The Card Apprentice

Chapter 152: The Banquet

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

All kinds of defensive card appliances were distributed all around the small auditorium, to the extent that it could be called a card appliance exhibition. Chen Mu was closely looking them up and down, never having seen so many. Each of the card appliances was different, though most were a kind of appliance made of countless gun barrels. The gun barrels lined up to make an array pointing to the sky. Since there was no way to see the structure inside, Chen Mu had no way to determine how the card appliances were fired. But so many stout metal tubes were enough to make the heart pound. Scanning over them quickly, there were at least hundreds of them stacked all around.

Every card appliance was huge, and they would make a fine deterrent for a rookie like Chen Mu. They were spectacular when taken all together.

Wei-ah and Chen Mu walked into the auditorium. The round dome made it feel more spacious inside, where there were designs which Chen Mu couldn’t understand carved into its white pillars. The inlaid lights in the dome were like stars brightly lighting up the whole place.

The auditorium was filled with the clamor of the voices of a third of the village relaxing and discussing. There was merry music wafting everywhere, along with the shrill sound of excited children.

Wei-ah still had no expression on his face, and Chen Mu felt very self-conscious as he followed him. The villagers would automatically make way wherever Wei-ah went, and even the playful children wouldn’t bother him. The strangest part was that no one would dare to greet him. Chen Mu smiled wryly to himself that it didn’t look like the guy was very popular. While he, on the other hand, attracted a lot of curiosity.

Wei-ah wore a natural self-composed expression. He led Chen Mu into the middle of the crowd, quickly arriving at the deepest part of the auditorium. Several of the important people from the village awaited them, and Chen Mu saw that elder who had met them at the village entrance, standing commandingly right in the middle. Even people as slow as Chen Mu could tell his position in the village. Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had already arrived, with Li Duhong remaining, as always, by Bo Wen’s side.

His eyes lit up when the little guy saw Chen Mu and Wei-ah.

“Ha ha, I feel so ashamed that I am such a bad host as to allow Mr. Chen to go hungry. Terrrible!” The elder’s face was apologetic. Alfonso looked displeased to his side, having just been taught a stern lesson from the elder, which made him naturally uncomfortable. He didn’t understand why the elder was being so nice to such an ordinary looking furry-headed youth.

Chen Mu smiled, “You are too polite. If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have had the chance to taste Wei-ah’s handiwork, which would be a real shame.”

“Ah.” The elder’s eyes brightened, “Mr. Chen has been getting along with Wei-ah? That would be good. Wei-ah is the number one ace in our village, and the two of you are both young and talented, so you should naturally become friendly.”

There were a few among the crowd who were groaning, clearly dissatisfied that the elder had called Wei-ah the number one ace of the village. Even some of those near the elder looked put-out.

Wei-ah’s expression hadn’t changed, as though he hadn’t heard anything. Chen Mu discreetly refrained from any response, since it didn’t matter to him if Wei-ah was the top ace. But if others were to despise him because of it, that would be too bad.

The elder’s expression hadn’t changed, as though he hadn’t heard the groans. He turned to Chen Mu and smiled, “There aren’t too many rules in the village, and although this is called a banquet, it will be quite boisterous. I beg your forgiveness.”

Bo Wen and the others rebuffed the apology and kept admiring the liveliness.

By then Chen Mu was sizing up the few middle-aged people around the elder, who each looked stern and whom he could tell at a glance were the real powers. Three of them caught Chen Mu’s attention. One, whose hair was all white, with a ruddy face and a full-throated voice, looked very spiritual. He was named Bafu, and he was the elder who gave the children guidance. Every one of the offspring of the village had been educated at his hands in childhood.

Another made a dark impression with his malicious look and narrow eyes which glinted from between the lids to make anyone uncomfortable. Kang Lade was mainly in charge of discipline, and if there were a fight in the village he would be the final arbiter, so that the elder wouldn’t need to be involved. The people around were rather fearful of Kang Lade, and even Li Duhong stayed very straight in front of him.

The one who drew the least attention was a young man with a calm look, who was the only one around the elder still a young man, not yet thirty. He looked forever unperturbed and gave people an easy going feeling that he would be easy to get along with. Kitt was the young man in charge of the genealogy and records of the clan. His was the most special house in the village, as his ancestors had been selected as the town archivists. Ever since then, that responsibility had been handed down and the clan archivist had to be from that family. Kit had begun archiving the clan records at the age of seven, which was fully eighteen years by then, when he had turned twenty-five.

Archiving the clan records and genealogy was very dull work, though Kitt had never found it boring. He had also never played with the other children in the village and although he was young, having nurtured such a rare nonchalance, the clan elder was fond of him. He was also considered to be the village’s most erudite person, though not everyone liked him. In a circumstance where strength was revered, and the norm was to chase after power, spending time on genealogy and records which couldn’t increase one’s power wasn’t interesting to anyone but Kitt.

“These are the ‘little three.’ When they ran into you all that day and were checking you out, they didn’t realize that it would create such a misunderstanding between us, and they now regret it. I’ve asked them each specifically to come today in apology.” The elder spoke with a look of regret.

None of the three were tall – only about 1.65 meters, which was a little shorter than Cheng Ying, though they were quite thin with rather long legs and arms and lively eyes. He made a gesture of salutation which Bo Wen rushed to decline, smiling, “Since it was a misunderstanding, it was the error of both sides. For the three subalterns to behave that way makes us all the more uncomfortable. Ha ha, one doesn’t get to know one another without some bumps, and being able to make friends with so many makes us all feel very fortunate.”

Bo Wen was quite tactful, seeing them stoop so far that he rushed up to meet them.

“Ha ha, you are so right!” Bafu’s bright voice could be heard, “One can’t know someone without a few bumps! You young people really know how to make this little brother feel warm. There are mountains beyond the mountains, and it’s always good for young people to see more of the world.

Several young people of the village rushed to agree.

The three were gazing at Chen Mu uncomfortably. After that endless and not quite fatal run, third brother’s injuries had worsened, and he’d fallen into a coma as soon as he’d returned to the village. In that coma Chen Mu’s ghostly image had appeared like a nightmare following him like a shadow, making him so agitated that he nearly couldn’t breathe.

“Come, come, we can’t allow our honored guests to starve. Taste the things of our village and see if you can get used to them.” The clan elder said jokingly.

Since he’d just been gnawing on a deer leg at Wei-ah’s, Chen Mu wasn’t feeling very hungry. He helped himself to some fruit, which was much sweeter than could be bought in Eastern Shang-Wei City. What he was most interested in were the small things there, such as the grill with adjustable heat, which was a classic card appliance. There was also the ice maker which was quite interesting. It didn’t look any different from an ordinary ice maker into which water would be poured, and then in only three minutes, the water would have turned into ice cubes. Afterward, he would see the villagers pour out the ice onto a piece of felt, where they would use some kind of fine and long glowing knife to make the large chunks into smaller pieces.

The metallurgy there was very advanced, and all the serving items were made of metal, having intricate and beautiful patterns on them.

Unlike that clodhopper Chen Mu, Bo Wen’s gaze was a lot more jaded. In just a short while, his face had taken on a strange look. What kind of backwater is this anyhow?

Following his gaze, practically all of the villagers hung some kind of gemstone over their torso which made Bo Wen’s eyes pop out. While the gems weren’t huge, with several thousand villagers each wearing one, Bo Wen thought he might go crazy. And there was also the floor in the place, where each piece had been composed of highly polished zebra stone. That sort of stone, which had makings like those on a zebra, was showing off its expensive provenance. One piece of that kind of zebra stone would be sky high outside. In his own house, there was only that very small place for collectibles which used such an expensive flooring. But good lord, the entire floor of the auditorium there was laid from such flooring, which was more valuable than gold.

His eyes shone at how genuinely wealthy the place was. He was calculating very rapidly to himself that if he were to be able to set up trade relations with the village, then the profits . . .

Bo Wen wasn’t used to the tastes and Chen Mu was already half full. Among the three of them, only Cheng Ying was happily eating away. The food there was delicious, and she had never eaten anything so good.

Amid the hubbub of the hall, practically no one was disturbing them, apart from a curious look now and then,

“Is this the one who wounded little Three, elder?” An inappropriate voice suddenly sounded out.