The next morning, in the crew's dressing room.
Jiang Kaiwen indeed walked in carrying two bags of breakfast, placing one of them on Lin Ziyang's table.
“Brother Ziyang, it's Brother Yue's treat.”
Lin Ziyang had just finished putting on his headpiece and was bowing his head to let the makeup artist tidy up the loose hairs by his temples. Seeing the hot buns and soy milk in front of him, he was somewhat surprised.
He played Wei Cen in the drama. While the role wasn't small, he was merely a semi-established supporting actor in the industry, and he usually had to carefully weigh his words when speaking to the leads.
“Thanks.”
Lin Ziyang looked over at Jiang Yue, who was resting with his eyes closed while letting the makeup artist do her work. “Teacher Jiang, about today's scene...”
“Just call me Jiang Yue.”
Jiang Yue opened his eyes, picked up his script, and tapped his finger on a page marked with a sticky note. “The first scene is a collaboration between us.
“You're the most familiar with Wei Cen's action tempo. I need to coordinate my escape route and landing spot with you beforehand to make your intervention look as clean and swift as possible.”
The constraint Lin Ziyang felt due to Jiang Yue's current soaring popularity eased up quite a bit.
He took a sip of the soy milk and smiled. “No problem. Wei Cen is basically there to clean up the protagonist's messes anyway.”
At eight in the morning, the crew moved to the main street of Changle Ward.
Today's scenes picked up from yesterday's autopsy scene, depicting the aftermath of the Changle Ward murder case as it continued to escalate.
In the script, the Qingyun Sect used the murder case as a pretext to detain and interrogate rogue martial artists. On the surface, they were investigating the case, but in reality, they were acting under the secret instructions of Grand Tutor Xie Wuheng to eliminate political rivals.
As for the unlucky Lu Ji, he had barely finished the autopsy for the Six Doors and hadn't even fully escaped Changle Ward before he was cornered by the Qingyun Sect while trying to treat a patient to cover his tracks.
“All departments, attention! Wide-angle cameras, get ready! Jiang Yue, Lin Ziyang, take your positions!”
He Chuan shouted through a megaphone.
“Action!”
The main street of Changle Ward was blockaded by disciples of the Qingyun Sect.
Over a dozen white-robed disciples with drawn swords pressed forward, cornering several commoners against a wall.
Lu Ji had been squatting in a street corner, gnawing on a cold half-bun. Seeing the situation, he immediately stuffed the bun into his robes and tried to slip away along the base of the wall.
“Stop right there!”
The leading Qingyun Sect disciple barked, “No one leaves until everyone's identity is verified!”
Two longswords crossed, blocking Lu Ji's path.
Lu Ji shrank his neck back, his face squeezing into a sycophantic smile. “Amiable heroes, this lowly one is just a physician. I don't know anything about the Spectral Bone Case killer.”
“Cut the crap!”
The leading disciple grabbed Lu Ji by the collar and dragged him to the center of the open space. “Someone saw you touch the corpse! You tried to run after the autopsy—I say you're an accomplice!”
Though still trembling while being held by the collar, Lu Ji's gaze quickly swept over the corpse on the ground before landing on the leading disciple's right hand, which held his sword.
The timidity in his eyes didn't entirely vanish, but for a split second, a calculating clarity flashed through them.
“Hero...”
Lu Ji's voice shook. “This lowly one is truly not the killer. Besides, this person didn't die from the same method as the victims of the Spectral Bone Case.”
“What did you say?!”
The leading disciple was furious.
“Although this corpse's bones are shattered, the wounds are depressed from the outside in, indicating they were crushed by someone using extremely powerful external astral qi. On the other hand, the bones of the Spectral Bone Case victims fractured inch by inch from the inside out. This... this isn't even the same martial art!”
Lu Ji spoke rapidly yet logically, as if his sheer terror had driven him to pour out everything that could save his life in one breath.
The atmosphere instantly froze.
The leading disciple's expression shifted slightly as a flash of murderous intent crossed his eyes. “Utter nonsense! You're clearly making excuses for the killer! Men, seize him!”
“Cut!”
He Chuan shouted. “Good! The pacing in this segment is incredibly tight.”
Watching from the side, Jiang Kaiwen rubbed his hands in excitement.
This was exactly the satisfying draw of a grassroots protagonist!
So what if he didn't have martial arts? A brain was also a piece of survival gear!
The next scene was Lu Ji breaking through the encirclement of the Qingyun Sect disciples.
“All departments prepare, action team take your positions!”
Old Hong was keeping a close eye on the side.
“Action!”
Three Qingyun Sect disciples drew their swords and lunged at Lu Ji.
Lu Ji didn't know martial arts, but his years of examining corpses and analyzing bones, combined with his natural talent for observing skeletal structures and tracking qi, allowed him to anticipate his opponents' next moves by reading the exertion in their shoulders, elbows, knees, and hips.
Lu Ji ducked abruptly and rolled across the ground. A sword tip sliced a thin line through the hem of his robe as he narrowly squeezed through the gap between two blades.
Instead of running blindly, he kept his eyes locked onto the footsteps of the third disciple.
Unsteady left foot, dipping right shoulder.
He's going for a horizontal sweep!
Lu Ji immediately dove to the right, knocking over a bamboo basket and sending radishes rolling all over the ground.
The disciple's sword swept through empty air. He stepped on a radish, losing his footing and sending his sword strike off-course.
“Ow!”
Taking advantage of the opening, Lu Ji cried out in distress and scrambled behind a pillar, grabbing a handful of lime powder from a torn sack leaning against the wall.
“Catch him!”
The leading disciple roared.
Lu Ji peeked out from behind the pillar and flung the lime powder straight into the leading disciple's face.
The leading disciple instinctively closed his eyes and swung his sword.
Clang!
With a sharp clink, a pebble flew out from the shadows, striking the flat of the leading disciple's sword with precise accuracy and deflecting it away.
On a distant rooftop.
Wei Cen, clad in black, crouched on the roof tiles, his fingers still in the flicking posture he used to launch the pebble.
He looked down at Lu Ji, who was covered in dust but still managed to protect the bun in his robes. Wei Cen's brow knitted slightly, clearly full of disdain for this kind of vulgar street brawl.
“Good! Cut! Let's do a safety take!”
He Chuan shouted.
During the midday break, Jiang Kaiwen fanned Jiang Yue while flipping through the afternoon's daily call sheet.
“Third Brother, the new actor arriving this afternoon is named Shen Xiuyuan, playing Su Jingci. You definitely remember his background. Sister Qing mentioned that one-take scene in 《Long Night, Dark Zither》 before, right? He played a supporting character in it.”
Jiang Yue took a sip of water. “Yeah, I remember. I actually went out of my way to watch it later.”
“Right! That's the one!”
Jiang Kaiwen instantly perked up. “That movie won an industry cinematography award, and Director He was still an assistant director back then.
“I heard Shen Xiuyuan's character helped block the antagonist's pursuit for the protagonist, and unexpectedly, that role made him blow up overnight. He's making a cameo this time as a friendly gesture, but it's not just to do a favor.”
Jiang Yue looked up at him, gesturing for him to continue.
Jiang Kaiwen lowered his voice and laid out the information he had gathered. “The character Su Jingci doesn't have much screen time, but his character arc isn't just a one-off plot device.
“In the first part, he's an official sent by imperial decree to supervise the Spectral Bone Case. He doesn't appear much, but his identity connects him to several factions in the script. If 《The Pivot Bone》 is well-received and they go ahead with the planned trilogy, he'll likely enter the main storyline.”
Jiang Yue nodded. This indeed made sense.
Shen Xiuyuan had already made a name for himself, so he wouldn't clear his schedule just to do a cameo for a dead-end character solely based on his past relationship with He Chuan.
But if it was He Chuan's production crew, combined with a character that had room for development in the planned series, that was a different story.
For actors, screen time was one thing, but whether the character and the project had potential was the key to deciding if it was worth their time.
Rate on N.U.
