The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 543 - 286: Su Xiaoou’s Magic Deconstruction_2
”Quick, call her ’Master’s wife,’” Jiang Shu also kicked Su Xiaoou.

”Hello, Master’s wife.” Although a bit confused, Su Xiaoou still obediently voiced the greeting.

Yet she keenly noticed something — her teacher didn’t seem to deny the implication of being kept.

Hmm.

Hmm?

”Hmm.” Liu Tingruo just slightly nodded, not showing much reaction, which fit her ice-queen demeanor.

However, Jiang Shu could feel that Liu Tingruo’s face seemed to relax a bit; she really seemed to like the nickname ”Master’s wife.”

”The car’s too small, I’ll head back first, and you should come back early too.” Liu Tingruo tossed out this comment and then restarted the car.

”Hey! Just let her go back by herself, wait a minute, I haven’t gotten in yet!” Jiang Shu hurriedly shouted as he saw this, but Liu Tingruo didn’t wait for him and drove off.

Truly, the downside of a two-seater sports car.

But why didn’t they let Su Xiaoou go back by herself?

Thinking this, Jiang Shu turned his gaze to Su Xiaoou.

Had he known, he would have sent Su Xiaoou off earlier and just waited for Sister Tingruo by himself.

Seeing the look in Jiang Shu’s eyes, Su Xiaoou certainly misunderstood his intention; she pondered for a moment and then blurted out, ”Teacher, the magic you just performed — you kept a coin in your hand the whole time, didn’t you? Each time you moved the salt shaker, you placed it underneath, right? And the sponge ball...you also had one hidden in your hand, correct?”

”Oh? Thinking of cracking the secret already?” Jiang Shu nodded as he observed, ”But that’s not enough, you haven’t hit the nail on the head.”

The magic he had just performed wasn’t as flashy as past performances with flames, thunder, and paperman, but the difficulty of replicating what he did was not lesser by any measure.

Firstly, whether magic that involved a coin or a sponge ball, their essence was the same and could even be summarized in four words.

Three Immortals Return to the Cave.

While the presentation differed, the essence was that of the ancient magic technique Three Immortals Return to the Cave, albeit with some modifications.

However, this technique was just one aspect of the magic performance; in Jiang Shu’s view, another magical technique was even more important.

”Is there...something else?” Su Xiaoou also looked bewildered, apparently not noticing anything else.

”Why else? If it was just about hiding it in hand and stealthily placing it under the salt shaker, why didn’t Li Yuntang notice anything from such a close distance?” Jiang Shu gave her a look and continued, ”Misdirection, misdirection, that’s the key to the whole magic performance.”

”Misdirection? Seems like it.” Su Xiaoou repeated Jiang Shu’s words, as if she had an epiphany.

Since she was also one of the ones led astray, she had initially failed to see this technique.

Misdirection, to put it bluntly, is about diverting attention.

”Exactly, you should carefully watch the video of tonight’s magic performance when you get back. Identify all the moments where I used misdirection and made my moves, and we’ll review them after I get to the Magic House tomorrow.” Jiang Shu then doled out homework, ”That’s not hard, is it?”

”Not hard, I guarantee I’ll complete the task,” Su Xiaoou stated with conviction.

Watching the video, just a few replays should make it apparent.

If she couldn’t discern where Jiang Shu made his moves after half a year of studying magic, then she really wasted her time.

Seeing her confident demeanor, Jiang Shu couldn’t help but feel amused.

Too naive, Su Xiaoou!

As if it were that simple. You don’t think the magic videos are shot with a panoramic view, do you?

The photographer for the show was Lu Yi. After some time mastering video techniques for magic, he completely grasped the points Jiang Shu had mentioned.

When the camera should be there, it’s there; when it shouldn’t, it doesn’t catch a glimpse.

In short, when Jiang Shu used misdirection, it was as if the camera was also led astray; so none of the moments when he made his moves were captured on film.

Indeed, misdirection is powerful, and if one could achieve Jiang Shu’s level, the sleight of hand would go unnoticed even face-to-face, captivating the audience and making the magic seem even more mysterious.

But it also has a fatal flaw: video playback.

Once someone replays the video in slow motion, they can usually spot where Jiang Shu manipulated things.

And this was exactly why Jiang Shu enlisted a dedicated photographer for magic; appropriate close-ups not only enhance the live audience’s overall experience of the magic but also keep Jiang Shu’s sleight of hand off-camera, unrivaled.

In simple terms, the live audience can’t spot Jiang Shu’s moves, and the live stream audience can’t see these maneuvers at all.

So if Su Xiaoou thinks it’s as simple as watching a few more times, she’s bound to be frustrated.

Forget about breezily finishing homework; getting any sleep tonight might be a problem.

Jiang Shu and Su Xiaoou walked toward the taxi stand, ready to take a cab home. On their way, Su Xiaoou, harboring a mischievous smile, playfully challenged Jiang Shu, ”But, Teacher, did you figure out how I did it?”

”How I did it? The prediction? Is it because you can perform ’magic’?” Jiang Shu casually replied, his gaze falling upon the bustling urban nightscape.