The Card Apprentice

Thunder! Shriek! Their sight was completely covered in blue. The face of Chen Mu, who was taking shelter inside the cave, changed. From the cave’s entrance, he saw huge blue hailstones falling from the sky, one after another, hitting on the ground mercilessly like meteorites. He could feel quakes from the stones beneath him after every hit. Stone debris rained endlessly from the ceiling of the cave. Chen Mu could not hear anything besides the deafening sound of crashing.

As a safety measure, they chose to hide at the lower part of the cliff wall. Those areas were safer as the thick, and massive rocks above them became their roof of protection. But, that raised another concern. Chen Mu was afraid that no one would be able to leave this place alive if the roof collapsed. Even the strongest Energy Shield would not be able to withstand tens of thousands of tonnes of a mountain. The continually falling debris worsened Chen Mu’s worry. However, to leave the cave now was an act of suicide.

Crack! The cracking was almost inaudible amid the continuous thuds. Yet, for Chen Mu, it was like the call of the God of Thunder. His expression changed abruptly. As he lifted his head, he was surprised to see the cracks were gradually spreading into the shape of a spiderweb on the ceiling above Bogner!

Damn it! It’s going to collapse! The cave they created hastily could barely accommodate three people. Bogner was at the innermost part of the cave, while Chen Mu was at the outermost of the cave, and they were separated by Zara, the Demonic Woman. The cracks grew bigger and bigger, and it would collapse at any time! Unfortunately, there was simply no more space for Bogner to move.

Frightened, Bogner lifted his head to look at the ceiling above. His lips shivered as he stared at the fragmented rocks that were going to bury him soon. The fear he was feeling now was able to destroy anyone mentally! Surprisingly, Bogner regained his composure after a few seconds. He turned around, his face not looking too good. Then, he made a smile that was more miserable than a crying face. “Boss…. I’m going to meet up with Celia soon…”

A flashback ran through Chen Mu’s mind like a lightning bolt. For a split second, all the events lingered in his mind simultaneously, causing him to lose his ability to think. He appeared startled and terrified, his mind completely blank. His eyes turned red abruptly, but he was unaware of it. Without any sign, he reached out his right hand to grab the demonic woman’s breast! The demonic woman was shocked and tried to block Chen Mu with her elbow. Her gaze was so fierce that it could kill.

Chen Mu’s hands turned soft like an eel. His right hand went underneath Demonic Woman’s elbow, brushed under her rib and held Bogner’s collar tightly. Simultaneously, he blocked Demonic Woman’s sudden jerking right leg with his left arm while his right hand pulled Bogner’s collar with strenuous force! There was not much space between the three of them. Chen Mu’s move turned them into a sandwich. The Demonic Woman was pressed against Chen Mu’s chest as the three crammed together.

Thud! The ground, where Bogner was at a minute ago, was now covered in broken pieces of rocks. The cave was now filled with dust and soil. But, Bogner was fortunate to be pulled by Chen Mu and narrowly escaped from being buried alive. Even so, he was bleeding from a hit on the head by a piece of fallen rock. Crack! Crack! Crack! The crack steadily expanded from the ceiling towards the exit of the cave! Their hearts pounded in fear every time they heard the sound of cracking. The demonic woman could not hide her frightened expression anymore.

Crack! Crack! Crack! The fissure had once again arrived on top of Bogner, causing him to shut his eyes in despair. With his bloodshot eyes, Chen Mu let out a loud roar and pulled Bogner again with his utmost strength!

Half of Chen Mu’s body was already outside the cave! With half of his body outside the cave, he was almost blown away by the strong wind! A loud bang echoed as he glued his back to the rock. He felt as though he was being pressed against the wall and could not move at all!

This caused him to regain his consciousness suddenly, and the redness in his eyes subsided significantly. But in the next second, the tsunami of fear engulfed him and destroyed his all of his calmness. Despite not being as strong as Wei-ah, he was very much stronger than ordinary people. After consuming the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, the Green Mark in his body enhanced his body markedly. Only an extraordinary cardless sect could beat him in this aspect.

He never expected that the wind would pin him till he could not move an inch. He felt suffocated after a while! The wind was too strong, to the extent that he could not open his eyes and could barely breathe! Crack! Crack! Crack! The sound of the rocks cracking was like the Grim Reaper’s summoning, ringing clearly in Chen Mu’s ears.

Swoosh! A giant hailstone scarily brushed across half of Chen Mu’s body that was exposed. Chen Mu’s cheek was scratched by debris that fell from the ice cube. Rip! Part of his clothes were torn as though cut by a pair of scissors into countless pieces! Chen Mu could feel the exposed half of his body freezing! He had never faced a situation as miserable as this! The rainstorm showed no sign of subsiding, and the cracking sound of the stone approached them like the footsteps of the Grim Reaper!

Are we dying here today?

The thought flashed across Chen Mu’s mind. He could not ignore it as the thought was so vivid. He strained to open his eyes and was staggered by the distressed expression on Bogner’s face. Bogner came here for me… The thought was so intense that he forgot about the rainstorm despite being amongst the lightning and thunder. He is not supposed to die in front of me… The times he had spent with Bogner before now played through his eyes like a film. He’s been a great help to me…

A voice was speaking to him in his mind. All of a sudden, he grinned. With the speed of lightning, he grabbed the Demonic Woman’s waist with his left hand. The Demonic Woman was startled. But, before she could speak, Chen Mu exerted strength using the core of his body and jumped into the rainstorm with the Demonic Woman in his arms!

Bogner, I hope you can survive… The Demonic Woman’s desperate shriek faded off into the strong wind. In a blink of an eye, they vanished completely! Dumbfounded, Bogner stared at the empty cave before he regained his composure a few seconds later. ——”Noooo!”

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Chen Mu was extremely dizzy as he got swallowed up by the storm. After experiencing the fear in the beginning, he was now surprisingly calm. However, he did not stop struggling. It was useless for him to defend himself against the might of nature. The only thing he could use was his final trump card.

State Zero! Big Mud Fish was ready to be fired at anytime! He had no power to control where the wind would bring them to. He could only prevent them from being smashed by the hailstones. Under this circumstance, he was not able to fly even with the help of a jet stream card. He could scarcely dodge the hailstones.

The Demonic Woman struggled to hold onto Chen Mu. She did not dare to let go! This was her instinct out of fear, just like how a drowning person would grab any straw within his reach. She was not an ordinary person, nonetheless. After she got over the initial fright and despair, she immediately realized the abnormality. Despite being blown away, they have not been injured in the slightest. Indeed, the hailstones that passed by her side occasionally scared her. But all the hailstones merely brushed through her. She quickly realized that this must be Chen Mu’s doing.

Her hope for survival was reignited. She felt more comfortable being blanketed by the wind, compared to being blown by the wind with her feet on the ground. The wind showed no sign of subsiding, and that worried Chen Mu. They couldn’t escape from the storm if the wind did not subside. They had been drifting in the storm for more than 30 hours now.

He had never maintained State Zero for such a long time. His survival instinct was keeping him going. He couldn’t help but smile bitterly, his face pale and his lips bruised. The temperature was too low in the storm, and their body temperature plummeted at a shocking speed. This time it was the deep tranquility that saved his life. He inadvertently combined deep tranquility and State Zero, consequently reducing his consumption of energy significantly. The Demonic Woman, who was lying in his embrace, was having a terrible time as well. She was shivering, but she continued to wrap around Chen Mu’s waist tightly.

Chen Mu could only force another smile. He did not regret dragging the Demonic Woman into this. He was sure that the demonic woman would kill Bogner without hesitation if they were the only ones left in the cave. After so much effort, he did not want the Demonic Woman surviving instead of Bogner.

Fortunately, he was too weary to think about petty things now. He had to remain focused. A hailstone with a diameter of 10 centimeters was sufficient to cost them their lives. Nevertheless, their capability definitely skyrocketed as they performed amazingly under the pressure of death. Chen Mu was freezing, hungry, thirsty, and lethargic at the same time. However, his mind was surprisingly tranquil, and his perception was unbelievably delicate. It was as though he could deeply sense and understand any slight move and perform better than he could ever imagine.

Although his delicate perception was always his strength, he had never felt so sensitive. He felt as though he was hallucinating and was able to do anything with his perception. Chen Mu felt that the time was passing by slowly and continuously.

50 hours had passed!

Chen Mu was positive that they were very far away from the big crack as the speed of the wind was horrifying. The speed of the storm had profoundly exceeded any velocity he had ever experienced. He believed that even the card artisans in Heavenly Federation who were best at flying could never achieve such a shocking speed.

60 hours!

Every cell in Chen Mu’s body had worn out. He shut his eyes as he lost all his energy. His perception, too, was drained. The initially distinctive State Zero had faded off almost completely. Even his deep tranquility seemed to have lost its function. His perception showed no sign of recovering. The Demonic Woman had passed out five hours ago. But, both her hands were still grabbing Chen Mu’s waist tightly. Chen Mu could only bear with it. He did not have the strength to even move a finger, not to mention, to remove the Demonic Woman from his waist.

70 hours… Or even longer…

Chen Mu was close to losing his consciousness. His brain was completely numb as he was surrounded by darkness. He had depleted his perception completely. Unsure, he felt as though he saw a blue light. But, it also seemed like there was nothing. After a long time, he felt that his body hit something. Am I finally not flying anymore… Chen Mu finally let his guard down. His vision turned into complete darkness as he blacked out.