“Several of our theater troupe’s elders actually bought that kind of material….”
“I used to… never drink alcohol….”
Anthony began his confession in the dimly lit tent.
If Li Andy, who sat opposite him, had been wearing a priest’s cassock, it might have been even more fitting.
These pseudo-relics came from a strange merchant.
At that time, their theater troupe had just been driven out of the Imperial Capital and was preparing to go to the New Continent to seek new development.
It was on the cruise ship heading to the New Continent that they met that strange merchant.
The merchant told them: the land of the New Continent is full of opportunities but also full of dangers. Would they like to buy some special material from him? As long as they could bear the cost of using it, they would surely get what they wished for.
It was strange; they all remembered what they bought, but they couldn’t recall what the merchant looked like.
“You really don’t have any impression at all?” Li Andy asked, somewhat unwilling to give up.
“Yes, there’s still a little!”
Anthony grabbed his hair, his pupils trembling constantly as he responded,
“I remember that person’s hand was a mechanical hand, and he always held a strange music box. Every time he finished speaking, the music box would turn once. And our gaze would always be involuntarily drawn to it. I suspect that the reason I can’t remember what that person looked like is because of that music box!”
“Music box?”
Li Andy couldn’t help but frown, his sensitive nerves suddenly recalling Youxi’s music box. He remembered Mr. Harveys saying that Youxi’s love for machinery began when she acquired the music box. However, Youxi’s music box was given to her by that mad mechanical master, Henry Bessel.
Could these two be related?
“What did that music box look like? Can you describe it?” Li Andy asked again.
Anthony directly took out a piece of paper from the drawer and quickly sketched it out.
The more Li Andy looked, the tighter his brows furrowed.
Although the drawing style was rough, its outline was very, very similar to Youxi’s music box.
He had actually visited some music box production shops for his investigation before, but those shopkeepers all said they had never seen a music box of this appearance and that it should not be a mass-produced type.
Could Youxi be related to the ‘material’ faction of the Secret Sect?
Li Andy pondered for a few seconds and asked:
“Do you know what the other members of the troupe bought?”
“I know, roughly…” Anthony paused, “We have a tacit understanding not to ask each other in detail.”
Li Andy frowned. It seemed this person was not devout enough yet….
So he gently tapped the table with his finger, applying pressure and saying:
“Mr. Anthony, you don’t seem to want my help. Let me guess, Rose’s is related to sound, and Helena’s is related to books. Is that right?”
Anthony’s body stiffened, and he finally sighed, nodding resignedly:
“Yes. Rose’s is a flute. Helena’s is a book cover.”
“What about Charles’s?” Li Andy struck while the iron was hot, continuing his questions.
Unexpectedly, Anthony shook his head:
“I don’t know.”
Seeing Li Andy frown again, Anthony quickly explained:
“I really don’t know what Charles bought! I even suspect he didn’t buy anything at all, because he’s too normal compared to us! And we really haven’t seen him use any extraordinary power!”
Li Andy stared at the other party for a few seconds, feeling he wasn’t lying.
However, it didn’t matter if he didn’t know; he would find out when he went to persuade him.
“Mr. Anthony,” Li Andy asked, “if the price of getting rid of this bottle is losing a small part of your memory and never being able to use it again in the future, would you still be willing?”
Anthony was stunned, his expression conflicted. He turned to look at the bottle drinking heavily by itself, struggling internally.
The initial price paid for this bottle was not much. At that time, as long as he smelled alcohol, knowledge and inspiration would surge out like a tide.
But with each use, the price increased by several points.
From a glass of wine to a bottle of wine, and now, if he didn’t drink desperately, his memory would rapidly flow away bit by bit.
After a long while, Anthony took a deep breath and turned to look at Li Andy:
“I am willing to pay the price. But… please allow me to wait until this performance is over. The scale of this stage is the largest our troupe has ever had, and I must watch over it!”
This time, Anthony’s gaze did not waver at all, meeting Li Andy’s steadily.
After a moment, Li Andy gently nodded:
“Alright. I can help you scold it later to lighten your burden these next few days.”
“Thank you… Thank you, sir!” Anthony’s voice trembled uncontrollably, his hands clasped tightly against his forehead, and he bowed heavily onto the table, like a devout worshipper in prayer.
Li Andy helped him up and changed the subject, asking:
“How have you considered the matter of the theater acquisition?”
Anthony was stunned, then scratched his head and said:
“Actually, if it weren’t for the curse of this material, I would have wanted to leave long ago, and Helena probably feels the same way. So… you just need to convince Charles and Rose.”
Li Andy nodded gently again.
At this moment, good news also came from Youxi’s side. Ms. Helena, who often suffered from constipation, could no longer endure the unspeakable pain at the end and confessed everything even more readily than Anthony.
“Andy Gege, we’re all set here too. Miss Helena actually grew tired of that life long ago. If she can get rid of that pain, she’s willing to pay any price.”
Pay any price?
Li Andy raised an eyebrow.
Compared to himself, his sister Youxi’s methods seemed more like those of an evil god.
After receiving Anthony’s assurance, just as Li Andy was about to leave, there was a commotion outside.
“Manager! There’s a thief! A thief! What are you standing around for?! Quickly catch that kid!”
Anthony frowned, glanced at Li Andy, and after receiving the latter’s tacit approval, quickly ran out.
Upon reaching outside, he saw a fat cook holding a spoon, panting as he chased a young boy clutching a money bag. The workers nearby laughed, watching the show, with no intention of helping.
“Manager?! Quickly! Tell someone to catch that brat! He stole tomorrow’s food money!” The fat cook saw Anthony as if he had seen hope.
“Food money?!”
Hearing it was tomorrow’s meal money, the workers who were watching the show straightened up in surprise.
Anthony was also startled internally and immediately looked at the thief. Unfortunately, the distance between them had already widened, and even if everyone wanted to chase, they wouldn’t be able to catch up!
Just then, Li Andy, sitting calmly inside the tent, gently flicked a bottle cap.
As it flipped between heads and tails, the thief’s fate, which was about to escape, tilted slightly.
“Clang—”
The thief accidentally stepped on a piece of floor that hadn’t been fully installed yet, stumbled, and accidentally bumped into a pile of sandbags nearby. With a crash, he was “pinned down” to the ground by the collapsing sandbags.
Everyone froze for a moment, then, belatedly realizing what had happened, swarmed over.
After some commotion, Anthony looked at the short boy pinned down by a group of burly men and suddenly remembered who he was.
“You… aren’t you the kid who was kicked out by his Gambler father? I took you in, gave you work, why are you still stealing?!”
Facing the accusation, the short boy spat:
“You ask me why I steal? I worked so hard for so many days, and you didn’t give me a single coin! I’m just taking back what I deserve!”
“I said, I’ll pay everyone in full after the troupe’s performance!” Anthony’s face was red with anger.
“By the time the troupe’s performance is over, my younger siblings will be starving to death!”
Anthony was stunned by the scolding.
But the short boy continued to spew saliva:
“You have money to drink, but you’re unwilling to pay! You’re no different from those black foremen at the docks! I don’t believe you anymore!”
Anthony stood rooted to the spot, head down, silent for a long time.
Just when everyone thought the young thief was in for a terrible fate, Anthony said, “Wait,” and turned back into the tent.
Looking at the comfortably seated Li Andy, Anthony took a deep breath.
“Mr. Andy, could you lend me some money? I will definitely pay you back after the performance.”
Anthony didn’t realize that the way he looked at Li Andy with eager eyes was just like how the short boy had looked at him earlier.
“Several hundred mouths, that should be a pretty large sum, right?”
“Yes, and we’ve already overdrawn for more than two months.”
“Why gamble so big?”
“Initially, it was Rose’s constantly increasing cost. But actually… it was also our shared dream!”
Anthony came before Li Andy and bowed ninety degrees,
“I promise you, whether you successfully acquire the troupe or not, I will be at your disposal from now on!”
Li Andy played with the bottle cap in his hand, and as it flipped, it landed on the side with a smiling face.
“Deal.”
