Chapter 671: Street Rules

Amid flower petals scattering through the sky, Thales looked at Hilley, whose posture on the street was practiced, and his expression stiffened.

Wait.

Wya and... Wyana?

What was this?

How could anyone come up with fake names like that?

"Master magicians?"

"Wya and Wyana? How come I've never heard of them?"

"They won't be those scammers from last time, right? Their tricks were so bad they got caught on the spot!"

"Those two brats whose hair hasn't even grown in yet? Hah, maybe they're a street thief gang here to distract people..."

"Mommy, Mommy, magic! I want to watch! I want to watch!"

More and more passersby gathered around. Some had just happened to pass and casually glanced over, while others had brought their families specifically to enjoy the festival. Men, women, old, and young were all present. As they stretched out their hands to catch the petals, they discussed Hilley and Thales.

"Aiya, what magic? It's all fake. Either props, mechanisms, sleight of hand, or abilities..."

"Or planted shills cheering them on!"

"Great, great! What I like most is watching magic and then exposing them!"

"That will not do. Magic is meant to be appreciated, not for you to tear it down and show off how smart you are..."

"If you do not expose it, then why watch magic..."

"Hey, master magicians, don't just stand there. Keep going!"

"I want to see escape magic! The kind where they tie ropes and chop off heads!"

During the Emerald Celebration, all sorts of performances and celebrations could be seen on the city's streets every day, especially in Iris District, where troupes gathered. To the citizens, such a scene was simply too normal. In just a little while, this street corner had naturally become surrounded as a stage, and some audience members even began urging Hilley and Thales on.

"Wonderful." Thales rubbed his hair to make it even messier, lest he be recognized, though that possibility was very small. "What now, master magician?"

Hilley said nothing. She only turned back and glared at him.

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

The surrounding audience stirred. Some gave small cries of surprise, while others booed in dissatisfaction. "I could do that too!"

But Hilley was not affected in the slightest. Her smile did not fade. She first waved her right hand, then crossed both hands, and the little red flower instantly vanished from her left hand.

The audience's gasps gradually grew louder, while the boos slowly quieted. "One more!"

"They want magic." The young lady of House Covendier smiled like a flower, Thales' ragged hat constantly flying between her wrist and arm as red, blue, yellow, and purple flowers of different colors appeared or disappeared from her hands one after another, incomparably magical. "Then I will give it to them."

Fine.

Accompanied by more and more cheers and applause, Thales helplessly raised his eyebrows.

From behind Hilley, he could clearly see how the young lady performed her "magic." Different flower stems were clamped at her elbow, underarm, behind her palm, even behind her neck and skirt, cleverly hidden in blind spots the audience could not see. Then, every time, through the cover of the hat and by making noise in the east while striking in the west, they magically appeared or disappeared in her hands. Each time drew exclamations from the audience.

It was worth mentioning that Hilley's hand movements were practiced and flexible, her posture natural and smooth, and her exaggerated performance of misdirection and startling gestures was even more masterful. No wonder she was so good at pretending to be a ghost and scaring people, the secretly displeased Thales thought. Paired with the flashing flowers moving back and forth, it was enough to dazzle the audience.

Hmm.

The harsh Thales narrowed his eyes. This method of performing magic seemed not much different from the cheats playing cards in the capital's Black Gold Casino or the "Three Hands" on the streets of Lower City.

But he had not forgotten the goal of their trip. In the barber shop across the street, Srimanny and the barber worker spoke quietly while watching the growing audience here. The former was confused, the latter suspicious. Clearly, both had begun wavering from their earlier doubts.

Fine. Although this idea was terrible, at least it was working.

Thales curled his lips.

After Hilley, or more accurately, "Master Magician Wyana," repeated the trick three times in different postures, she finally tossed the five different colored flowers into the audience's hands. She smiled, tucked the hat close, and bowed, receiving quite a few cheers and applause.

Amid the liveliness, Thales did not forget to watch the situation across the street.

Srimanny sat back down in the barber chair as if relieved, while the worker behind him scratched his head awkwardly and gradually dispelled his suspicions.

"That trick is too old!"

"Change it up!"

"Right!"

"Make a person disappear?"

"Sawing a person in half works too!"

"Can you swallow fire or spit fire? I saw that in Hanbol last year!"

The calls from the crowd grew more numerous, and their demands grew higher. But the experienced "Master Wyana" showed no fear. She immediately performed other magic tricks.

She took out several thin metal rings, first handed them to the front-row audience to inspect, then took them back and began performing a linking and unlinking ring trick with extremely fast movements.

At the side, Thales unknowingly became a supporting role. He miserably held up the hem of his clothes and constantly bowed to the audience to receive rewards, thinking sourly:

Tch. A few intact rings mixed with a few rings with tiny gaps. Who could not do that? It seemed that long ago, foreign artisans had performed this trick on the streets of Red Lane Street, until word reached the Blood Bottle Gang and Clown Kex and his "Circus Den" came after hearing the news and smashed everything clean.

But now, the people in the barber shop would no longer be suspicious, right?

The next moment, sensing that the audience was getting tired, Hilley's technique changed. Several rings were placed around her forearm, while the girl happily lifted both hands, stepped into a dance, spun in circles, and hummed the popular South Coast tune "Flowers Under the Sea."

Amid the audience's cheers and singing, every time she danced one circle, one ring slipped from her arm and just happened to enter another ring, until ring linked ring, forming a long chain that Hilley waved in large circles one after another.

Fine, the harsh magic judge Thales raised an eyebrow. Combining performance with dance was not bad.

As the tune passed halfway, the long chain lost one ring every time it spun until the rings separated again and neatly returned around Hilley's arm.

Hilley finished the final circle, shook her arm, grabbed the rings back into her hand, and bowed along the motion.

Cheers and applause sounded from the crowd again.

"The trick is old, but the dance is decent. Here, catch!"

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

Wait, what was this?

The next second, many copper coins, even a few shop exchange vouchers and an apple, flew toward Thales from the audience. Many people also pinched coins in their hands and waved at him.

Thales, Wya, heir to a magician family, hurriedly caught the reward money. Soon, his hands were full, and plenty still fell to the ground. He had to pull out the hem of his clothes to hold them, while putting on an expression of tearful gratitude and moving around the audience to collect rewards, all to cooperate with Master Wyana's performance.

"No, with so many rings, how did you link them? It must be fake, right? What props did you use? Can you sell me some?" someone in the crowd could not help asking curiously.

"Sorry." Seeing so many supportive audience members, Hilley, Miss Master Magician Wyana, smiled even more happily. "The secrets of magic: first, do not investigate too deeply. Second, do not expose them. Third, do not spread them outside. Fourth, please enjoy with all your heart!"

After saying this, Hilley once again produced a flower from the hat, drawing another cheer from the crowd.

"Girl, one more!"

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

"When will you saw someone in half? For example, saw your brother?"

The audience's reaction made Hilley even more excited. Her performance also became more unrestrained. She cheerfully changed through several kinds of street magic, from linking rings to guessing coins, from turning petals into whole flowers to pulling out a black cloth and producing an apple out of thin air, which Thales had stuffed to her. She even invited an auntie from the audience, tied her wrist to the auntie's wrist, and let the seemingly dead-knotted rope magically shift back and forth on their wrists, passing through rope and undoing knots. Although after the auntie stepped down, she was suspected by everyone of being a planted shill arranged in advance, angering her into cursing loudly in the crowd on the spot.

Thales, responsible for collecting rewards and bowing, felt his hem grow heavier. He had to spend a few coppers to exchange for a bag from a vendor and pour all the coins into it.

No, were Jade City's citizens this supportive? Did reward money come this easily?

When he was living on the streets, why had the capital's citizens not been this generous?

While watching Srimanny in the barber shop sit back in the chair and wait, Thales also observed Hilley, who was happily waving amid cheers, and could not help falling into thought.

It could be seen that this girl did not merely have good hand techniques. She also had talent for performance. She understood how to guide the audience's attention and gradually control their emotions, in order to achieve the best performance effect.

If she were not a Covendier, if she had not been born into a ducal house, if she were not Zayen's younger sister...

She would be an excellent street performance artist.

At that moment, a man pushed through the crowd and came to the front row, interrupting Hilley's magic performance.

"You, girl. How do you perform your magic?"

The man wore a work apron, and his body smelled of hair oil. He narrowed his eyes.

"I will give you money. Tell me the secret, all right? I want to learn this magic too."

Bad.

Thales clearly saw the man's appearance, and his heart jolted.

He was... he was the worker from the barber shop, the one who took a silver coin from Srimanny.

He was a Blood Bottle Gang member!

Thales glanced from the corner of his eye. Srimanny was still sitting in the shop opposite, still wearing the barber's scarf, and had not looked this way.

But he must be paying attention here!

Had suspicion risen, and had he come to test the two of them?

Hilley had clearly recognized the worker too, but she reacted extremely quickly and put on a formulaic smile.

"Sorry, sir. The secrets of magic: first, do not investigate too deeply. Second, do not expose them. Third, do not spread them outside..."

"Tell me. Where did you practice that hand technique?" The barber worker raised his voice and impatiently interrupted her.

His fierce appearance made several audience members who were dissatisfied with him step back.

Hilley frowned.

"Sir!"

Seeing that the situation was bad, Thales approached with a flattering face.

"It is like this. As spectators of magic performances, we should have this kind of quality: comfortably appreciate and wholeheartedly enjoy the wonderful performance..."

The young man's palm flipped, and he cleverly grabbed a handful of coins from his pocket, quietly pressing them into the worker's hand.

The barber worker looked at Thales' movement, his brow moving.

He subconsciously pocketed the money and glanced toward the shop.

But after only a few seconds, the worker understood something and his face turned cold again.

"Say it. Which road are you from?"

Thales' smile stiffened.

"Pardon?"

Amid a wave of boos from the crowd, the barber worker sneered.

"Stop pretending. I knew from one look at your hand technique that you are also in the street trade," the worker said. "What, did you think that because it is Noble Lords' Procession Day and the police force here is lacking, you could come make a profit?"

Street trade?

Thales smiled.

"You misunderstand. I am not..."

"Master magician? I spit! I have seen plenty of people like you," the barber worker said. "Speak. How many things have you stolen along the way? Where did you hide them? Is she performing while you pick pockets? Do you have a gang in the crowd?"

Thales and Hilley's expressions changed.

The sudden accident caused the crowd to begin talking among themselves, murmuring and muttering. But the way they looked at Thales and Hilley had changed.

"What? They are thieves?"

"So they were thieves!"

"Thieves know magic too?"

"Don't stand there. Hurry and check if your purse is missing!"

"Fuck! My money pouch is gone. They really are... oh, it's in this pocket. I remembered wrong."

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

"Eh, you have no kinship with them. Why are you helping them speak? Could you be one of their gang?"

"Ah? I am not, I did not... all right, uh, looking at them this way, they do seem a little suspicious..."

"That's right! Return to rational thinking!"

"But we have no proof..."

"Flies do not land on eggs without cracks. If they did not do anything guilty, would this worker come after them?"

Amid the growing noise, Hilley put on a stern face, put away her props, and stepped forward.

"We are not thieves. We are proper magicians. We came into the city during Queen's Day to see the Emerald Celebration and make a living."

Perhaps because the magic performance earlier had been very successful, after Hilley spoke, quite a few voices in the crowd rose to defend them.

"Right! Stay away from them!"

"It is the Emerald Celebration. Why fight and kill?"

"Stop causing trouble!"

"Enough, Lagno. They are just doing tricks and performing. Why be so overbearing?"

But Lagno, the barber worker, ignored them completely. He spat.

"Make a living? Heh, let me tell you. You broke the rules!"

Worker Lagno's finger nearly stabbed Thales in the face.

"Who is your boss? Sangare who raises dogs? Or are you from North Gate Bridge? Foreign outsiders? Sea guests? Do you not know this is a no-theft zone? Did you greet the boss? Did you pay your share before daring to come here to make a living? Jade City has rules!"

When they heard the words "boss," "Sangare," and "North Gate Bridge," the voices in the crowd supporting Hilley instantly became quieter. Quite a few people seemed to know something and left in twos and threes.

Seeing this, Lagno sneered even more and pointed at the shop behind him.

"Also, you are blocking our business."

Inside the barber shop, their target on this trip, Srimanny, sat in the chair, seemingly observing this side through the mirror's reflection.

Thales and Hilley exchanged a glance.

Damn it.

It seemed he did not come to test them because of suspicion.

It was purely because of these damned "street rules."

Thales piled on a smile and rubbed his hands.

"Respected Mr. Lagno? First, we truly are not thieves. Second, if you dislike us performing here, we can just leave! Or we can compensate your shop a little for its losses..."

"Not thieves? Fine."

Lagno grinned viciously. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Hilley's wrist.

Hilley's expression changed.

"Let go of me!"

Thales was likewise startled. He stood forward to block Hilley and pressed down on Lagno's arm.

"Let go!"

But Lagno clearly had training. He held Hilley's wrist tightly.

"Come. I'll hold one of your hands. Try performing another trick. Magician? Otherwise, come with me to see the Security Officers."

Hilley cried out in alarm. She grabbed her glove and desperately pulled her hand back.

"Fuck! Let go!" Thales gritted his teeth and pushed against the worker, trying to pull Hilley and Lagno's hands apart.

"Ah, it is your glove, right?"

The conflict erupted, and the crowd fell into chaos. Lagno pulled Hilley's hand and laughed proudly.

"It must be your glove. Is there a mechanism inside? Speak. How much 'magic' did you perform with this? How much money did you cheat, and how much did you steal?"

Voices in the crowd answered and echoed:

"Exactly! What flower girl wears gloves? Like some noble young lady. What are you pretending for? Are you that delicate?"

Sharp-eyed Thales recognized that it was another worker from the barber shop.

"There must be a mechanism in the glove!"

"Maybe the stolen money is inside too!"

"Definitely thieves!"

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

There had originally been passersby in the crowd who disliked this scene and felt indignant on Hilley's behalf. But under the barber workers' successive echoes, even the most righteous person had no choice but to hesitate: could they really be thieves?

"Come, come, drag them to see the Security Officers!"

"They cannot run this time!"

Several "enthusiastic citizens" echoed. Coincidentally, they emerged from the surrounding crowd, rolled up their sleeves, and prepared to help Lagno drag the people away. One of them had even grabbed Thales' hand and pulled him backward.

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

Bad.

Thales reacted and opened his long-sealed memories: picking quarrels, framing, gangs, forceful snatching, scattering in all directions. Long ago, this was a common method used by human trafficker gangs to abduct women and children on the streets.

In the abandoned house, many beggar children had come this way.

For example, once, the youngest girl in their Sixth House, Koria, remembered that she had parents, a nursemaid, and toys. She remembered being snatched away by several people during a celebration.

She even remembered that on that day, she heard "the nursemaid chasing behind, chasing while crying."

Until that crying grew farther and farther away.

Never to be heard again in this life.

"Enough!"

Thales returned to reality and roared:

"Get away!"

The Sin of Hell's River instantly burned, and memories of northern military swordsmanship returned to his mind.

Bang!

Thales first swung an elbow backward, knocking the worker behind him groaning to the ground.

In the next second, he stepped forward, hooked Lagno's foot, and activated his suddenly strengthened power, sending Lagno flying two meters away.

Thales turned back and pointed at the third worker. The latter had originally prepared to swing a fist, but when he saw Thales' furious gaze, he froze and stopped charging forward.

"You. Enough!"

Thales shouted and stopped the remaining barber workers.

"If Boss Balta knows the good things you are doing here," Thales gritted his teeth and coldly glanced at Lagno, who was rubbing his chest on the ground, "believe me, he will melt you, if he has not already been melted by Boss Fogg before that, and if Fogg has not been melted by someone more terrifying than him."

Lagno's expression changed.

"You, how did you..."

Thales snorted coldly, turned back, grabbed Hilley's arm, and helped her up from the ground.

But in that second, someone seemed to discover something and shouted first.

"Did you see that?"

"Yes..."

"My heavens..."

Thales raised his head in confusion and found that everyone was looking behind him. The people around them were in an uproar.

Bad. Was his identity exposed?

Lagno was helped up by another worker, but after he saw something, he soon froze.

Following everyone's gazes, Thales slowly lowered his head, then froze too.

"What exactly is that?"

"So disgusting..."

"That thing really exists..."

Looking at everyone's reactions, Hilley suddenly realized something.

She lowered her head in terror and only then discovered that her left glove had been pulled off.

At the place where everyone's gazes gathered, Hilley's left hand, from forearm to the entire palm, was covered in dark red burn scars. It was pitted, uneven, and rough.

Ugly beyond description.

But this was not the most shocking thing.

"Ah!"

A little girl standing closer saw something clearly and cried out in surprise. Her mother hurriedly covered her eyes.

It was Hilley's left palm.

On it, on the outside of the already dark red and ugly little finger, there was abruptly an extra finger.

It was thin and crooked. At this moment, it was awkwardly and irregularly connected to the little finger, hanging outside the palm and twitching.

The crowd was in an uproar.

"What the hell is that..."

"That hand has six fingers, or seven?"

"Looks like a dozen. Crooked all over. Disgusting!"

"I saw that when I was little! Lobster hand!"

"No! Lobster hand means fewer fingers. This one has many extra fingers. It is... uh, spider hand!"

"So pitiful. A girl born deformed..."

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

"No wonder she can do magic!"

Even in the distance, Srimanny in the barber shop turned his head from the chair and curiously looked this way.

Six... six fingers?

In that instant, Thales understood many things.