On stage, Xu Kuo, with a mysterious smile on his face, slowly... withdrew both hands!
He opened his palm to indicate that he hadn't touched anything!
And that newspaper remained, incredibly, suspended in mid-air!
This time, Zhou Changke and Sheng Xu's expressions of "sudden realization" turned into utter astonishment!
Zhang Zhihe was struck dumb!
The color drained from his face instantly, and he stared intently at the hanging newspaper, his mind completely blank!
No...no wire?!
How...how did they even do that?!
His proud experience and the keen eyesight he relied on for survival were utterly crushed at this moment!
That flimsy old newspaper now filled him with immense shame.
How is that possible? To suspend an object in mid-air without any strings or supports?
This goes against everything he has known for decades!
Sheng Xu, who was standing next to him, was also shocked. He subconsciously turned to look at Zhang Zhihe, his voice filled with urgency and disbelief: "Teacher Zhang, what... what exactly is going on? Have you figured it out?"
He desperately needed an explanation, an explanation that would help him understand this bizarre scene, even if it came from Zhang Zhihe, who had just sworn that Xu Kuo was a fraud.
"I...I..." Zhang Zhihe's lips trembled, his eyes darting away, not daring to meet Sheng Xu's probing gaze.
What could he possibly know? If he did, he wouldn't be looking like he'd seen a ghost!
After stammering for a while, under Sheng Xu's increasingly eager gaze, the old magician's face turned bright red, and finally he deflated like a punctured balloon, "...I can't tell."
Sheng Xu's heart skipped a beat. When he looked at the young man on the stage who had maintained a calm smile, his expression changed completely.
Even a seasoned veteran like Zhang Zhihe couldn't see through this guy... he probably really has some skills!
Could it be about those antiques...? Sheng Xu's mind started racing again, but he quickly suppressed it. No, this matter is of great importance, and we can't draw conclusions based on just one magic trick!
"Hmph! It's just a trivial trick!" Zhang Zhihe forced himself to save face, his neck stiff, as if to convince himself and to preserve the last bit of dignity, gritting his back teeth.
"In the world of magic, everyone has their own unique skills! He can do this levitation trick, and I have my own specialty! What's so special about this? It's just a variation of illusion, a trick to fool people!"
He paused, as if he had thought of something, then said dismissively, "I don't believe he can make a living person, or rather... make those big things that need to be hidden, disappear out of thin air. That's real skill!"
Zhang Zhihe was certain that such a small levitation technique might be possible, but to say that a large number of heavy antiques could be made to disappear out of thin air was absolutely a fantasy!
Xu Kuo must have used some kind of trickery or mechanism to hide the antiques before; it's impossible that he used this kind of "magic"!
Xu Kuo on the stage seemed not to hear the discussions below. He calmly put away the newspaper and then made a move that surprised everyone—he walked to the power switch at the edge of the stage!
Snap!
The entire auditorium was plunged into darkness in an instant!
"Huh? Why are the lights off?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Is it going to grow bigger?"
In the darkness, a suppressed gasp and a buzz of discussion suddenly rose from the audience.
Everyone craned their necks, trying to catch a glimpse of movement in the darkness.
Just as everyone was filled with doubt and uncertainty—
Snap!
The lights suddenly turned on!
Under the blinding light, everyone's eyes were instantly drawn to the center of the stage!
Then... everyone gasped in shock!
In the center of the stage, which had been empty just moments before, a huge blue stone, about half a person's height, had suddenly appeared!
The stone had a rough surface and smelled of earth; it was obviously quite heavy!
"Whoosh—!" This time, the exclamation was even louder than when the newspaper was suspended in the air!
To conjure such a large rock out of thin air? That's simply miraculous!
"Hmph!" Zhang Zhihe sneered again, this time with much more confidence, his voice filled with disdain, as he whispered to Sheng Xu beside him.
"See that? Captain Sheng! I told you he was a fraud! What kind of magic trick is that? He just used a big flatbed cart to push the stone up in the dark! A stupid illusion! It couldn't even fool my five-year-old apprentice!"
He revealed a smug expression, "This kind of trick is purely using darkness as cover, it's a far cry from the real 'disappearing act'! You'd better keep your eyes open! Don't be fooled by this kind of charlatanry!"
Sheng Xu frowned. Although Zhang Zhihe's explanation sounded reasonable, he still felt that something was not quite right.
However, Xu Kuo on the stage seemed not to hear his sarcasm, and his face still wore that inscrutable smile.
He went backstage and soon came out carrying a huge piece of red silk cloth.
With a whoosh, the red cloth was unfurled, completely covering the boulder, leaving only a blurry outline.
Seeing this, Zhang Zhihe's smirk widened even more, and he scoffed confidently, "See? They're going to turn off the lights again! Then they'll push the stone down in the dark! Same old tricks! Nothing new!"
To Zhang Zhihe's surprise, Xu Kuo did not touch the switch. Instead, he turned around, looked down at the audience, and said loudly, "Teacher Zhang Zhihe, and Captain Sheng Xu, could you please come up on stage and lend me a hand?"
"Huh?" Zhang Zhihe and Sheng Xu were both taken aback, and the audience below the stage also quieted down, looking at them curiously.
Why would we ask them to go up there?
The two exchanged a glance. Although they were full of doubts, they could not refuse under the watchful eyes of the crowd. They had no choice but to stand up and walk onto the stage under everyone's gaze.
"Please each of you hold one corner of this red cloth," Xu Kuo said, pointing to two corners of the cloth near the edge of the stage with a smile.
The two were puzzled, but they did as instructed and each grabbed a corner of the red cloth.
The fabric felt heavy, and underneath it was indeed the hard, rocky texture of stone.
“I’m about to begin,” Xu Kuo said, standing on the other side of the red cloth, his smile widening. “Hurry up! Three!”
"two!"
"one!"
Snap!
The lights went out again!
The stage was plunged into complete darkness once again!
In the darkness, everyone held their breath and pricked up their ears.
Zhang Zhihe was completely focused, secretly pressing down with his feet to feel any vibrations in the stage floor, and gripping the corners of the fabric tightly with both hands, not missing any subtle changes.
A few seconds later, the lights snapped on.
Everyone hurriedly looked towards the stage—and there it was, the red cloth still bulging and covering the rock, its outline clearly still that of the giant stone! The stone was still there!
"Alas--!"
A burst of laughter and disappointed boos immediately erupted from the audience.
"What's going on! Did it fail?"
"I thought it would be something amazing! Turns out the stone is still there!"
"What a waste of time!"
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