Chapter 168
Saving the earth, right? How old are you and still so immature? The producer couldn't help laughing when he heard Xu Shulou's ridiculous excuse. He turned to Song Ping and Bai Roushuang for approval, but only saw anxiety and worry on their faces. He suddenly felt like Alice fell into the rabbit hole. Everything he saw and heard was absurd. He was the only normal person left in the world.
The producer had no choice but to watch Xu Shulou's resolute back disappear into the distance.
Fortunately, despite Xu Shulou's absence, the filming of this variety show was still very good. Bai Roushuang did not have the stage fright of a newcomer at all. She was able to speak freely in the interview without stealing the spotlight from others. The host asked her about her creative ideas, and she described them clearly. The host asked her to demonstrate her sword skills on the spot, and Bai Roushuang generously agreed, performing a few tricks with the most dazzling sword moves, which drew applause from the audience.
Looking at her performance, the producer always felt that she seemed to be someone who was accustomed to big scenes, and for a moment he was unable to guess her identity and origin.
The host finally asked, "There were rumors online that you and Xu Shulou were not on good terms, but from what we know, you and she seemed to treat each other like sisters on a daily basis. What is your relationship like?"
Bai Roushuang didn't actually want to emphasize their sisterly love in front of so many people, so she simply and sincerely answered with six words: "Without her, there would be no me."
She performed so well in this show, and judging by the audience's reactions, she will definitely gain a lot of goodwill and consolidate her popularity after the show airs.
While the producer was happy, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Xu Shulou. It would have been great if she could have joined the show.
Xu Shulou didn't worry about it. She returned to the crew happily that evening.
She seemed to be traveling and even brought back some souvenirs for her fellow students.
Bai Roushuang was quite excited. After all, she had never been to an alien planet before. "Sister, what did you bring back from the asteroid?"
"I brought back an asteroid."
"…" She brought the entire planet back intact, right? Song Ping, who wanted to ask her about the mission, shut up. After all, she even took the asteroid as a souvenir. Was there any need to ask again?
"I split it in half. Here, each of you take half." Xu Shulou handed each of his fellow disciples a storage tool. "The diameter is a bit large. Remember to take it out when you find an open space."
"...Thank you," they took it, "It's a really special gift."
"In fact, I also encountered an alien mantis that would hold up its orchid finger and invite people to drink tea," Xu Shulou shrugged, "but I can't bring them back, it's too dangerous."
"…Orchid Mantis?"
After hearing what his junior sister said, Song Ping laughed: "The orchid mantis got its name because it looks like an orchid and is extremely beautiful. It's not a mantis that can pick up orchids with its fingers."
"You know what," Xu Shulou touched his chin, "I did make a new discovery on this trip. The orchid mantis is a spy sent to Earth by alien mantises. In order not to arouse the vigilance of Earthlings, they dressed up the orchid mantis beautifully before sending it here. Because the population of Mantis Star... um, the population of Mantis Star|exploded, they want to invade Earth."
"What?!" Don't say such terrible things in such a casual tone.
"But don't worry," Xu Shulou explained, "the orchid mantis has already rebelled."
"Oh...ah?" Song Ping and the other two didn't understand.
"It seems that they liked the environment on Earth very much, so they rebelled and decided to live on Earth forever. So they simply smashed the communicator and stopped contacting their own kind," Xu Shulou himself found it interesting. "More than a hundred years later, the alien mantises remembered to send people to investigate. Unfortunately, during this hundred years, the orchid mantises have reproduced to more than a hundred or nearly two hundred generations. Those new generations have no idea what aliens are or what missions they have. They just think of themselves as native mantises on Earth."
"..." The stories told by the senior sister were always so bizarre. Song Ping and Bai Roushuang considered themselves to be knowledgeable enough as cultivators, but they were still stunned when they heard them.
Xu Shulou continued, "Moreover, it is said that because the environment on Earth is not as dire as on Mantis Star, the orchid mantises have lived in a comfortable environment and have lost their alien intelligence over the past 200 generations. Now, except for being prettier, they are no different from ordinary mantises."
“……” Doesn’t that mean the brain has evolved away?
Song Ping asked cautiously, "Do other alien mantises still intend to invade the Earth?"
"No, their human and mantis mouth explosion problems have been solved through internal consumption."
"Internal consumption?"
Xu Shulou's expression was slightly strange: "It means eating each other."
Bai Roushuang wrinkled her nose: "Well... at least the orchid mantis still retains this habit. Female mantises occasionally eat male mantises, right?"
“…”
"Anyway, alien space is quite interesting," Xu Shulou concluded, "I'll take you to see it if I have the chance."
After receiving the travel souvenirs and listening to the interesting stories about aliens, Song Ping and Bai Roushuang dispersed and prepared to find an open field to appreciate the asteroids they received.
Xu Shulou ran into the director and was caught by him, asking him to shoot an extra night scene. After a trip to outer space and splitting an asteroid, Xu Shulou was still full of energy and jumped up and down, so he nodded and agreed.
The moonlight is very beautiful tonight, it is big and round. No wonder the director suddenly decided to add a night scene.
In the script, when Xu Shulou and Bai Roushuang broke into the Xuanwu Tower, he told his junior sister a story. The first time she came into contact with the Xuanwu Tower was when she was dueling with others on the top of the Xuanwu Tower. She accidentally broke through the roof and fell down. The old owner of the Xuanwu Tower at that time was not angry, but gave the most beautiful Epiphyllum in the building to her as a gift for the winner.
This part of the plot could have been glossed over in the form of a dialogue, but now that the ratings and popularity of the series are on the rise, the entire crew is no longer perfunctory, and everything is done to perfection. Plus, the moonlight is just right tonight, so the director decided to film this part.
Just thinking about it, when everything is quiet, the night is vast, the moon is bright, and a beautiful woman is walking on the moon with a sword in hand, I feel that this picture must be beautiful when photographed.
The props team built a low wooden frame outdoors and covered it with green cloth to serve as the roof. The rest of the building was planned to be produced using post-production special effects. After all, the real roofs of the film and television city are somewhat dangerous, and falling down would be no small matter.
Xu Shulou was certainly not afraid of falling, but considering her co-actor, she naturally did not raise any objections. She jumped lightly onto the wooden frame and performed sword moves.
The person fighting with her was a martial arts substitute hired by the director temporarily. Xu Shulou slowed down the pace to fight with him, and the other party tried to cooperate, trying four or five times in a row. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a pleasing effect, but the director's appetite had been spoiled by her and Bai Roushuang. He stared at the effect on the monitor and watched it repeatedly several times, frowning.
"Xu Shulou, have you restrained yourself? This fight doesn't look as exciting as the one between you and Bai Roushuang."
Xu Shulou replied: "It takes time to adjust."
The director glanced at the full moon in the sky reluctantly and asked, "How long will it take?"
“It’s hard to say.”
"This..." The director slapped his forehead and suddenly had an idea, "Can Bai Roushuang make a cameo appearance? Anyway, this character who duels with you with swords won't appear again later. Let her cover her face and not show her face. I will darken the picture after filming. Maybe it can escape the audience's eyes."
"...Don't just grab her and take advantage of her," Xu Shulou suggested, "How about I ask Song Ping to come over and make a cameo appearance?"
"Ah? He also knows martial arts?"
"Yes, didn't he say so?"
Isn't that a joke? The director opened his mouth and said, "Then... Mr. Song, would you be willing?"
“It’s not a big problem.”
The director suddenly became confused: "Why does Mr. Song take this play so seriously?"
Song Ping often hangs around the crew. At first, everyone thought it was normal. After all, they spent a lot of money to promote him, so he was probably getting close to him. But later, they found that he and Xu Shulou and Bai Roushuang were not that kind of relationship at all. He couldn't pretend to be close to them. It was more like a family relationship that they had been together for many years. So the director was inevitably confused. Song Ping was always around the crew. Every time a new script came out, he would carefully read it. If there was a problem with the equipment, he would immediately approve the money to make a new one without saying a word. It's understandable that investors want to make money, but they don't have to be so responsible, right? It's not like he doesn't have other businesses to take care of.
"Our reasons are the same." Xu Shulou smiled.
"..." This explanation is the same as no explanation at all. The director did not ask any more questions and sighed, "I probably don't have the face to ask Mr. Song."
"I'll give him a call."
The director nodded happily, gave the hired stunt double a red envelope, and then sent him away.
Xu Shulou dialed his junior brother's number, but the signal was not very good. Song Ping's voice sounded intermittently, "Senior sister?"
"I want to ask you a favor."
"What is it? Just tell me."
"Put away the asteroids, fly back from Dustless Island, and help in a cameo fight scene."
Song Ping held the phone in his hand and looked around, but he didn't see any trace of his senior sister. "...How did you know I was looking at asteroids near Wuchen Island?"
"I don't know you yet?" Xu Shulou said with a smile, "I also know that you must be with your junior sister, putting the two halves of the asteroid together to admire them."
Song Ping smiled bitterly: "You guessed it right, I'll be back soon."
He hung up the phone, and Bai Roushuang, who was lying on top of the huge asteroid, shrugged at him: "Senior sister always guesses it."
Song Ping looked up at her and asked, "Let's go back together?"
Bai Roushuang rolled on the surface of the asteroid: "No, I want to play for a while."
“…”
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