“Props, how did you make such a racket?”
Almost the instant that chopstick embedded itself in the table—
Huang Junwen’s question followed right on its heels.
There was no helping it—the noise was just too loud. Clattering and banging like that, no one could possibly ignore it.
Hearing this, the props guy’s mouth twitched. He turned his head stiffly, face frozen, and looked at Huang Junwen: “Um… Director Huang, if I told you I haven’t done anything yet, would you believe me?”
“Huh??”
Huang Junwen was slightly taken aback.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me. If you didn’t do anything, then what was that just now—”
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly realized something and paused.
Just now, all his attention had been on Jiang Nian’s acting.
So much so that he’d subconsciously overlooked one thing—Jiang Nian’s physical abilities were also far beyond those of an ordinary person!
The stone floor tile shattered under his foot was still fresh and new.
“Holy shit, no way!”
Huang Junwen was internally stunned.
Although Jiang Nian had done something even more outrageous before—going into the mountains to fight a tiger—
But no matter how impressive that was, he’d only heard about it.
Now he was seeing it with his own eyes.
These were two completely different things.
Just as he was reeling from the shock—
Inside the inn.
Zhang Chunzhong had pinched his leg until it was swollen, and only then managed to barely pull himself together.
He suppressed the fear surging through him like a tidal wave.
Gripping Yang Rong’s shoulder hard, he said in a fierce, sharp voice: “Kid, what are you trying to do?! I’m telling you, your wife is still in my hands!”
Seeing this, a flicker of surprise crossed Jiang Nian’s eyes.
He’d assumed that after what he just did, the other man would definitely freeze up and need to readjust. He hadn’t expected him to adapt so quickly.
“Not bad—a bit interesting!” Jiang Nian thought to himself.
Then he re-entered the scene and let out a cold laugh:
“Mu Gaofeng, oh Mu Gaofeng. For a man who’s been a known figure in the martial world for years, you’re shameless beyond belief.”
“Heh, then again, I suppose that’s how it goes—live long enough, and even a turtle can make a name for itself.”
“Since you’re so afraid of dying, then get on your knees, kowtow three times, and call me ‘Grandpa’ three times.”
“If I’m in a good mood, maybe I’ll let you live another year!”
This was exactly what Mu Gaofeng had demanded of Lin Pingzhi back when Lin Pingzhi’s family fell into misfortune and he’d gone to Mu Gaofeng for help.
Now the tables had turned. Lin Pingzhi had mastered the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique, so naturally he wanted to collect some interest from this old dog.
Hearing this, Mu Gaofeng let out a sinister chuckle—clearly he knew exactly what this was about.
So he looked at Lin Pingzhi mockingly: “You little brat—back in Hengshan City, you disguised yourself as a hunchback, kowtowed to me, called me ‘Grandpa,’ begged me to teach you martial arts. Grandpa wouldn’t teach you, so you turned around and threw yourself at Yue Buqun’s feet. And finally, you managed to trick yourself into getting this wife. You really are an ungrateful, scheming little bastard. I really don’t know how your parents raised you—bringing up a little wretch like you!”
“Old bastard!”
Those words undoubtedly struck Lin Pingzhi’s reverse scale.
The only thing keeping him alive now was the memory of his parents.
And now, a man who had murdered his parents was pointing at his nose and cursing him.
Lin Pingzhi was instantly overcome with rage.
He drew his sword on the spot.
“Bzzzz—”
In an instant, internal energy surged, and a wave of air rolled outward.
It swept all the way forward, directly shredding Mu Gaofeng’s table to pieces.
That terrifying wave of energy made Mu Gaofeng dare not meet it head-on—he hurriedly let go of Yue Lingshan and staggered backward.
According to the script—
At this point, Ren Yingying, who was on the second floor, should have come down to save the day.
But now, nearly half a minute had passed since Jiang Nian shattered the wooden table.
Ren Yingying still hadn’t reacted at all.
Because Yuan Shanshan was completely dumbfounded.
The second floor was a perfect spot for watching the action.
Whatever happened downstairs, whatever movement there was—nothing could escape their eyes.
And so, just now, when Jiang Nian drew his sword—
For a brief moment, Yuan Shanshan clearly saw a streak of white light appear in front of Jiang Nian.
“Teacher Yuan, Teacher Yuan, it’s your turn to go on.”
Seeing that Yuan Shanshan still hadn’t moved, Huo Jianhua quietly urged her.
Hearing this, Yuan Shanshan snapped back to reality, but she didn’t do as told. Instead, she swallowed hard and stared straight at Jiang Nian: “Did you… did you guys see that?”
“See what?”
“Sword energy!”
Yuan Shanshan softly uttered those two words.
Although the white light had only appeared for an instant, her intuition told her that thing was sword energy!
“Huh?”
At those words, Huo Jianhua was immediately stunned.
He looked at Yuan Shanshan with an indescribably strange expression: “Are you sick?”
Huo Jianhua figured Yuan Shanshan might have a fever.
Otherwise, why would she suddenly say something so bizarre?
“Didn’t you see it?” Yuan Shanshan asked in return, then looked at Deng Sha: “Shasha, what about you? You didn’t see it either?”
Seeing her like this, Huo Jianhua and Deng Sha exchanged glances, both at a loss.
Deng Sha shook her head: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Then she reached out and touched Yuan Shanshan’s forehead: “A little warm. Sister Shanshan, are you under too much pressure?”
“Maybe.”
Yuan Shanshan touched her own head, found it was indeed a bit warm, and started to feel uncertain herself.
Meanwhile, behind the monitor—
Seeing that Yuan Shanshan not only wasn’t following the script but had started chatting with Huo Jianhua and the others—
Huang Junwen was so furious he was about to start cursing.
What the hell is going on?! Dropping the ball at the critical moment?!
Just as he was about to grab the microphone and call “Cut!”—
Suddenly—
“Old bastard! Old trash! You want to learn my Evil-Repelling Sword Technique? You won’t learn it here. Come—outside, and let me teach you properly!”
Jiang Nian’s voice suddenly came from inside the inn.
Hearing this, Huang Junwen quickly switched the camera view.
And there was Jiang Nian—seeing that Yuan Shanshan hadn’t come down, he’d improvised on the spot. He stepped forward, pulled Yang Rong into his arms, then looked at Zhang Chunzhong and Li Yaojing with a wild, arrogant expression and said those words.
The two of them understood he was saving the scene.
So they went along with it. Zhang Chunzhong said: “Fine, let’s go! Just because you’ve learned a bit of martial arts, you think the sky’s the limit. Today, Grandpa’s going to teach you a proper lesson!”
Although Li Yaojing didn’t speak, the muffled snort from his nose expressed his agreement.
Seeing this, Jiang Nian laughed heartily.
He casually pushed Yang Rong aside and strode toward the door. And just like that, the segment was salvaged.
But immediately after, a new problem arose.
That is—now that they were outside, how were they supposed to continue?
In their original setup, after Lin Pingzhi exploded in rage, he killed Yu Renhao with a single sword strike to the throat. Mu Gaofeng, terrified by his behavior, fled in panic.
Lin Pingzhi chased after him and thrust his sword into Mu Gaofeng’s hunchback—but was blinded by the foul, poisonous liquid hidden in the hunch. This left him unable to find Yu Canghai during their fight.
At that point, Linghu Chong stepped in and pointed out Yu Canghai’s position. Lin Pingzhi struck back and nailed Yu Canghai to the second floor. That was where the fight scene ended, followed by the dialogue scene with Yue Lingshan.
All of that was supposed to happen inside the inn.
Now they were outside the inn…
“Just improvise as we go.”
Huang Junwen lit a cigarette and rubbed his temples.
Looking at Yuan Shanshan in the small monitor window, still looking confused, he had a splitting headache.
If this woman hadn’t dropped the ball at the critical moment, Jiang Nian wouldn’t have had to save the scene and let things escalate to this point.
Fortunately, although the development had gone beyond the original script—
It wasn’t particularly terrible.
Because Mu Gaofeng and Yu Canghai were clearly about to fight Lin Pingzhi.
That main storyline couldn’t change.
So, after leaving the inn, they just needed to follow that thread and keep going.
Yu Canghai waved his hand: “Attack!”
The moment the words left his mouth, the people dressed in Qingcheng Sect disciple robes charged at Lin Pingzhi!
Outnumbered and surrounded, Lin Pingzhi wasn’t afraid.
On the contrary, he wore a wildly sinister smile. He twirled the sword in his hand, creating a flourish, then his figure moved like a ghost as he swung his blade and charged into the crowd.
“Clang, clang, clang—”
Flash of blades and shadows of swords.
The purple-robed figure swung his sword like a butterfly spreading its wings, weaving freely among the Qingcheng Sect disciples.
That effortless, evil smile never left his face.
He would often stop after killing a few people.
Like a circus performer, the sharp long sword was like a braid, and Lin Pingzhi would swing it in front of him with a “whoosh whoosh,” tracing a perfect circle that kept everyone from daring to approach rashly.
And also like a cat playing with mice.
Each time Lin Pingzhi launched an attack, the ones he killed weren’t the weakest among the group.
They were the Qingcheng Sect disciples who had lost their nerve and wanted to flee.
Forcing the others—even knowing they were no match—to grit their teeth and keep charging forward just to stay alive, or at least live a little longer!
“Teacher Jiang is such a freak!”
Standing by the second-floor window, watching the scene at the inn entrance, Deng Sha grinned and sighed from the bottom of her heart.
By the established power levels, Lin Pingzhi’s strength was unmatched by anyone present—he could have killed them all.
But when Jiang Nian performed it, he chose the most torturous approach.
Hearing this, Huo Jianhua hesitated slightly:
“It’s not that bad. Mainly, acting it this way just works better.”
“Not only does it express Lin Pingzhi’s already twisted psychology—”
“But it also brings out Lin Pingzhi’s hatred for the Qingcheng Sect to the fullest.”
“After all, they’re enemies—who would let them off easily?”
His analysis was thorough and logical.
Deng Sha listened with a speechless look on her face and quipped: “Teacher Huo, you must have been the Chinese class representative when you were in school, right?”
Huo Jianhua was taken aback: “No, why?”
“Then why are you doing reading comprehension analysis?” Deng Sha rolled her eyes at him.
Huo Jianhua gave a dry laugh: “It’s just that Teacher Jiang acted so well, I couldn’t help but marvel a bit. Teacher Yuan, don’t you agree?”
“Yes, Teacher Jiang really lives up to his reputation as a eunuch specialist. After getting his balls cut off, it feels different—his acting is clearly more than twice as good as before!” Yuan Shanshan exclaimed in admiration.
In her view, Jiang Nian’s acting was already top-tier.
She hadn’t expected it to double again.
It truly felt unbelievable to her.
Hearing this, Deng Sha thought for a moment:
“Is there any chance that Teacher Jiang isn’t acting at all—that this is just him being himself? Only when you’re not performing can you be more impressive than performing!”
“Not to mention he came up with such a twisted performance method. I’m starting to suspect Teacher Jiang is using the name of acting to openly let himself go!”
“After all, how does that saying go—putting on a mask is taking off the mask.”
