The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 203: Ling Xi, Destiny’s Entrance

Zhang Mouyi's cry of "Action!" instantly pierced the brief relaxation on the film set.

The atmosphere of the entire crew shifted abruptly from the extreme sorrow of moments ago to a state of high tension.

Everyone's gaze, as if by prior agreement, turned toward the tightly closed door of the makeup room not far away.

Could Su Qingying complete the switch in such a short time?

Switch from the love-crazed, fervently despairing "A Li" to the resentful, cold, and aloof "Ling Xi" who had been bound for a thousand years?

In the corner, Luo Yu's expression was unreadable.

He had been genuinely "shaken" by the scene Jiang Ci and Su Qingying just performed.

But he knew the greatest weakness of method actors all too well—the difficulty of breaking character.

Extracting oneself from one extreme emotional state and immersing into another, completely opposite one—the tearing in between was enough to ruin an actor's best condition.

He waited.

Waited to see Su Qingying NG because she couldn't switch.

Waited to see the Best Actress who had been placed on a pedestal also show a disheveled side.

That would allow him to regain a bit of that laughable psychological balance.

On the other side, Jiang Ci had already been "repositioned" back onto the Divine Tree by the props team staff.

A makeup artist, holding a bottle of fake blood, carefully touched up the shocking "bloodstains" on his body.

Jiang Ci kept his eyes closed, not moving a muscle.

On one hand, it was to maintain the still, near-death state of his character.

On the other hand, he genuinely couldn't be bothered to move.

The emotional investment in the previous scene was secondary; the physical exertion was the real killer.

[Ding! Heartbreak Value +3 (Source: Makeup Artist Xiao Liu)]

[Ding! Heartbreak Value +2 (Source: Props Assistant)]

A few sporadic Heartbreak Value notifications drifted across the system panel.

A stunt double actress, responsible for playing A Li's back view, walked over.

She was very young, looked like a film academy student, and it was probably her first time on such a large-scale set. She was so nervous she didn't know where to put her hands and feet.

According to the script, she needed to hold Jiang Ci's "limp" waist, adopting a posture of utter grief, serving as a background prop for Su Qingying's imminent entrance.

The girl walked up to Jiang Ci, took several deep breaths, then tremblingly reached out, gently encircling Jiang Ci's waist.

Her body was shaking violently.

Jiang Ci didn't open his eyes, only speaking in a very soft, breathy voice.

"Don't be afraid. Just pretend you're hugging an ordinary prop tree."

The voice was light, carrying the weakness characteristic of an injury, yet it miraculously soothed the girl's nervousness.

The girl's body stiffened, and that visibly tense aura quietly dissipated.

She nodded vigorously, burying her face in Jiang Ci's "blood-stained clothes," her eyes growing a bit warm.

Senior is so gentle.

Inside the makeup room.

Su Qingying looked at herself in the mirror.

The grief belonging to A Li still lingered on that face.

But in her mind, that outrageous comment kept echoing—"Isn't it a bit too sweet?"

Makeup remover wipes erased A Li's blood and tears.

The corner of Su Qingying's mouth uncontrollably twitched into a hint of helplessness.

That heart-wrenching despair was completely washed away by this absurd, laughable feeling.

She suddenly opened her eyes.

The person in the mirror was already different.

"Creak—"

The makeup room door opened.

Su Qingying walked out.

The previously somewhat noisy sounds on the set automatically vanished the moment she stepped out.

People stopped their work, staring at her in a daze.

The disheveled red witch's robe was gone, replaced by a black priestess robe of intricate craftsmanship, embroidered with ancient totems.

The silver threads flowing along the hem shimmered with a splendor one dared not look at directly.

Her makeup had completely changed too.

Her brows and eyes were drawn longer and sharper, her lipstick a dark red akin to congealed blood. The whole person exuded an aura of cold beauty and danger that kept strangers at bay.

What sent a deeper chill to people's hearts was her walking posture.

It was no longer the youthful agility of A Li, nor the staggering from a fall.

Her steps were so light they made no sound, her skirt brushing the ground without picking up a speck of dust.

A wandering ghost among mortals, looking down upon the earthly dust beneath her feet.

Behind the monitor.

Zhang Mouyi's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.

The gamble paid off.

Filming two extreme, opposing emotional states consecutively with the same actor was a major taboo in the industry.

But he had to take this gamble.

Only this seamless, "split-personality" transition belonging to the same person could capture that flavor of "destiny entangled" across a thousand years!

He had originally prepared to grind through an entire afternoon.

He never expected Su Qingying to adjust so perfectly.

On the monitor screen, her condition was astonishingly good.

Su Qingying paid no mind to the admiring or probing gazes around her.

She walked directly to the position marked in the script.

Under the massive shadow of the Divine Tree.

Five meters away from Jiang Ci, who was being held by the stunt double.

It was a subtle distance.

The distance between life and death.

The distance between "ex" and "current."

The distance between jealousy and possession.

The clapper loader raised the clapperboard.

"Scene Four, Take Thirty-Seven, First!"

"Clap!"

A crisp sound.

All the lighting instantly adjusted. The main light source went out, replaced by several cold, bluish lights shining up from below,

casting Su Qingying's face in a deathly pale glow, creating a chilling, ghostly fire-like atmosphere.

Zhang Mouyi picked up the loudspeaker.

"Action!"

At the command.

From within the shadows, Su Qingying slowly raised her face.

That face no longer held a trace of the warmth or tears belonging to A Li.

Only a detached, emotionless aloofness that looked down upon all living beings.

Her gaze slowly swept across the set.

Swept over the bustling crew members who, in her view, were like ants.

Finally, it landed not far away.

Landed on the back of that "A Li," who was holding Ye Chen, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

In that very instant.

Her indifferent expression underwent an extremely subtle change.

That look was one of examining a flawless, originally perfect collection piece that had now been tainted by a filthy insect.

The corner of her left eye twitched, ever so slightly.

Standing off-set, Luo Yu's body jolted violently.

He saw it.

He saw that twitching detail clearly.

That was the most genuine physiological reaction of a character under extreme jealousy and possessiveness!

Su Qingying slowly raised her hand.

Her fair, slender fingers appeared eerie and lethal under the bluish light.

She made a grasping motion toward that "A Li's" back.

As if gathering some invisible, deadly force.

The stunt double girl holding Jiang Ci suddenly trembled all over.

A chill shot up from her tailbone, straight to the crown of her head, making her feel as if her heart was being seized by an icy hand.

Her hands around Jiang Ci's waist began to go weak uncontrollably, almost letting go.