The Card Apprentice

“Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus? Why are they interested in that?” Mobley found it strange.

Ah Zhe gave a handsome shrug. “Who knows? Maybe they feel like they’ve made a lot lately and wanted to buy something to make up for it! Ha ha!”

Mobley shook his head. “That couldn’t be. It’s not that you haven’t seen that gang; they’re not that short-sighted. Furthermore, they certainly know the value of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, which can’t even be bought with money.”

Ah Zhe remained as aloof as ever. “What does that have to do with us? They only came to us for some information. Yikes! Isn’t this a waste of the time we could use picking up girls?”

Not understanding Ah Zhe’s annoyance, Mobley said after thinking it over, “Ask around. If we don’t do a good job with the first thing they ask us to take care of, this ally of ours will have no way to relax. We need to put on a little display of our power.”

Ah Zhe tilted his head and thought about it before nodding. “You’re right. Mmmm, I’ll take care of it.”

Ah Zhe’s gaze suddenly fell behind Mobley, and his mouth curled into a grin as he laughed in a low voice. “Your sweetheart is here, Captain; I won’t be in your way. Don’t forget to tell me what you do.”

The expression on Mobley’s face suddenly became excited. Given Qing Qing’s power, at that distance, she would have had to hear them. Ah Zhe looked pleased and left with a big smile.

“Why are you up so late, Miss Qing Qing?” Mobley said, turning around. His expression had already returned to normal. He acted as though nothing was going on and looked at Qing Qing with a slight smile. It was really hard to imagine how such a cold, hard fellow could maintain such a gentlemanly expression at such a time.

Qing Qing wasn’t giving anything away on her jade face as her somewhat glazed eyes stared off into some indeterminate distance. Without knowing why, when he saw Qing Qing that way, Mobley felt a sense of loss in his heart.

“I couldn’t fall asleep and got up to take a stroll,” Qing Qing said lightly, her voice as faint as smoke.

The bitter taste in Mobley’s heart grew deeper, and his hardened face opened up into a smile. “Ha, going to bed late isn’t good for a woman’s complexion. It looks like old Mobs doesn’t provide such good hospitality to cause Miss Qing Qing to sleep so poorly.”

Qing Qing lightly shook her head and said quietly, “I have been very flattered by Captain Mo’s hospitality. You make me too ashamed to show my face by saying such things.” She then changed the topic. “I heard Captain Mo has already purchased the liquid extracts of the purple fluorescent ore, correct?”

Mobley’s expression turned businesslike. “Mmmm, although we haven’t gotten to the quantities Miss Qing Qing spoke of, we have already gotten one-tenth.”

“Oh, that’s enough to begin the first part of the preparation.” Qing Qing nodded calmly.

“I am grateful for Miss Qing Qing going through so much trouble,” Mobley said sincerely.

“You are too polite, Captain Mo. We each take what we need.” Qing Qing suddenly turned around and stared at Mobley with her bleary eyes. “I find it strange that Captain Mo is so trusting of me.”

Mobley remained calm under Qing Qing’s watch and met his counterpart’s gaze. When he looked at that face, which wouldn’t be considered gorgeous, his eyes showed a seldom-seen flash of obsession. But it was only a flash. His gaze returned to normal, thinking back to what Qing Qing had just said about each of them getting what they needed, which made his feeling of bitterness still heavier.

“Ha ha, although Old Mobs is a little dim-witted, I can still see Qing Qing is not someone to make a lot of empty talk. Moreover, didn’t Qing Qing just say the same thing? Everyone should get what they need.” Mobley put on a hearty smile.

Qing Qing smiled sweetly, and her exquisite, refined face was like 100 flowers blooming at once. It lit up Mobley’s eyes, his gaze drawn as though by a magnet, unable to break away.

“Captain Mo will certainly not regret our cooperation.”

* * *

In his coma, after countless ordeals, Chen Mu finally started to adapt little by little. The pain remained, but his consciousness had become slightly stronger. A calm state was good for consciousness; if he could achieve a deep, underlying state of serenity, he could even nourish his consciousness. But that wasn’t what Chen Mu was most focused on. He most cared about his discovery that once his consciousness could enter a state of serenity, he could greatly reduce the pain.

Nothing attracted him more than that did.

The interval between each wave of pain was minuscule. If he wanted to enter a state of serenity in such a short period of time, it would be as hard as climbing to heaven. Moreover, although the pain slightly weakened during that interval, it still hurt to the marrow. Unfortunately, Chen Mu had no other choice. He started to grit his teeth and try bit by bit to get himself to enter that deep state of serenity.

He made one try after another until he didn’t know how many times he had tried. The only thing he was grateful for was that he wasn’t someone with a more complex mind. That was why he wasn’t distracted by any miscellaneous thoughts under those conditions. In any case, Chen Mu never really had many stray thoughts.

Chen Mu felt that the process of groping his way into a state of serenity was a bit like entering the state of breath control. But at the outset, he had needed to try that over and over again until the frequency of the perceptual vibration was a perfect match. Now, there was a lot more interference, and the interval in which he could try was a lot shorter.

Each time he encountered an interval, Chen Mu would desperately start his try, which often finished in failure. Still, it was a good thing he couldn’t regret; he basically never got to the point of regret before the next wave of pain engulfed him like a tide. But each time the wave of pain passed, and his consciousness had slightly stabilized, he would start right back up with another try. Unable to sleep and in such pain, he had no strength to speak of anymore.

Chen Mu never stopped through cycle after cycle.

Without knowing how many waves of pain he had been through nor how many tries he had made, Chen Mu finally started to gradually get the knack. There were a few times when he did enter a state of deep serenity, and the great relief of pain was in itself a kind of happiness. One time, when he entered into that state of deep serenity, he felt nearly five waves of pain and forced them out from that state.

That excited Chen Mu! In that dark and noiseless world where all hope was lost, that was doubtlessly a beam of hope that had pierced the darkness. However, he didn’t know what that ray of hope might bring him in the end.

Chen Mu’s diligence quickly paid off, though. The number of times he could enter into the deep state of serenity grew greater and greater, and his speed became faster and faster!

He didn’t know why, but his consciousness seemed a lot stronger than it had been. During the bouts of pain, although he was still shaking, Chen Mu no longer felt in danger of collapse. Moreover—without knowing if it was because his consciousness was stronger—although the pain still hurt him to the bone, it seemed that it was somewhat lessened. Or, was it that his endurance had increased? Chen Mu couldn’t really know the difference.

But a strange transformation finally occurred. One of the times Chen Mu entered the deep state of serenity, the dark and soundless world finally changed after he’d endured ten successive waves of attack!

A fine line appeared in that dark world. It gave off a dim glow that was only vaguely visible. Chen Mu was stunned and abruptly came out of the state of serenity. At about the same time, the fine line disappeared.

What was it? Was it the green thread in his body? How could that have appeared there?

A series of questions appeared in Chen Mu’s consciousness. He couldn’t wait to re-enter the state he had just been in. Unfortunately, he didn’t know if it was because he was too eager, but it had become too difficult to enter the state of deep serenity. Chen Mu quickly understood that the existence of the question had altered his state of mind.

After he once again entered the deep state of serenity for more than ten waves, the green line reappeared. It was light at the beginning and only barely visible, but it changed over time until it became clearer and clearer. Chen Mu held out for 15 waves during that time after entering the state of deep serenity. He finally saw the green thread clearly. It was the green thread in his body, after all!

Although he didn’t know why it would show up, Chen Mu did consider it an opportunity. He wasn’t afraid of anything changing in that dark and soundless world since any change would have to be for the better!

The green thread had finally given that pitch black world a little color. He would certainly have enjoyed the light green glow if it wasn’t inside his body.

Chen Mu had one more objective. He wanted to know what might happen if he were able to remain in the state of deep tranquility even longer. He kept struggling toward that goal, having nothing else to do. In general, no distractions meant high efficiency.

The time he could endure got longer and longer—20 waves, 30 waves…

The green thread became increasingly clear until Chen Mu could see every part of it in detail. They were all tangled together like a knot. Chen Mu noticed that it wasn’t completely still but was in a state of very slow motion.

There was another strange transformation when he persevered in the state of deep serenity for 100 waves. Red! It became bright red! That was the color of blood! Then, there was the muscle tissue, the blood vessels, and all the organs…

All sorts of colors showed up in the previously dark world. Chen Mu was taken aback to find that everything he “saw” seemed to be the inside of his own body! He could clearly see how deeply inserted into his own flesh that green thread was. It was like a parasitic vine had formed a huge net in his body, clinging to his organs and looking like an awful anomaly.

If it weren’t for Chen Mu’s tough mental qualities and his having entered into the deep, emotionless state of serenity, he would have been scared to death by what was in front of him!

Suddenly, everything in front of him broke apart, and he once again sank into the dark.

Except…