The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 253: Director, Are You Playing Dirty? Don’t Panic—I’m Even More Twisted Than You!

Late at night, the hotel room was so quiet that only the faint hum of the air conditioner remained.

Jiang Ci opened his system panel.

He needed to check his "ammunition reserves."

A pale blue light screen unfolded before his eyes.

The lingering impact of "Three Lifetimes Tribulation" was far more intense than he had imagined.

Online, secondary creations of Chu Wuchen and various "heartbreak" compilations were emerging endlessly.

Under the impact of real-world national events, many viewers' emotions had nowhere to vent.

Instead, they turned back, sinking repeatedly into Chu Wuchen's tragedy, seeking an extreme emotional resonance.

[Heartbreak Value Balance: 4550 points]

[Remaining Life Duration: 6 years, 24 days, 8 hours]

The Heartbreak Value had once again broken through the four-thousand mark.

Although his lifespan had increased by nearly half a year, seeing that the growth, after being diverted, was far below expectations,

Jiang Ci didn't feel safe at all. Instead, a new anxiety arose—the audience's "heartbreak" also had a threshold.

The old tricks were losing their effectiveness.

He needed more extreme tragedy, a more profound death.

The next day, "The Lurker" film crew officially began shooting.

The set was built inside a Republican-era style street in Hengdian.

The crew had restored a 1930s-40s Shanghai silk merchant's shop.

On the dark lacquered plaque, four large characters were written in a flowing, cursive script: "Shen's Cloth Shop."

Inside the shop, bolts of gorgeously colored silk hung down from the shelves, the air filled with the mixed scent of wood and fabric.

First day of shooting, first scene.

Shen Qingyuan, in his family's silk shop, absentmindedly plays the piano, waiting for his childhood sweetheart fiancée, Gu Wanbai.

Jiang Ci sat before that black, old-fashioned piano.

He didn't need to actually know how to play.

The camera would only capture his demeanor and upper body; the post-production score would handle the rest.

Behind the director's monitor, Hou Hsiao-hsien's deeply wrinkled face showed no extra expression.

"Action!"

At the command, the set instantly fell silent.

Jiang Ci's fingers danced lightly over the piano keys.

His back was ramrod straight, the lines of his profile appearing clean and gentle under the set's soft lighting.

It was the spirited air of a youth untouched by worldly affairs, carrying a certain laziness and innocence particular to a wealthy young master. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He tilted his head, listening for movement outside the door, anticipating that familiar figure.

In a corner not far away, He Xiaoping, now changed into a newspaper reporter's outfit, stood with her arms crossed, watching this scene quietly.

Everything was proceeding smoothly according to the script's setup.

Just then, Hou Hsiao-hsien behind the monitor suddenly, without any warning, spoke a sentence into his walkie-talkie in an extremely low voice.

His voice was soft, but it clearly reached the ears of the few staff members nearest to him.

Hou Hsiao-hsien pointed at a young shop assistant not far away who was wiping the counter, serving as a background extra.

"You, go over, bump into him."

"Knock his sheet music off."

The young background actor playing the shop assistant turned pale instantly.

The rag in his hand fell to the floor. He was completely stunned, looking frantically in the director's direction.

Director Hou's voice sounded again over the walkie-talkie, devoid of any emotion.

"Now, go over."

The assistant didn't dare disobey. He picked up the rag and walked stiffly towards Jiang Ci.

His steps were visibly unsteady, his eyes darting about, looking as if he were about to march to his heroic doom.

He walked to the side of the piano, pretending to wipe it, his body swaying clumsily.

*Thud.*

The stack of sheet music placed on the piano stand was knocked over by his elbow, scattering noisily across the floor.

The piano music stopped abruptly.

The entire set's gaze fell upon Jiang Ci.

Everyone was waiting for his reaction.

Would it be the annoyance of a wealthy young master disturbed? Or a magnanimous, gentle forgiveness?

The young assistant who had knocked over the sheet music was already scared witless, his lips trembling as he bowed repeatedly in apology.

"S-sorry, young master, I didn't mean to, I..."

Jiang Ci stopped his playing and looked quietly at the sheet music scattered across the floor.

Then, he stood up from the piano stool and bent down.

Just when everyone thought he would display some emotion,

Jiang Ci's movements instead exuded an eerie calmness.

He wasn't in a hurry to pick them up.

His gaze quickly swept over all the scattered papers, as if he had instantly mapped out the optimal route for retrieval.

He crouched down, reached out, and picked up the nearest sheet of music.

His fingers were long, his movements gentle.

The second sheet, the third...

He picked up the scattered sheet music one by one, re-sorting them according to the page numbers in the bottom right corner.

His actions were intensely focused, as if nothing around him existed,

as if the whole world consisted only of him and these papers whose order had been disrupted.

When the last sheet was picked up, he didn't stand up immediately.

Instead, he gently, repeatedly tapped the thick stack of sheet music three times on the carpeted floor.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

The crisp sound was especially jarring in the pin-drop silent set.

The edges of the sheet music were aligned with perfect precision, neat as if measured with a ruler.

Only after completing all this did he slowly stand up.

He lifted his head and looked at the assistant who was on the verge of tears.

A gentle smile appeared on his face.

But this smile, because of his previous near-obsessive tidying actions, seemed incredibly aloof and detached.

"It's fine."

He said.

Not far away, He Xiaoping abruptly stopped moving.

She understood completely now.

That sentence Jiang Ci said during the script reading.

The brightest sun always casts the deepest shadow.

This man wasn't acting as an innocent, carefree wealthy young master at all.

He was acting the "latent period" of a top-tier intelligence agent.

Shen Qingyuan's innocence and carefreeness were his disguise, his "sunlight."

And hidden beneath this sunlight,

was an extreme craving for order and control, a terrifyingly calm core.

This core would instinctively reveal itself during unexpected incidents.

This was the true potential that allowed him to become the top-tier lurker codenamed "Abyss."

Behind the monitor, the corner of Hou Hsiao-hsien's mouth, which had been tightly drawn, finally relaxed almost imperceptibly.

He didn't call "Cut."

He wanted to see how far these two actors could push this impromptu accident.

Jiang Ci placed the neatly sorted sheet music back on the piano stand.

Without looking at the assistant again, he sat back down, preparing to continue playing.

Just then, He Xiaoping moved.

She walked through the crowd to the side of the piano.

Jiang Ci looked up at her.

He Xiaoping paid no mind to the surrounding cameras.

Her gaze was firmly locked on Jiang Ci's face.

Then, she spoke, delivering a line from the script.

"The piece you're playing is very nice."

"Cut!"

Hou Hsiao-hsien's voice finally rang out.

Once the scene was over, He Xiaoping walked straight over.

"I take back what I said before."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly carried throughout the entire set,

allowing every crew member who was eavesdropping to hear it clearly.

Jiang Ci didn't respond, watching her quietly.

He Xiaoping leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between them.

She continued in a volume only the two of them could hear.

"But, I still want to see..."

"Just how deep your 'shadow' goes."