Instant Kill - Volume 7 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ku Mu started to gnash his teeth .

“Shier, let’s go up,” he finally said, then started to go up with his head bent down .

Guo Shier followed his master from the Runic Hall towards the front yard .

He saw Yu Jie standing there looking embarrassed . Standing in front of him was a woman in a fuchsia robe .

Guo Shier was shocked to see another Saint-level individual . He knew now that those wearing the same robe color as his master were high-level Saints . However, the woman’s fuchsia robe was printed with what seemed like dark flowers . This middle-aged woman maintained a certain level of charm .

There were faint wrinkles around her phoenix-red eyes . Right now, her gaze was full of anger .

“Hey! Ku Mu!” she shouted . “You! Who is this child? Is this your child? If you tell me this is your baby from another woman, I’m going to fight you!”

“Moni-er, stop causing trouble,” Ku Mu said coldly . “This is my new apprentice!”

Moni-er was about to pounce them but suddenly stopped .  

Guo Shier felt her strong power .  

She went from angry to confused, and then to surprised .

Gradually, she smiled and looked carefully at Guo Shier .

“Your new apprentice?” she asked . “What’s your name? Where did he get you? How old are you?”

Guo Shier didn’t know how to react . Finally, struck with an idea, he said, “My name is Guo Shier . I am ten years old this year . Hello, martial auntie . ”

Moni-er walked up to Guo Shier . “Did you call me martial auntie? That’s wrong . You should call me Master’s Wife . ”

Guo Shier was suddenly dumfounded .

Ku Mu was finally losing his patience, “Moni-er, we are no longer married . We are not even in a relationship . What are you doing here?”

Guo Shier couldn’t believe what he was hearing . He was in the middle of what might become a lover’s quarrel . He shut his mouth tight and stepped away from both of them . He might offend one of them by saying something . He was not stupid enough to get involved, so he outright pretended to be a well-behaved kid and let the adults talk to each other .

Moni-er completely ignored Ku Mu and just closely examined Guo Shier . The more she looked at Guo Shier, the more she liked him . She reached out her hand to hold Guo Shier’s .

“Ooooh! This kid is so cute . Come here and greet your Master’s Wife . ”

(Note: So I double checked it and apparently, “Master’s Wife” is a thing . Like having a formal Master . )

Guo Shier hesitated a bit but found that Ku Mu didn’t intervene .  

“Nice to meet you Master’s Wife!” he said .

Guo Shier said it so adorably that even Moni-er couldn’t help but shed a tear . She hugged Guo Shier and said, “Hey! You’re such a good boy!”

Guo Shier couldn’t believe what was happening . He could see Ku Mu’s colorless face from the side of his eyes .

“Why are you dressed up a little barbarian? Come with Master’s Wife so we can get you a change of clothes,” Moni-er said . “Your master is a Si Mu . He knows nothing about life except Runes . ”

(Note: So it seems that Moni-er has a nick name for Ku Mu, which is Si Mu-tou . )

Ku Mu was no longer interested . He turned around and started to walk away .

“Shier, lessons start tomorrow morning,” he quipped .  

“Yes Master . I’ll be on time tomorrow morning . ”

Guo Shier was secretly feeling bitter . He didn’t expect his Master to leave him with this woman .

He yielded to Moni-er and begrudgingly followed her .

“Xiao Jie, can you clean up the yard? It looks too shabby,” Moni-er asked .  

Yu Jie’s face turned bitter . “Alas, Missy, it’s not that I refuse to fix the place up . We absolutely don’t have any Rune Money to buy materials . We are actually fortunate for young master here to bring flour and meat . The household actually ran out of money for food . ”

“What???” Moni-er said madly . “This Si Mu-tou! He can’t even take care of a small household!”

She touched her waist and took out a Storage Rune bag . She threw it towards Yu Jie and said, “There are 10,000 Big Rune Bills inside . It should be enough for a while . ”

Yu Jie started to smile . “Thank you, Missy . ”

“Come with me . ” Moni-er took Guo Shier’s hand and led him into a relatively complete hut . The room was empty except for the layers of beast skins covering the ground .

Moni-er took out a pile of clothes and then started to laugh, “Don’t dress like this in the Chen Xiao Sect, okay? Hahaha! You will be mistaken for an outsider and people might start bullying you . ”

Guo Shier was still pretending to be a child so he just nodded earnestly . “Yes, Master’s Wife . ”

He began to change using the piled up clothes . He was a little troubled, though . Why would Moni-er would be carrying a bundle of children’s clothes?

Moni-er’s pair of beautiful phoenix-red eyes stared tearing up as she stared at Guo Shier .  

Guo Shier started to get afraid . He didn’t know what was happening .

After putting on his new clothes, he said, “Master’s Wife, I am now dressed . ”

“That’s nice, Shier! You’ll come with Master’s Wife again, okay?”

Guo Shier was startled and confused . “But Master’s Wife, I have to study with Master . ”

Upon hearing those words, Moni-er started to pity Guo Shier and felt an inexplicable heartache . She hugged him and said, “Okay, you study well with that Si Mu-tou . If you have time, Master’s Wife will pick you up . All right?”

Guo Shier nodded . “Yes, Master’s Wife . ”

Moni-er was very happy dressing up the cute Guo Shier . She tidied up his clothes and noticed something missing, so she took out a three-finger wide belt and tied it around his waist . She hanged his identity Rune Card on his belt .

“Shier this is a good Rune Belt,” she said . It can receive Storage Rune bags . It’s my gift to you .  

“Thank you,” Guo Shier replied .

“Oh, that’s right . You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

Guo Shier nodded . “I haven’t eaten yet . I just came from the Runic Hall with Master . ”

“Your Master Si Mu-tou is a cultivating madman . All he does is show off his hall! Shier, come . Go eat with Master’s Wife . ”

Guo Shier noticed that ever since Moni-er arrived, his Master disappeared . Where could he be hiding?

His Master didn’t seem to like meeting with Moni-er .

Guo Shier was still clueless about what type of relationship these two people had .

He followed Moni-er into a kitchenette . Two cooks were busy preparing and cooking . They had a large pot of broth with meat . The pastries in the oven made a delicious aroma .  

When Moni-er saw only two things being prepared, she said, “Are these the only things you’re eating? Shier, Master’s Wife is going to give you Rune Food to eat . I hope you enjoy eating them . ”

Guo Shier nodded . “I’ll surely enjoy them . ”

Although Guo Shier was acting like an adorable child, deep inside he felt very uncomfortable .

Moni-er was clearly enjoying Guo Shier’s reactions . She shooed the cooks away as she started cooking a couple of Rune dishes .

She took out a small pot and started cooking rice . Afterwards, she took out a bunch of vegetables and fresh meat .

Guo Shier believed that it was the meat of a Marked Beast Variant . He could feel a strong vitality coming from it .

Moni-er fried a few vegetables and grilled some Rune Food .

Guo Shier called Yu Jie . “Uncle Yu, ask Master to come eat dinner with us . ”

Yu Jie showed some hesitation, but Guo Shier urged him to go .

“Master hasn’t eaten yet . Tell him we should all eat together . ”

Moni-er finally chimed in . “Xiao Jie, just go and call him . He wouldn’t be so cheap to ignore his apprentice . ”

Yu Jie turned and left .

Moments later, Ku Mu walked in with a blank face . He didn’t bother to acknowledge the two and just sat down crossed legged, picked up the chopsticks, and began eating .

Moni-er just stared wide eyed and said, “Shier, we should also eat . Otherwise, everything would be finished by your Master . ”

Guo Shier was wearing a set of platinum colored satin robes with dark toned flowers . A pure silver belt about three fingers wide was attached to his waist, made from the silk that came from a Rune Spider Variant . He definitely liked the way he looked—like a little rich kid .  

Ku Mu just ate like no one was around while Moni-er ignored him and just focused on feeding Guo Shier the dishes that she made .

Ku Mu immediately finished eating his portion . He stood up and left, never saying a word from beginning to end .

“This Si Mu-tou! Idiot!” Moni-er begrudgingly cursed . “Aaaaah! I’m so frustrated at this guy . ”

Guo Shier stopped himself from laughing . He now understood that these two were like family . They don’t get along but once you mess with one of them, the other one will definitely help . They were not really quarreling; in fact, their relationship was actually good . He smirked and bowed his head down .

After Moni-er finished venting, she reached and rubbed Guo Shier’s head . “Shier, welcome home . You’re a good boy, right? This Si Mu-tou finally did a good job . ”

After dinner, Moni-er let Yu Jie and the rest clean up the place .

She said to Guo Shier, “Master’s Wife is coming back soon to check how far you have progressed, okay?”

She took out a big Glyph and was about to hold it on Guo Shier’s forehead .

“Take a look at the Runes inside . Don’t force yourself . How many can you see? If you can’t stand it anymore, just give up . Do you understand?” she said softly .

Ku Mu walked in to remind Shier of something and was shocked when he saw what was happening . “Shier, tomorrow… um . Hey! Moni-er! What are you doing, testing my apprentice?”

“I know Shier is your apprentice but I’m his Master’s Wife . Of course I need to know what level he is!” Moni-er said .

Ku Mu thought about it . “Since you want to test him, we’ll do it in one go . This test kind of dull test is crap…”

“You’re the one who is full of shit!” said Moni-er angrily . “I just want to see how good Guo Shier is . I can feel that his potential is excellent,” she continued .

She was an early-stage Saint . Strong as she was, her strength cannot be compared to Ku Mu who was already at peak-stage Saint .

Ku Mu was just one step away from being a top-level Grand Saint .

Guo Shier picked up the Glyph and held it on his forehead .

Moni-er nervously watched . Ku Mu couldn’t help but be a little nervous too .

Ku Mu already knew that Guo Shier’s strength was good for his age, but this test will further check how strong his potential truly is .

A faint green glow spread gently over the Glyph . The faint green light gradually became stronger and quickly turned into cyan, then yellow, then into pale red .  

After a moment, the light turned bright red, and Guo Shier felt a bit of a struggle . His face started to blush from the effort .

Ku Mu’s eyes brightened . The color red signified a high potential for Guo Shier .

Just when he thought it was over, the red glow suddenly became purple .

Seeing the luxurious purple glow, Moni-er couldn’t help to cry out, “Exceptional potential! Is it really possible to have an exceptional potential in this world? Is there something wrong with my vision?”

Ku Mu’s face—which was always rigid as a board—showed a rare smile .  

But that moment only lasted for a second .
Translator: Glasses TangGu
Editor: M

Moni-er has been in the Chen Xiao Sect for many years and she has never seen a purple indicator coming from a Test Glyph . The Glyph was giving off a very strong purple light and it was even giving a hint of a blackish glow .

Suddenly, the Test Glyph suddenly made a crackling sound . The purple light disappeared instantly .  

The Test Glyph disintegrated into powder and sprinkled down Guo Shier’s finger tips .

“Master, Master’s Wife, it broke . ” uttered Guo Shier .

Moni-er’s mind was blown from what just happened . She couldn’t believe it .

Ku Mu, on the other hand, just accepted the situation . “If it breaks, it breaks . Isn’t it just a Test Glyph? It’s nothing remarkable . ”

Moni-er almost jumped from being pulled back to reality by Ku Mu’s words . Her face then started to turn red from jealousy .

“Exceptional potential! Ku Mu! Where did you find Guo Shier?” she blurted out .

Ku Mu felt proud but his face was still rigid, “I just found him by accident . ”

“Si Mu-tou, let me take care of him alright?” Moni-er insisted .

Ku Mu turned around and left . While walking, he uttered, “Aren’t you already his Master’s Wife? What more do you want?”

Moni-er hugged Guo Shier with one hand and shouted, “You’re an idiot Si Mu-tou!”

Ku Mu then escaped like smoke . Guo Shier almost laughed .

Moni-er then said to him . “Shier, as your Master’s Wife, you should pay respect to me . Hehehe!”

Guo Shier freaked out from the smile on her face but tried to act innocently . “Okay, as long as Master agrees . ”

“That Si Mu-tou! How would he agree?” she sighed . “Ugh! Why is that idiot’s luck so good?”

She then proceeded to give a hard kiss on Guo Shier’s cheeks . “Never mind, just call me teacher or just Master’s Wife . It doesn’t matter . We’re family anyway . ”

Why is this woman flirting with a kid? Although I’m not a kid, Guo Shier thought to himself .  

“Shier, live with Si Mu-tou for the meantime . I’ll pick you up later,” Moni-er said . “Don’t be afraid of Si Mu-tou . If he dares bully you just tell me . Hehehe!”

It would be bad if I actually really listen to you, Guo Shier thought .

 “Okay!” he said out loud . “Thank you, Master’s Wife . ”

“Hey, why are you so cute? I really like you!” Moni-er said as she hugged Guo Shier again .

She suddenly remembered something, then took out a Rune Bag from her waist and handed it over to Guo Shier .

“This is for you . Master’s Wife is giving you this as your pocket money . ”

She stretched her hands and pinched Guo Sher’s little cheeks . She left with a big smile or her face .

Guo Shier had no more strength left to complain . He inspected the contents of the Storage Rune . It took him 10 minutes to count the amount that was totaling up to a 100,000 Rune Bills . He couldn’t help but smile wryly . His Master’s Wife was really rich!

Yu Jie sent Moni-er out of the house . When he went back to see Guo Shier, he found him contemplating .

“Young master, your room is ready . I’m sorry but it’s a bit simple . The condition is also not very good . I would like to ask for young master’s forgiveness . ”

Guo Shier was silent for a moment .

“Uncle Yu, what is Master and Master Wife’s relationship?”

He couldn’t figure out the situation of the two .

“Master and Missy, it’s hard to explain . ” Yu Jie said . “The Master is bent on Artificer Cultivation and the Missy wants to have a child . But master is unwilling to give in . The Missy left this house in a fit of rage . The two have been in a deadlock for a long time . They quarrel as soon as they meet, so the Master disappears when she arrives . ”

“You see, Master is cold and doesn’t like to argue,” he continued . “Every time Missy comes back, master hides in the Runic Hall where Missy can’t get in . Master never comes back out where Missy would be there waiting to scold him . ”

Guo Shier now had little bit of understanding of the situation . Ku Mu was famous for being ruthless, but he was actually just venting out his frustration from his angry wife at home .

“Uncle Yu, where is the room for me? Can you take me there?” Guo Shier asked . “Is Uncle Ying Mo in the room?”

Yu Jie nodded . “Your entourage is in the room . Follow me . ”

The courtyard was very little, with only two simple rooms . The rooms had nothing in them—not a single piece of furniture . The floor was covered with thick beast skins .

Guo Shier smiled bitterly . He couldn’t imagine why his Saint Level Master could only provide rudimentary accommodation . He could only assume that Ku Mu didn’t care about his home or his family .

Guo Shier called out to Ying Mo, “Uncle Ying Mo, let’s settle down and live here for the moment . Try not to get into any trouble . ”

Ying Mo bitterly smiled . “It was not until we arrived here that I realized how backwards we were in our world . Shier, don’t worry about it, I will take care of the rest . ”

A little boy came in and said, “Young master, grandpa Yu said that a Rune-robed person just arrived delivering the young master’s clothes and subsidies for the month . They need the young master to sign for it . ”

“Okay, I’ll go and see,” Guo Shier said . “Uncle Ying Mo, come with me . There might be something for you, too . ”

There were several servants in the front yard dressed in gray-colored robes . There was also an Inner Gate disciple wearing a royal blue robe . When the disciple saw Guo Shier, he couldn’t help but be surprised . He didn’t think Guo Shier would be someone so young .

He said, “Young martial uncle, these things are yours . There are four boxes in total . Please check them . ”

(Note: Okay I opted to use “young” instead of small or little since they sound derogatory when the disciple was trying to sound polite . )

The disciple looked like a middle-aged man, but he dared not show the slightest disrespect to Guo Shier .

Among the four boxes, there was a box for Ying Mo . He was now also an Inner Gate disciple . The rest of the three boxes were for Guo Shier . Two contained clothes while the last one contained another 100,000 Big Rune Bills .

Guo Shier was also told to be receiving 10,000 Big Rune Bills per month . Just like a salary .

He signed and gave a word of thanks .  

The man left with the servants .

As the sky got darker Guo Shier said, “Uncle Ying Mo, take an early break . I’ll be having an early start tomorrow . ”

“Uncle Yu, take care of the Big Rune Bills in this box . Ask someone to repair the manor and also buy some furniture for the place . Also, give some money to your family, I’ll leave it all to you . ”

Yu Jie almost fell down in tears . Finally, someone was in charge of the family . “Young master, rest assured I’ll arrange it properly,” he said .

****

The night was uneventful . Guo Shier was able to get up early in the morning for his daily morning exercises .

While having breakfast, Guo Shier asked for Yu Jie’s help to find his Master . Ku Mu was like a ghost when he disappeared . Only Yu Jie knew how to find him .

After a while, Ku Mu finally walked into the dining room .

“Shier, after eating your meal, follow me to the Runic Hall . ”

Guo Shier is a bit excited that they are going to start learning .

“Yes, Master!” he nodded .

After finishing breakfast, Guo Shier came to the Runic Hall with Ying Mo .

Ku Mu asked Shier, “What do you know about Runic Spells?”

Guo Shier could only recite what he read on a book and a little about understanding spells .

Ku Mu shook his head slightly . “A Runic Spell is composed of a Rune and a Spell . The Rune is the body while the Spell is the direction and purpose of the Rune . There are countless types of Runes but you can categorize them into two types: physical Runes and the virtual Runes . You are already using a physical Rune and it divided into many levels . You already know this, even in the low-level Rune World . But the virtual Rune might be new to you . ”

Ku Mu stretched out his hand and stroked the air . A golden Rune flashed into existence and dissipated after a few seconds .

“This is a virtual Rune,” he explained . “You use your own energy to conjure the Rune into existence . You must reach Saint level in order to use it . Once you can use virtual Runes, your strength will dramatically leap forward . ” 

Guo Shier was shocked . “Is it possible to use any Rune as long as I know what they are? Will I still need to use physical Runes?” he eagerly asked .

“Physical Runes need very little power to activate,” Ku Mu answered . “As long as you have these physical Runes, you can keep on fighting for a long time . But a virtual Rune consumes a lot of power . The only way you won’t have any trouble casting virtual Runes is if you have an enormous amount of energy . A low level Saint can only use a very limited number of virtual Runes . ”

“Oh, so that’s how it works,” Guo Shier said, nodding .  

Ku Mu continued . “The next thing is the Rune Array . It is a combination of several Runes to form a Rune Array . There are physical and virtual type Rune Arrays . They are equally complex . You’ll be exposed to a lot of them in the future . ”

After listening carefully, Guo Shier asked, “Master, do you have books I can learn from?”

“Look at that corner,” Ku Mu said . “There are several rows of bookshelves that contain hidden-space type Rune Books that contain my collection of books . Come with me, I’ll look for the set of books that you need to learn . ”

There was a dense grid arranged on the four rows of bookshelves . There were several Rune Books in each grid and next to it was its corresponding Rune Key .

Guo Shier estimated that there were no fewer than 3,000 Rune Books here .

Each Rune Book had a hidden space containing a set number of books . Some Rune Books can even contain a dozen books, so 3,000 Rune Books is very large collection indeed .

Ku Mu looked at the collection and picked a dozen Rune Books .

“These contain the basics that you should learn first . ” 

Ku Mu then picked up a dozen more and gave them to Guo Shier .

“These books are about geography, characters and legends . In your spare time, you can also browse some of my private notes . ”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but smile at seeing so many books since he was originally a book fan . He couldn’t hide his excitement .

Ku Mu felt satisfied seeing the expression on Guo Shier’s face .

“I’m not asking you to read them all, but read them thoroughly and be sure you understand them,” he said .

“Is there an Unbound Master Artificer learning book?” Guo Shier asked .

Ku Mu examined Guo Shier’s eyes so intently that Guo Shier started sweating .

“They are in the shelves . Go find them yourself,” he finally answered . “Do not bring them out of the Runic Hall, do you understand?”

Guo Shier nodded earnestly .  I’m not stupid enough to steal these books . But that doesn’t mean I can’t copy them, right? he thought to himself .

“I’ll stay in the Chen Xiao Sect for a whole year,” Ku Mu said . If there is something you don’t understand, feel free to come and find me anytime in the Runic Hall lobby . ”

Guo Shier hurriedly nodded .

“In a few days I’ll take you somewhere,” Ku Mu added .

Guo Shier curiously asked, “Master, where are we going?”

Ku Mu smiled . “Someplace your low-levelled Rune World doesn’t have . It’s a good place for you . You will understand when we go there . ”

Guo Shier was dismayed that his Master actually left him hanging .

Translator: Glasses TangGu
Editor: M