Back when I first got the script for Yu Huatian, I was pretty confused.
In my past life, both Yu Huatian and Feng Li Dao were played by the same person.
So why was it that, in my case, the roles were split?
I thought the director was planning to find someone else to play the part.
I never expected he had this kind of plan in mind.
Luckily, in the end, I still managed to land the role.
Otherwise, missing out on a million bucks would have been a pretty big loss for me at this stage.
I signed my name on the contract.
And just like that, I successfully got the script for Feng Li Dao.
But since Feng Li Dao isn’t a eunuch by design, the system didn’t react at all.
That meant if I wanted to play this role well, I’d have to memorize the lines and really get into the character.
Fortunately, that wasn’t too much of a problem.
My own personality isn’t all that different from Feng Li Dao’s.
As long as I built on that with a bit of artistic touch, playing the role wouldn’t be too hard.
As for the lines…
“Jiang Nian, why don’t you start memorizing the next few scenes first? For now, we’re mainly shooting these parts. Just get these lines down pat, and you’ll be fine.”
Xu Ke knew it was a bit of a tall order to hand me the script this late and expect a performance, so he roughly outlined which sections to focus on, helping me find my direction.
Hearing that, Jiang Nian nodded.
Then, script in hand, he followed Xu Ke back to the set.
During the time the two of them were away.
Another director, Zhang Zhiliang, had been in charge on set.
So when they returned, they saw Zhang Zhiliang directing Li Chun and Fan Xiaoxuan, who were already strapped into harnesses, fighting on the scaffolding made of wooden frames.
Drawing on memories from his past life, Jiang Nian recognized this scene as part of the fight between him and Li Lianjie (Jet Li).
After Yu Huatian orders Su Huirong to leave first, while he stays behind to deal with Zhao Huai’an.
Su Huirong, armed with Western Region Golden Silkworm Thread, pursues along the wooden scaffolding.
Along the way, she sets up numerous traps, hoping to block Zhao Huai’an’s advance.
And during her pursuit, she quickly catches up to Gu Shaotang.
Their eyes meet, and no words are needed.
Su Huirong wants to kill Gu Shaotang and help Yu Huatian monopolize the gold.
Gu Shaotang, on the other hand, knows that if Su Huirong and Yu Huatian ever get out of here, none of them will survive.
She immediately pulls a hooked tail dart from her robes and hurls it at Su Huirong.
But who is Su Huirong? As a spy planted by Yu Huatian, she appears delicate on the outside, but in reality, she hides great depth and martial skill.
If it weren’t for Yu Huatian’s arrangement, she alone could have taken down everyone except Zhao Huai’an.
With a swift sidestep, she easily dodges Gu Shaotang’s attack.
Then the two of them begin their duel.
Watching this, Jiang Nian kind of lost interest in continuing.
For one thing, he already knew what was going to happen.
For another, their fight scenes, through the eyes of a professional like Jiang Nian, were honestly pretty dull.
It was just throwing hidden weapons back and forth.
The moves weren’t professional, and they had to do several takes for such a short segment—not to mention all the other issues.
Like in the part where Su Huirong catches Gu Shaotang’s dagger and throws it back.
During the chase, Su Huirong had the sense to use the Western Region Golden Silkworm Thread to set traps.
But when she counterattacks, she suddenly forgets to wrap that silk around the dagger.
You could only chalk it up to plot convenience.
And as their shoot continued.
In the blink of an eye, two hours passed.
After six or seven takes, director Zhang Zhiliang finally gave the thumbs up.
When they came down from the harnesses.
Li Chun and Fan Xiaoxuan were completely out of breath, drenched in sweat from head to toe. And when they lifted their clothes, you could see the marks the harnesses had left on their skin.
Zhang Zhiliang clearly understood how tough it was, so he quickly told them to go rest.
At the same time, he stepped down from the director’s chair and let Xu Ke take over.
The first thing Xu Ke did when he came up was call over Li Lianjie and Zhou Xun.
Because of the plot, Zhou Xun’s character, Ling Yanqiu, is seriously injured.
But for the sake of the man she loves, she still resolutely jumps down, trying to pull out the longsword stuck in the wooden beam, hoping to lend him a hand.
Just as she pulls the dagger out—
“Raaar!”
A tiger’s roar suddenly rings out.
Yu Huatian appears beside Ling Yanqiu without any warning and throws a punch.
Startled, Ling Yanqiu quickly ducks, swinging her sword to counter.
But in the eyes of Yu Huatian, the greatest swordsman under heaven, her move is nothing short of showing off in front of an expert.
Ling Yanqiu fails to land an attack and instead gets her wrist grabbed by Yu Huatian.
Luckily, Ling Yanqiu is also a skilled fighter. She breaks free almost instantly, not giving Yu Huatian any chance to apply pressure.
But with her injury, she can’t bring out her full strength. Under Yu Huatian’s fierce assault, Ling Yanqiu can only retreat while fighting back.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Yu Huatian is like an enraged lion now—every punch is vicious, every move deadly.
Wherever he goes, wooden splinters fly, leaving a mess in his wake.
Soon, he corners Ling Yanqiu completely.
It looks like in the next second, his fist will land right on her face, with nowhere left to run.
“Crash!”
Li Lianjie’s character, Zhao Huai’an, bursts through the wooden scaffolding, charging up from below to help.
With the aid of the harness.
Li Lianjie spins through the air, kicking at Jiang Nian repeatedly.
Jiang Nian, also on a harness, rises into the air, constantly throwing punches to counter Li Lianjie’s attacks.
Until they reach a high point. Li Lianjie flips in mid-air, lands on Jiang Nian’s back, and pulls back his fist for another punch.
But the force is too strong, causing the wooden plank under Jiang Nian’s feet to snap, and both of them fall down together.
“Good, cut.”
Seeing this, Xu Ke quickly called stop.
Upon hearing that, the prop crew immediately operated the machines, tightening the harnesses to suspend the two in mid-air.
Then they guided them sideways and lowered them back onto the ground.
Back on solid ground, Jiang Nian immediately unbuckled his harness and let out a long sigh.
Man, that wasn’t easy.
Usually, watching martial arts actors flying through the air on TV looks pretty fun, but experiencing it yourself—you really feel how much it sucks.
All your body weight hangs on just a few wires.
Not only is it uncomfortable, but moving around is also a real pain.
“This is so not worth it. I’d be better off just using my internal energy,” Jiang Nian couldn’t help complaining in his mind as he took a sip of water.
Sure, his current internal energy was nowhere near enough for him to fly, but channeling it into his legs could greatly boost his jumping ability.
The only catch was, it wouldn’t allow him to pull off those difficult stunts.
“You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
“Man, this really sucks.”
Jiang Nian sighed to himself, and after the break was over, he stood up and continued shooting.
