Chapter 6 Nina Circus
The cup fell from his palm and broke into pieces on the ground.
The magician's condition was very abnormal. Lin Muyu immediately stepped forward, grabbed his shoulders tightly and shook him twice, forcibly waking him up from the nightmare.
"Sir, calm down. You are not very emotional right now."
The magician's whole body trembled, and he raised his head suddenly as if he was awakened, his forehead covered with cold sweat. He gritted his teeth and struggled to suppress his emotions that were about to collapse, gasping for breath.
"I lost my composure." His voice was dry and he paused.
The negative emotions that were forcibly suppressed found an outlet and roared to drown people. People drowned in this torrent, unable to escape or refuse, and endured the most painful punishment.
Ye Yunhe took a clean cup, poured water into it, and put it in the magician's hand.
"It's okay. It's our fault that you've been reminded of something painful."
The magician took a sip of water tiredly. He looked very miserable now, as if he had been fished out of the water. His hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, his face was pale and his hands were cold. Even if he was put directly into the intensive care unit, no one would suspect anything.
He stood up slowly, walked to the cabinet, opened the drawer, took out three invitation tickets, and came back.
"This is for you."
Lin Muyu took it, glanced at the magician, and then moved his eyes to the words printed on the invitation ticket.
"Freak Show, unique exhibits, unparalleled art, giving you a strong visual impact. We sincerely invite you to come at 7pm."
"!" The three were shocked.
Ye Yunhe took a few steps forward, picked up one of the sheets and stroked it, the clues connected. She turned around and asked in confusion: "Why did you give us this?"
The magician looked calm, none of his previous nervousness and recklessness, like a completely different person.
"Your target is the leader, right?"
The three of them suddenly tensed up, took a few steps back and stood together, waiting for his next words.
"Don't be nervous. I can tell you everything I know. I have only one goal - to kill the despicable and shameless beast who killed my lover."
————
The time went forward to half an hour ago, when the magic show just ended.
The magician returned to the room, locked the door, threw himself onto the sofa, and covered his face with his hands in exhaustion.
Despair and helplessness filled him. He didn't know how to shake a mountain. That person always hid himself in the deepest place, arranged a large number of people to protect himself, and was extremely vigilant to any disturbance.
Time is running out and there is only one chance. Once the next magician grows up, there will be no chance at all.
Is there really no solution?
Masochistic thoughts tortured him all the time, and the guilt flooded his mouth and nose, suffocating him.
The leader can't stay behind the scenes forever, he will always show up.
The magician thought so as he stared at the ceiling quietly, imagining the man's death in his mind for countless times.
This is what I am supposed to do, he thought, I will do it at all costs, I never want to live alone.
His life had ended on that day, and he died along with Hong Tao. Now all that was left here was an empty shell. He didn't have the face to see her until he succeeded.
His thoughts gradually became confused, with only a few twisted, bright red characters engraved there. He reached into his pocket to take out the photo, but his hand was empty, and his heart almost stopped.
The magician straightened up suddenly and searched her body anxiously. This was her only photo!
There was a sudden crisp knocking sound beside his ear, and he turned his head to look over.
A young man was sitting on the table with his chin propped up. When he saw him coming, he smiled and waved, then spoke slowly.
"Don't look for it. The photo will come back when it's time."
What's going on? I didn't sense anyone there at all. Has he always been there?
Countless doubts swirled in his mind, and dangerous conjectures made him panic. He shouted, "Who are you? Who allowed you to come in without permission?"
The young man raised his hands innocently in surrender, still with a smile on his face, and his leisurely manner made the magician uneasy.
"I mean no harm. I'm just trying to stop your heart from beating so fast." The young man stared at him. "I'm here to help you."
"help me?"
"Yeah, there's no way you can kill the leader by yourself. His men will pin you face down on the ground the moment you make a move."
"How much do you know? Why are you helping me?"
"I said I know everything... do you believe me?"
The young man jumped down from the table, passed by the stiff man, sat down safely on another sofa, and put something on the table.
"As for helping you, I naturally have my own reasons."
"?"
The magician took a closer look and saw three invitations to a freak show and several broken porcelain pieces on the table. The porcelain piece looked familiar. It was the gift given to Hongtao before.
"you……"
"Remember the man who gave you back your hat? The next time he comes to see you, give him this. In exchange, ask him to give you the last piece of porcelain."
As if he knew what he would say, the young man interrupted the magician and continued speaking.
"Don't tell anyone about my existence. They have the same goal as you, you just need to answer their questions. As a thank you, I will let you see Red Heart again."
"!"
The magician's pupils constricted and he even doubted his own hearing. He stood there in disbelief, looking at the young man in front of him. He knew that what the young man said was ridiculous, but the young man's ease made him feel pleasantly surprised.
The young man smiled and said no more. He just put his index finger to the center of his lips and made a soft "hush" sound, indicating that he didn't need to express his feelings.
The magician knew that the expression on his face must be funny and distorted. He lowered his head, quickly adjusted himself, and raised it again, only to be shocked to find that there was no one in front of him.
Only the invitation ticket and the white porcelain on the table proved that everything that happened just now was not an illusion.
————
As if nothing had happened, the magician and the trio sat back with normal expressions.
"My parents were tricked into borrowing high-interest loans, and when things got bad, they left me behind. I had no school to go to, and nowhere to go. In order to avoid being caught and having my legs broken, I fled my hometown and joined the circus."
"After falling in love with Hongtao, I thought good luck had finally come to me. Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. When I was planning to propose to her, I was found by that group of people."
"They cornered me and forced me to pay back the money, or they would break my hands and threatened me with red hearts. The string of numbers kept growing longer and longer, and I couldn't pay it back even if I worked for decades more."
"How can I accept this? This is a contract signed by my parents. Why should I repay it? But people say it is only natural for a son to pay his father's debt."
"Besides, if they cause trouble during the performance and affect the circus, the director will definitely fire me. Without my job, that group of people will only become more rampant. For the sake of profit, they will do anything. I can only ask them to forgive me for a few days."
The magician just spoke expressionlessly at first, as if he was telling someone else's story, until he mentioned the red heart, and then he seemed to come alive.
"And Red Heart... I absolutely cannot affect her. I couldn't sleep for a few days because of this matter, and told her that I was practicing a new magic. The leader noticed my uneasiness, and he pretended to care about me and asked me what happened."
"In the eyes of us employees, the director is like an elder. He has developed the circus from a small one to what it is today, and his ability is unquestionable. In my eyes at that time, he was the one who could solve my dilemma. So I confided my situation to him."
The magician's tone was tinged with hatred.
"He did propose a solution. He asked me to help him with something. After that, he would help me drive those people away and live here peacefully. I was very grateful and thanked him repeatedly. I didn't understand the deep meaning of his words and thought I had met a savior."
"What he asked me to do was simple. He said I was transporting a small animal. It was very aggressive so it was locked in a closed box and covered with black cloth. The circus was going to train it for performances."
"In fact, they are not animals at all, but people, real people, who are transported to so-called freak shows, made into works of art, evaluated as exhibits, and then bought by rich people as a topic of conversation."
Hearing this, the trio's faces darkened.
This is so heartless that even just hearing it is incomprehensible.
"Because the people inside were very quiet during the transportation, I didn't think anything was wrong until the people with me opened the box in front of me. I was pushed to the ground, and the leader came over and told me everything with a smile. He told me and Hongtao to have a good life, and it would be nice to have the wedding right in front of the circus."
"…Since then, I have been under surveillance. My values and conscience have been lashing at me all the time, denouncing my cowardice and stupidity. I thought I had left hell, but fell into a deeper abyss."
At this point, the magician grabbed his arm so hard that his nails almost dug into his flesh.
"I watched those innocent people scratch bloody marks on the box, listened to their screams, and saw the indifference on the faces of the people around me. I almost felt sick, but I didn't dare to say anything, for fear that Hong Tao would see through me and then care about me. I was afraid that I would tell her everything and let her be tainted with sin."
"But God never favored me. She still found out about the filth hidden in this circus. She was disappointed and angry and scolded me. She couldn't believe that the person next to her had such a dirty soul. I wanted to explain to her, but soon the door was kicked open and I was knocked unconscious."
"When I woke up, she was dead."
After the magician finished speaking, no one spoke in the room for a while, and the four people all had their own thoughts in their minds.
The trio remembered the condition for passing the level mentioned by the electronic voice: kill the guilty person.
There is no doubt that the leader is definitely one, but what about the magician, is he one too? Even if he did not want to do those things subjectively, it did lead to the tragedy objectively.
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