Guan Yan was aware that he had been distracted during filming these past couple days, even arriving late and leaving early. So today, he left home very early.
Before he even reached the film set, his agent called him: "Rose' sent an invitation card to the studio, inviting you to attend a banquet three days from now." The voice on the other end was hushed, as if up to no good.
Guan Yan's heart skipped a beat at the news.
To the public, Rose's banquet was just a fashion party, far less lively than the annual charity galas in the entertainment circle. But Guan Yan knew very well that Rose's party was where true power, sex, and money converged. There, you could meet people you couldn't dream of encountering even if you tried desperately to curry favor.
As far as he knew, Bai Yuhuai never seemed to participate in such events.
Well, how unfortunate for him. It looks like it's my turn to make it big now.
Guan Yan smirked.
Even from a distance, Jing Jiujiu could see the spring in Guan Yan's step.
The Assistant Director happened to walk by and naturally ran into him.
Assistant Director: "...Old Guan, you seem very happy? How about a trip to the hospital?"
Only then did Guan Yan temper his smile. He exchanged a few pleasantries with the Assistant Director before hurrying off to film.
Xu Sanyu's face was full of confusion: "What's up with him? Did he step in dog poop this morning to be so happy?"
Jing Jiujiu: "He's worshipping the gods."
Xu Sanyu: "And that works?"
Jing Jiujiu thought for a moment: "Maybe it's to better deal with him?"
There's no such thing as an absolute good thing in this world.
The Jing family paid with him, so what would Guan Yan have to pay?
That afternoon, Guan Yan received several more phone calls. After each call, one could visibly see his mood improving.
He sat in a corner, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke to his agent: "My mom called me, saying our old house back home is going to be demolished... My brother and sister don't even know yet. We might get compensated with three apartments and five million yuan. Also, for that play Meng Hexin was in before, the director called and wants me to replace him."
The agent replied with a quivering voice: "DG called and said they want to get in touch with you, they're planning to make you their brand ambassador... It's because of this movie with Director Xiang. Everyone has high hopes. Remember Director Li? His people have been asking if you're free at the end of the year to film a TV series?"
Guan Yan's voice trembled: "It's the divine statue! It must be the divine statue! Do you believe me now?"
The agent nodded excitedly: "Of course I believe! It's not just you, Brother Guan. Me, and your assistants Little Wang and Little Lin... they're all having good luck too! Me, the company suddenly gave me a raise, and they're considering giving me a 1% share. And Little Wang... you know how he's always messing with that game? He said last night he was playing for someone else, and unexpectedly met a rich second-generation kid who gave him nine thousand yuan in one go! That's higher than a month's salary..."
The agent rambled on about quite a few things.
He only concealed the fact that the company also wanted to assign a starlet under his management alongside Guan Yan.
Guan Yan didn't actually feel very happy listening to all this.
It was one thing for the divine statue to bring him good luck, but why did it have to extend to the people around him too? Especially that Little Wang, such a fool. And what was that about being higher than his salary? Huh, was he implying that his salary was too low? What use had Little Wang been besides playing a small role in securing that game endorsement for him earlier? What had he done since?
By this time, the agent had more or less said his piece. He swallowed and, gauging Guan Yan's expression, sincerely praised: "We really have to thank you, Brother Guan. If it weren't for you, how could we all benefit like this?"
Guan Yan could only force a smile.
But in his mind, he was thinking: what if all this luck wasn't spread thin, but fell on him alone? What would happen then?
If there were a divine statue here right now, after hearing all this, it would tell him: you would die.
People often say that great fortune with a weak fate means one can't handle so much energy at once, and is likely to meet an untimely death.
Guan Yan didn't continue chatting with his agent, afraid he couldn't suppress his displeasure.
After all, the feeling right now was like winning ten million yuan, but being forced to give three million to others.
At that moment, in Guan Yan's hotel room.
The cleaning lady turned around and got a fright: "Oh my, what's wrong with people these days? Worshipping gods in hotel rooms? Such a small space, how can it accommodate a deity? Aren't they afraid of offending the god? Crazy."
The lady quickly went into the bathroom with her cleaning cloth.
When she came out after meticulously scrubbing the bathtub and other fixtures, the spot where the shrine had been was empty.
The cleaning lady rubbed her eyes: "Am I seeing things?"
She shook her head, feeling this place was quite strange, and not daring to linger, quickly left.
The divine statue stood by the window, looking down from on high.
A grand show of killing the chicken to scare the monkey was about to unfold here...
When someone has just received a huge surprise, it's inevitable that they become a bit unsettled. Guan Yan, who had just been professional earlier in the morning, suddenly became distracted again.
This time even Director Xiang was unhappy.
"Guan Yan seems a bit restless today, why don't we just take a break?"
Guan Yan managed to maintain a shred of reason and quickly said: "No, no need, I just haven't been resting well these past couple days. I'll adjust my state right away."
At this time, Bai Yuhuai had just finished filming.
Director Xiang turned to him and said: "Brother Bai, take a break first."
Bai Yuhuai gave a slight nod and walked over to sit down next to Jing Jiujiu, but it wasn't really a break. The Makeup Artist quickly followed to touch up his makeup.
Guan Yan glanced over and took a breath before saying: "Why don't I film the action scenes first?"
A vein pulsed on Director Xiang's forehead: "...Aren't all your upcoming action scenes with Tao He and Brother Bai? Brother Bai just sat down."
Guan Yan realized he had misspoken.
In other productions, he was usually the one being catered to, especially this past year. For a moment, he forgot that even though he was the male lead in this film, things weren't decided just because he said so.
Guan Yan changed his tune: "Then I'll rehearse more with Actress Tao."
Bai Yuhuai: "No need. Let's film the action scenes then."
Jing Jiujiu was half-sprawled on the small table, hands propping him up, head slightly tilted as he gazed at Bai Yuhuai.
He frowned slightly.
"Mr. Bai has it so hard."
Xu Sanyu was already annoyed, thinking 'Who does Guan Yan think he is?' But hearing Jing Jiujiu speak so sincerely, he almost couldn't hold back his laughter.
Brother Bai didn't have it hard at all.
He was just being professional.
If he really wanted to deal with Guan Yan, it would just take the lift of a finger.
It's just that Brother Bai doesn't bother with such petty clowns.
Jing Jiujiu had never experienced much hardship since he was young, the greatest suffering being his own death.
Guan Yan's behavior, in his eyes, was already quite rude and difficult. Jing Jiujiu muttered unhappily: "He's going to have bad luck soon."
Hearing this, Xu Sanyu thought the young master was upset and wanted to stand up for Bai Yuhuai. He quickly patted the young master's shoulder and said: "What are you going to do? Don't dirty your hands. You're so pampered and delicate..." How to put it? Xu Sanyu felt that even mentioning Guan Yan would taint the youth before him.
Jing Jiujiu didn't respond, only gazing in Bai Yuhuai's direction.
Bai Yuhuai likewise had his head tilted back slightly, making it easier for the Makeup Artist to apply makeup. Though he was sitting with bent knees, his aura still firmly overpowered the Makeup Artist. The Makeup Artist seemed somewhat nervous in his presence.
The Makeup Artist held what looked like some kind of brush and began drawing on Bai Yuhuai's face - outlining his eyebrows and adding faint golden patterns.
The young man's eyes were tightly closed, his lips slightly pursed.
It made his features appear cold and sharp.
The golden patterns were drawn from the center of his forehead downwards, continuing all the way to his neck.
Because the color was still quite concentrated, it was particularly eye-catching. For a moment, it seemed to imbue him with a hint of divinity.
Jing Jiujiu's breath caught, and he asked softly: "Why are they doing this?"
Xu Sanyu explained from the side: "In the movie, he turns into a half-human, half-Buddha monster."
This movie sounds scary!
Jing Jiujiu shuddered secretly and couldn't help but inch closer to Bai Yuhuai.
Looking at him now, Jing Jiujiu felt the man appeared even more pitiful.
Who knows how much time passed before Bai Yuhuai finally stood up: "Is it done?"
The Makeup Artist nodded: "It's done." Then they called Director Xiang over to take a look.
The guide's eyes lit up, and he no longer urged Bai Yuhuai to rest, instead immediately wanting to bring him in front of the camera.
Meanwhile, Xu Sanyu took out his phone to handle some work.
"Wow, why is Meng Hexin trending?"
Jing Jiujiu's phone was still locked. He didn't want to disturb Bai Yuhuai's work, so he hadn't found a chance to ask Bai Yuhuai to show him what was going on.
Hearing gossip, Jing Jiujiu quickly moved closer, wanting to look at it together with Xu Sanyu.
Xu Sanyu read the news word by word: "Meng Hexin recuperating in hospital, calls on circle of friends, plays games with girls all night, single for over ten years, possibly developing a new romance? Fans have already dug up the other person's ID... White... Wine? White Wine?" Xu Sanyu suddenly turned his head: "White Wine, isn't that you?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Yeah, that's me."
"How come you're playing Da Qiao?"
Jing Jiujiu: "He said I was bad, so I might as well play this one."
Bai Yuhuai's steps faltered.
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
He really had it in him.
Playing a game, and ending up trending with Meng Hexin.
Not just Bai Yuhuai, even Xu Sanyu felt his face turning green looking at it.
So the young master stayed up all night playing games?
Didn't even keep Bai company?
Thinking about how Bai seemed to live in seclusion in the deep mountains, not playing any AAA titles, Steam, Switch... not playing anything at all. How pitiful. Getting a young boyfriend, with no common language between them, only to watch him run off to play with others.
Xu Sanyu thought to himself, if he had known it would be like this, it would have been better to let the two of them trend together.
"Bai?" The guide turned his head and called out uncertainly.
Only then did Bai Yuhuai compose his gaze and walk onto the set.
At this time, the props master and costume designer walked over, speaking quietly with Bai Yuhuai for a few moments, before finally slipping two iron chains onto his hands.
He gripped the iron chains tightly in his palms, wrapping them around his hands, wrists, and a section of his arms, coiling layer upon layer.
The guide made a gesture to Guan Yan, saying: "To make it look more realistic when filming, we're using real iron chains. This way, when they clash against the wall, there won't be obvious rebound or deformation. Don't worry, it won't hit anyone. For scenes where it needs to hit someone, we'll switch to fake props."
Guan Yan: "..."
No wonder Bai Yuhuai agreed so readily.
In the drama, Guan Yan was a character who grows, while Bai Yuhuai was purely an unrepentant villain. Basically, Guan Yan was chased and beaten.
Even if these things didn't hit him in the face, Guan Yan would still be terrified enough.
Guan Yan gritted his teeth: "Alright."
He couldn't break character.
Meanwhile, Jing Jiujiu was still asking in confusion: "Why wrap iron chains around his hands?"
Xu Sanyu had read the script three times with them before, so that when it came time to do promotional activities for the movie in the future, he wouldn't say the wrong things, and could speak knowledgeably to fans.
Xu Sanyu immediately explained: "In the setting, it's to restrain the Buddha's half of the body. So he has to wear iron chains. In ancient times, only the most heinous criminals would wear such things. Putting it on the Buddha's body is blasphemy, imprisoning Buddha. ... Because he wore it for so long, it slowly became this character's weapon. Like... now, for example."
As Xu Sanyu finished speaking.
Filming began on the other side.
Guan Yan and Bai Yuhuai were suspended by wire, standing on scaffolding half a story high. Bai Yuhuai seemed like a different person, his brows and eyes gloomy, dim light falling on his body, like a monster that would eat people. His white clothes were stained with patches of blood. The rusty iron chains dragged across the scaffolding, colliding and making cold sounds.
Jing Jiujiu barely paid attention to hear when the director called out 123.
The next moment, Bai Yuhuai swung his fist at Guan Yan.
The heavy iron chains, wrapped around his hand, seemed as light as air.
A gust of rusty coldness rushed towards him, and Guan Yan instinctively held his breath, turning his head to dodge.
The iron chain collided with the metal pipe with another loud "clang".
Just imagining it, one could tell how painful it would be if it hit someone.
It could probably shatter a person's internal organs with one punch...
Guan Yan's mind wandered for a moment.
After several consecutive punches, the iron chain in Bai Yuhuai's hand locked onto the metal pipe, coldly pressing against Guan Yan's face. Guan Yan momentarily couldn't even remember his lines.
It was only then that Guan Yan realized acting opposite Bai Yuhuai was pressuring.
In the past, the reason few people mentioned it was because Bai Yuhuai rarely displayed such aggressiveness and overwhelming force at such times.
Guan Yan's mind wandered again.
Bai Yuhuai had already torn apart the entire scaffolding.
The two fell together.
Guan Yan completely forgot about the wire, flailing in the air.
Bai Yuhuai grabbed him by the collar.
Guan Yan struggled but couldn't break free.
He met Bai Yuhuai's eyes, and for a moment, even felt that Bai Yuhuai truly wanted to kill him.
"Cut..." Guan Yan called out hoarsely himself.
The next moment, because of his improper landing posture, his back slammed heavily onto the ground, half his body going numb from the impact. The heavy iron chains pressed firmly on his neck and chest. Guan Yan couldn't catch his breath, and his gaze toward Bai Yuhuai instinctively revealed fear.
"Quick, quick!"
"Is Guan okay?"
But more people were asking: "Is Bai okay?"
"Damn, the iron chains Bai was wearing were too heavy, I almost couldn't hold onto him just now."
The guide was also a bit embarrassed, afraid something would go wrong, and hurriedly came forward.
Bai Yuhuai looked down at Guan Yan, who couldn't get up for a long time, and said flatly: "Let's use a stunt double."
Guan Yan, who had never used a stunt double before, gritted his teeth: "No need..."
The assistant director couldn't help but interject: "Old Guan, it's good that you're dedicated. But you also need to consider the interests of the crew. You didn't film the previous dialogue scenes well. Don't you need to save some energy for the dialogue scenes? These two action scenes are also quite dangerous. If something happens to you, not only will it delay progress, how will we explain it to your fans, your company, and your family?"
Guan Yan fell silent.
Meanwhile, Jing Jiujiu quickly stood up: "I'll go check." He put down his water cup as he spoke.
Xu Sanyu also wanted to go, but thinking about it, Bai Yuhuai might prefer to see Jing Jiujiu, so he sat back down. He touched the water cup... Oh crap? Why was the cup deformed? Was the young master's hand made of steel?
Jing Jiujiu quickly walked behind Bai Yuhuai and asked quietly: "Did you fall just now?"
Bai Yuhuai's expression softened: "No. There was a wire."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh."
But he still felt his heart shaking in his chest. No, he was a ghost, he didn't have a heart. Then, what kind of feeling was it? Jing Jiujiu had some trouble describing it.
"Can this scene be used?" Jing Jiujiu asked again.
Bai Yuhuai: "It should be usable."
Only then did Jing Jiujiu feel relieved.
Lest that Guan Yan hold things up, and Bai Yuhuai would have to jump from up there again.
By this time, the director had already called over the stunt double.
The stunt double was a bit overwhelmed by the sudden favor.
He was taking Guan Yan's salary, so he actually felt quite guilty, not understanding why Guan Yan let them follow along every time. Moreover, he actually very much longed to make a name for himself. Many action actors started out as stunt doubles. But now, he didn't even have a chance...
Now looking at the situation.
The stunt double kept saying to Guan Yan: "Thank you, Brother Guan, thank you for looking out for us!"
Little Wang was right about the good luck, it wasn't fake at all!
They all got to benefit from it!
The following action scenes were mostly completed by the stunt double.
Jing Jiujiu watched as Bai Yuhuai quickly walked back in front of the camera, and counted on his fingers how much of his assets he had recovered.
Xu Sanyu: ?
Xu Sanyu: "What are you doing?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Calculating how much money I have."
Xu Sanyu laughed and said: "You don't need to worry about that..." Bai was far too rich, rich beyond most people's imagination.
Jing Jiujiu: "I do worry. It might not be enough."
Last time he asked that blonde ghost-catching bodyguard what kind of things he had, and how much they cost. The blonde casually pointed to one, three hundred thousand, then pointed to another, three million. If he were to buy these things for Bai Yuhuai in the future, wouldn't the money be spent very quickly?
Xu Sanyu said helplessly: "Then how much do you have?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Not much, I only have 300 million in usable cash flow, thirteen properties in Capital City, four shopping malls... and a lot that can't be spent. I'll have to wait until my next birthday to unlock another portion."
Xu Sanyu: ???
Sorry to bother you.
But Jing Jiujiu soon stopped worrying.
Because he discovered that being a ghost saves money!
He'll spend much less money in the future than before!
Xu Sanyu quickly got up to take care of other matters. At this moment, Guan Yan, who had been replaced, suddenly walked up to Jing Jiujiu for some unknown reason.
He pulled out a chair and sat down.
Then he suddenly grimaced, as if his bottom was hurt.
Guan Yan's expression was strange, seeming gloomy for an instant, but that hint of gloom quickly dissipated.
He looked at Jing Jiujiu and spoke slowly, enunciating each word as if he hadn't spoken like this for many years: "Finally, I see you again."
Jing Jiujiu: ?
Is Guan Yan mentally ill?
The corners of Guan Yan's mouth curved up into a long smile.
Though it was a smile, it gave an indescribable sense of malice.
He said: "I've watched you grow up. I've seen countless versions of you. But you've never seen me. This is our first real meeting."
"Of course, what you see now isn't really me either. This is just a temporary dwelling for a divine manifestation."
"But we've finally met."
"You know what? I really like you."
"Out of all the people in the Jing family, you're my favorite."
"You're too perfect."
"That's why I can't bear to devour you in one bite."
A chill quickly ran up Jing Jiujiu's back.
His ghostly face turned ice-cold.
Jing Jiujiu moved his lips: "It's you."
"Oh, so you've heard of me?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Haven't you learned the phrase 'infamously notorious'?"
Guan Yan laughed: "You shouldn't say things like that. You're the good child of the Jing family, you can't use such language."
Jing Jiujiu carefully searched for some recent internet slang he'd learned: "Do you know why Little Ming's grandfather lived to be 199 years old?"
Guan Yan paused, then smiled again: "How interesting, do you want me to tell you bedtime stories? Well then, why?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Because he never meddled in other people's business."
Guan Yan: "..."
"Don't you like the Sleeping Beauty Castle?" Guan Yan asked.
Jing Jiujiu: "I liked it. Because it was a gift from my father."
Guan Yan: "Then come back with me to..."
Jing Jiujiu interrupted: "I don't like it anymore, because there's something dirty there that's soiled the place."
Guan Yan: "You've really changed, speaking so impolitely."
Jing Jiujiu pursed his lips, instinctively releasing the heavy yin energy around him with a force that seemed to engulf everything.
Suddenly, a strong wind swept through the film set, sending leaves flying.
Assistant Director: "Old Guan, if you're not filming, you should go rest... Holy crap! What's going on?"
Bai Yuhuai, who had just gone upstairs with the Stunt Double, suddenly broke free from the iron chains on his hands, leaped down from the second floor, and sprinted towards the rest area.
Everyone in the crew was shocked: "What's happening? What's wrong?"
Bai Yuhuai's eyes were cold and gloomy. He bit his finger and quickly walked up.
At the same moment, Lin Zhi quickly rolled out of the huddled hotel.
How terrifying... What happened? Where's his Jiujiu?
Meanwhile, a speeding van was racing towards this direction.
On the left side of the van hung a banner that read "Blessing for 80 yuan", and on the right side was another banner saying "The 338th Buddhist Cultural Friendship Exchange Conference is coming soon".
Inside the van, Yin Mo gritted his teeth, the red birthmark between his eyebrows growing even more blood-red: "I told you, that thing would follow him!"
In his hand, he held a jade statue that was slowly cracking as if unable to withstand some pressure.
"Hurry, drive faster!"
In the hotel, the evil god leaning against the glass window blinked and changed its position in an instant.
It went to another brighter window.
What was blocking its eyes?
Who dared to offend a deity like this?
Its eyes flashed with red light.
Since that's the case, it would make the man who made a wish to it start having bad luck from this moment on.
It wanted to make that beautiful ghost tremble in fear when they met.