False evidence

Chapter 467 Painted Skin (17)

"A blind trick?"

Gao He glanced at the antique clock to the side, then looked at me. "Or is it really a ghost?"

At that moment, no one understood what he was trying to say better than I did.

Because that huge clock, almost as tall as a person, is part of the background.

The strange thing is that if there are actually three people in the group photo, the clock, which is no taller than a person, will be obscured.

However, the truth is that I can clearly see the time displayed on the clock through the photo.

This is because, in the photo, the person standing to Tong Xiangnan's right only has their lower body visible.

That's right, it's the two legs below the hips.

Those must be a woman's legs, wearing a skirt and high heels, with very beautiful and smooth calf lines.

However, she didn't have an upper body, which is why I was able to see the upper part of the large pendulum clock as its back view.

To Tong Xiangnan's left, there was also only half a person.

The difference was that it was a man, older than me but younger than Tong Xiangnan. He wasn't ugly or handsome, but he had a very bright smile that exuded smugness.

However, this person only had an upper body. Below the waist, there was nothing covering him, allowing people to see directly what was behind him.

I asked, "Uncle, judging from the time shown on the clock in the photo, and with the lights on, it should be 5:15 a.m.?"

Tong Xiangnan nodded: "Mm."

"Was it on the third night you and Old K were living together? Was it taken in the early morning?"

"Ah."

Gao He stared at the group photo for a while longer, then shook his head: "This magician is probably not famous in China."

Then, facing Tong Xiangnan, he said, "If the photo isn't photoshopped, then you're a shill."

This photo seems strange at first glance, but if it were placed on a magic stage, its novelty would be greatly reduced, and people would take it for granted that this is how it should be.

This seems to be a vicious cycle of thinking.

When modern people watch magic shows, they may find them novel, but even if they don't understand how the magician achieves those amazing effects, they will still take it for granted that it's just how it is.

what happened?

No one can say for sure, but it is definitely an illusion or deception created by humans.

In fact, Gao He said what I wanted to say, and I also believe that the unfamiliar face in the photo must be a magician.

"He is Old K."

Tong Xiangnan rubbed his hands together and sat back down on the sofa. "Let's continue with the second half of the story."

Tong Xiangnan then personally admitted Old K's identity, saying that Old K was a magician.

However, he was not only unknown domestically, but also virtually unknown internationally. This was mainly because Old K suffered from congenital nervous tension; when facing unfamiliar people and environments, he not only had difficulty speaking, but his physical movements also became stiff and sluggish. Such a person could not possibly be an actor, much less a magician on stage.

Therefore, Old K's real profession is—making magic props.

"He may say he made props, but in my personal opinion, he's the real magician!"

Tong Xiangnan used this sentence as the official opening line for the second half of the story.

"Continuing from the previous text. Old K experienced strange things on his first night. When he woke up, he found himself in a sealed box. He quickly figured out where he was, but he was even more terrified. That was because he was too familiar with the props he had made. And the box he was in was one of the props he had made himself, a box that could make people disappear."

Gao He tried to interrupt, but Tong Xiangnan raised his hand to stop him: "Let me finish. According to Old K's account, after he regained consciousness, he was in the prop box he made. And this prop box was in the backstage storage room of the XX Theater in this city. This theater is 17.8 kilometers away from his residence."

Gao looked at me again.

His meaning was clear—this is more similar to your experience last night.

I gestured for Tong Xiangnan to continue.

Tong Xiangnan nodded. "Old K is not only a client to me, but also a patient. I have to be responsible for him. After listening to his experience, I initially judged that he had mental problems caused by his occupational disease, or even... If what he said is true, then he may have become so serious that he thinks about things during the day and sleepwalks at night."

So, I quickly devised a treatment plan for him. The specific implementation involved living with him for three days and three nights.

The first day, I went backstage with him during the day, and that night I stayed at his house. That night, I was awakened by strange noises, and we went to the living room to investigate. I really saw the wall clock turning backwards. The sound was definitely coming from behind the mirror—no, it should be said that it was coming from inside the mirror.

As the clock reversed, our images in the mirror began to play in reverse. In the mirror, after Old K and I left the house, I felt very dizzy. When I came to, I found myself backstage at his theater during the day, with Old K and me.

The most surreal thing was that I checked the time. My watch and phone were actually showing the same time as 7 PM.

Tong Xiangnan then recounted his experience on the second night, explaining that he did different things during the day and changed his accommodation to a double room in a hotel at night.

Also in the middle of the night, they were awakened by strange noises and saw two people leaving the room in the mirror; they felt dizzy; when they came to their senses, time had rewound again, this time to a little after four in the afternoon. Tong Xiangnan and Lao K, on ​​the other hand, had returned to the Hong Kong-style tea restaurant where they had just had afternoon tea.

At this point, Tong Xiangnan fell silent, then stared at me with a half-smile.

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded at him: "I understand what you mean. If you deny the existence of magic in this world, then my experience last night was similar to yours. Not only was I tricked, but I also witnessed a very cool magic trick."

Tong Xiangnan smiled: "Don't you want to ask anything else?"

I pointed to the photo album on the table: "In the group photo, your smile looks a bit forced. You should have already known what happened in the previous two days, and on the third night, you successfully 'turned the tables' and won back a round."

Tong Xiangnan nodded. "That's right. The real reason Old K contacted me was because he was dissatisfied with his life and wanted to seek self-affirmation. It's psychological. In other words, he wanted to demonstrate and prove his abilities to someone he considered authoritative enough."

He did it. A couple of days ago, he successfully hypnotized me using various props and repetitive subtle movements.

Once I realized this, I began to plot my rebellion. I outwardly cooperated with him, but when he officially began his performance, I exposed him.

I sincerely admired him and affirmed his achievements in magic and in psychology research.

So, although the magic trick was exposed, both sides were quite happy.

Tong Xiangnan pointed to the photo album on the table and revealed a mischievous smile: "It was at that time that he spontaneously took this photo with me."

(End of this chapter)