Chapter 173 The Rules of the Road

Among the flower petals flying in the sky, Thales looked at Hilley who was performing a skillful posture on the street with a stiff expression.

etc.

Huaiya and... Huaiyana?

What is this?

How could someone give such a false name?

"Master of magic?"

"Huaiya and Huaiana? Why haven't I heard of them?"

"It can't be the same people who cheated money last time. Their tactics were so bad that they were caught on the spot and betrayed!"

"These two hairs haven't even grown yet? Hey, maybe it's the gang of thieves on the street, diverting attention..."

"Mom, mom, there's magic! I want to see it, I want to see it!"

More and more passers-by gathered around, some just happened to be passing by to take a casual look, and some came with their families for a special visit. There were all men, women, and children. They stretched out their hands to catch the petals, and talked a lot about Hilley and Thales. .

"Hey, what kind of magic are you doing? They're all fake. They're either props, tricks, or abilities..."

"Either it's a shill to support you!"

"Okay, okay, I like to watch magic tricks and expose them the most!"

"That's not okay. Magic is for appreciation, not for you to try to be clever..."

"If you don't ruin the show, what's the point of seeing magic..."

"Hey, Master Magic, don't be stunned, keep changing!"

"I want to see an escape magic! The kind that ties a rope and beheads someone!"

During the Jade Festival, various performances and celebrations can be seen on the streets of the city every day, not to mention that in the Iris District where theater groups gather, this kind of scene is simply too normal for the citizens. After a while, this street corner was naturally The stage was surrounded, and some audience members even began to urge Hilley and Thales.

"Great," Thales ruffled his hair to make it a little more messy so as not to be recognized (although this possibility is very rare), "What now, Master Magic?"

Xi Lai didn't say anything, but just turned around and glanced at him.

The girl turned around, first raised her left hand with a smile, and then quickly retracted it, magically pulling out a complete red flower from the flattened hat.

There was a commotion among the spectators, with some exclamating and others booing in dissatisfaction ("I can do this, too!").

But Xi Lai was not affected at all. Her smile did not diminish. She waved her right hand first, then crossed her hands. The little red flower disappeared from her left hand in an instant.

The audience's exclamations gradually grew louder, while the boos gradually subsided ("One more!").

"They want magic," the eldest daughter of the Kevin Deere family smiled like a flower. Thales's broken hat kept flying between her wrists and arms, with red flowers, blue flowers, yellow flowers, purple flowers, and several different colors. The flower branches appeared and disappeared from her hand one after another, which was very magical. "Then I will give it to them."

Well, with more and more cheers and applause, Thales raised his eyebrows helplessly.

From the angle behind Heilai, he could clearly see how the eldest lady performed the "magic": different flower branches were clamped on her elbows, armpits, behind her palms, even on the back of her neck and skirt, cleverly hidden in front of the audience. In the invisible blind spot, she magically appears or disappears in her hands through the obstruction of the hat and making noises, attracting exclamations from the audience every time.

It is worth mentioning that Heeley's techniques are skillful and flexible, her movements are natural and smooth, and her attention-shifting and startling exaggerated performances are even more proficient ("No wonder pretending to be a ghost and scaring people is so powerful..." Tai was secretly unhappy. els), coupled with the flower branches flashing back and forth, is enough to dazzle the audience.

Um……

The method of performing magic performed by the demanding Thales, who narrowed his eyes, seemed to be not much different from the crooks playing cards in the Black Gold Casino in the Royal Capital and the "Three Hands" on the streets of Lower City.

But he did not forget the goal of their trip: in the barber shop across the street, Slimani and the barber boy were talking in low voices while paying attention to the growing number of spectators surrounding them. The former was confused and the latter was confused. Obviously They all began to shake their suspicions just now.

Well, it was a bad idea, but at least it worked.

Thales curled his lips.

To be precise, Hilley said that after "Magic Master Wyana" repeated three times with different postures, she finally threw the flower branches of five different colors into the hands of the audience. She smiled, put on her hat and bowed, We received a lot of cheers and applause.

In the midst of the excitement, Thales did not forget to pay attention to the situation on the other side of the street:

Slimani was seen sitting back on the barbering chair, seeming to breathe a sigh of relief. The clerk behind him scratched his head and gradually gave up his doubts.

"This trick is so old!"

"Let's try something new!"

"yes!"

"Become a living person?"

"You can even saw a living person!"

"Can you eat fire and breathe fire? I saw that in Humble last year!"

There were more and more calls from the crowd, and the demands became higher and higher, but the experienced "Master Huiana" was not afraid and immediately performed other magic:

She took out several thin metal rings and passed them to the audience in the first row for circulation. Then she took them back and played the trick of removing the rings very quickly.

Thales on the side was unknowingly reduced to a supporting role. He held up the hem of his clothes dejectedly, kept bowing to the audience to receive the reward, and thought sourly:

Come on, there are a few rings with tiny gaps mixed in the intact rings. Who wouldn’t? It seems that a long time ago, there were foreign craftsmen on the streets of Hongfang Street who performed this trick, until the news spread to the Blood Bottle Gang, After hearing the news, the clown Max and his "circus den" came and smashed it clean.

But now, the guys in the barber shop won't be suspicious anymore, right?

The next moment, Shilai, who felt that the audience was tired of watching, changed her tactics. She saw several rings being put on her forearms. The girl happily raised her hands in the air, danced in circles, and sang the popular song of Nan'an Ling. Minor tune "Flowers Under the Sea".

As the audience cheered and sang, every time she danced, one of the rings on her arms fell off, and just fit into another ring, until the rings within the rings formed a long ring. The chain was waved by Hilley and turned in big circles.

Well, the harsh magic judge, Thales raised his eyebrows: The combination of performance and dance is not bad.

Halfway through the minor key, the long chain loses one link each time it turns, until the rings separate again and fit neatly back onto Heeley's arm.

After Xi Lai danced the last circle, he raised his arms, grabbed the rings again, and bowed.

The crowd burst into cheers and applause again.

"The tricks are quite old, but the dancing is pretty good. Come on, keep going!"

Thales' nerves tightened, and he subconsciously stretched out his hand to catch a copper coin thrown from the crowd.

Wait, what is this?

The next second, a lot of copper coins and even a few store exchange coupons, and even an apple flew towards Thales from the audience, and many people held coins in their hands and waved to him.

"Huaiya", the heir to the Thales magic family, hurriedly continued to reward money. After a while, he collected a full hand, and even leaked a lot on the ground, so that he had to pull out the hem of his clothes to cover it, and also put on a good show. With a grateful smile on his face, he went around the audience to collect reward money to coordinate with Master Huiana's performance.

"No, there are so many rings, how did you put them on? This must be fake, right! What props did you use? Can you sell me some?" Someone in the crowd couldn't help but be curious.

"Sorry." Seeing so many spectators cheering for her, Ms. Shilai Magic Master Wyana smiled even more happily, "The secrets of magic, firstly, don't delve into it, secondly, don't expose it, thirdly, don't spread it to outsiders, and fourthly, please tell me all about it. Appreciate it with all my heart!”

After saying this, Hilley once again pulled out a flower from his hat, which caused a burst of cheers from the crowd.

"Girl, one more!"

"Sister, sister, choose me! I want to do magic too!"

"When are you going to kill a living person? For example, your brother?"

The audience's reaction made Shilai more and more excited, and her performance became more and more enjoyable. She was seen performing several street magic tricks with great excitement, from ring roping to guessing coins, from petals turning into whole flowers to pulling out a piece of black cloth and making magic tricks out of thin air (Tiel The apple that Si Si gave her... She even invited an aunt from the audience to tie her wrist with hers, so that the seemingly knotted rope magically changed back and forth on their wrists, and the rope was untied. (Although after the aunt came off the stage, everyone suspected that she was a sitter arranged in advance, and she was so angry that she yelled in the crowd on the spot).

Thales, who was responsible for collecting rewards and bowing, felt that his clothes were a little heavier. He had to exchange a few coppers from a vendor for a bag and put the coins in them.

No, are the citizens of Emerald City so supportive? Is the reward so easy to come by?

Why weren't the citizens of the royal capital so generous when he was living on the streets?

Thales noticed Slimani sitting back on the chair in the barber shop and waiting, and Heilai happily raising her hands amidst the cheers, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

It can be seen that this girl is not only good at technique, she is also very talented in acting. She knows how to guide the audience's attention and gradually control their emotions to achieve the best performance effect.

If, if she was not Kevin Dill, if she was not born in a Duke's house, if she was not Zhan's sister...

She would be a great street performer.

At this moment, a man pushed his way through the crowd, came to the front row, and interrupted Shilay's magic show.

"You, girl, how did you do the magic?"

The man was wearing a work apron and smelled of hair oil. He narrowed his eyes and said, "I'll give you money and you tell me the secret, okay? I want to do this magic too."

Oops.

Thales saw this man's appearance clearly, and his heart skipped a beat!

He was, he was the guy in the barber shop, the one who charged Slimani a silver coin.

They're from the Blood Bottle Gang!

Thales glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that Slimani was still sitting in the shop opposite, still wearing a shaving scarf, and did not even look this way.

But he must be paying attention here!

Did you get suspicious and come to test them both?

Hilley obviously recognized this guy, but she reacted very quickly and put on a formulaic smile:

"I'm sorry, sir: the secrets of magic must not be investigated deeply, exposed, and spread to outsiders."

"Tell me, where did you practice this technique?" The shaver interrupted her impatiently, raising his voice.

His fierce look made several dissatisfied spectators around him take a step back.

Xi Lai frowned.

"This gentleman!"

Seeing that something was not going well, Thales came up to him with a flattering look on his face:

"That's right. As an audience of magic and sleight-of-hand performances, we should have the quality to appreciate it with confidence and enjoy the magical performance wholeheartedly..."

The young man flipped his palm, cleverly grabbed a handful of coins from his pocket, and quietly put it into the boy's hand.

The shaver's eyebrows moved as he watched Thales' movements.

He subconsciously put away the money and glanced in the direction of the shop.

But just a few seconds later, the guy figured something out and turned cold again:

"Tell me, which path are you on?"

Thales' smile froze:

"sorry?"

Amidst the cheers from the crowd, the shaved man sneered.

"Stop pretending, I can tell by your tactics that you are also in the street business," the guy said, "Why, do you think the police force here is insufficient on your Lord's parade day, and you want to make a profit?"

The street side?

Thales smiled and said: "I misunderstood, I'm not"

"Master of magic? Damn! I've seen a lot of people like you," said the shaver. "How many things have you stolen along the way? Where are they hidden? Is it her performance and you petting sheep? There are people in the crowd. Your gang?"

The expressions of Thales and Hillai changed.

The sudden accident caused the crowd to start whispering and muttering, but everyone looked at Thales and Hillai differently.

"What, are they thieves?"

"It turns out to be a thief!"

"Can thieves do magic too?"

"Don't be stunned, look to see if your wallet is missing!"

"Oh shit! My wallet is missing. They are indeed in this pocket. I remembered it wrong."

"They don't look like thieves, do they?"

"Hey, you have no relatives, how can you speak for them! You are not part of their gang, are you?"

"Huh? I'm not, I didn't...well, um, looking at it this way, they are indeed a bit suspicious..."

"This is right! Return to rational thinking!"

"But we have no evidence..."

"Flies don't bite seamless eggs. If they didn't do anything wrong, could this guy find them?"

Amid the growing noise, Hilley put away his props and stepped forward with a straight face:

"We are not thieves, we are upright magicians. We took advantage of Queen's Day to come to the city to see the Emerald Festival and prepare to make a living."

Perhaps because the magic show just now was very successful, there were many voices of dissatisfaction among the crowd after Heilai spoke.

"Yes! Stay away from them!"

"It's the Emerald Celebration, why are you fighting and killing!"

"Stop making trouble!"

"That's enough, Raguenot. Others are just doing tricks to show off their skills. How can you be so overbearing!"

But Ragnot's barber didn't care at all. He let out a sigh.

"Baking for a living? Hey, I'm telling you, you guys broke the rules!"

Brother Ragnow's finger almost poked Thales' face:

"Who is your boss? The dog-raising Sangare? Or from Beimenqiao? A foreigner? A sea visitor? Don't you know this is a no-theft zone? Have you ever said hello to the boss, or have you been tricked? Just Dare you come here to make a living? The Emerald City has rules!"

As soon as they heard the words "Boss", "Sangare", "Beimen Bridge", etc., the voices in the crowd supporting Xi Lai suddenly became smaller. Many people seemed to know something and left in twos and threes.

Seeing this, Raguenot even sneered and pointed to the shop behind him:

"Also, you are blocking our business."

In the barber shop, the target of their trip, Slimani, was sitting on a chair, seeming to be observing through the reflection of the mirror.

Thales and Heeley looked at each other.

Damn it.

It seems that the temptation was not caused by suspicion.

It's just the damn "rules of the road."

Thales put on a smile and rubbed his hands:

"Dear Mr. Raguenot? First of all, we are indeed not thieves. Secondly, if you don't like us performing here, we will just leave! Or, we can also compensate for some of the losses in your store... "

"Not a thief? That's good."

Ragno laughed ferociously, and he suddenly reached out and grabbed Xi Lai's wrist!

Xi Lai's expression changed:

"let me go!"

Thales was also shocked. He stood up in front of Hilley and held down Ragnor's arm:

"Let go!"

But Ragnow had obviously practiced it, and he held onto Hilley's wrist tightly:

"Come on, I'll hold your hand, and you can try another trick? Magician? Otherwise, do you want to follow me to see the security officer?"

Hilley screamed in surprise. She grabbed her glove and pulled her hand back desperately.

"Fuck! Let go!" Thales gritted his teeth and pressed against the man, trying to pull away the hands of Shilay and Ragnow.

"Ah, it's your gloves, right?"

The conflict broke out and the crowd was in chaos. Ragnow held Shilay's hand and laughed proudly: "It must be your glove. There is a mechanism inside? Tell me, how many 'magic' have you done with this? How much money have you defrauded?" How many more were stolen?”

The crowd echoed with voices:

"That's right! What kind of gloves are the flower girls wearing? They look like noble ladies. What are they pretending to be? Are they so delicate?"

Tails, who had sharp eyes, recognized that it was another guy from the barber shop.

"There must be a mechanism in the glove!"

“Maybe there’s still stolen money!”

"It must be a thief!"

"I recognize it! They stole from me last week!"

There were some passers-by in the crowd who couldn't stand this scene and were aggrieved on behalf of Xi Lai. However, under the continuous echoes of the shavers, even the most righteous people had to hesitate: Could they really be Thief?

"Come on, come on, take me to the security officer!"

"They can't run away this time!"

Several "enthusiastic people" responded and coincidentally emerged from the surrounding crowd. They rolled up their sleeves and tried to help Ragnow drag him away. One of them even grabbed Thales's hand and pulled him back. drag!

In the chaos, Hilley accidentally fell to the ground and screamed.

Tails reacted badly and opened up his long-lost memories: troublemaking, frame-up, gangs, robbery, scattering... This was the usual method used by human trafficking gangs a long time ago when they abducted women and children on the streets.

This is how many beggars came to the abandoned house.

For example, the youngest girl in their sixth house, Coria, remembered that she had parents, a wet nurse, and toys. She remembered that she was snatched away by several people during a celebration.

She even remembers hearing "the wet nurse chasing after her, crying as she chased" that day.

Until the cry became more and more distant.

In this life, I can never hear it again.

"enough!"

Thales returned to reality and roared:

"Get away!"

The Sin of Hell River burned instantly, and the memory of the Northern Army's swordsmanship came back to his mind.

boom!

Thales first returned an elbow, knocking the guy behind him so hard that he fell to the ground in pain.

The next second, he moved forward to pin Ragnow's feet, and with a sudden increase in power, he knocked Ragnow two meters away.

Thales turned back and pointed at the third guy. The latter was about to punch, but when he saw Thales' angry eyes, he couldn't help but stopped in his tracks.

"Enough!"

Thales stopped the remaining shavers.

"If Boss Balta knows about the good things you are doing here," Thales gritted his teeth and glanced coldly at Ragnow who was rubbing his chest on the ground, "Believe me, he will melt you down if he does it before that." If he hasn’t been melted down by Boss Fogg, and Fogg hasn’t been melted down by someone more terrifying than him.”

Ragnor's expression changed when he heard this: "You, how did you..."

Thales snorted coldly, turned around and grabbed Shilai's arm, lifting her up from the ground.

But at that second, someone seemed to have discovered something and was the first to shout.

"Did you see that?"

"yes……"

"Oh My God……"

Thales looked up in confusion and found that everyone was looking behind him. The people around him were in an uproar!

Oops, has your identity been exposed?

Ragnow was helped to his feet by a waiter, but he was quickly stunned when he saw something.

Following everyone's gaze, Thales slowly lowered his head, and immediately froze.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's so disgusting..."

"This thing really exists..."

Seeing everyone's reactions, Hilley suddenly realized something.

She lowered her head in horror, and then realized that her left glove had been torn off.

And where everyone's eyes were focused, Xi Lai's left hand, from the forearm to the entire palm, was covered with red and black burn scars, pitted and uneven.

Ugly.

But that's not the most shocking thing.

"ah!"

A girl who was closer saw something clearly and exclaimed. Her mother quickly covered her eyes.

It's Heeley's left palm.

On it... there was an extra finger suddenly growing on the outside of the ugly little finger that already had red skin.

It is slender and crooked. At this moment, it is awkwardly and irregularly connected to the little finger, hanging out of the palm, twitching.

The crowd was in an uproar.

"What the hell is that..."

"Does that hand have six fingers, or seven?"

"There seem to be more than a dozen of them, and they're all crooked and disgusting!"

"I saw it when I was a kid! Lobster hands!"

"No! The lobster hand has fewer fingers, but this one has many more fingers. It's... um, a spider hand!"

"It's so pitiful. She is a girl who was born disabled..."

"It must have been cursed by a witch..."

"No wonder he can do magic!"

Even Slimani, who was in the barber shop in the distance, turned back from his chair and looked here curiously.

Six, six fingers?

At that moment, Thales figured out a lot of things.