Chapter 39.3: Spicy Eyes! (T/N: eyes burn/it stings)
Chapter 39 Part 3
Sure enough, Tian Gong Pavilion’s speed was very quick. That evening, someone from Tian Gong Express delivered the car. The courier bro was the same one who had delivered the modou to Xi Jia and seemed to be responsible for the deliveries in this area of S City. When he came, his hands were empty. A shadow of a car couldn’t be seen. He saw him shake his Qiankun bag, and suddenly, a new and shiny Benz appeared before Xi Jia.
This courier bro said dispiritedly, “Check it over. I still have to send the next express delivery. My god, the shopping holiday in the middle of the seventh month is almost here. So busy. Laozi will definitely take time off next month.”
Xi Jia carefully inspected the car and noticed that it was really new. He signed his name on the express delivery slip. This bro listlessly took the slip. He looked down and read the name on the express delivery slip, “Xi Jia. En, your express delivery is here. I’ll be leaving first……Shit! Xi Jia?!!!”
Just as Xi Jia was holding the key and about to have a taste of a Benz, the courier bro shouted and caused him to look over in surprise.
Tian Gong Pavilion kept up with the times. In order to protect their customers’ privacy, the delivery slip didn’t have the buyer’s information anywhere. There was only a barcode. Since the beginning, this bro had his head down and never looked at Xi Jia’s face. Now that he suddenly read the words for “Xi Jia” clearly, he was so scared that he dropped his dried fish on the ground as he looked at Xi Jia, stupefied. After a long time, his head creaked as he turned and saw Ye Jingzhi standing to the side.
The courier bro, “……”
In the next second, he loudly said, “I’ll be going first. I still have urgent matters. By all means, no need to see me off!!!”
With a whoosh, the person ran away in fright. Distantly, a voice could still be heard, “Scared the hell outta me, scared the hell outta me. Ghost King Xi and Hell King Ye are actually in my delivery area. Laozi must change areas, laozi definitely has to change! Wuwuwuwu, laozi is quitting!”
Xi Jia, “……” It’s only sending a delivery, you don’t have to say it like someone’s going to eat you!
Xi Jia had long been aware of the about-to-be-done-for Xuanxue world. This courier bro for Tian Gong Pavilion was all “Laozi is a courier for Tian Gong Pavilion and taxes pay me, laozi is the number one under the heavens” the last time he had sent a delivery. This time, he actually ran away in terror as if he pissed in his pants.
Softly sighing, Xi Jia carried Song Song into the car. Then, Ye Jingzhi held it in his arms. Two men and one cat headed towards C Province together.
After driving for a day and a night, they finally arrived in C Province.
Besides learning for the driver’s license, this was Xi Jia’s first time driving. He was originally very uneasy and didn’t dare drive at high speeds, but Ye Jingzhi said, “With me here, there won’t be any accidents.”
Only then was Brother Jia reassured enough to drive fearlessly.
He didn’t know if he was very innately talented or if his skill was very high, but the more he drove, the smoother he got. By the time he drove to C Province, he was already skilled enough to drive on the mountain roads.
The new script that Chen Tao gave Xi Jia this time was an ancient period suspense movie. There was no choice in the matter. Right now, Xi Jia didn’t have any fame. Two, he had no backer. The director, who was willing to invite him to act, cared about the eerie face that made him tremble at first glance. Only a suspense film would invite him to act.
However, this ancient period suspense movie and the one shot in Chang’an, Xuanwu, were different. Xuanwu was a story during Emperor Taizong of Tang’s time. This was a Jinyiwei movie.
Huaxia had two large IPs that were everlasting. Several movies would come out every year.
One was Journey to the West. There would be at least two movies related to it produced each year. The Great Sage Sun would disrupt the Heavenly Palace twice every year.1 The second was Jinyiwei.
During the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang, had established the Jinyiwei. It was originally intended to monitor the world on behalf of the Emperor. In the later period, the power of the Jinyiwei grew and formed a pattern of opposition with the Eastern Depot that was established by Ming Chengzu.2 During the Ming Dynasty, it set off bursts of turmoil again and again.
There were many classic movies with Jinyiwei as the subject matter, but the audience wasn’t tired of it. Often, the adaptations would sweep the box office.
The movie Xi Jia was shooting this time was called The Hard Roads to Shu.3 It was set in the late Ming dynasty. The officials in the land of Shu acted in collusion with the Eastern Depot. They didn’t shrink from any crime, and their corruption case was discovered by the Jinyiwei. It was a story of the news being delivered back to the imperial palace after finally going through difficulties.
Xi Jia was one of the Jinyiwei with very few scenes. In order to cover a crime, the group of officials conspired with the Eastern Depot and created a terrible major case. The Jinyiwei was ordered to investigate these cases, and finally he was deeply included. Besides the male lead, all the other Jinyiwei died in the lands of Shu. The second to die among them was precisely Xi Jia.
After reaching C Province, Xi Jia steadily drove to the mountain area where the crew was stationed at.
The Hard Roads to Shu was a large movie. The production lineup far surpassed Xuanwu that Xi Jia had shot two months ago. Whether it was the directing team or the screenwriters, it was enough for it to become this year’s most followed big movie with just the cast.
After Xi Jia entered the set, he saw Vice Director Chen who was responsible for overseeing the project and actors. Vice Director Chen had told him about the schedule for the next several days and also let a staff member take Xi Jia to the hotel where the crew was staying at. By the time they were about to leave, he quietly asked, “Little Xi, this person……who is he?”
Xi Jia followed Vice Director Chen’s gaze.
Within the scenic view, Ye Jingzhi was holding a tiny black cat and standing quietly and apathetically to the side, gazing at the rosy clouds in the skies. Sensing Xi Jia’s line of sight, he turned his head to look at Xi Jia. His thin lips involuntarily curved up a bit, and his cold face also softened.
Xi Jia smiled as he said, “Vice Director Chen, he is my……friend.”
Vice Director Chen knitted his brows, “You brought a friend to shoot a movie?”
Xi Jia calmly said, “I recently plan on asking him to act as my manager and assistant, he’s not only a friend.”
Vice Director Chen nodded in understanding. After a long time, he whispered, “Your friend’s qualifications aren’t bad. Is he interested in shooting a scene?”
Xi Jia was stunned.
He didn’t decide on this matter personally. Instead, he went to tell Master Ye. Just like he had guessed, Ye Jingzhi looked at him blankly as if not understanding what had happened. Xi Jia lightly smiled and said, “Master Ye, don’t mind it. Vice Director Chen is only casually saying it. I know that if I didn’t invite you to come this time, you definitely wouldn’t mingle with the entertainment circle’s matters.”
Xi Jia turned Vice Director Chen down, and Vice Director Chen left with a regretful expression.
The entertainment circle was the kind of place where fishes and dragons mingled.4 The waters were too deep. Xi Jia didn’t want Ye Jingzhi to enter this kind of place that was also incompatible with him.
Ye Jingzhi didn’t want to shoot a film. He held Song Song and went back to the hotel with Xi Jia. As they were riding the elevator, they happened to run into two female staff in the same crew. When these two female staff saw Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi, they recognized Xi Jia with a glance (since they’re in the same crew) and excitedly asked Xi Jia for an autograph. In the end, they thought for a bit and also asked Ye Jingzhi to sign.
Without the foggiest idea why, Master Ye signed his name. The two young ladies only thought that they had obtained the signature of an unknown star, but they didn’t know that they had received the signature of the almighty Hell King Ye of the Xuanxue world.
Not long after, the two young ladies started to chat.
“Last month, Film Emperor Fang actually got injured. I thought our crew would postpone the filming, but I didn’t expect Film Emperor Fang to be so dedicated and actually insist on coming.”
“Ahhhh, I saw Film Emperor Fang this morning, so handsome.”
“With Film Emperor Fang here, our movie will definitely become big and break the box office!”
The two young ladies talked and talked, and they left the elevator first.
Xi Jia stood in the elevator and glanced at their backs in doubt. Ye Jingzhi looked at him, not understanding. He smiled and said, “It’s nothing. Master Ye, when I picked up this movie, Chen Tao had obscurely told me that I should take on this show, it would definitely be hot. This movie has a lot of big shots. I never expected Film Emperor Fang Moting to be an actor for this movie.”
Ye Jingzhi had never heard of Fang Moting’s name so Xi Jia explained to him as they walked to the room, “He’s not bad. It has been over ten years since Fang Moting debuted. I like to watch comedies. I’m not very interested in his movies, but he has a lot of female fans in particular…….”
At this time, The Hard Roads to Shu crew.
As a small supporting character, Xi Jia could leisurely return to the hotel and rest. However, several major actors had to stay in the crew and shoot their character posters until 10 o’clock at night. Four actors changed a variety of poses and took several hundred pictures. Fang Moting in particular had to take the most pictures since he was the male protagonist in The Hard Roads to Shu, a movie with a mainly male cast.
The other three actors had already gone back to the makeup room to change and remove their makeup. Fang Moting pulled out a prop of a Xiu Chun Dao and did several poses.5 The cameraman finally finished taking the last set of pictures.
The director for The Hard Roads to Shu was a major first-tier director of the country, Old Li. He personally supervised the photoshoot of the actors’ character photos. After they finally finished taking the male lead’s pictures for the character posters, Old Li turned to discuss with the screenwriter about revising a few plots. Fang Moting’s assistant was holding a towel and water bottle, waiting to wipe the actor’s sweat and hand him water.
Fang Moting stepped out of the studio. He was tall and handsome, truly the type that girls would particularly like.
However, right when he was about to walk out of the photoshoot set, his assistant suddenly yelled out in horror, “Brother Fang, look out!!!”
Bang!
The large photography set didn’t give a warning sign before it came crashing down.
The crew was instantly in a mess. Countless staff quickly came over to this side. Scarlet red blood flowed down from the set. Fang Moting was firmly pressed underneath the heavy board of the props and was silent.
Everyone anxiously rushed over to lift the board. Even Old Li rushed over in big strides and helped lift the board together.
While they were working together to lift the set, no one noticed a black aura lightly drifting past the crowd and disappearing into the dark and tranquil mountains.
“Hehehehe……hehehehe……”
A staff member of the crew who was outside moving the props suddenly heard a burst of sharp and strange laughter. He looked all around and found nothing.
“Hehehehe……”
“Hehehehe……”
The laughter became more and more distant, echoing in the mountains for a long time before getting swallowed by the mountain winds in the night.
Translator’s Addition:
C+: *signs an autograph*
The two young ladies also hand Mirror a paper and pen…
Mirror: ( ・◇・)？ *copies wife and signs anyways*
Translator’s Notes:
1 Journey to the West can speak for itself, I hope. Great Sage Sun, Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.↵
2 Ming Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang – 1st Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Ming Taizu is his temple name. Zhu Yuanzhang is his personal name.
Ming Chengzu – 3rd Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Ming Chengzu is his temple name. ↵
3 蜀道难 Hard Roads to Shu – There’s a poem of the same name by Li Bai. The roads probably refer to this area. ↵
4 鱼龙混杂 Fishes and dragons mingle – idiom that means bad people are mixed in with the honest people. ↵
5 绣春刀 Xiu Chun Dao – literally Embroidered Spring Blade, a weapon exclusively used by the Jinyiwei. ↵