Battlefield Priest's Diary

Chapter 85 The Dance of Two-Colored Feathers
The carriage stopped at the gate. As Qin Hao walked up the steps, the guards at the gate stood at attention and gave a gun salute.

Strictly speaking, this was an overstepping of authority, and such treatment should not be applied to an ordinary priest. However, neither the leading officer nor the guards themselves felt that it was inappropriate.

Unbeknownst to many, the black-robed priest's influence within the Winter Palace had grown to rival that of Anna, "the Queen's shadow," or at least that's what most people thought.

Without any search or questioning, the priest in black robes entered the hall, passed through several connecting corridors, and went straight to the inner courtyard, which served as the Tsar's residence.

“Father Pugin! This way, His Majesty is already waiting inside.” The head maid came out to greet him personally and led the priest in black robes in another direction.

Qin Hao looked around and realized that this was a shooting range.

"Have we come to the right place?" he asked the head maid beside him.

“That’s right, it was specially approved by His Majesty, although I also think it’s not quite appropriate.” The head maid stepped aside to make way for the priest in black robes.

The space in front of him suddenly opened up, and the Tsar's whole family was there. When he appeared, the familiar people in the crowd nodded slightly in greeting, while the little princess Anastasia secretly made a face.

“Father Pugin, you’ve come at just the right time. Mr. Houdini is about to begin his wonderful performance.” The Queen stood up and greeted him.

Qin Hao looked around and saw a man less than 1.7 meters tall, wearing a white robe, standing in the center of the shooting range. The soldier in front of him was holding a rifle and preparing to aim.

Seeing this, Qin Hao became quite interested. It seemed that what he was witnessing was the so-called magic trick of catching bullets with bare hands.

Chronologically speaking, this "new technique" should have been invented by Houdini just now, and it might even be the first time he tried it out in public.

What was the decryption in later generations?

It is believed that Houdini switched the bullet with lightning speed while his assistant was showing everyone that the gun was real. After the gun went off, Houdini showed the audience the bullet hidden between his teeth, creating the illusion that he could catch the bullet with his mouth.

Hmm, that seems to be the case.

At that moment, the short man opposite them also looked over. The two locked eyes, and the man opposite them revealed a row of snow-white teeth.

The Empress herself introduced the two people.

"Let me introduce you. This is Father Putin, my health assistant."

"This is Mr. Harry Houdini, the great magician from the United States, who is currently on a world tour."

“Father Pugin, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard many stories about you.” Houdini extended his hand and greeted him in English.

The two men shook hands, and the American wore a playful smile.

Seeing the other person's expression, Qin Hao was also somewhat surprised. If the decryption was correct, there should be a bullet pressing under his tongue right now, but he didn't expect that the man's speech was completely unaffected.

No wonder Houdini became so famous in later generations; he truly had real skills.

At this moment, the assistant had already taken out a rifle and asked the people on site to inspect it. The little princess wanted to go up herself, but she was pulled back.

Qin Hao tried to discern from the other person's movements which step the bullet was switched, but to no avail. It seems that it's nearly impossible for an ordinary person to find the flaws in a professional magician's work simply by relying on their eyesight.

“Mr. Houdini, are you sure you want to do this? We don’t want any bloodshed to happen.” Nicholas II stood up and asked again.

“Yes, Your Majesty! I am fully prepared. In addition, with the legendary Master Pujin by my side, even if something unexpected happens, his divine magic will heal me quickly, right?” the man said with a smile.

"I possess no divine powers; those are merely misunderstandings and rumors from the outside world." The black-robed priest shook his head, directly denying it. He thought to himself, "If you misbehave and get shot, I have no way to bring you back."

Houdini was clearly surprised. In his mind, a guy who pleased the royal family with miracles should have been constantly talking about his "divine power" and "inspiration," but he didn't expect him to deny it outright.

The guy in front of me seemed different from the psychic charlatans I'd seen before.

The performance began soon afterward, and the Americans focused their attention on the rifles.

To the beat of the drums, Houdini stood in the very center of the firing range. The soldier holding the gun took a deep breath and aimed.

boom! ! ! ! !
As the smoke cleared, the women present covered their eyes with their hands, afraid that they would see a bloody scene the next second.

The short American lowered his head and remained motionless; time seemed to stand still.

The Empress covered her mouth with her hand, saying nervously, "Doctor! Quick, go check on her! Please, nothing bad has happened!" Whew!
At that very moment, Houdini straightened his back, grinned at the audience, and held a bullet between his teeth. He even took the opportunity to wink at the little princess.

*Clap clap clap clap!*

A wave of applause erupted, and Houdini opened his arms, raised his head, and enjoyed the sense of accomplishment he felt at that moment.

Qin Hao also clapped in the crowd, and had to admit that the magic trick was indeed amazing.

"Master! Can you perform one more time?!" Princess Anastasia asked, raising her hand and jumping up and down.

“Of course, your wish is my direction.” Houdini bowed again and extended his white-gloved hand. “Please give me any piece of your jewelry.”

The little princess thought for a moment, then took off a pearl earring from her ear and placed it in the other person's palm.

"Okay!" Houdini took out a handkerchief and covered his eyes.

"Please hide it anywhere; I will find it within a minute."

"Wait a minute!" The little princess ran back excitedly, chattered with her sisters for a while, and then hid the earring.

"Alright! Go find it!" Anastasia called out loudly.

Houdini removed his blindfold, looked around deliberately with feigned difficulty, and said, "It looks like the thing has been hidden in a hard-to-find place. Can't the beautiful ladies give me a hint?"

The women in the princess group covered their mouths and shook their heads.

“It’s so sad that the beautiful lady won’t help.” Houdini pressed his chest sadly, then smiled and said, “Then I’ll just have to ask some friends for help.”

The next moment, Houdini raised his hands and then flicked his "robe".

Splash! Splash! Splash!
With the sound of flapping wings, a large number of white pigeons emerged from his robes, forming a circle around the princesses, whose eyes were filled with amazement.

After the pigeons quietly landed in their palms, one of them approached Anastasia, its beak holding the pearl earring.

*Clap clap clap clap clap!*

Applause rang out again, this time the princesses' hands were red from clapping.

"How did you do that?! Please tell me!" the little princess asked, almost jumping up and down.

Houdini raised his magician's hat without answering, but smiled and asked, "There's an even more exciting part to this magic trick. I can conjure up anything that's on any of the guests here. Do you believe it?"

The little princess nodded excitedly at first, then shook her head.

“Then I need to find someone to help me.” Houdini smiled slightly and looked at the crowd around him, his gaze finally settling on the black-robed priest without any surprise.

"Father Pugin is the one!"

The next second, before anyone could respond, the American pointed, and the white pigeons fluttered and lined up, flying towards the priest in black robes.

When the white feathers filled his vision, Qin Hao sensed something was wrong. He had no doubt about the other party's abilities; they would definitely take advantage of the chaos to steal from him, and there were some things he didn't want the Tsar and Tsarina to see.

He gripped the cross around his neck, where there were survival lights; pulling them should easily scare away the flock of pigeons.

But wouldn't that ruin the image I've worked so hard to maintain?
The hesitation lasted only a few seconds, and then another unexpected event occurred.

Suddenly, a flock of black crows appeared out of nowhere, cawing as they flew over! They swarmed towards the white pigeons, systematically weaving into the gaps in the opposing ranks and "bumping" the pigeons away from the black-robed priest!

In an instant, the air was filled with the sound of flapping wings, the frightened cooing of pigeons, and the angry cawing of crows.

In this conflict between birds, Odin's cry was particularly piercing.

A magician in a white robe and a priest in a black robe stood facing each other, their mouths slightly agape, staring in disbelief at the scene before them.

Black and white feathers drifted down from the sky.

(End of this chapter)