Ji Nansheng quietly sneaked to the Count and Countess’s private box on the second floor.
The red curtain was drawn, acting as a door. A slight lift of the corner would reveal the scene inside.
There was no guard outside and he was the only one in the corridor.
Staring at the red curtain in front of him, Ji Nansheng felt a surge of boldness.
The comments in the live broadcast flashed quickly.
[Go in, Nansheng.]
[Don’t go in, what if the Count feeds you to the tiger on stage?]
[What’s there to fear? If you’re scared, you’re not Nansheng anymore. Fortune favors the bold.]
[Are you all discussing the plot? I’m different, CPDD.]
[CPDD +1!!!]
Ji Nansheng quickly glanced at the comments, crouched down, and grabbed a corner of the curtain, lifting it slightly.
He saw the Countess’s back. She sat gracefully in a chair, her shimmering dress swaying like the sea.
Ji Nansheng’s gaze shifted and he saw the Count lying on a chaise lounge.
His eyelids were half-closed, and his chest rose and fell rhythmically. It seemed he was asleep.
After watching for a moment, Ji Nansheng quietly lowered the curtain and slowly backed away.
So, the curtain was drawn because the Count had fallen asleep.
Suddenly, the sound of loud applause and cheers rang out. Ji Nansheng, who had just reached the stairs, stretched his neck out and saw that the performance on stage had switched from the tiger to two people juggling.
One person hung upside down from a ten-meter-high ring in mid-air, supporting the other person with their hands.
The two performers continuously executed dangerous and thrilling stunts on stage, each time seeming as if they would fall. The audience gasped in fear.
Perhaps the performers aimed to create this effect—each time it seemed they were about to fall, they always completed the move.
The juggler below was thrown into the air by the one above. Just as the audience burst into applause for the impressive display, the performer who had been spinning in mid-air suddenly plummeted to the ground.
With a dull “thud”, the juggler hit the ground heavily. His leg in a tight costume folded over his neck, and his head twisted unnaturally at the waist.
Blood flowed from the juggler’s seven orifices.
Has something really gone wrong? Was this an accident?
The entire venue erupted into chaos, and the audience stood up from their seats.
Some couldn’t bear to watch and quickly turned their heads.
In the midst of the panic, the circus ringmaster walked out laughing, spreading his arms wide as if to embrace the air: “Let’s give a round of applause to Mary and Jack for their spectacular performance! Please welcome them with enthusiasm!”
The woman lying on the ground with her broken neck and legs suddenly turned her head towards the audience, her bloodshot eyes terrifying like a demon’s.
But what happened next was even more frightening. The sound of bones cracking came from Mary’s neck, and her head and legs began to return to their normal positions in a bizarre manner.
Before long, she stood upright, just like a normal person, and bowed with her tall partner.
The audience’s eyes widened in amazement.
The ringmaster explained: “Did you all think there was an accident? Hahaha, that’s exactly the effect we wanted. In fact, Mary is an acrobat with an extraordinarily flexible body. Her neck can even rotate 360 degrees. Let’s enjoy another demonstration from Mary.”
Mary stepped forward and, under the watchful eyes of the audience, began to twist her neck.
Her soft flesh slowly stretched and contorted into impossible angles.
Ninety degrees, one hundred eighty degrees, two hundred seventy degrees, three hundred sixty degrees.
When her face returned to its original position, the crowd erupted into thunderous applause again.
“Mary! Mary!”
“Mary!”
“Mary!”
Voices called out from the audience.
“What an absolutely stunning performance.”
“That was incredible. It’s the most amazing act I’ve ever seen.”
“I’ll never forget this!”
The atmosphere became lively again as Mary’s neck slowly returned to normal. Throughout the performance, her calm expression never changed, as if she was used to such scenes, and she left hand in hand with her partner.
Ji Nansheng who was standing at the stairway muttered to himself, “That Mary doesn’t seem like a living person.”
The barrage had exploded.
[That was terrifying. Is that even a human neck?]
[Forget the neck, what about her legs? They were deformed. No amount of flexibility can explain that.]
[Creepy Mary.]
[When she hit the ground, I swear my hips hurt.]
[No wonder it’s the Royal Circus.]
[So the ringmaster wasn’t lying when he said it would be an unforgettable performance.]
[Listen, Nansheng said Mary isn’t a living person.]
[Nonsense, the anchor said ‘she doesn’t seem like a living person’.’]
[If she’s not alive, then is she dead?]
[Dead? Could she be a zombie?]
[Her expression hasn’t changed since the beginning.]
[I noticed that too, it’s really creepy.]
[Could she really be a corpse?]
After Mary and her partner left, new circus props were quickly brought on stage.
This time, it was a huge spherical cage with an opening. After the platform connected to the opening, two people walked into the cage.
They were strapped with pieces of bloody raw meat, the blood dripping steadily from their waists.
The audience was extremely curious about the act. While they were still trying to figure out what kind of performance it would be, two golden cheetahs and a huge lion were led onto the stage.
“Up next is the thrilling act we have prepared for you, ‘Deadly Escape!’ Let the show begin!”
With the ringmaster’s command, the two cheetahs were driven into the cage.
In the next second, a wild chase began.
The cheetahs smelled the raw meat and leaped toward the two circus performers.
Their mouths were wide open and their sharp claws were stretched out. They were completely real with no deception.
The two performers dodged and ran around inside the cage, while the cheetahs roared and pursued them relentlessly.
As they ran, the large spherical cage began to spin. In a flash, the hollow cage seemed to turn into a flipbook animation.
Several times, the cheetahs nearly caught one of the performers, but each time, they barely evaded with agile moves.
But luck wouldn’t stay with them forever. With a scream, one of the performers was thrown against the cage by the cheetah.
“Ah!!”
“Oh my god!”
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
Thankfully, he quickly threw the piece of raw meat hanging from his waist aside, and the cheetah, momentarily distracted, let him go.
Ji Nansheng returned to the stands, silently observing the audience around him.
They watched the savage hunting behavior of the beasts inside the cage with excitement, and when the human was almost devoured, many of their eyes were filled with thrill.
…
In the private box, a man emerged from beneath the Countess’s large skirt.
He looked up at the young man across from him. His eyes were glazed over, already lost in a trance.
The man stood up and walked in front of the young man, his waist almost level with the other party’s eyes.
He held the dazed young man’s neck and slowly pulled him toward his waist.
His low voice was seductive and coaxing, “Now it’s your turn to help me, noble Countess.”
The young man glared at the man with red eyes, and his bright red lips parted helplessly.
A tight warmth enveloped him, and the man let out a sigh of relief, his eyes narrowing in comfort.
The hand gripping the young man’s slender neck tightened unconsciously, evoking muffled whimpers from the young man.
The overwhelming scent of heather filled the young man’s nose. His mouth was forced wide open, the ache in his jaw feeling as if it might dislocate.
His throat was assaulted repeatedly, and at that moment, he felt like he had become rice cake being pounded in a barrel.
The constant exclamations from the audience reminded him that there were many people outside. The soft red curtain swayed as if it could be pulled back at any second.
In this tense moment, as though they were about to be caught, the young man’s body became extraordinarily sensitive.
His entire body tensed, his long, pale fingers gripping the man’s waist tightly.
Clear red marks immediately appeared on the man’s waist.
…
It wasn’t clear how much time had passed before the man reluctantly let go of the young man. He casually picked up the Countess’s fallen silk handkerchief and wiped the corner of his mouth.
The Countess’s eyes were still blank as the man helped straighten his clothes.
When he finally came back to his senses, he found himself in the man’s arms again.
He subconsciously glanced at the Count in the corner.
The Count’s eyes remained closed, seemingly still asleep.
Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, his neck was suddenly gripped again.
The man’s voice was laced with anger: “Is that old man the only one in your eyes?”
“But I am the Countess,” the young man was forced to turn and meet the man’s furious gaze.
The man: “And who am I?”
The young man blinked. “My lover.”
“Wrong,” the man’s voice carried a threat, “I am your man, the one who lets you have an affair right under the Count’s nose.”
“If I see you running away from me again, it won’t be as simple as today’s small lesson.”
Suddenly, there was a scream from outside. The Countess struggled to turn her head, “What happened outside?”
The man’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “Are you curious?”
As he spoke, he grabbed the Countess by the arm, lifting her toward the curtains.
Seeing the curtains getting closer, the Countess began to struggle, “What are you doing! Let me go, I’m not curious, I’m really not curious.”
The man remained unmoved. “It seems I need to give you a lesson you’ll never forget. I’m right here, yet your attention is elsewhere.”
He pressed the Countess against the wooden railing in front of them and with a swift motion, pulled open a small gap in the curtains.
A dense crowd suddenly appeared in view. The young man’s entire body stiffened, not daring to move at all.
The man only opened a narrow slit, just enough for the Countess to be exposed to the public, while he remained hidden behind the curtain.
The young man wanted to beg the man, but the man gently stopped him with a whisper, “If you don’t want anyone to notice there’s someone beside you, don’t turn your head.”
Upon hearing this, the young man immediately fixed his gaze on the stage.
At some point, a huge spherical cage had been placed on the stage. Inside, there were pieces of flesh and two cheetahs.
