Chapter 25

There was fog in the forest in the early morning, and the sound of birds singing was endless. Xiao Ziyu opened his eyes in a daze, thinking it was a crow calling him.

It was the first time for him to sleep under the tent like this. Luo Li, who was lying in another sleeping bag, had not woken up yet. Xiao Ziyu came out of the tent and saw that the staff had already started to set up the tent in the morning light.

Today's filming was divided into two groups, A and B. In Group A, Deng Feng, played by Lu Yan, participated in the sect's demon-hunting for the first time and won the favor of the heroine Lin Wan. In Group B, the plot was that the Little Medical Fairy was captured by Lin Buwei and locked in a cave.

Everyone was still asleep, and Xiao Ziyu had nothing to do, so he went under the camphor tree to practice some morning exercises. He held onto the scab, jumped up again, hooked his feet around the tree trunk, and hung upside down.

In the past, if they made mistakes in the opera, their master would ask them to stand upside down to clear their minds. Xiao Ziyu did it lightly, but the weight on his body was heavy, and his cell phone fell out of his pocket and onto the ground.

He felt distressed and didn't know whether he could break the thing. Just as he was about to jump down to pick it up, he heard rustling footsteps approaching. Yuan Heng bent down and picked up his phone.

One of them was standing and the other was lying, and they felt a little awkward when looking at each other. They looked at each other in silence, and Yuan Heng spoke first: "The screen is broken a little."

Xiao Ziyu tensed his nerves, swung over and snatched the phone back. There was indeed a crack on the screen, but fortunately it was still usable.

Yuan Heng watched him swaying like a sandbag, raised his hand and played with his drooping ponytail, which was smooth and soft: "Good skills."

Xiao Ziyu turned his head to avoid the devil's claws and said nothing. It was difficult for him to speak because of the high blood pressure. He had been dead for quite some time. His thin white neck and soft cheeks were all covered with a thin layer of powder, and his veins were taut.

Yuan Heng rarely complained about the awkward silence: "I checked the Purple Palace last night and found it is the emperor's natal star. I didn't expect you to have such good eyesight."

"It's not my eyesight, it's my memory," Xiao Ziyu said, "someone told me."

"Oh?" Yuan Heng asked with great interest: "Who is it?"

Xiao Ziyu: "He's just an old man, nothing much to say."

Yuan Heng: "..."

Xiao Ziyu didn't think there was anything wrong with making up the story about the Crown Prince. "Aunt Xue said that you have Qui-Gon in your fate, which means you will be unlucky with your relatives, so you need to find a male wife to suppress it. But your fate star also happens to fall in Ziwei Palace, which means you will become an emperor in ancient times."

Yuan Heng raised his eyebrows: "What kind of emperor do you think I can be?"

Xiao Ziyu shook his head and said frankly, "I don't know."

He didn't dare to comment on things that were not recorded in history books. The history of Daliang was blank for several decades, and when there were records again, the court officials had changed for three generations. The unsolved cases have not been solved to this day.

The time was almost up, he loosened his toes and landed lightly on the ground, with the dead leaves under his feet intact.

Xiao Ziyu stood still, tossed his ponytail behind his head, beads of sweat on his delicate nose. He looked at Yuan Heng face to face: "But I think that people with this kind of fate will not be easily stumped by fate."

Yuan Heng was stunned for a moment, but Xiao Ziyu had already brushed past him and walked away calmly.

Today, Group B's scenes were to be filmed in a cave. After breakfast, Tang Lin called Yuan Heng and Meng Leyu over to talk about the play.

Lin Buwei is a character with inherent contradictions. He was born in a humble family, looked down upon by everyone in the sect, and was even slandered, which led to him becoming possessed and completely falling into the devil's way.

Because of his inner demon, he became cruel and bloodthirsty. After learning the prophecy that Deng Feng would eradicate the evil path, he would stop at nothing to kill the other party. On the other hand, because of the shaky good intentions in his heart, Lin Buwei accepted homeless people from all over the world without any restrictions, taught them to practice magic to make a living, and the thousands of ghosts he recruited were loyal to him.

During the fight, the medical immortal Wei Qiao was the first person to notice Lin Buwei's inner demons.

Lin Buwei imprisoned Wei Qiao in a cave and forced him to tell him the whereabouts of Deng Feng, but the other party, with a mouthful of blood, directly poked his old scar and even advised the Demon Lord to be kind.

Doctors are kind-hearted, but the compassion from the weak completely angered Lin Buwei. He tortured the man to death and threw him directly into the wilderness.

"Although the Medical Immortal was in a weak position, he also discovered Lin Buwei's weakness," Tang Lin said, "It is actually difficult to portray the compassion of the weak for the strong. His counterattack is full of tolerance and love."

Meng Leyu only listened to the general idea and frowned at the shooting environment. The temperature on the mountain was already low, and the cave was even colder and more damp, with the pond in the center emitting bursts of cold air.

"We have to go into the water again..." Meng Leyu looked at the chains extending to the bottom of the pool, his voice a little frightened. The water was at least deep enough to cover his waist.

The few web dramas he had filmed before were all small-scale, done with special effects in the studio. He didn't expect the director of a TV series to be so strict, requiring him to shoot in such remote places... His waist still hurts from sleeping in that shabby tent last night.

"Of course we have to go in the water," Tang Lin glanced at him, "The temperature is rising now. If we were to shoot a scene like this in winter, we would still have to go in the water."

"Director Tang, I've had poor health since I was a child, and I get cold easily," Meng Leyu hesitated, "If I catch a cold and can't get better, I'm afraid it will delay the progress of the subsequent filming."

Having said that, Tang Lin understood what he meant.

In fact, many scenes involving going into the water will be filmed with a stand-in, and the face scenes can be supplemented in post-production without being exposed. However, the emotional interaction between Wei Qiao and Lin Buwei is very important in this scene. If Meng Leyu does not go into the water, Yuan Heng can only perform in front of the stand-in. Even if Yuan Heng's level is enough to cope with it, the effect will be discounted.

"Xiao Ziyu is so powerful anyway, let him take my place." Meng Leyu sneered.

Xiao Ziyu never puts his personal emotions into work, and said calmly: "I have no problem."

Tang Lin sighed and said with some regret: "Xiao Meng, is it really not possible?"

Meng Leyu nodded, his tone a little weaker: "I am a bit congenitally deficient, and I have had this disease since I was a child..."

"Okay then... Ziyu, you go and give it a try." After all, he was not a serious actor. In order not to put pressure on others, Tang Lin comforted him, "It's the kind of emotion I just mentioned. Try to express it as much as you can and help Yuan Heng get into the role."

"He's just a stand-in, how can he have any acting skills?" Meng Leyu deliberately chatted with his agent, "After this movie is finished, I'll take over his role and see if anyone still remembers him."

How could Song Wen not understand his thoughts, but the crew was not a place where he could act willfully, so he whispered, "Speak less."

"Don't worry, Brother Xiao," Luo Li shouted, "We are a large platform, and we can get any resources."

Meng Leyu's eyes widened immediately, his face full of disbelief, "Xiao Ziyu, when did you sign the contract? Did you... did you get my parents' permission?"

Luo Li had roughly figured out the relationship between Xiao Ziyu and the Meng family these days, and said sarcastically: "You are the real young master, and we are just accompanying the prince to study. So, do we have to be bullied by you for the rest of our lives?"

"Okay, you should talk less." Xiao Ziyu grabbed Luo Li's collar and carried him away. There was still a lot of preparation to be done before going into the water.

When they returned to the tent, Luo Li lost his momentum immediately. He wrapped Xiao Ziyu with plastic wrap with a sad face, "It's really fatal to go into the water in this weather."

"Meng Leyu said he has a disease, and you said you have one too..."

"This is my job." Xiao Ziyu was not afraid of the cold, but he had been imprisoned in a water dungeon, and he always felt a little uncomfortable seeing a similar scene again.

Luo Li also knew that there was no other way. Even if Xiao Ziyu signed a contract with Yuantai and gained some popularity on the Internet, he was still a stand-in actor in the crew. They could not shirk their responsibilities for what Meng Leyu could do.

"Brother Xiao, there is still thin ice on the water. This is no joke," Luo Li warned. "If you feel uncomfortable, you must call a halt. Director Tang and the others will understand after filming so many scenes."

Xiao Ziyu agreed and was wrapped up like a dumpling. The plastic wrap tied the underwear tightly to the skin, keeping it warm and waterproof, but it made his limbs feel tight, which made him a little uncomfortable.

When I changed clothes and returned to the cave, Yuan Heng was already waiting at the entrance. Xiao Ziyu walked into the pond without changing his expression. Even though he was mentally prepared, he still shuddered from the cold.

The water in the mountain stream was so cold that it seemed as if the chill was drilling directly into the cracks between his bones. He couldn't help but take a deep breath, waiting for his body to adapt as soon as possible.

The staff waded through the water to his side, all of them grimacing in the cold. They locked Xiao Ziyu's wrists onto the hanging chains. The pool water was clear, so to ensure the effect, they even locked his two ankles under the water.

Xiao Ziyu tried to struggle but failed to break free, and a kind of prickly emotion began to spread in his heart. He calmed himself down and said to Director Tang, "I'm fine here."

Wei Qiao's white robe was covered with bloodstains from being whipped. When he looked at the Demon Lord standing in front of him holding a long whip, the fear in his eyes faded a lot. There was a hint of compassion in his tone, as if he was treating a patient in a clinic on an ordinary afternoon: "Lin Buwei, what is your inner demon?"

Lin Buwei's body was steady, but his sea of ​​consciousness was in turmoil. Those were the evil thoughts that had been lingering in his heart ever since he became possessed. It was those people who forced him to become like this.

Wei Qiao lowered his head and slowly confirmed his guess: "Is it someone who bullied you and deliberately destroyed the foundation of your cultivation, or is it someone who framed you and pushed a false accusation onto you, or is it..."

He raised his eyes to look at Lin Buwei, his limbs pulling the iron chains and making a rustling sound, "Or maybe you have been tied up like this before, suffering all kinds of injustice but unable to resist."

"Shut up!" Lin Buwei shouted loudly, raised the snake whip and lashed out!

Whipping scenes are actually very difficult to shoot. If the force is too light, it appears fake, and if the force is too heavy, it is difficult to control. Tang Lin used a relatively common shooting method - pulling out the shot and swinging the whip on the actor's clothes. This can ensure the authenticity of the shot to the greatest extent and places extremely high demands on the person holding the whip.

It was just an imitation prop whip, but it still made a crisp sound when Yuan Heng swung it in the air. The tip of the whip hit Xiao Ziyu's wide robe heavily, causing water to splash like rain.

As if his brain was out of control, Xiao Ziyu's body shrank violently, but his limbs were tied, so his struggle was minimal, like a white crane stuck in a quagmire, flapping its wings hard to survive.

Xiao Ziyu felt water running down his cheeks and into his neck. It was so cold that his feet felt like they were being pricked by needles. It was a million times colder than the time he filmed the rain scene before.

"Cut!" Tang Lin shouted from the side, "Zi Yu, don't shake. Follow the force of the whip and move your body to the right. This way, the whole piece will be effective. Do this again!"

Xiao Ziyu stared at Yuan Heng's arm. The moment the other party raised his wrist, he lost his balance and fell to the right. The iron chain held him tightly, and several red and swollen blood marks immediately appeared on his wrist.

He stumbled awkwardly and could barely stand up. Director Tang didn't call for a stop, so it must have been too much.

A staff member came forward and smeared red marks similar to whip wounds on his body. Xiao Ziyu bit the blood plasma in his mouth and started the next scene directly, acting with Yuan Heng off-camera.

Blood slowly flowed from the corner of Wei Qiao's lips, but he didn't care much. Lin Buwei's anger just exposed his weakness. He exhaled, his voice trembling with pain: "It's not your fault."

Yuan Heng, who was holding the whip, was startled and his eyes fell on Xiao Ziyu's pale profile. The man's clothes were soaked, revealing his thin outline. His legs were numb and weak from the cold. His body slid limply into the water, but his white clothes looked even colder, as if he was a clay Buddha abandoned in the water.

Even so, the other party remained gentle and tolerant. Just like every day and night in the East Palace before.

He realized that he had lost his composure, wiped his face with his hand, and gestured to the director team: "Sorry, I was distracted."

The sound of hitting the board rang out crisply, and Yuan Heng got back into the state. Lin Buwei's mouth curved into an evil smile, as if he was sizing up a bug that didn't know its own limits: "So what? You can't even save yourself, and yet you still want to save me?"

"I can't save myself, but you can." Wei Qiao looked straight into his increasingly dark eyes without dodging, his eyes filled with a myriad of emotions, "Do you want to let that inner demon devour you?"

A sharp pain surged in his sea of ​​consciousness, as if reacting to Wei Qiao's words. Lin Buwei held his throbbing forehead tightly, and a barely perceptible panic finally appeared in his eyes. He completely lost his patience, and infused his long whip with magical power, whipping Wei Qiao unconscious.

Even though they had never acted together before, Yuan Heng seemed to know Xiao Ziyu's size and build very well. The whip brushed along the contours of Xiao Ziyu's body and hit only his robe, tearing off pieces of white cloth.

Xiao Ziyu once again tried his best to fall into the water. His performance was truly without props. The whip didn't even hit his body, and he felt more pain than if he were whipped. After a few times, his whole body was completely wet, and water marks flowed down his cheeks and gathered at the tip of his handsome chin. He was not wearing any makeup, but he looked even more lively than with makeup.

"Good! Pass!"

Tang Lin stared at a small monitor and felt very relaxed. He even felt that Xiao Ziyu had perfectly replicated the emotions he wanted to express. Those fears and cowardices were not fake; compassion and tolerance seemed to be innate. He was so conflicted for a moment that he was reluctant to delete those frontal shots.

Including the reshoots for the long shot, this scene took an entire morning to shoot. After the shout "cut", Luo Li led a group of staff to rush forward to rescue the people.

Yuan Heng threw the prop away. He had been holding it for too long and his fingers became stiff and deformed. It’s not like he had whipped someone before in a play, and there had never been any accidents, but he was just too nervous this time.

He walked out slowly along the same path to get some fresh air. The noise of the crew was left behind, and the only sound around him was the thumping of water dripping into the lake.

The sun was shining brightly, and Yuan Heng saw that his embroidered black clothes were not wet at all. Then he suddenly realized that the sound he had just heard was not the sound of water, but the dull sound of his heartbeat.

Xiao Ziyu said to him: It's not your fault.

Yuan Heng: My head hurts. I'm going to have a love brain (bushi