False evidence

Chapter 471 Painted Skin (21)

My heart skipped a beat, and following his gaze, I saw a car passing by us.

It is indeed a red sedan, but it is not the Beetle that Liang Yuan drives.

I asked Old K... let's just call him Old K for now.

I asked him, "What happened just now?"
He laughed again, "Why...why don't you count how much money you have in your wallet?"

I looked down and saw that I was still holding two wallets in my hand, but they weren't the same two as before.

I know one of them; he's Tong Xiangnan's. I know the other one even better; he's mine.

"You're so fast!"

“Ha, technique is a magician’s basic skill,” Old K said again. “You go count your money.”

I opened my wallet first; it was empty.

I opened the other one. Of course, I didn't know how much cash Tong Xiangnan had in his wallet, but as soon as I took the money out, I sensed something was amiss.

The money in my wallet wasn't arranged in order of denominations.

"Is my money in this wallet too?"

"Hmm. Just kidding. Take your money back. It's five hundred and seventy-six yuan in total, don't take any more."

I was completely speechless, and couldn't help but ask him, "Where are those two wallets? Did he really steal the wallets from those two drunkards?"
Seeing that he smiled without saying anything, I had no choice but to divide the money first.

Of course, given my relationship with Tong Xiangnan... he's given me so much, he wouldn't care about three or five hundred.

But why do I feel like Old K in front of me is holding back a big move?
I was determined to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve, so I counted them very carefully.

There were no lights inside the car, so you could only see clearly with the help of outside lights.

Seeing me counting money in front of the windshield, Old K seemed quite pleased with himself and even started whistling.

I was convinced he was trying to distract me, so I became even more serious. To the point that even the image of Lü Xin in my mind started counting along with me.

I counted twice, and not only did I separate my own money, but I also counted that there were 874 in Tong Xiangnan's wallet.

I clutched the two stacks of money tightly in my hands and asked, "What should we do next?"

As soon as I looked up, I was stunned again.

The driver wasn't Old K, nor was it Tong Xiangnan; it was that fat guy!

The fat man turned his face and grinned at me. As he opened his mouth, a strong smell of alcohol hit me.

Just as I was filled with doubt and surprise, the fat man suddenly pouted and blew a breath in my face.

Instead of increasing the stench of alcohol, it seemed to have been blown away.

I instinctively squinted because of the wind, and when I opened my eyes wide, the driver was Old K again.

A clear smile played on his lips, and his speech even became more fluent:
"Are you... satisfied with this performance?"

"That's incredible! How did you do that?"

Old K laughed and said, "It's an illusion. In your uncle's words, I hypnotized you."

They initially showed you cars to distract you. When you're thinking about your friend's Beetle and counting money out the window, it's impossible not to pay attention to passing vehicles.

That stretch of road had streetlights. The different frequencies and intensities of the headlights of oncoming cars and the streetlights above created a visual illusion.

And then there's my whistling.

When you think you're most focused, that's actually when your mind is most scattered.

In all of this, your only remaining focus is still on the amount of money.

The order in which the money was arranged was intentional on my part.

Numbers are the secret code for hypnosis.

If I hadn't heard Tong Xiangnan explain the principles of hypnosis, I would have found his words completely incomprehensible. Even after understanding the reasoning, I still found it unbelievable.

Why would I see you as fat?

"Look at your left hand."

Looking down, I saw that I was still holding the money I had been given out in my left hand, but now there was an ID card on top of it.

It's the fat man's ID card!
Old K said, "I really hate those two guys, but I didn't steal their money. I just took their ID cards when they put their arms around me before we entered the restaurant."

The reason I showed you my ID card at the beginning was to distract you.

Furthermore, the money in your left hand and the smell of alcohol on your breath are also factors that can cause hallucinations.

I shook my head: "I can understand the smell of alcohol, but money... left hand, right hand..."

Old K laughed again, "That's the key. Eight hundred and seventy-four—874."

In his mind's eye, Lü Xin sighed, "It's the license plate of that minibus. This guy is a true master."

Old K continued, "These past two days, you've had a deep impression of this number. Without realizing it, you've been distracted by it. At this moment, I'll put Fatty's ID card in your hand. In your dazed state, under the dim light, Fatty's image on the ID card will appear before your eyes."

"I'm convinced!" I said sincerely.

In the cramped carriage, with just a few simple props, and by using the light and shadow effects from the outside world...

I understand the principles completely, but can you ask me to do it again? Absolutely not.

This is real magic.

I couldn't help but ask, "When did you organize and arrange the money?"

As soon as I said it, I slapped my forehead.

I didn't ask any more questions. He had told me to drive, which confirmed that I wasn't familiar with the road, and I felt it was unnecessary to go through all that trouble.

Little did people know, his real purpose was to prepare for this fantastical magic trick.

The magician was quick; since he could steal two drunkards' ID cards without anyone noticing, he could have easily made some small moves while I was searching for navigation, and I wouldn't have noticed.

Old K gave me another ID card, this one belonging to the skinny guy. "We've arrived. Throw it out."

The area outside was where the two drunkards got into the car.

I threw my ID card through the window, and when I looked back at his profile, I was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

I believe Tong Xiangnan is truly schizophrenic.

However, the reason for the split was not entirely because of me.

Unless he was a thief before, how could his hands be that fast?
I imagine that the fight between him and Old K must have hit him harder than I thought.

He is indeed narrow-minded and highly competitive. Perhaps he became fixated on that after that.

He must have tried self-treatment, but his research on my nephew, who is a 'severely schizophrenic patient,' caused him to lose all his previous efforts and finally split into Old K.

That's what I thought at the time, but after Tong Xiangnan "came back," I realized that I was wrong again.

It turned out that during his first conversation with Old K, he discovered that Old K was suffering from depression.

The competition with Old K was driven by competitiveness, but it was also a way for Old K to heal in his own way.

On the day he took a photo with Old K, he thought the treatment had been effective and that as long as psychological counseling and medication continued, Old K would recover.

But to my surprise, the next time I saw Old K was in the morgue.

A seemingly glamorous magician stole Old K's newly created magic trick.

When Old K learned of this outcome, he couldn't reason with the other party, and knowing he would never be able to demonstrate his magic to the audience in practice, he couldn't bear the blow and jumped off a building...

(End of this chapter)