The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 24: One glance left the entire audience stunned!

The conference room was decorated quite simply.

Three people were already seated around a long conference table.

In the main seat sat a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap, the brim pulled down low, making his expression difficult to read as his fingers tapped impatiently on the script.

He was the director.

To his left, a man in a business suit was cheerfully pushing up his glasses, the shrewd glint behind the lenses betraying his identity as the producer.

And sitting across from him...

Jiang Ci's gaze wavered slightly when it landed on that person.

A remarkably handsome man.

Around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, wearing a well-tailored suit, with a composed demeanor.

He just sat there quietly, yet seemed to be the center of the entire space.

Jiang Ci recognized him.

Top-tier celebrity, Gu Huai.

With him present here, he was undoubtedly the male lead.

Unlike someone like Lu Yifeng, whose popularity was built on a perfect public persona, every award Gu Huai had won was genuinely earned through hard work under the spotlight.

Trained professionally, he debuted at twenty, winning Best Newcomer with his first film.

He was widely recognized in the industry as one of the rare few who could peacefully coexist with both the labels of "popular star" and "skilled actor."

Though waves stirred in Jiang Ci's heart, his expression had already returned to calm as he bowed deeply to the three.

"Hello Director, hello Producer, hello Teacher Gu."

"I'm here to audition for the role of Chu Wuchen. My name is Jiang Ci."

The director lifted his head, his murky eyes sweeping over Jiang Ci, and gave an indifferent "Hmm."

"Sit."

The producer continued cheerfully smoothing things over: "Jiang Ci, right? Quite a spirited young man. Don't be nervous, just treat this as a casual chat."

Only Gu Huai.

From the moment Jiang Ci entered the room, he hadn't spoken a word, but his gaze remained fixed on Jiang Ci.

That look carried no hostility, yet it seemed to want to see right through him, inside and out.

Jiang Ci could sense that this top-tier, skilled male lead held professional skepticism toward him, this "connection hire."

He didn't mind.

He sat down calmly, his back straight as a rod.

"Jiang Ci." The director finally set down the script, his voice hoarse. "Have you read the script?"

"Yes, Director."

"Tell us your understanding of Chu Wuchen."

A routine question, yet it was the life-or-death hurdle for an actor.

Jiang Ci had long prepared his answer—this was his confidence as a professionally trained student, and something he had pondered with desperate intensity these past few days.

Meeting the gazes of the three, he spoke without arrogance or humility:

"I believe the core of Chu Wuchen's character isn't his 'immortality,' but his 'humanity.'"

That one sentence made the director, who had been keeping his head down, pause his movements.

"All his aloofness and solitude are just a shell. The person inside that shell is actually more passionate and more pained than anyone."

"He spent five hundred years protecting a lover who forgot him. This love is no longer a choice, but an instinct carved into his soul."

"So, what others see as demonic heresy, he himself sees as the only righteous path."

After Jiang Ci finished speaking, the conference room fell completely silent.

The expression on the director's face finally showed a hint of softening.

The producer's commercial smile also transformed into genuine approval.

Even Gu Huai, who had remained silent all along, saw the scrutiny in his gaze fade somewhat, replaced by a barely concealed surprise.

This newcomer had substance.

His understanding was at least a level deeper than those other young celebrities who only knew how to act cool and handsome.

"Not bad." The director finally spoke his golden words, his tone carrying a trace of seriousness. "Quite interesting."

He glanced at Assistant Director Wang beside him: "What about the others?"

"Director, Zhang Yang and Li Zhe are both waiting outside."

Zhang Yang, Li Zhe—Jiang Ci had seen their photos online. Both were somewhat famous third-tier male stars recently, and strong competitors for the role of Chu Wuchen.

"Let them wait."

The director waved his hand, his gaze locking back onto Jiang Ci.

That look was like he had found an interesting toy.

"Since you understand it so thoroughly, let's skip the small talk."

He pulled out a page from the script and tossed it over.

"Go straight into it. Just this scene."

Jiang Ci took the page, and with just one glance, his heart clenched violently.

[Scene: Eternal Life Palace, Under the Moonlight]

[Character: Chu Wuchen]

[Chu Wuchen sits alone quietly before the white jade steps. Moonlight like water spills over his white immortal robes, making him appear even more aloof and cold as snow.]

[He has just used his divine sense to discover traces of his reincarnated dao companion Yun Xi in the mortal realm and decides to descend alone to the mortal world.]

[No lines, no actions. Just one long shot, close-up on the changing expression in his eyes.]

A silent scene.

Another damn silent scene!

The difficulty was even greater than that scene in Palace Conspiracy.

In that scene, at least he had Su Qingying as an object for emotional projection.

But in this one, he had to face empty air and, with just one look, portray five centuries of ecstatic joy, heartbreaking grief, and the rediscovery of what was lost.

However, this was actually good for Jiang Ci.

This was what he excelled at most.

He could feel the weight of the three gazes across from him suddenly intensify.

Especially Gu Huai—he leaned forward slightly, his eyes a mix of scrutiny and anticipation.

He wanted to see for himself whether this newcomer, so strongly recommended by that reclusive woman Su Qingying, was a dragon or a worm.

"Ready?" the director asked.

Jiang Ci took a deep breath, gently placed the page on the table, and stood up.

"Director, I'm ready."

He walked to the empty space in the center of the conference room but didn't start immediately.

He closed his eyes.

The technique for 'Broken Feeling gaze' from the Complete Guide to Scumbag Quotes and Techniques automatically surfaced in his mind.

Jiang Ci then entered the same state he had practiced at home for the "Broken Feeling" gaze.

In this moment, he was no longer Jiang Ci.

He truly seemed to have become a lonely spirit who had lived for five hundred years, standing in the cold Eternal Life Palace, overlooking the reincarnation cycles of the mortal world.

All love and hatred had grown numb.

All passions and grudges had turned to ashes.

But, there was one speck of dust that remained an obsession he couldn't let go of, even after traversing five hundred years.

Jiang Ci slowly, slowly opened his eyes.

It was in that instant.

The director, the producer, and even Gu Huai sitting across from him all experienced a chilling illusion.

What kind of eyes were those?

At first glance, they were lifeless.

Devoid of any emotion, any ripple.

But looking deeper, you would see, within the depths of that lifelessness, a burning ruin.

Above the ruin was the ecstatic joy of having searched for five hundred years.

Beneath the ecstasy was the heartbreaking grief of having long foreseen the outcome.

At the end of the grief was a despair that would move even gods and buddhas.

Everyone's breathing involuntarily halted.