55: Chapter 55 Vincent the Magician

The atmosphere at the dining table was slightly awkward; Anna did not say a single word to Chen Mo the entire time.

The honeymoon phase had passed, and they had entered a cold war.

Seeing the whole family laughing and chatting there, sharing the daily routines of their lives,

Chen Mo felt it was exceptionally bizarre.

"Are your memories those of fish? My Brother-in-law just died today."

No, is it because of the decrease in Mental Value?

The lower the Mental Value, the more a person's thinking tends toward madness, viewing all life and death with indifference.

Only the Sister-in-law sitting opposite him would stick out her tongue while eating with her fork.

She even deliberately licked the edges of the fork with the tip of her tongue.

It made the dining experience feel indescribably disturbing to Chen Mo.

The Sister-in-law's real name was Amy Seeger.

The food Amy prepared tonight was clearly with ulterior motives.

The meals she prepared for everyone were unique.

For the wife, it was charcoal-grilled cod; for the son, pizza; for the daughter, lasagna.

And the food prepared for Chen Mo was a giant burger.

It was so large that it was difficult for Chen Mo to even pick it up with one hand, and he had to eat it in three parts.

The first layer was pickles and onions, the second layer was tomatoes and Orleans chicken leg meat, and the third layer...

When Chen Mo bit into the burger, his teeth suddenly clicked.

A sharp pain, piercing straight to the nerves, shot from the bite point.

Chen Mo was very familiar with this feeling; it was just like back in his hometown during the Lunar New Year when he was a child.

The elders in the family would often wrap some coins inside the dumplings when making them.

The person who ate the coin would represent good luck.

And this feeling of biting into metal was exactly that of a coin.

Seeing Chen Mo reveal an expression of toothache, the Sister-in-law curled the corners of her mouth slightly.

Supporting her chin with one hand, she revealed a triumphant expression that said, "You finally ate it."

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Chen Mo turned away.

He opened his palm and spat out the thing in his mouth.

A shiny coin stood in his palm, automatically rotating 360 degrees.

At the same time, countless golden characters flashed rapidly through Chen Mo's mind.

Those characters were Latin, all in gold leaf, very much like the spells chanted by wizards in Harry Potter.

Chen Mo had a very deep impression of one sentence that flashed among them.

"Avada Kedavra"

"Black magic?"

The surface of the coin was entwined with a layer of dark, black flowing light. Seeing Chen Mo's surprised expression,

that stream of light, like a living creature, darted rapidly into Chen Mo's nostril.

Half of Chen Mo's nostril became swollen, and the black thing inside moved straight up along his nasal cavity.

Then, Chen Mo had the feeling that his brain was being invaded.

A flash of white light passed before his eyes.

Chen Mo opened his eyes again and looked at the scene before him with some shock.

The image was black and white, just like the picture quality of those old televisions from the 70s and 80s of the last century.

Before him was a huge opera house stage, with a giant red curtain in the background.

In front of him were rows of tiered audience seats.

Sitting on them were all men and women dressed in gorgeous suits and evening gowns.

The men had pipes in the corners of their mouths, wore black high-crowned top hats, and had black trench coats draped over their shoulders.

The women wore pleated trumpet skirts, exquisite lace decorative hats, and veils over their side profiles.

Through their attire, it was not hard to see that those sitting here were at least middle-class individuals.

Chen Mo wanted to move, but he could only maintain a fixed perspective.

"No, this is not the scene I am seeing; this is the scene someone else is seeing."

"Is this someone's memory, or an illusion?"

Chen Mo immediately realized.

"Then let us welcome our favorite Magician, Mr. Vincent, to the stage with applause."

"The performance he is going to bring us today is titled—"

"《Venus Struggling in Water》"

Amidst the fervent wave of applause,

a puff of white mist exploded in the center of the stage, and a man in a white suit walked out from the white mist.

Although the other party was holding his head up, Chen Mo could not clearly see the upper half of his face.

He could only see that standard American cleft chin.

What is a cleft chin?

It means there is a split in the middle of the chin, causing it to look like a butt.

"A Magician? Isn't this a Haunted House dungeon? What does it have to do with magic?" Chen Mo felt puzzled.

After the white mist completely dissipated, a giant fish tank appeared behind Vincent.

It was three meters in length, width, and height—an empty cube.

Behind the cube, a ladder that could go up and down was set up.

And next to the fish tank stood a blonde woman in a swimsuit.

The blonde woman patted all around the fish tank, confirming to the audience that this was just an ordinary fish tank, with no tricks played.

Vincent made a mysterious gesture, took a huge red cloth, climbed the ladder, and covered the surface of the fish tank.

Then, the blonde woman walked to the very front of the red cloth.

With her hands on her hips, she revealed a confident smile and performed a few sexy moves like a runway model.

She also had a few moments of ambiguous contact with Vincent.

The audience below the stage all whistled, and the applause became even more enthusiastic.

Afterward, the blonde woman lifted the red cloth and crawled into it.

Because of the layer of red cloth, and because it was close-range contact, the space was narrow.

Therefore, the blonde woman's body contour was also displayed vividly.

The lights on the stage all went out, and the spotlights all shone on the fish tank.

Vincent raised his arms high to the audience, made a few suspenseful gestures, and then he climbed the ladder again.

He ripped the red cloth away!

Surprised cheers from the audience immediately erupted from below the stage.

The fish tank clearly had no abnormalities, yet at this moment, the blonde woman had appeared out of thin air inside the fish tank.

She was making an exaggerated expression as if she did not know what had happened, repeatedly pounding on the surface of the fish tank.

Just like an innocent woman locked in a prison cell.

The audience below the stage was even more amazed.

The man Chen Mo was possessing was also one of the onlookers clapping there.

However, Chen Mo himself knew clearly what trick the other party had used.

The woman currently in the fish tank and the woman who was standing outside the fish tank just now, although they had the same hairstyle, and their figures and heights were roughly the same,

and even wore the same makeup, were actually two different people.

After the woman outside the fish tank crawled into the red cloth, she first made a few fake moves as if trying to enter the fish tank.

Then, after the spotlight shifted all the audience's attention to Vincent, who was climbing the ladder,

the woman outside the fish tank opened the trapdoor in the stage floor and hid inside.

That was the end of her part; her task was already completed.

There was actually another woman hiding inside the fish tank.

She was pressed under a circular lid.

Because of the angle and the light refraction of the lid, the audience ignored that lid.

When Vincent grabbed the red cloth, he also grabbed the rope connected to the lid.

After pulling both out quickly at the same time, the woman hiding inside the fish tank stood up.

She put on a shocked expression, as if she had been magically transformed inside by the Magician.

"Just a child's play magic trick; why show me this?"

"Testing me?"

Just as Chen Mo was inwardly roasting Vincent,

he saw Vincent on the stage suddenly turn his head.

He seemed to be looking for a lucky audience member.

After looking around once, finally, his gaze fixed on Chen Mo.

This time, Chen Mo finally saw Vincent's eyes clearly.

Those eyes were filled with resentment, with black mist swirling within them.