its shell, sending off a spray of fragments.

Chen Mu looked at the big bug without any expression. He had been aiming at its eyes just then, never having thought the reaction of the big bug would so far exceed what he had imagined. It was his first encounter with a creature that could dodge the tailless shuttle. The creatures from the jungle were really awesome for just any old bug to be so much trouble.

The three tailless shuttles surprisingly hadn’t left a mark on the big bug’s carapace. If Chen Mu hadn’t been in the state of breath control, his expression would certainly have transformed, but he was showing as blank an expression as ever just then. He had no good ideas since the tailless shuttle was already the most awesome attack method he could use. The three combined shots were the limit of his goals.

Wei-ah also felt embarrassed. The big bug’s carapace really was too hard, and his attacks were of no use. He hadn’t thought that even Chen Mu’s attacks wouldn’t have the slightest result.

They had encountered such a plight the first time the two joined forces.

The two of them were helpless, and the big bug hadn’t forgotten about them. It couldn’t do anything about Chen Mu in midair, but Wei-ah was still right in front of it. Once the brilliant green eyes fixed on him, it pounced murderously toward Wei-ah. It was so fast that in the blink of an eye, it had rushed in front of Wei-ah, and the barb-shaped front claws became two empty shadows sweeping toward him.

Wei-ah deftly dodged away. But, the tree behind him, which was as thick as a bowl’s mouth, suffered a calamity. With a whoosh, all that was left was a glossy stump.

The big bug didn’t leave things there; it continued its deadly pursuit of Wei-ah. Its pair of barb-like forward claws were two lethal weapons that could easily split open a rock. Despite that, it still couldn’t hit a corner of Wei-ah’s clothes because of Wei-ah’s facile dodging. He didn’t have any efficacious method in front of him; he was just able to dodge and conserve his strength.

The scene could be called hair-raising. It seemed as though Wei-ah could be lost at any moment under the barbs.

Without showing the slightest reaction from midair, Chen Mu was blankly watching what was happening in front of him while his brain spun at shocking speed. Every slightest little movement of the big bug was being precisely captured, and the information gathered was immediately analyzed in his brain.

The big bug was very tightly protecting its eyes, using its two barbs like shields, very carefully protecting its front. If it were a little off, it would have completely covered its eyes.

From the start until then, the entire scene flashed in front of Chen Mu’s brain incessantly. Each scene was decomposed into countless details, and each detail’s information was compiled again by his brain to come up with an entirely new model.

One minute and 20 seconds passed, and Chen Mu had finally found where the big bug’s weak point was!

He had only 30 seconds left!

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