My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose from ahead.

Lu Yang stood on tiptoe to look ahead: "What's going on over there? Why is it so lively?"

Miao Gui also craned his neck: "It looks like someone is performing magic tricks."

"A magic trick?" Lü Yang's eyes lit up, and he grabbed Miao Gui and ran forward. "Come on, let's go see!"

Ye Qingfeng and Shen Zhaoyue followed behind at a leisurely pace.

There was an open space in front of us, surrounded by a large crowd.

The area was surrounded by layers upon layers of people, making it impossible to pass through.

Lu Yang wasn't short, but he was still invisible in this group of people.

He stood on tiptoe, craning his neck until it ached, but all he could see were a few dark heads.

"Make way, make way!" he shouted as he squeezed through.

Miao Gui followed behind him, also squeezing through the crowd.

After finally squeezing to the front, I could finally see what was going on inside.

Several tables were set up in the open space, with bottles, jars, strips of cloth, ropes, and other such items on them.

A middle-aged man dressed in flashy clothes stood behind the table, talking animatedly about something.

He held an empty bowl in his hand, turned it over to show everyone, then turned it back over and poured some water into it.

Then he took a cloth and covered the bowl, muttering something and gesturing a few times on the cloth.

"Change!"

He lifted the cloth—the water in the bowl disappeared and turned into a flower.

The onlookers gasped in amazement.

Lu Yang was also stunned: "This...how did this change?"

Miao Gui, standing to the side, curled his lip: "It's just a magic trick, all fake. It's just for show, don't take it seriously."

Lu Yang retorted, unconvinced: "How do you know it's fake? What if it's real?"

Miao Gui was too lazy to argue with him.

The magician took out another copper coin, placed it in his palm, clenched his fist, and then opened it again—the coin had vanished.

He then took the coin from behind the ear of a child next to him, and the child clapped his hands with joy.

The onlookers cheered again.

Lü Yang watched with great interest, clapping louder than anyone else.

On the other side, Aro was packing up her stall.

There were two ginseng roots left on the stall, one dried and one fresh.

Business was good today; I've already sold several plants and earned about one or two taels of silver.

She planned to buy half a pound of meat and some vegetables later to make a soup.

She wrapped the two ginseng roots in cloth and put them into her cloth bag.

That cloth bag was left to her by her mother; it was washed until it was faded and patched several times, but she couldn't bear to throw it away.

With his basket on his back and his cloth bag in hand, he was about to leave when he suddenly heard a commotion ahead.

"A magician! There's a magician over there!"

"Let's go, let's go take a look!"

Several people ran past her, their faces filled with excitement.

Aro hesitated for a moment. She originally wanted to go straight home, but magic tricks... she hadn't seen one in a long time.

Her father took her to see it once when she was little. She was too young to understand anything then, and all she knew was to clap and cheer. After her parents passed away, she never saw it again.

She bit her lip, hugged the cloth bag tighter, and followed the crowd forward.

A large crowd had gathered in front of them, three or four layers deep.

A-Luo was short and a girl, so she was too embarrassed to squeeze in like those big men.

She stood on tiptoe, but could only see the backs of the people in front of her.

Fortunately, she was thin and agile.

She crouched low and squeezed herself little by little through the gaps in the crowd.

"Excuse me, excuse me..."

After finally squeezing her way to the front, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the field.

The magician is performing "turning an empty bowl into water".

He took an empty bowl, turned it over and over, and then poured water into it—it was unclear where the water came from, since there hadn't been anything in the bowl before.

A Luo was so engrossed in watching that she couldn't help but clap her hands as well.

The magician performed several more acts, such as "generating smoke from empty hands" and "climbing a tree on a rope," each more spectacular than the last. The crowd grew larger and larger, becoming so densely packed that it was impossible to move.

As A Luo was enjoying the view, she suddenly felt a loosening around her waist.

She subconsciously looked down—

The cloth bag that held the ginseng is gone.

A Luo was stunned for a moment, then panicked.

She looked around; the crowd was so dense that she couldn't tell who was who at all.

"My bag! My bag!" she cried out anxiously, but her voice was drowned out by the surrounding noise.

She tried desperately to squeeze out, looking around as she did so.

Just as she was about to squeeze out of the crowd, she suddenly saw the back of a man.

The man, dressed in drab gray clothes, was walking out, carrying a cloth bag in his hand—

Exactly the same as hers!

Without thinking twice, A Luo rushed forward and grabbed the man's sleeve.

"Stop right there! This is my bag! You can't take it!"

The man turned around.

He was a middle-aged man with a square face, small eyes, and a mustache.

He glanced down at A'Luo, then at the cloth bag in his hand, and an impatient expression appeared on his face:

"What did you say? This is yours? Little girl, you've mistaken me for someone else!"

A'Luo clung tightly to the bag, refusing to let go: "I'm not mistaken! This is mine! There are two ginseng roots inside, one dried and one fresh! You...you can't take it! This is stealing!"

People nearby heard the commotion and looked over.

The man's expression changed, and he forcefully tugged at the cloth bag: "Let go! This is mine! What makes you think it's yours?"

A'Luo stumbled slightly as he pulled her, but still refused to let go: "It's mine! I was selling ginseng over there just now, and I put it in there when I was packing up! You...you stole it while I was watching the magic trick!"

The two men made a louder commotion, attracting a growing crowd of onlookers.

Someone recognized A-Luo: "Isn't that A-Luo? What happened to her?"

Someone asked, "Who stole her things?"

Someone shook their head: "I don't know, it seems like they said that person took her cloth bag."

As more and more people gathered, the man's expression changed, and he began to shout loudly.

"Everyone, be the judge! This bag is clearly mine. I just put my things in there, and this girl insists it's hers! Isn't this extortion?"

A Luo was so anxious that tears were almost coming out of her eyes.

"I'm not trying to scam you! These are mine! There are two ginseng roots inside that I just dug up this morning. One I dug up yesterday on the south slope, and the other I dug up a few days ago by the stream! I recognize them!"

The man sneered, "You think you recognize them just because you say so? I could say I have three ginseng roots in my bag! You say there are two, I say there are three, who gets to decide?"

A Luo was so angry that she couldn't speak; her eyes were red and her lips were trembling.

Just then, a shout came from outside the crowd: "Make way! Make way! The guards are here!"

Several strong men squeezed in.

The leader was a burly man with a dark face and a knife at his waist; he was clearly in charge of the village.

He recognized A-Luo at a glance: "A-Luo? What's wrong?"