Chapter 200: Degeneration (1/2)

Chapter 200: Degeneration

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Chen Mu had shrunk into a dark corner and wasn't making a move. He squinted and very carefully watched the woman, not daring to let down his guard in the least. He maintained his spiral perceptual spring's vibration frequency all along. That was the only way he could keep from being found out. Chen Mu didn't look down on his adversary at all because she was a woman; as a matter of fact, he really didn't feel he could be considered a card artisan. Of course, he was talking about professional card artisans. He had always felt no matter how far his skills had developed, he still didn't have the psychological qualities of a professional card artisan.

Shrunk into the corner, Chen Mu quietly watched his adversary. The hiding skills he'd learned from the demonic woman—in addition to the advice he'd gotten from Wei-ah—were extremely useful. Even though she was very close, his adversary hadn't discovered him.

But, what was that small ball?

Chen Mu was a bit puzzled, not understanding why the woman had looked so ecstatic when she took out the small ball. The red light on the ball kept flashing brightly, and Chen Mu could see it clearly vibrating from a distance of 16 meters. What was it?

The red light felt quite familiar to Chen Mu. He would often see such red lights when he was in the underground city base. Red lights like that were generally indicative of an alarm or a reminder.

The time period of the underground city base wasn't reliably known, though it was something very old. Who knows how much customs would have changed since that time? So, Chen Mu couldn't be sure.

He could see how far he was from the attitude of a professional card artisan. Or, to put it differently, there was a gap between him and true combat personnel. If it were Wei-ah, he would certainly have made his move without hesitation, and it would have been fatal. Potential danger and actual danger weren't any different in Wei-ah's eyes.

Chen Mu couldn't do that, or at least not now.

Lu Xiaoru lightly swept away her bangs, and her beautiful eyes flowed around. The signal ball in her hand was still flashing in clear indication that her objective hadn't departed and must be hidden somewhere. How could she find him?

A diameter of 50 meters wouldn't be called big, but it wasn't small either. And, the surrounding environment was complex. There were broken remnants of walls and chunks of concrete piled up all over the place. The only thing she was then worried about was that her quarry might have been bashed dead and buried by chunks of concrete falling from the sky. In that case, her reward would be sharply cut.

She then furrowed her brow, and a pained look flashed across her face. She lowered her head to take a look at her right foot, which seemed to have been struck by something. She bent down to examine her foot. Along with that movement, the shredded red evening gown on her body couldn't take the stress and suddenly slipped off her left shoulder.

Her flesh was like snow at the first sign of spring, and she exclaimed as though she wanted to stop the dress from slipping off, not knowing the movement would cause the strap on her right shoulder to snap. The whole dress just plopped to the ground.

She quickly grabbed the dress to cover her chest, but the red evening gown was basically thin and slinky. Her back was entirely exposed, with her two snow-white, round shoulders laid similarly bare. The most critical thing was that the lower part of her evening gown had ripped apart nearly to her waist.

Chen Mu saw it all from his dark corner. He felt the rush of his youthful blood and caught his breath.

He very quickly contained himself. The woman had her hands over her breasts all along, and none of her recent panic was anywhere to be seen as she looked his way, seeming to smile without smiling.

She'd nailed him!

Chen Mu's heart sank. Could her objective have been him?

He slid to the side with no indication under his feet about how he'd made the move. Without looking back, he followed along the shadows at the base of the wall, dashing with all his strength. It was the first time Chen Mu had witnessed such a way of being found out.

She hadn't thought her objective would actually have such skills. Lu Xiaoru calmly straightened her clothes in the midst of all that, even tying a bow on the shoulder strap in a leisurely manner. Those two beautiful eyes never left Chen Mu, her face showing a rather interested expression.

Feeling the gaze from behind him, Chen Mu felt his body go rigid, though he quickly overcame such unfitting feelings. That was because the pressure his adversary was putting him under was a lot less than Wei-ah's.

Chen Mu's speed while running full-out was stunning, and he never ran in a straight line. That was a habit he'd picked up while sparring with Wei-ah; he had found that if he were to run in a straight line, then the battle would be over within a second. Therefore, under Wei-ah's pressure, Chen Mu's movements became more and more erratic. Sometimes his body would be faster than his mind and nearly instinctual.

Lu Xiaoru's look turned serious, and a flash of surprise went through her eyes. It was her first time running after such a weird opponent whose body was hidden in the shadows all along, making his figure only faintly discernible. When he made his move, the route was impossible to predict.

Generally speaking, the best thing to do when facing such an adversary would be to cover the area with attacks, but she didn't have any means to carpet an area.

Moreover, those above her had said they wanted him alive. She suddenly felt the issue had gotten tricky. The strength shown by her opponent surprised her, and her expression became gradually more serious. The more she watched her heart, the cooler she became.

She still hadn't seen what her objective looked like, with his body so perfectly hidden in shadows all along. She couldn't help but think about a certain kind of card artisan who moved in the dark and considered it his companion.

Could the quarry in front of her be such a card artisan? Lu Xiaoru found her throat dry.

A long time ago, she had heard of a very small number among card artisans who walked that line. Such card artisans were mostly engaged in assassination and the work of snooping for intelligence. They were good at taking advantage of the dark and moving nimbly to seize opportunities. They were among the scariest of card artisans. Such card artisans had gotten brutal training from the time they were small, so their attitudes were diametrically different from ordinary people's. Most of them were ruthless and cold-blooded.

In former times, when sects were everywhere, there were some very famous such schools. As the time of the sects was fading toward the verge of the time of the academies, they had all suddenly vanished without a trace. But, Lu Xiaoru knew they had only been hiding in the dark and that quite a few would still cause sensations, often leaving only a shadow of their activities.

The really powerful families or the big firms would all have such card artisans kept in the dark to take on certain special jobs. Very few contemporary card artisan assassins had a simple or solitary existence; they were always in the shadow of the large organization behind them. Some of the card artisan assassins would even report to several powers.

She wasn't going to have such bad luck herself! Lu Xiaoru hesitated.

However, she had sufficient confidence in her own strength. Although assassin card artisans were powerful, they weren't without their weaknesses. The content of their training was diametrically different from ordinary card artisans'; the most crucial aspect was the time invested in the area of perception, which was quite a bit less than for ordinary card artisans. That also led to their perception never being strong enough. Therefore, they didn't have much advantage if confronted head-on.

It was a different factor that made her hesitate though; there might be something behind her adversary.

On the one hand, there was the large reward, while on the other, there might be some kind of terrifying backer. Should she do it or not?

Seeing that her quarry was about to leave the scope of the signal ball's perception, Lu Xiaoru needed to decide! She would punch her ticket, take the money and then beat it. Heaven was big and the earth broad, and it wouldn't be so easy to find her.

After thinking it through, she didn't have any hesitation and immediately flew up and away, chasing after Chen Mu.

Without turning around, Chen Mu knew the woman was chasing him. He was now certain he was the woman's objective. Although Chen Mu didn't know why, he'd already stopped wondering about that.

There was only one thing in his mind—to escape or to kill his adversary.

Chen Mu hadn't made a move before because he still hadn't determined whether his counterpart was the enemy, but he now knew she indeed was. Although he had no way to be as ruthless as Wei-ah, he wasn't any more hesitant with enemies.

The big mud fish card was great at changing direction. When added to his own physical strength, he was full of explosive power within short distances.

Once he entered into battle, Chen Mu became very focused. His gaze was firm and resolute; he was a different person from a moment ago. He shuttled among the buildings and the busted walls at high speed carrying the communications apparatus in his left hand as a tailless shuttle was taking shape in his right. The perception he sent out had accurately captured his adversary's image.

Lu Xiaoru's expression shifted in midair.

Damn! I've been tricked! That guy's perception is about the same as mine!

Once she thought about a seeming assassin card artisan with perceptual strength like hers, she got scared. Perception was the card artisan assassin's weak suit. Wouldn't it mean her adversary was more powerful than she was if his weakest aspect was about the same as hers?

As though drenched in ice water, Lu Xiaoru's heated greed quickly disappeared without a trace. No matter how much more money she could get, she would need to be alive to spend it.

She was just thinking of leaving when her expression suddenly changed. She deployed he energy cloak almost unconsciously.

The bright purple energy cloak was like a glowing egg floating in the air, which attracted a lot of attention.

Ping! There was a sound like breaking glass. Her energy cloak was blown apart in an instant as the undiminished momentum of the tailless shuttle shot into her left shoulder.

Yikes! It just missed her head. In the dark, Chen Mu looked on with regret at Lu Xiaoru flying behind him, noting to himself that it seemed training and real combat were two different things in the end.

Lu Xiaoru was panicked, and her face was drained of blood. She had just raised her energy cloak and didn't think it wouldn't be able to block her adversary's attack. That blow had utterly erased any thoughts beyond getting far away from that damned place.

Their roles had been swapped so quickly! Quickly enough to make Chen Mu incredulous. He was a little surprised to be so successful.

He didn't turn about to leave but instead chased after Lu Xiaoru. He wanted to understand why his adversary would make such moves toward him and especially what the little ball was used for. If he wasn't able to clarify that, Chen Mu felt he would never be able to sleep. To become a target for no reason was a really messed up feeling.

Chen Mu moved along the shadows at the base of the wall, never leaving them. Against those shadows, Chen Mu's body became more and more strange and erratic, as though he were a chilling ghost whose feet weren't touching the ground. Chen Mu wasn't aware of any of that with his attention so focused. That was a habit also developed by training with Wei-ah. Once he entered into a battle posture, he could arouse 120 percent of his spirit. Every time he sparred with Wei-ah, he would be vanquished in an instant if he were distracted in the slightest.