Chapter 61: The Yin Hall Gathering (Part 6)

After Ren Dong persuaded both sides, Chen Jiu was the first to abandon this idea.

Although to her this was a minor matter, and she was ninety-nine percent certain she could keep Yu Xiao completely unharmed, it was indeed true that from Ren Dong’s perspective, they could not casually risk an ordinary person’s life and safety.

Chen Jiu decisively began searching for another approach.

Since she had come to oversee the production for two days, everyone had clearly felt that a certain sinister yin energy had diminished considerably. Therefore, the attitude toward her was still relatively respectful. Apart from Yu Xiao, this young lady who didn’t take anyone seriously, no one else dared to casually approach and strike up conversation.

She was quite willing to cooperate. Who were others to make decisions for her?

“Do we absolutely have to perform on this stage?” Yu Xiao blinked her eyes looking at Chen Jiu, asking curiously.

“Mm…” Chen Jiu flipped through a few pages of the condensed script copy that Ren Dong had specially compiled for her, and replied: “Simply put, it’s immersive. When the fake becomes real, the real also becomes fake. You can tell from the timing of when those things appear: the supplementary singing passages are obsessions they absolutely cannot let go of. When the performance reaches deep emotion, they cannot help but attach themselves, either thinking the person on stage is themselves from that year, or thinking this stage is still the stage from that year.”

Yu Xiao roughly understood and slowly nodded.

Chen Jiu stopped her hand movements and looked at her: “Have you still been dreaming of that strange man recently?”

“No, actually.” Yu Xiao said happily: “The talisman you gave me is too effective. Probably the little sister’s talisman is also very useful. I carry these two talismans close to my body every day, and I’ve been sleeping very well recently.”

Chen Jiu made a sound of acknowledgment. A thought surfaced in her mind, but she quickly suppressed it back down.

Unexpectedly, Yu Xiao suddenly slapped the table and shouted: “I have an idea!”

Chen Jiu: “?”

Everyone turned to look. Yu Xiao completely ignored them, leaning close to Chen Jiu’s ear to say: “You specifically asked me this question. Are you suspecting that this strange man is also some character prototype from this drama?”

Chen Jiu hadn’t expected she had some comprehension, showing a look of regard with new eyes.

Yu Xiao became even more pleased, patting her own chest with heroic spirit and righteous indignation: “Since you want to know, and I also want to know, wouldn’t I find out the result if I just try it? Anyway, at worst it’s just seeing him once more in a dream. I wouldn’t have any loss, right? I just accidentally put the talisman a little farther away while sleeping. None of them can say anything to me about that!”

The more she spoke, the more pleased she became, her voice rising slightly.

Chen Ba, who had just finished filming a small segment, couldn’t help but turn to look, meeting her gaze.

Yu Xiao hurriedly turned away with a guilty conscience, lowering her voice to say: “This matter is known to heaven and earth, to you and to me.”

“…” Seeing her so decisive, Chen Jiu herself instead became hesitant. After deliberating for a moment, she said: “Actually, it’s not necessarily true that there would be no loss at all. If you have detailed exchanges and conversations in the dream realm, at the lightest, your fortune would be partially drained by him, leaving you plagued by bad luck. At the worst, you would follow him in the dream, and from then on wherever he goes, you would have to follow.”

Yu Xiao hadn’t expected the consequences to be so serious. She covered her mouth and gasped, finally becoming somewhat frightened. She carefully asked: “Then, then if I just don’t talk to him, wouldn’t that be fine? I should have that much self-control…”

“He has countless methods to make you speak, creating dangers and memories in dreams. This much ability he still possesses.” Chen Jiu said.

Yu Xiao suddenly grabbed her hand, tilting her head slightly: “Then you just protect me, wouldn’t that be fine? I know you’re very capable.”

Chen Jiu: “…”

Not far away, Chen Ba was dumbstruck. Maintaining his shocked expression, he walked to the small table where the two were sitting, then naturally seated himself in the middle position between them, staring at their overlapping hands, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Actually, what she said coincided highly with the thought that had just surfaced in Chen Jiu’s mind. But at this moment, Chen Jiu still firmly withdrew her hand and slowly shook her head.

Seeing her resolute attitude, Chen Ba let out a breath of relief. The investor side had given such generous compensation; it certainly wasn’t for them to risk their own artist. Even if Yu Xiao herself was a thousand percent willing, it still wouldn’t do.

Yu Xiao looked at Chen Jiu disappointedly, thinking that she herself had been so proactive and so enthusiastic. How could Little Jiu, looking so young, have a mindset as rigid and old-fashioned as those old antiques?

When Yu Xiao reached her time to go on set for filming, Chen Jiu watched her retreating figure and said faintly: “Actually, there is one method.”

Chen Ba roughly knew what method she was referring to. They came from the same sect; the techniques their master taught them were eighty to ninety percent similar. Apart from the later opportunities and insights they each had, the foundational Dao techniques they learned were not much different.

“You mean, using a paper substitute?” Chen Ba asked.

Chen Jiu nodded.

Chen Ba thought back and forth, also feeling this method was quite good, so he asked again: “Why didn’t you say so just now?”

Chen Jiu sighed. Although they hadn’t been in contact long, anyone could see what kind of personality Yu Xiao was.

“The only uncontrollable factor is Yu Xiao herself.” She said helplessly: “When her soul is exchanged out of her body for dream observation, she absolutely must not make a sound. But with her noisy, excitable temperament, I truly dare not trust her lightly. What if after all the trouble of preparing the substitute, before any words could even be asked out, the yin evil notices something wrong, and in the end it’s all a wasted effort.”

Once Chen Ba heard this, he understood, and couldn’t help but laugh.

Paper person dream observation places extremely high demands on the practitioner. Performing it once consumes considerable vital energy. Moreover, this technique not only drains the practitioner’s energy; if something goes wrong, it also considerably injures the recipient’s soul and body. It’s just that normally this isn’t visible. Once there are side effects, it’s things like waking up startled in the middle of the night, easily categorized by the medical field as anxiety or panic disorders. And the damage caused by this technique is irreversible.

Thus after discussion, this matter was temporarily set aside again.

Yu Xiao returned to the hotel, sulking all evening. After bathing, her mood hadn’t improved much either. She lay alone on the soft large bed, rolling the quilt several times and wrapping herself into a silkworm cocoon.

Her assistant had been sorting through fan gifts she received at the desk. All sorts of exquisite packaging piled up on the floor. The assistant read the inventory aloud to Yu Xiao while throwing items into cardboard boxes. As long as Yu Xiao didn’t make a sound, that meant it was unwanted trash, to be packed up and taken back, to be dealt with however. Assistant number two was preparing her clothes, accessories, bags, and such for tomorrow.

Halfway through reading, Yu Xiao found it annoying again and told them all to get out, she wanted to sleep.

So the assistants quickly cleaned up and withdrew before the boss got angry, turning off the lights and closing the door, obediently leaving.

Yu Xiao lay on her pillow scrolling through Weibo for a while, switching to her alternate account to like some black material about colleagues she didn’t like, then fell asleep beautifully. She didn’t notice that the small pouch containing her protective talisman, which she had been keeping close to her body, had gone missing.

…

The sun was shining just right. Yu Xiao got out of the car supported by her assistant’s hand. Today the scene she was to film was the climax of this drama.

The male lead gives the female lead a surprise, covering her eyes and leading her by the hand into the newly completed mansion. Then amid the garden full of spring flowers, he lifts her blindfold, watching her expressions of delight, shyness, and emotion. Then comes the embrace, lifting her up and spinning around, and finally the kiss, truly sealing their love.

After applying makeup and running through the scene several times, Yu Xiao felt she had found the feeling for this scene. She confidently told Ren Dong they could start filming.

Today Ren Dong was unexpectedly agreeable, not cajoling her in every way as he normally did.

She knew that Director Ren was actually a soft nail. He looked easy to talk to, but once he set his mind on something, no amount of persuasion would change it. If you clashed head-on, you would definitely prick yourself. In the end, you still had to listen to him. In the gossip, it was said that Ren Dong was actually hired by the investor side specifically to keep her in check, lest her voice grow too loud and she want to improvise at any moment.

After the call to start filming, everyone’s eyes fell on the figures of the male and female leads holding hands and entering.

Yu Xiao did her utmost to put on a shy expression, asking with bashfulness and timidity: “Yu Lang, where are you taking me?”

“Wan’er, don’t be anxious. You’ll know in a moment.” The man laughed softly, showing extreme tenderness and doting.

The actor playing the male lead was a popular young star of comparable stature to Yu Xiao. His voice was quite magnetic, and his line delivery was fairly decent. But in terms of acting skill, he was slightly inferior, also a master who required the director’s extreme polishing, just like Yu Xiao.

The camera pulled in for a close-up. The man suddenly exerted strength in his wrist, pulling Yu Xiao before him, encircling her waist with both hands, their posture ambiguous.

Yu Xiao exclaimed, reflexively grabbing the man’s hand, and said coquettishly: “Yu Lang, you startled me!”

“Sorry.” The man said this against her flushed ear, then raised his hand and gently removed the black cloth covering the girl’s eyes.

Yu Xiao leaned against the man’s chest, slowly opening her eyes, appropriately performing that kind of shocked and delighted gaze.

“Heavens…” She covered her lips, so moved she was almost in tears, yet unable to hide the smile in her eyes: “This is the mansion you promised to give me? For me? For me alone?”

The man’s voice was full of love and bewitchment: “Yes, only for you.”

Yu Xiao turned to look at the audience below the stage. Everyone had expressions of blessing, smiling as they watched them, as if they were truly a pair made in heaven.

Seeing this, she felt quite pleased with herself. It seemed this puppy dog scene was performed quite well! Even Director Ren hadn’t called cut!

“Wan’er, are you satisfied?” The man held her obsessively, nearly greedily breathing in the fragrant scent at her neck: “To be a pair for life with me, just the two of us, would that be good?”

Yu Xiao was startled. Was this line in the script? How was he improvising? Riding on top of her head?

She swiftly glanced at Ren Dong. Ren Dong actually still had a gentle smile on his face, with no indication of interrupting. It seemed he was tacitly approving.

Since things had reached this point, Yu Xiao had no choice but to harden her scalp and continue the dialogue.

She turned her head, raised her eyes, and touched the man’s cheek affectionately: “Of cou…”

At this moment, she finally truly saw the man’s face: it was actually a completely unfamiliar face.