Facing Yu Huatian,
the Vice Commander’s attitude was extremely arrogant.
His every word and action showed that he didn’t take this immensely powerful Western Depot Commander seriously at all.
And at the slightest disagreement, he even made a move to test him.
“Crack!”
Looking at the teacup that the Vice Commander had slammed onto the floor, shattering it into pieces,
Jiang Nian didn’t flinch.
He was now completely immersed in his role as Yu Huatian.
In his eyes, after the Vice Commander struck it, the teacup was infused with internal energy and was flying straight towards him!
Seeing this, a hint of barely noticeable anger flashed in Jiang Nian’s contemptuous eyes.
Was this childish trick really worth using to test him?
They were really looking down on him, Yu Huatian.
Who did they think he was?!
Thinking this, he stepped on the stone slab beneath his foot and twisted the tip of his toe with force.
“Crack!”
With a sharp sound, the incredibly hard stone slab directly cracked into several fissures under his foot.
Stone fragments flew everywhere.
They shattered the teacup in front of him and startled the crowd of Eastern Depot eunuchs, who all jumped to their feet, their faces full of shock and uncertainty.
This wasn’t acting.
They were breaking character!
But this wasn’t intentional on their part. It was because Jiang Nian’s performance was simply too unbelievable!
You see, although the script said the Vice Commander used his internal energy to fling the cup, intending to intimidate Yu Huatian,
this was clearly divorced from reality and impossible to actually perform.
It could only be shown through editing or adding special effects later.
Therefore, this was a piece of performance with no real props.
But what they never expected was for Jiang Nian to actually pull off something that should only exist with special effects!
What the hell…
One person touched the small scratch on his face, caused by a stone fragment.
He thought to himself, this definitely counts as a work-related injury, right?
Another person looked at his torn costume and wondered if he’d have to pay for the damage.
Everyone had different thoughts.
But inadvertently, they perfectly captured the authentic reactions of those Eastern Depot eunuchs witnessing Yu Huatian’s power.
Seeing this, Tsui Hark’s eyes lit up.
Taking advantage of the fact that the group hadn’t come to complain to him yet, he quickly grabbed the microphone and said:
“Very good! Everyone, maintain this state! Don’t any of you dare break character on me!”
“Then, Sheng Jian, stop playing with the mole on your face! Get in there and pick up the scene! Hurry, hurry, hurry!”
Tsui Hark urged loudly.
Hearing this, Sheng Jian, who plays Tan Luzi (the Western Depot’s second-in-command), shrank his neck, quickly stuck the mole onto his cheek, adjusted his state, and walked into the Grand Hall.
“Report!”
He shouted, then, ignoring the reactions of the Eastern Depot eunuchs, went straight to Yu Huatian’s side, bent down, and whispered something in his ear.
Seeing them act so arrogantly, the Eastern Depot Vice Commander’s eyelid twitched, his gaze dark and menacing.
As for Yu Huatian, after hearing the news from Tan Luzi, his eyes flickered, and then he motioned for him to step back.
He looked again at the Vice Commander, pressed his foot down, and kicked a pebble directly. It shot out like a bullet.
Whoosh – it flew straight toward the Eastern Depot Vice Commander.
Its power was immense, its speed lightning fast. The Vice Commander only heard a sharp crack by his ear.
The pebble had gone right through his official hat and smashed into the wooden chair behind him, shattering the statue on it into pieces.
“!!!”
Seeing this, the Vice Commander reacted belatedly, quickly feeling his head.
Finding only a hole in his hat and that he himself was unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief, a lingering fear in his heart. He looked at Jiang Nian, his eyes full of terror!
Because he had no idea what had just happened.
He only heard a sharp sound, and this was the result!
As for Jiang Nian, after kicking that pebble, he looked at the Vice Commander and said:
“You ask me what the Western Depot is? Now I’ll tell you.”
“Any case the Eastern Depot can’t solve, the Western Depot will solve!”
“And listen carefully!”
Yu Huatian stood up and walked outside. He approached a chair, reached out, and gripped it. Internal energy exploded forth!
Immediately, the neatly arranged, spaced-out chairs began to rattle and shake under the force of his internal energy.
The effect traveled to the last chair, which simply couldn’t take it and shattered on the spot.
Seeing this, the Eastern Depot eunuchs were so frightened they stumbled backwards repeatedly, looking at each other, unsure of what to do.
Yu Huatian continued walking out:
“Anything the Eastern Depot dares not handle, I handle. In short, if the Eastern Depot can handle it, I will handle it. If the Eastern Depot can’t handle it, I must handle it!”
“Execute first, report later, by the Emperor’s special decree!”
“This… is the Western Depot.”
“Is that clear enough?”
By the time he finished speaking, Yu Huatian was already outside the hall. He glanced back at the Eastern Depot eunuchs, who were all crowded at the door but didn’t dare take a single step out. His eyes were filled with condescending contempt.
These cowards thought they could counterbalance his Western Depot?
They weren’t worthy?!
“Great! Cut!”
Watching the monitor as Jiang Nian led his people and slowly walked away from the temple,
Tsui Hark shouted excitedly.
Perfect. Simply perfect.
From start to finish, whether it was Jiang Nian, the extras, or the props,
almost everything was flawless. They nailed it in one take!
Tsui Hark couldn’t remember the last time he had such a smooth and satisfying shoot!
Jet Li and Zhou Xun, standing nearby, were also astonished.
That Jiang Nian got it in one take, they could understand.
After all, Jiang Nian’s acting was already excellent.
And now, he had entered a state of ‘divine possession,’ completely embodying Yu Huatian, his acting natural and flawless.
But how did everyone else also get it in one take?
Since when did their acting become so good? They captured their expressions and mannerisms so perfectly?
And wait, wasn’t this scene supposed to be performed with no real props, with effects added later in post-production?
How did they act it out so well that it felt like no special effects were needed?
Many questions swirled in their minds, leaving them puzzled.
As for Tsui Hark,
after the initial excitement subsided, he calmed down and also realized these two issues.
So he looked over at the prop department and asked curiously:
“Wow, you guys are great! You did such a fantastic job, creating this surprise for me without me even noticing. These props are incredible! No need for reshoots or special effects. And you can’t even see anything wrong with the naked eye.”
“Did you guys go off for advanced training without telling me?”
Hearing this, the prop department staff looked at each other in confusion.
Finally, the head of the prop department stepped forward, looked at Tsui Hark, and said cautiously: “D-Didn’t you arrange this, Director Tsui?”
“Huh?”
At these words, Tsui Hark was stunned: “Arrange what?”
“The props, of course! Didn’t you hire someone to make them? I was just about to ask you which master you hired, because the props they made are incredibly realistic!” The prop head replied matter-of-factly.
As he finished speaking, he also froze.
Because seeing the bewildered look on Tsui Hark’s face, he realized something.
The next second, they both spoke at the same time:
“You mean you didn’t hire anyone?” / “You mean you didn’t even make them?”
As soon as they said this, both fell silent.
Because they had just realized something terrifying.
Namely, if none of this was done with props… then what they just filmed was all real???
“Holy shit!”
Realizing this, Tsui Hark cursed loudly.
He couldn’t believe it was true, and he couldn’t understand it.
“What the hell is going on?!”
Tsui Hark asked.
But no one answered.
Instead, the extras, as soon as Tsui Hark yelled “cut,” immediately crowded around him and started complaining:
“Director Tsui, that wasn’t fair! You said we were just acting, but I almost got myself killed! Look at this mark on my hat. Look! If I had tilted my head just a little, my head would be gone!”
“Director Tsui, let me make this clear first. I didn’t ruin this costume! It got torn by those stone fragments flying over during the scene. It’s not my fault, so you can’t ask me to pay for it.”
“Director Tsui, look at this injury on my face. This counts as a work-related injury, right?”
“Director Tsui…”
“Director Tsui…”
The actors surrounded Tsui Hark, pointing at their injuries and the damage to their clothes, chattering away endlessly.
It made Tsui Hark’s head feel like it was going to explode.
The key point was, he couldn’t really argue with them.
Because giving the order to continue acting was his decision, and the fact that incidents happened on set was undeniable.
He couldn’t shift the blame even if he wanted to.
Besides, how could he shift it?
Blame Jiang Nian?
He was the main villain and one of the male leads, as well as the action choreographer.
Blaming the prop department wasn’t right either.
Because they really hadn’t done anything.
So, going in circles, he had to take responsibility himself.
Tsui Hark thought for a moment, then raised his hand and said:
“Everyone, everyone, don’t get excited. Don’t worry. We’re a big production crew. We definitely won’t wrongly accuse you or treat you unfairly.”
“Anyone with damaged clothes, go register with the prop department. We won’t hold you accountable.”
“Also, as compensation, everyone here today gets an extra three thousand added to their pay.”
“Oh, right, Vice Commander! You get six thousand!”
“How does that sound?”
As soon as he said this, the previously indignant crowd fell silent.
They looked at each other, and many had happy looks in their eyes.
After all, the reason they came to complain was to see if they could get some compensation from Tsui Hark.
Now that they got it – everyone except the Eastern Depot Vice Commander gets an extra three thousand – it was an unexpected bonus for them. They all nodded repeatedly, saying “No problem.”
As for the Eastern Depot Vice Commander, upon hearing Tsui Hark’s offer, the anger that was just on his face vanished, replaced by an obsequious smile: “Haha, thank you for your generosity, Director Tsui.”
Tsui Hark didn’t bother responding to him. He’d already paid the money, so why be polite?
If he were polite, his money would have been wasted.
So he returned to his domineering director persona and said bluntly: “If there’s no problem, then get the hell back to work! You still have one more scene. Finish it quickly!”
The people immediately nodded: “Okay, okay, right away.”
Then they all returned to their positions and continued acting.
