Night fell outside the window.
On the table, stacks of signed photos grew higher.
Jiang Kaiwen looked down to organize the photos, murmuring to himself, “Watch time...”
Jiang Yue signed another one and couldn't help but tease, “Manager Jiang, it seems you're getting more and more proficient at your job.”
Jiang Kaiwen placed the newly signed photo into a protective sleeve, his tone helpless. “I can't help it. Who told me to love my job so much?”
Jiang Yue was amused by him and lowered his head to continue signing.
On the paper, Zhou Jinnan's gaze was cold and sharp.
As the pen tip touched the paper, Jiang Yue felt this was probably a form of farewell. Zhou Jinnan of 《The Hidden Sentry》 would continue to move forward in his story, and he would also continue to move forward in his own life.
The shooting schedule for the next day was packed. Only a portion of the signed photos had been finished the night before, and Jiang Yue had reviewed the script for the next day twice before going to sleep.
When they arrived at the set in the morning, Jiang Kaiwen reminded him, “We have outdoor scenes today, so be careful. Especially the horseback riding scenes. Just because you can ride a few laps doesn't mean you should think of yourself as an equestrian instructor.”
Jiang Yue, who was currently letting the makeup artist touch up his contour, gave a grunt of agreement. “Got it.”
Seeing his response, Jiang Kaiwen knew that this “got it” only meant he had heard him, not that it was a promise.
Today's highlight scene was the extension of the clues for the Spectral Bone Case.
After the murder case in Changle Ward occurred, Su Jingci, the Registrar of the Jingzhao Prefecture, brought the corpse back to the morgue. Lu Ji was brought there in his capacity as a rogue physician to perform an autopsy. This scene would introduce the core suspense that ran through the entire drama.
The set had already been arranged into a dark, gloomy morgue. Jiang Yue wore dusty grey hemp clothes, holding a cloth to cover his nose and mouth as he stood before a corpse played by a real actor.
The props team was still touching up the shattered bone textures on the corpse's chest. He Chuan sat behind the monitor, waiting for the final lighting adjustments.
He glanced at Jiang Yue on the monitor, then turned to confirm with the props team, “Make the lighting dimmer. Don't illuminate the jade pendant too brightly.”
The props team immediately responded.
“All departments, attention! Action!”
Lu Ji skillfully unbuttoned the collar of the deceased Zhao Wuji, lowering his head to examine the direction of the bone fractures.
As he examined it, he murmured softly, “Impact on the chest, the spine shattered first... This killer was quite ruthless.”
Su Jingci stood to the side, asking coldly, “What did you find?”
“I found out that he died a pretty miserable death.”
Lu Ji answered casually, his hands never stopping as his fingertips felt along the side of the corpse's waist. His movements were so practiced that it didn't look like an autopsy; rather, it looked like he was casually searching for something that could be turned into cash.
Suddenly, his fingers paused.
There was a hard object in a hidden pocket at the deceased's waist.
Lu Ji first stole a glance at Su Jingci.
Su Jingci was turning his head to ask the constables about the case files, not looking in his direction.
Using two fingers, he hooked the object out and pressed it into his palm. It was a half-moon-shaped jade pendant. It felt warm and smooth, but its surface was pitted as if it had been burned by fire, and the material was not ordinary jade.
Lu Ji's fingers tightened around the jade pendant. His hand subconsciously reached toward the inside of his collar, but just as his fingertips were about to touch his necklace cord, he thought of something and stopped.
He also had an identical half-moon jade pendant on him. It was the only item on his person when his master found him.
Lu Ji lowered his eyes, quietly slipping the jade pendant into his sleeve. He continued the autopsy, not forgetting to casually chat with Su Jingci to keep up appearances.
“Cut!”
After watching the playback, He Chuan slapped his script notebook against his thigh. “Let's do another take for a close-up of the hand.”
After completing the close-up, the crew moved to an indoor set of a small courtyard in the mountains.
The next part of the plot involved Lu Ji taking the jade pendant back to the medicine shop to test his master, the Old Valley Master, who had taken him in and raised him since childhood.
The actor playing the Old Valley Master was Zhang Baisong. He had been in the industry for many years and was a man of few words. Before the shoot began, he only went through the positioning once with Jiang Yue, and the two barely exchanged pleasantries.
After the clapperboard snapped.
Steam slowly rose from the medicine stove.
“Master, I saw something interesting on a corpse today.”
Lu Ji placed the jade pendant he had brought back onto the table, pushing it to the Old Valley Master's hand.
The Old Valley Master, who was currently brewing medicine, glanced at the jade pendant. The cattail leaf fan in his hand paused for a brief moment before he resumed fanning.
“Bringing a dead person's things home—you really don't care about bad luck, do you?”
“I have something similar to this too.”
Lu Ji carefully observed his reaction. “You said I was a child picked up from a mass grave, yet I have an item related to the Spectral Bone Case that is currently causing a storm in the Jianghu. How do you explain that?”
The Old Valley Master did not answer immediately.
The medicine stove bubbled, and the dark medicine boiled up with foam.
He picked up the medicine bowl and placed it in front of Lu Ji.
“Drink your medicine.”
Lu Ji did not move.
The Old Valley Master looked up at him, his eyes cloudy. “For some things, not knowing allows you to live a little longer.”
Lu Ji looked at the steaming bowl of medicine, the smile on his face slowly fading.
His master had been making him drink this medicine since childhood, saying it was to suppress his naturally damaged meridians and weakness. Every time he drank it, the strange, burning sensation inside his body would be suppressed.
He hadn't asked before because asking was useless.
Lu Ji picked up the bowl and downed it in one gulp.
“Fine, I won't ask.”
He placed the empty bowl back on the table. “But if this life of mine was always just a pawn in someone else's game, I at least need to know at which step I'll die.”
The Old Valley Master's gaze fell on the empty bowl, then drifted back to the jade pendant on the table.
After a moment, he reached out and pushed the jade pendant back in front of Lu Ji.
“Keep it safe.”
Lu Ji did not take it, only staring at him.
The Old Valley Master's voice lowered slightly. “Starting today, don't let a third person see it. No matter who asks, say you've never seen it.”
Lu Ji let out a light laugh, but the amusement didn't reach his eyes. “Master, is this medicine really treating my illness, or is it meant to cover up something else?”
The Old Valley Master's hand holding the cattail leaf fan did not stop. The firelight from the stove reflected on his face, making his expression look even darker.
“You only need to remember one thing.”
He looked at Lu Ji and said, word by word, “If you want to live, don't trust anyone.”
Lu Ji lowered his eyes, slipping the jade pendant back into his sleeve.
“Does that include you?”
The Old Valley Master did not answer again.
The medicine in the stove bubbled with another muffled pop.
“Cut!”
Once the scene was finished, Zhang Baisong put down the fan, glanced at Jiang Yue, and nodded at him.
Stepping out of his character's emotions, Jiang Yue nodded back in response.
Neither of them said much. Jiang Yue turned to find Jiang Kaiwen to get the call sheet for the next scene.
Zhang Baisong lowered his head as the costume designer adjusted his clothes, his expression no different from usual. For him, this way of interacting was actually quite comfortable.
After a brief rest, He Chuan called out through his megaphone, “Move to the next location! Prepare the outdoor set! Action and equestrian teams, do a run-through first.”
In the plot, as Lu Ji began to secretly investigate the origin of the jade pendant, several factions also noticed the unusual nature of this street-dwelling rogue physician.
Among them, factions represented by the Qingyun Sect and the Grand Tutor's Residence began to focus their attention on him.
Lu Ji went to a ruined temple outside the city to find an old beggar who was said to know about the past, only to be targeted by the people of the Qingyun Sect.
To escape, he whistled to call his horse, which he had raised for a long time. The horse had been left near the ruined temple. He ran deep into the forest, looking for a safe spot to mount the horse.
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