But the idea that such an advanced card had been made for a set of fitness exercises made Chen Mu want to slap himself. It was utterly absurd!
Thinking of the figures that had dimmed after he completed their movements, Chen Mu recalled his earlier conjecture. Could this only be the first step?
Yes! The first step! He remembered what that aged voice had said: "For the first step, please complete the following eighteen movements!" It seemed there were more mysteries to come.
He really had been intimidated by this card. He had taken such a long detour to figure out something so simple. Chen Mu mocked himself inwardly, finally putting all his thoughts in order.
Chen Mu had once again found goals in life. One was to unravel the secrets of this card; the other was to improve his skill at making Illusion Cards. The illusion within the mysterious card, which lay completely beyond his understanding, had given him a tremendous jolt. Trying to make a Three-Star Illusion Card in the near future was unrealistic, but he could make his own Illusion Cards more lifelike, just like the illusion created by the mysterious card.
Still, he needed to keep making One-Star Energy Cards every day. He had run up quite a deficit lately.
Chewing on hard bread, Chen Mu planned out his life from then on.
Slap! A freshly drawn-up schedule went up on the wall, and Chen Mu nodded in satisfaction.
Life had not changed at all for Chen Mu. The one pleasant surprise was that his efficiency at making One-Star Energy Cards had improved by nearly half. He did not know whether it was because he had learned how to use Perception, but making One-Star Energy Cards now went remarkably smoothly. This also gave him more time to devote to the other two tasks in his plan.
Progress on those other two tasks, however, was relatively slow. Chen Mu could perform only half of the eighteen movements. They demanded a considerable level of physical fitness, whether in strength, flexibility, or reflexes. Still, practicing these past few days had greatly improved his physical condition. That counted as an unexpected gain.
He made very little headway with Illusion Cards. Making something indistinguishable from reality was no easy feat. All he could do was keep observing everything around him. Chen Mu was in no hurry on this front. He knew it was a slow process of accumulation, and impatience would do him no good.
With the One-Star Energy Cards he had made tucked away on him, Chen Mu went to Uncle Hua's general store.
Uncle Hua did not look well, but he was still delighted to see Chen Mu. "Ah Mu, I haven't seen you in ages. What have you been busy with lately?" No sooner had he finished speaking than he broke into a violent fit of coughing.
"Uncle Hua, are you all right?" Concern showed on Chen Mu's face. Uncle Hua was one of the few people in the world who genuinely cared about him.
Breathing hard, Uncle Hua managed a smile. "Don't worry. I've probably caught a bit of a cold lately. Your Uncle Hua is still hale and hearty in his old age. How have you been? You haven't brought any Energy Cards over, either. I was worried something had happened to you."
Looking at Uncle Hua's pale face, Chen Mu suddenly felt his nose sting. He forced a smile. "What could happen to me? I've been learning to make Illusion Cards lately, so I got held up for a while."
"Oh? Have you learned how?" Uncle Hua's interest was piqued.
Chen Mu nodded. "Yes, but only one-star and two-star ones."
"Ha! I knew you could learn it, Ah Mu. You're so clever and hardworking. You're bound to have a bright future." Uncle Hua was overjoyed, as though he had heard that his own son or nephew had made something of himself. His excitement brought on another string of coughs.
Chen Mu watched Uncle Hua worriedly, unsure what to say.
Uncle Hua finally stopped coughing. His face had gone from pale to flushed red. He smiled and said, "Ah Mu, you must keep working hard. I've always wanted an Illusion Card signboard. Hmm, preferably with a dusky blue orchid on it. That's a specialty of my hometown." His eyes brimmed with homesickness.
"Yes." Chen Mu nodded firmly.
When he left Uncle Hua's general store, Chen Mu's heart felt somewhat heavy.
"Blockhead." Chen Mu suddenly heard someone call to him. Turning around, he saw a man in an outlandish outfit running toward him.
This was Lei Zi, who had once wandered the streets with Chen Mu before being adopted. He and Chen Mu had always been on good terms, and he could be considered Chen Mu's only friend. While his adoptive parents were alive, his family had been fairly well-off, and he had occasionally helped Chen Mu out. Not long ago, however, his adoptive parents had died, forcing him to abandon his studies and return to a half-vagrant existence. Chen Mu was naturally cold and taciturn, and with the "Mu" in his name sounding like the word for wood, Lei Zi had simply taken to calling him Blockhead.
He wore a garishly colored shirt that was so oversized it hung loosely on him. His hair was a complete mess, two huge metal hoops dangled from his ears, and he shuffled along in a pair of filthy-looking slippers. The whole getup gave Chen Mu a start.
He stopped and waited for Lei Zi to reach him.
"Hey, running into you on the street? Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or has the world changed?" Lei Zi asked with an exaggerated expression.
"I came to sell Energy Cards." They knew each other well, and Chen Mu had no intention of wasting words.
Lei Zi nodded knowingly. He understood Chen Mu very well. "That explains it. If you ever came out just to stroll around, the sun would be rising in the west.
"Oh, right. I found a job recently." Lei Zi wore a mysterious expression.
"What kind of job?" Chen Mu asked with considerable interest. Lei Zi's adoptive parents had treated him extremely well and had always paid for his schooling, something Chen Mu had dreamed of. But calamity had fallen from the sky: Lei Zi's adoptive parents had died in a traffic accident, cutting off every source of income for the family and forcing him to abandon his studies. Chen Mu had originally wanted to pay for Lei Zi to stay in school, but Lei Zi had refused. The fellow was surprisingly stubborn about such things. Chen Mu knew that people like them had far stronger pride in this regard than ordinary people. In his place, he would probably have done the same as Lei Zi.
Lei Zi had been working hard to find a job. These past few days, Chen Mu had been immersed in making Illusion Cards and unraveling the mysterious card, with no spare time to concern himself with anything else.
"I found a job at a small Card Film company. Mostly odd jobs on the scriptwriting side."
"Card Film?" Chen Mu knew what Card Films were. They told stories through moving images conjured by Illusion Cards. The number of Illusion Cards used in a Card Film depended on the length of its content. Generally, each Card Film needed around twenty to fifty Illusion Cards. Most of the people and animals in Card Films were stylized with exaggerated features, making them look extremely cute and winning them widespread affection.
Card Films had first appeared thirty years ago, but they had only begun to gain popularity ten years earlier. It was an emerging industry.
(End of chapter)