“Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! I’ll say it three times because it’s important—what the hell is going on? Did a serial killer case happen in the country?”
“Is this for real?”
“No way, man. Spring City? They killed someone right at my doorstep?”
“What the hell, where did this badass even come from?”
“Rumor has it over a dozen people died.”
“They were someone’s children, and someone’s parents. Sigh. May the departed rest in peace, and may there be no pain or bloodshed in their next life. (Candle) (Candle) (Candle)”
“Which insane asylum didn’t lock their doors properly and let this maniac out to take revenge on society?”
“Found it—it was instigated by @MasterDaiDai!”
“Can the Sunba crowd please take a hike at a time like this and quit being smartasses?”
“But seriously, does anyone else think this killer looks kind of familiar?”
“Hey, you noticed too? I thought I was the only one.”
“Holy crap, isn’t that Du Gao?”
“Du Gao?”
“Yeah, that guy who’s been all over TV lately—the villain in Jianghu Chronicles, the eunuch. And on top of that, he’s also in The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, playing the lead villain, also a major eunuch!”
“Damn, now that you mention it, it clicks. No wonder he looked so familiar. So it’s him. But wait, what’s his deal? How did he end up killing people?”
“No idea, but it’s terrifying. He killed so many people, and when the cops took him away, he didn’t show an ounce of remorse—he was all smiles, like human life meant nothing to him. He’s an absolute demon!”
“I was planning to catch this in theaters, but now I’ve lost all interest. Seriously, having a murderous psycho as the lead? What if we’re getting into it and he suddenly pops up from behind and offs us?”
“Exactly. Boycott The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. A movie starring a killer shouldn’t even be released!”
“…”
Online, people started recognizing the man in the photos as Jiang Nian.
Instantly—
Hashtags like “Jiang Nian,” “Killer Jiang Nian,” “21st Century’s Biggest Executioner,” and “Spring City Massacre” shot straight to the top of the trending charts.
If this had happened after 2018, that kind of information would’ve been shut down immediately.
But at this point in time, internet regulation was still immature. All sorts of online chaos ran rampant, and forums like Baidu Tieba were still in their heyday.
In no time, the reputation of The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate took a nosedive.
It went from a must-watch film for the New Year’s holiday to something everyone despised and avoided.
Some netizens even organized spontaneously, flooding the广电 (National Radio and Television Administration) with complaints demanding the film be pulled from theaters.
As for how the广电 responded, no one knew.
But when Xu Ke got online the next morning and saw the trending topics, he was utterly baffled.
Wait—
What the hell happened?
If he remembered correctly, wasn’t Jiang Nian a hero?
How did things flip overnight, turning Jiang Nian into a criminal?
“What in the world…”
Xu Ke was completely lost, but before he could even process it—
His phone started ringing like a death knell, ding-a-ling-a-ling.
Xu Ke quickly answered.
And then Zhang Zhiliang’s panicked voice came through: “Director Xu, we’re in trouble! We can’t pull off that last promotional event!”
Xu Ke frowned. “What do you mean? I told you to find smaller malls if the big ones wouldn’t work. Why can’t we make it happen?”
Zhang Zhiliang’s voice was full of frustration: “That’s exactly the problem—we did find them, and that’s why it’s a dead end. Director Xu, haven’t you seen the online buzz? Jiang Nian’s been branded a killer. The mall managers, once they heard Jiang Nian was coming, refused no matter how much we pleaded!”
Just bringing it up made Zhang Zhiliang’s head ache.
Ever since Xu Ke called him last night around ten to break the news—
Zhang Zhiliang had been running around nonstop.
He’d even managed to nail down a deal and set a time.
Then this morning—boom—because of the online backlash, they backed out and wouldn’t let the event go forward.
Zhang Zhiliang didn’t know where to even begin to argue.
Hearing this, Xu Ke was speechless too.
He was about to say something—
But then—
Ding-a-ling-a-ling—
Another call came in.
Xu Ke quickly told Zhang Zhiliang, “Hold on,” and switched over.
A voice came through: “Hello, is this Director Xu Ke?”
“Yes, who’s speaking?”
“Hello, Director Xu. We’re from Wanda Cinemas. We regret to inform you that due to the involvement of actor Jiang Nian in a homicide case, your film may not be able to continue screening at our theaters. We ask for your understanding.”
Right off the bat, the Wanda rep dropped a bombshell on Xu Ke.
It left him completely dazed.
His mind spun, feeling like the universe was playing some cruel joke on him.
The promo events being canceled was one thing—but now they were pulling his movie from theaters too?
“I think there might be some misunderstanding here.”
“Jiang Nian isn’t a killer—he’s a hero! A hero, you understand?”
Snapping back to reality, Xu Ke rushed to explain, trying to clear Jiang Nian’s name.
But the Wanda rep was unmoved.
“We’re very sorry. We understand how you feel, but this decision came after extensive discussions among our team. The online backlash is simply too overwhelming right now. We can’t take the risk of screening a film starring a convicted killer. Please understand. If there truly has been a misunderstanding, we’ll naturally reinstate the screenings once it’s cleared up. Rest assured.”
With that, he hung up without giving Xu Ke—a top-tier director—any leeway.
It made sense, really. No matter how profitable Xu Ke’s films were, without theaters to screen them, they were nothing. The exhibitors had little reason to care about his pride.
Especially not with the current level of public outrage.
Anyone with half a brain knew what to do.
And if it turned out to be just a misunderstanding, as Xu Ke claimed—
Then they’d apologize later. So what?
Could Xu Ke really get so angry that he’d refuse to screen with them altogether?
Even if Xu Ke wanted to, the film’s investors wouldn’t allow it.
That was the leverage the exhibitors had.
Xu Ke obviously understood this, but there was nothing he could do.
Still, one thing didn’t sit right with him.
Logically, the exhibitors shouldn’t have been so hardline.
After all, he was a well-known director with plenty of future collaborations ahead. One film’s PR disaster shouldn’t have severed all ties and future interests. The exhibitors weren’t stupid—they wouldn’t deliberately burn bridges over a single movie.
“Is someone using this public outcry to set us up?”
Xu Ke lit a cigarette, staring at the screen filled with the Jiang Nian controversy. He scratched his head in agitation, deeply worried.
What the hell was this all about?
He just wanted to do a proper promotional tour—why did so many things have to go wrong?
—
“Hey, Jiang Nian. You’ve seen what’s going on online, right?”
Xu Ke immediately called Jiang Nian to lay out the current situation.
“The production team is planning to put out a statement to clear your name. You can say something too when the time comes.”
Xu Ke wasn’t about to sit back and do nothing. He wanted to use the official channel of the production team to clarify things.
But Jiang Nian’s response caught him completely off guard.
“Bad publicity is still publicity. No rush—isn’t the high buzz good for us?”
“Let the bullets fly a little longer. When the public outcry hits its peak, we’ll drop the big twist. Our film’s going to sell like crazy during the New Year!”
