Chapter 75 arson

New York, October 31, 1902 Marco's back hit the ground hard, as if he had been pushed hard by someone. The force of the impact and the cloud of black dust raised around him made him cough violently. When he pulled himself up, the drizzle was falling; when the surrounding air cleared up, there was a row of miniature trees and stars in front of him, surrounded by silver gears and black and white chess pieces. It took him a moment to realize that he was standing next to the Wunschtraum clock. As the clock ticks toward midnight, the clown juggler at the top is busy balancing eleven balls between twinkling stars and moving chess pieces.

A notice announcing the closure of the circus due to bad weather clanged in the wind.Although at this time, the rain is nothing but thick mist. Marco wipes the glittery powder off his face.Although his face had returned to its original appearance, he was so dazed that he had no intention of changing it back.He tried hard to see the dark dust on his suit, but it had gradually faded into nothingness. The striped curtains of the ticket booth were opened, and through the fog, Marco saw the strong flash of the lighter illuminating the figure standing in the shadows. Bonsoir (French: Good night).As he got closer and closer, Yuezi said cheerfully, stuffing the lighter back into his pocket and holding the cigarette with the long pipe.

How did she do it?Marco asked. Did you mean Isobe?Yuezi replied: I taught her that trick.I thought she didn't understand the mystery, but it seems that she is doing quite well.Do you feel unsteady? fine.Marco said that although the fall hurt his back and his eyes still hurt.He looked at Yuezi curiously.He'd never had a good conversation with a cartilage stuntman before, and her presence here was almost as confusing as the fact that he himself had been elsewhere a few minutes earlier. Come here, at least out of the cold wind.Yuezi gestured with her free hand to step into the curtained tunnel.This face is prettier than the other.she said, studying his appearance through the vapor and smoke.Perfect for you.As soon as he stepped in, she let the curtain fall, enveloping the two of them in darkness, flickering dark spots of light everywhere, among the many white spots, her glowing cigarette butt was the only colorful spot.

Where has everyone gone?asked Marco, shaking the rain off his bowler hat. Went to a bad weather party, Tsukiko explained: Traditionally, it was held in the stuntman's tent, because that tent was the biggest.But you don't know that, do you? You're not really a member of this gang, are you? He couldn't see her expression clearly, couldn't understand her meaning, but he could see that she was smiling brightly. No, I don't think so.He said.When she walked through the maze of tunnels, he followed her all the way, going deeper and deeper into the circus.Why am I here?he asks.

We'll talk about it when the time comes, she said: How much did Isobe tell you? Marco has little recollection of the conversation with Isobe outside the house, even though it was only a few minutes ago.He recalled fleeting fragments.But it is incoherent and cannot be clearly explained. It doesn't matter, when he couldn't answer immediately, Yuezi said: After such a journey, sometimes it is not easy to wake up immediately.Did she tell you we have something in common? Marco remembered that Isobe had mentioned Celia and someone else, but he couldn't remember who it was. No.He said.

We were both former students of the same tutor.Yuezi said.In a near-total black environment, as soon as she inhaled, the light from the cigarette butt became brighter.This is probably just a temporary cover.She added as they walked to another curtain.She pulled the curtain back, and the space was suddenly filled with the bright light from the atrium.She gestured to Marco to walk into the rain, took a breath of cigarettes, and he walked through the open curtain obediently, trying to understand what she had just said. The lights that adorn the tents are completely dark, but the campfire in the center of the atrium is burning brightly, and the glow is scattered and white.The drizzle that falls around shines and shines.

That thing is really good, Yuezi said, and I want to confirm it for you as he stepped into the atrium with him. You used to be a student of Alexander?Marco asked, not sure if he understood. Yuezi nodded. I got so tired of jotting things down in a notebook that I started writing them on my body, I hate getting my hands dirty.she said, pointing to his ink-stained finger.I'm surprised he would have agreed to the challenge in an open field, he's always preferred a secluded place and I guess he wasn't happy with how things were going. As Marco listened to the cartilage technician, he noticed that she was completely dry.Every drop of rain that fell on her evaporated instantly, hissing into steam as soon as it touched her.

You won the last contest.He said. I'm just slogging through it.Confinement correction. When did this happen?Marco asked as they made their way to the campfire. Eighty-three years, six months and twenty-one days ago ended on a day when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Yuezi took another long puff on the cigarette before continuing. Our mentors didn't understand, she said, what it was like to be bound to someone else in this way.They are too old and too disconnected from their emotions.They no longer remember what it was like to be alive and breathe in the world.They thought it was easy to pit any two against each other, and that was never easy.The other person becomes the way you define your life, the way you define yourself, the other person becomes as necessary as your breath.And then the two of them expected the winner to move on after losing his home, which would be like tearing apart the Murray twins and expecting them to perform as they always have.Seemingly intact, but no longer complete.you love her, right?

more than anything in the world.Marco said. Tsukiko said thoughtfully: My opponent is called Hinata, she said: Her skin smells like ginger and fresh cream.I also love her more than anything in the world.On that day when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, she set herself on fire.After lighting a pillar of fire, she stepped into it like a stream of water. it's a pity.Marco said. Thank you, Yuezi said, with a shadow of her usual bright smile, for you, that's what Miss Bowen was going to do, for you to win. I know. I don't want to put anyone through that pain just to be a winner.Hinata would love this.They got to the campfire, she said, watching the flames dance in the growing rain.She likes fire very much, my element has always been water, in the past.

She held out her hand, staring at the rain that refused to touch her skin. Do you know the story of the wizard in the tree?she asked. Merlin's story?Mark asked: I know several versions. There are many kinds of theories, Yuezi nodded and said: It is customary that old stories will change after they are told and told again and again.Each storyteller adds his or her own trace.The original truth of the story will be buried in prejudice and embellishment.The origin becomes less important than the story itself. She went on to say that the rain continued to intensify, and it fell heavily. Sometimes the scene is a cave, but I like the tree version.Maybe because trees are more romantic.

She removed the cigarette, still gleaming, from the thin tube and held it between her elegant fingers. While there are a few trees here that could serve this function, she said, I thought this one might be more appropriate. Marco turned his attention to the campfire.The sparks illuminated the rain falling above, making the drops sparkle like snowflakes. Regarding the Merlin story, all the versions he knew had something to do with the magician being imprisoned.In trees, caves or rocks. The consequence of foolish love has always been punishment. He looked at Yuezi again. you know.She said it before he spoke. Marco nodded. I knew you would understand.Yuezi said.The light of bright white flames lit up her smile through the rain. What are you doing, Yuezi?A voice called from behind her.When Yuezi turned around, Marco saw Celia standing on the edge of the courtyard.The rain soaked her moonlight dress, and the whole thing turned into a monotonous gray. The criss-crossed ribbons flowed and flew behind her, pulling out lines of black, white and charcoal gray, which entangled with her hair in the wind. Tangled. Back to the party, honey.Yuezi stuffed the silver pipe into her pocket.You don't want to see it with your own eyes. What did you witness?Celia stared at Marco and said. When Yuezi spoke, he was speaking to the two of them. Over the years, I've been surrounded by the love letters you two have crafted for each other through the medium of your tent, and I've been reminded of how wonderful and terrible I was with her.I wasn't ready to give up yet, but you let it slip away. You clearly told me that love is fickle and fleeting.Celia said confused. I lied to you, Yuezi said, turning the cigarette between her fingers, I thought it would be easier to deal with if you were suspicious of him.I'm giving you a year to find a way to keep the circus going without you.You haven't been able to find it for a long time, so I'm going to intervene. I was still talking to Nuceria, but Tsukiko interrupted her. You've been ignoring a simple truth, she said: You run the circus with what's inside of you.And he uses fire as a tool.Your loss is relatively large, but you are too selfish to admit it.You believe that you cannot live with that pain.That kind of pain is unacceptable and can only be endured with gritted teeth.Sorry. Yuezi, please, Celia said: I need more time. Yuezi shook her head. I told you before, she said: Timing is not something I can control. Since Celia appeared in the atrium, Marco has never looked away from her, but now he looks away. Come on, he shouted to Yuezi, his voice overwhelmed the increasingly noisy rain, let's do it!I'd rather be burning with her than live without her. Celia screamed loudly, and the original simple shout was distorted by the gust of wind, producing an astonishing amplification effect.The pain in her tone was as if the blades of Chandrash's entire collection were unsheathed at the same time, cutting Marco into pieces, but he still focused on the cartilage stuntman. That would end the contest, right?He asked: Even if I survived the fire, would that end the race? You will have no way to continue, Yuezi said: that is the point. then do it.Marco said. Yuezi smiled at him.She pressed the palms of her hands together, and the smoke ring of the cigarette began to curl up on her fingers. She bent down and saluted him respectfully. None of them were watching as Celia rushed towards them through the rain. Tsukiko flicked her still-lit cigarette into the campfire. When Marco stopped Celia loudly, the cigarette was still in the air. Celia jumped into his arms just before the cigarette touched the flickering white flame of the campfire. Marco knew he couldn't push her away in time, so he pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her hair as the wind ripped the bowler hat from his head. Then the pain started.There was a severe tearing pain, as if being divided into pieces by five horses. Believe me.Celia whispered to him, and he stopped resisting, forgetting everything but her. In the moments before the explosion, when the white light was so bright that people could not see the current situation clearly, they disintegrated and dissipated into the air.One moment they were still there, Celia's dress was still flapping in the wind and rain, Marco's hands were tightly pressed against her back, and the next moment they were just a blur of light and shadow. Then both of them disappeared, and the circus was suddenly engulfed in flames. The flames engulfed the tent and twisted upward towards the rain. Yuezi, who was standing alone in the courtyard, sighed.The flames circled her, swirling endlessly, illuminating her with impossibly blinding light. Then, the flames that came quickly also went away quickly, and disappeared without a trace in a blink of an eye. The campfire's curled cage stood empty, devoid of even a speck of smoldering ashes.The rain slapped the metal with a hollow echo, and when the rain fell on the still-hot iron, it hissed and evaporated. Yuezi pulled out another cigarette from his coat, and flicked the lighter away with a lazy and familiar gesture. Despite the heavy rain, the fire ignited easily. As she waited, she stared blankly at the cauldron filled with rainwater.