The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 41: One Move, "Telekinesis Pick-Up," She Had a Mental Breakdown!
From then on, Qiao Xinran’s offensives became intensely aggressive.
She was no longer content with verbal probing.
She wanted to play for real.
Today’s scene called for Chu Wuchen to lead the newly initiated Su Nian along a perilous cliffside plank path.
For the immortal Chu Wuchen, this path was like walking on flat ground.
But for the mortal Su Nian, every step was heart-stopping.
What a perfect opportunity.
Qiao Xinran’s mental abacus was clicking away.
“Action!”
At the director’s command, Jiang Ci, clad in white, walked ahead, posture upright, steps calm and unhurried.
Qiao Xinran followed behind, wearing a thoroughly frightened expression, cautiously shifting her feet.
Jiang Ci felt nothing stir inside him; he even felt like smiling.
The plank path was wide enough to gallop a horse, and sturdy wirework protections hung on both sides, so falling was far less likely than hitting the lottery.
Just then, Qiao Xinran, right behind him, suddenly let out a short cry.
“Ah!”
Immediately afterward, Jiang Ci sensed a fragrant breeze from behind.
A professional cling-on was in play!
He didn’t even need to turn to picture Qiao Xinran’s current move: a “mistaken” misstep, her whole body feigning weakness as she toppled toward his back.
That wasn’t in the script.
If she managed to cling to him, would it count as Qiao Xinran’s move or Jiang Ci’s?
If the cameras caught it, a trending headline like “Jiang Ci and Qiao Xinran Fall In Love Through Acting, Intimate Embrace on Set” would be guaranteed.
How would he explain it then?
Claim she fell on her own? Who would believe that!
Claim he failed to steady her? Even worse—the label of unrefined and ungentlemanly would stick.
In a flash, Jiang Ci reacted.
He did not dodge.
Dodging would look calculated, too awkward.
At the instant Qiao Xinran was about to press against his back, Jiang Ci’s body underwent an extremely subtle change.
His forward step didn’t stop; only the way he pushed off the ground changed.
His entire body felt like a weightless feather, drifting forward half a step.
That half-step precisely made Qiao Xinran miss.
At the same time, his wide white sleeve brushed backward.
It steadily supported Qiao Xinran’s leaning waist and righted her posture.
From start to finish Jiang Ci never looked back.
He didn’t even break his walking rhythm.
He simply continued forward, and after a moment a line drifted over.
“Settle your heart, gather your spirit.”
Qiao Xinran froze completely.
Her imagined warm embrace and soft, fragrant hold?
His strong arms and warm chest?
None of it was there! 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
A tidal wave of humiliation and frustration instantly swept away her reason.
“Cut!”
The director leapt up from behind the monitors, ecstatic.
“Great! Fantastic!”
“Jiang Ci! That handling was perfect! An immortal should be like this: untangled by worldly feelings, saving someone with a single thought!”
“And Xinran! That expression! The shock and disbelief after being steadied! Perfect! You’ve finally broken through!”
Qiao Xinran was snapped back to reality by the director’s shout; her face flushed red and white in turns.
Broken through?
What breakthrough are you talking about!
She was genuinely stunned!
She glanced at Jiang Ci’s retreating back; that white robe no longer looked ethereal to her, it looked like an impenetrable wall.
Ding! Detected heartbreak from 'Qiao Xinran'! Heartbreak Value +25!
The system chime put Jiang Ci in a good mood.
Good, keep it up.
One tactic failed, but Qiao Xinran didn’t give up.
After the morning shoot they broke for lunch.
Jiang Ci had just sat down when Qiao Xinran came over holding a bottle of mineral water.
She wore a sweet smile and offered the bottle to Jiang Ci.
“Brother Jiang Ci, you’ve worked hard, have some water.”
Her motion looked natural, but the angle she handed it from was tricky, designed so that as Jiang Ci took it, their fingertips would “accidentally” brush.
Again?
Jiang Ci rolled his eyes inside.
Lady, have you acted in so many romance dramas you really think you’re the center of the universe now?
Without changing his posture, he merely lifted his sleeve and gave the bottle a light flick.
In the next instant, the unbelievable happened.
Qiao Xinran felt the bottle lighten in her hand as it slipped free, traced a steady arc through the air, and landed precisely on the small table beside Jiang Ci, not askew, steady as a rock.
This trick, “telekinesis pick-up,” was an acting technique he’d learned from staying up late watching cultivation movies the night before.
He didn’t expect to use it today.
The effect was outstanding.
Qiao Xinran’s hand stayed frozen in midair, her smile completely congealed.
She stared at the water on the table, then at the composed man, feeling her worldview shaken.
The crew around them were stunned too.
“Holy—did you see that?”
“I saw it... the water flew over by itself...”
“Is Brother Ci still in character? He brought Chu Wuchen’s ‘divine technique’ off-set?”
“Amazing! Now that’s a real actor! Respect!”
Jiang Ci ignored the surrounding chatter, picked up the bottle, opened it, and took a sip.
Then, looking at the still-stunned Qiao Xinran, he calmly said two words.
“Thanks.”
Qiao Xinran’s face flushed instantly.
She snatched her hand back and walked away without another word.
Ding! Detected heartbreak from 'Qiao Xinran'! Heartbreak Value +30!
Congratulations, host! Triggered consecutive critical hits, Heartbreak Value continues steady output! Reward: Remaining life increased by ten days!
Current Heartbreak Value: 706 points
Remaining life: 105 days 11 hours 23 minutes
Jiang Ci nearly laughed out loud.
Well, would you look at that—this woman is practically my exclusive life-restoration pill!
Stimulate her and the life bar soars!
In the afternoon, Qiao Xinran found another opportunity.
She held the script and, wearing a face of “modest eagerness to learn,” sidled up next to Jiang Ci.
“Brother Jiang Ci, I don’t quite get this scene, could you explain it to me?”
As she spoke she edged closer, her shoulder almost touching his arm.
Deliberate.
Absolutely deliberate.
Jiang Ci calmly shifted half a foot away and used his folding fan to draw a clear dividing line between them.
Then he tapped a line in the script with the tip of the fan.
“This line.”
“Your emotion is not a question, it is despair.”
He cut to the core—cold and precise, purely businesslike.
All of Qiao Xinran’s flirtatious scheming was shut down by that sentence.
A string of setbacks finally made Qiao Xinran realize one fact.
Any physical approach was useless against this man.
He existed inside an invisible barrier of his own making.
As long as he didn’t want to be touched, no one would even graze his finger.
This man was impervious and unmoved.
If hard tactics failed, she’d try soft ones.
If physical attacks couldn’t work, she’d switch to psychological warfare!
Qiao Xinran clenched the script until her nails nearly tore the pages.
The next major scene would be Su Nian’s inner demons erupting as she confronts Chu Wuchen.
She would launch her final all-out assault there.
Jiang Ci, just wait!
Watching Qiao Xinran stride off with renewed determination, Jiang Ci sighed softly.
All of this was seen by assistant Sun Zhou.
He leaned in, lowering his voice, his face full of admiration.
“Brother Ci, you’re simply divine!”
“Now the whole crew is saying you’re madly devoted to the role, you’ve carved Chu Wuchen into your DNA! Twenty-four-seven, never off-duty!”
Jiang Ci turned and regarded the distance with a look of worldly pity.
He breathed out one line.
“I am him.”
Sun Zhou instantly inhaled sharply.
Oh no, Brother Ci has gone madly possessed!
