After the mats were repositioned, the crew members stepped forward to double-check the placement.
Jiang Yue pushed himself up and rubbed his back before looking up at Jiang Kaiwen.
Jiang Kaiwen, who had been sitting comfortably just moments ago, had already stood up, his face looking rather tense.
Jiang Yue shook his head at him, signaling that he was fine.
Although his back did feel a bit numb from the impact, it was still within tolerable limits.
Jiang Kaiwen stared at him for a few seconds to confirm that he wasn't just toughing it out and unable to speak, before finally sitting back down.
Filming resumed.
The camera zoomed in once again.
The moment Lu Ji slammed into the stone wall, a very faint cracking sound echoed from deep within it.
The palm strike from the Zhuo Martial Arts expert earlier hadn't managed to shatter his heart meridians, but its residual force slammed heavily into the adjacent stone wall, splitting open a narrow crevice that had been sealed under moss for many years.
Lu Ji fell to the ground, his fingertips clenching tightly among the gravel. Blood seeped from his palm, dripping onto the half-moon jade pendant that had slid out of his sleeve.
The blood seeped into the shallow carvings on the back of the jade pendant, gradually revealing the faint half-moon pattern that had been hidden beneath the patina.
Lu Ji's eyelids twitched.
He had been backed into a corner with no escape, but at this moment, he suddenly noticed that beneath the moss beside the crack in the stone wall, a similar curved trace was faintly hidden, resembling some kind of mechanism pattern worn down by time.
Lu Ji did not know what was hidden inside—a secret passage, a mechanism, or another dead end.
But standing here waiting for the blade to fall would only bring a swifter death.
He gritted his teeth, dragged his battered body forward, and pressed the blood-stained jade pendant into the half-moon-shaped indentation.
The stone wall shuddered slightly, and moss showered down.
At the same time, the heat inside Lu Ji's body, which had been suppressed by the medicinal broth, surged uncontrollably after being injured for too long.
He did not know whether this was an illness or some kind of bizarre natural constitution.
He only remembered that during his previous near-death experiences, this erratic, strange heat had briefly helped him break through desperate situations.
If he didn't gamble now, he would have nothing left to do but wait for death.
Lu Ji raised his head, the whites of his eyes completely bloodshot and terrifyingly crimson.
The collar of his robes had long since splayed open, and beneath his skin, blue veins bulged, climbing from his neck all the way to his jawline.
And behind the cracked stone wall, a damaged meridian carving actually came into view.
At the very top of the carving, there were only four ancient characters, mostly worn away by time.
Xuan Pivot Mental Sutra.
Lu Ji could not read these tadpole-like ancient characters, but he could understand the flow of the meridians.
Ever since he was a child, his master had forced him to learn to identify bones, tendons, and meridians.
The carving, obscure and incomprehensible to others, was like an anatomized body in his eyes.
Relying on his instinct of observing bones and discerning Qi, he followed the incomplete starting diagram on the stone wall and forcibly dragged the chaotic air currents inside his body an inch toward the direction least likely to rupture his meridians.
Just this one inch was enough to keep him alive for another quarter of an hour.
“Cut! Let's do a safety take! Props department, add a few more blood packs, and Camera B, get a close-up of Jiang Yue's face.”
He Chuan's voice came through the walkie-talkie, slightly distorted.
Filming resumed, and the camera focused on him once again.
Lu Ji slowly stood up.
His footsteps, which had been weak and unsteady, actually stabilized at this moment.
The energy inside his body was not robust—in fact, it was pitifully weak—and he could hardly control it. He had only barely managed to drag a thread of it back from the brink of going haywire.
He knew that this energy could counter the inner strength of Zhuo Martial Arts.
Faced with the Zhuo Martial Arts experts attacking once more, Lu Ji's vision changed.
He could see the trajectory of his opponent's inner strength flow, and he could also see the weakest node behind every saber strike.
He sidestepped to dodge the long saber, letting the blade brush past his shoulder and hit empty air.
Pressing his fingers together like a sword, he tapped the Taiyuan acupoint on his opponent's weapon-wielding wrist.
The sinister grin on the expert's face froze instantly. He only felt a strange current of energy drill into his meridians, and the inner strength he was so proud of was abruptly cut off for a brief moment.
Only a brief moment.
But this brief moment was exactly what Lu Ji had been waiting for.
He snatched the long saber and slashed backward with a reverse grip.
A line of blood splattered onto the moss.
The other Zhuo Martial Arts expert finally reacted. A palm wind pressed in from behind his flank, aiming straight for his heart.
Lu Ji did not turn around, but stared intently at the shadow cast on the ground.
The instant his opponent channeled inner strength to his elbow, Lu Ji swung his saber backward, the back of the blade first striking the funny bone at the side of the elbow. Then, utilizing his opponent's forward momentum, he slid the blade diagonally under the man's ribs.
The man let out a muffled groan. His palm force grazed Lu Ji's shoulder and slammed into the stone wall, but his entire body stumbled and fell to his knees.
Lu Ji was also dragged down to a half-kneeling position by the impact. He could no longer suppress the metallic taste in his throat, and blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth.
The hidden compartment behind the stone wall was slowly closing back up, but Lu Ji did not leave immediately.
Using his blood-stained fingertips to hold open the stone crack, his gaze swept rapidly across the incomplete chants beside the carving, committing all those strange characters to memory.
Once he had memorized them, he propped himself up and stabbed the two corpses on the ground a few more times. After ensuring they were truly dead, he turned and left.
Off-camera, Old Hong stomped his foot in excitement. “What a thrilling action scene! That was incredibly satisfying to watch!”
That afternoon, during a break while the crew transitioned between scenes, Jiang Yue sat on a folding chair, using a towel to wipe the sweat and fake blood from his face.
The fake blood at the corner of his mouth was sticky, and the more he wiped, the pastier it felt. He simply gave up and threw his head back to drink half a bottle of water.
Jiang Kaiwen took out his phone to take a look. He had still been muttering about the daily call sheet, but his eyes widened in the next second.
“Third Brother! Third Brother!”
Hearing this tone, Jiang Yue's temples throbbed.
When Jiang Kaiwen yelled like this, it was either something very good or something very big.
And most of the time, it was something so good it was headache-inducing.
Jiang Kaiwen quickly walked over to his side and held the phone screen up in front of him.
On the screen was an email Su Qing had just sent, marked "Highest Priority," along with a long string of WeChat messages.
“Sister Qing just got off the phone with the head of Lamerd.”
Jiang Kaiwen took a breath first. “The data report has also been sent over.”
Jiang Yue looked down.
Jiang Kaiwen pulled the screen back slightly and summarized, “On the night of the gala, visits to Lamerd's global official website more than doubled, and keyword searches increased threefold. More importantly, the ready-to-wear collection in the same series as the midnight blue haute couture you wore, as well as the jewelry from their sub-brand, completely exploded with orders in the Asia-Pacific region!”
Jiang Yue's movement of putting down his water bottle paused, his fingertips pinching the plastic with a soft click.
He knew that since the brand dared to time their official announcement so precisely, they were bound to have high confidence.
But when the result of "exploding orders" actually came out, it still sent a surge of warmth through his chest.
This was money, this was data, and this was the brand's justification to continue investing more in him.
To put it deeper, this was his ticket to the playground of fame and wealth.
Jiang Kaiwen continued reading down. “The brand feels that although your suit styling on the red carpet went viral, that only showcased one side of their formal wear. They want the whole world to see what Jiang Yue looks like wearing Lamerd's casual wear, and also to drive consumer spending among the general public.”
At this point, he finally couldn't help but grin. “So, they proposed arranging a shoot for a top fashion magazine cover next month!”
Jiang Yue looked up, his eyes lighting up.
Jiang Kaiwen took a deep breath and added, “And it's the New Year double cover of 《VMAN》! The brand is personally sponsoring the cover, and they want you to wear Lamerd's latest season of casual wear and unreleased haute couture.”
“Third Brother, this kind of annual issue cover is originally one of the most expensive and highly coveted spots among men's magazines. Having the brand personally push for it means Lamerd is using its own marketing budget to endorse you. Just this magazine cover and the global joint exposure alone translate to resources starting at seven figures, not to mention that your commercial quote will only go up after this.”
The more Jiang Kaiwen spoke, the more excited he became, wishing he could run two laps around the folding chair right then and there.
“Awards in film and television, top luxury brands in business, and now even a top men's fashion magazine! Once all of this is written into your resume, your next commercial negotiation will probably start at eight figures, right?”
Jiang Yue withdrew his gaze from the screen.
The brand was using real gold and silver to elevate his status.
When he had first won the award, he could still tell himself that it was fine to just go back and focus on filming.
But now, with his commercial, fashion, and acting tracks all moving forward simultaneously, lacking neither resources nor expectations, his path ahead was already very clear.
Going from obscurity to where he was today was incredibly satisfying, but the pressure was also immense.
Jiang Yue did not hesitate any longer and immediately made the decision. “Take it.”
Jiang Kaiwen immediately replied to Su Qing. Before he even finished typing, he couldn't help but ask, “You're only saying one word? Aren't you going to share your thoughts?”
Jiang Yue looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Sure, should I stand up and give a speech right now?”
Jiang Kaiwen was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “Forget it, you'd better save your voice. There are still scenes to film later.”
He was about to continue expressing his joy when a crew member far away began shouting through a megaphone.
“Teacher Jiang! For the next scene, Director He wants you to go over and run through the lines!”
Jiang Yue stood up and threw the towel to Jiang Kaiwen.
Jiang Kaiwen caught it instinctively, then pocketed his phone. “I'll coordinate the schedule with Sister Qing first.”
Jiang Yue nodded and walked toward the studio.
Rate on N.U.
