Chapter 66: Gulnazar: I Definitely Didn't Want to Touch...

"What? Is my word no longer of any use?"

Wearing a golden mask, Zhang Yang swept a cold and piercing gaze across the crowd.

Ordinarily, this kind of scene would feel deeply chuunibyou, instantly prompting a strong desire to roast it.

Yet looking at Zhang Yang in his full suit of armor, no one felt any sense of discord. Yuwen Tuo ought to be this domineering.

Director Li Guoli's eyes brimmed with undisguised appreciation, and he made up his mind right then and there to personally direct all of Zhang Yang's scenes.

Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Scar of Sky was scheduled to be filmed across multiple locations. Chinese Entertainment planned to set up three filming units managed by three different directors, with Li Guoli serving as the chief director.

"You're so arrogant, you make me want to beat you up." Tiffany Tang slightly raised her chin, radiating spirited vivacity.

The character Tuoba Yu'er possessed a somewhat quirky and eccentric nature. In Tiffany Tang's understanding, the role was lively and confident, bearing a striking resemblance to Chu Chu—the character she had played years ago in the film The Storm Warriors 2—while also sharing many similarities with the "sweet and silly" archetypes like Xia Tianmei she had portrayed elsewhere.

Nailed it!

"Come on then." Zhang Yang raised both arms wide in a swaggering posture, wildly arrogant: "You don't even have the qualifications to make me use the Xuan-Yuan Sword. Come at me all together, I am not afraid in the least."

Everyone: "..."

They hadn't even shouted "Action" yet, and you've already started acting?

Tiffany Tang gritted her teeth, turned around, and beckoned to Liu Shishi and the others: "This guy is way too arrogant. I think it's necessary for us to teach him a lesson."

With that, Tiffany Tang charged forward first, throwing punches with completely zero force at Zhang Yang.

Seeing this, Liu Shishi's tranquil, chrysanthemum-like face blossomed into a smile, and she followed closely behind Tiffany Tang's footsteps.

Seeing both Tiffany Tang and Liu Shishi make their moves, Gulnazar felt that, as a newcomer, she couldn't afford to be the odd one out, so she charged forward as well.

She swore to herself that she definitely didn't want to take the opportunity to touch Zhang Yang's abdominal muscles.

"Oh come on, you're actually doing it?" Zhang Yang broke character in a second, beginning to dodge and block.

Lin Gengxin glanced at Jiang Jinfu beside him: "How come it feels like you want to join in too?"

Jiang Jinfu: "..."

After all, getting a legitimate, righteous chance to bully Zhang Yang was exceptionally rare.

"Alright, business comes first." After watching the good show for a moment, Karen Tsai interrupted.

Next up, the six main leads still needed to shoot their character promotional stills, which would be released later to build the initial round of pre-release hype for the drama.

"Tuoba Yu'er, you just wait for me!" Zhang Yang threw down a harsh warning to Tiffany Tang.

"I'll be waiting." Tiffany Tang showed no fear whatsoever.

Subsequently, the six actors took turns shooting several sets of promotional stills. As for when, how, and with what hype they would be released, that was naturally up to Chinese Entertainment to arrange.

By the time the promotional stills were finished, it was already evening. It happened to be time to shoot a night scene, which was also the very first scene of Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Scar of Sky.

"Attention everyone."

"Let's strive for a successful start."

Inside a mountain cave, Li Guoli raised the megaphone in his hand.

Logically speaking, Tuoba Yu'er's entrance scene should have been filmed first.

However, the production crew did not want to place all the pressure on the only lead actor who wasn't signed with Chinese Entertainment.

Therefore, the first scene would now be initiated by Zhang Yang and Liu Shishi.

"Action!"

Clap.

Beneath the lens, the actor playing Shuxiang introduced the situation to Yuwen Tuo and Dugu Ningke: "The Blood Spring comes from the depths of chaos; no one knows its origin, nor its destination. Yet it can cleanse the soul, washing away and clearing out the malice within General Yuwen's heart."

Hearing this, Zhang Yang, who had changed into a set of black aristocratic attire, tilted his head slightly, his gaze turning icy: "If so, wouldn't I become an entirely different person?"

Liu Shishi stared into Zhang Yang's face, her eyes narrowing slightly: "I actually want to see what you look like after turning kind."

Kind?

A subtle ripple crossed Zhang Yang's eyes, as if reminiscing, and then a fleeting flash of self-deprecating smile swept across his face: "Perhaps, I will become the me of eighteen years ago."

Shuxiang smiled and explained: "It's hard to say. You are still you, yet you are no longer you..."

Zhang Yang's gaze shifted once more, softly uttering two words: "Interesting."

As he spoke, he moved into position in front of Shuxiang so that the camera wouldn't need to pan, allowing for a continuous single-take shot.

Shuxiang clasped her hands together and continued: "The Blood Spring will extract your soul filled with evil intent, leaving behind the other half, which will naturally be the upright, kind, pure, and sincere you. The General will survive in this world under a different identity to fulfill your wish, and with a sincere heart, obtain the Nüwa Stone."

Zhang Yang listened patiently to the end, rhythmically leading the camera as he walked up to Liu Shishi, lowering his head to gaze into her eyes.

The undisguised affection in those eyes caused Liu Shishi's heart to leap violently, a perfectly measured look of panic and bewilderment surfacing on her face.

Yet, remembering she was acting, she reined in her emotions in an instant, reaching out to place her hand on the collar of Zhang Yang's chest, lowering her head to avoid his gaze while neatly tidying his clothes, behaving just like a devoted young wife.

"Splendid!" Li Guoli's hand resting on his knee tightened.

Adding actions during a performance made it very easy for an actor to forget their lines, break out of character, or disrupt the framing.

Yet Zhang Yang's movement was entirely within the frame, and he always brought others into the shot at just the right moment.

Because of this, post-production editing wouldn't be necessary; there would be no need to abruptly cut back and forth between whoever happened to be speaking.

This was the manifestation of rich acting experience, and the key was that Zhang Yang even used his own actions to guide his co-star into the state of the scene.

For instance, at this moment, Liu Shishi murmured: "After obtaining the Nüwa Stone, I wonder what must be done to make you return to being General Yuwen?"

Shuxiang answered from the side: "As long as the evil soul is unsealed, and the power of this Blood Spring is then used to fuse the righteous and evil souls back together, Yuwen Tuo will return to the world."

"Before that, General, you will possess an independent temperament and will. Human hearts are often unpredictable; should you encounter some mishap and lose your life, then General Yuwen, you too will perish."

Under normal circumstances, the camera should have focused on Shuxiang here.

Yet Zhang Yang looked at Liu Shishi with a gaze so deeply affectionate and earnest.

Liu Shishi found herself somewhat dodging his gaze while desperately maintaining her exterior of aloofness.

This scene was all the more pleasing to the eye, prompting Li Guoli to decide to let Shuxiang serve as a voiceover instead.

After listening, Zhang Yang raised his head, revealing a smile fraught with complex emotions, and reached out to remove his outer garment, handing it to Liu Shishi: "The kind me?"

"Form is emptiness, what goes must return."

"Come on."

"No matter how I change, from beginning to end, I will only ever be Yuwen Tuo."

As his voice trailed off, Zhang Yang walked to the center of the Blood Spring and sat down.

Next came a performance relying entirely on facial expressions.

Liu Shishi also performed impeccably.

Right until the birth of Sword Enthusiast.

"Cut!"

"Pass!"

Li Guoli's satisfied voice rang out.

He stood up directly and called all the actors together.

"A-Yang, your performance was fantastic, Shishi's emotions were completely drawn into it. Fuzai, Naza, you two need to watch closely and study hard..."

Li Guoli knew that both Jiang Jinfu and Gulnazar were newcomers with virtually no experience acting on a professional set.

Karen Tsai had asked him to provide more detailed guidance during direction, which essentially meant coaching novice actors.

Zhang Yang's performance gave him a pleasant surprise; using Zhang Yang as an example would make teaching much easier.

In truth, Lin Gengxin and the others were all astonished by Zhang Yang's performance.

Staging, line delivery, physical actions, facial expressions, and pulling co-stars into character—

This level of skill was formidable indeed.

No wonder... he could be valued so highly by Tsui Hark and Stephen Chow, and signed to make films.

Since it was still the first day, the workload for today wasn't heavy.

With the first scene wrapped up, everyone headed to a nearby hotel to attend the booting banquet.

Once the banquet concluded, everyone returned to their respective rooms to review the script.

Zhang Yang, however, did not. He went off to work out, and by the time he finished showering, it was nearly midnight.

He sent messages to Gulnazar, Tiffany Tang, and Liu Shishi, but received no replies.

"At least one of them must be asleep."

Fraught with anticipation, Zhang Yang closed his eyes.

"Enter the dream!"