NOVPUB"Achoo!" Qing Chen sat by the campfire with his eyes closed, suddenly sneezing.
It was strange; ever since he’d become a knight, he had never fallen ill again, so why did he sneeze all of a sudden?
Could it be that someone was speaking ill of him?
Qing Chen cast suspicious glances towards the film crew...
Then he closed his eyes again.
Li Su had left, Qing Yi returned to his tent to meditate, and Sun Chu Ci and others had gone to arrange security, leaving Qing Chen alone by the campfire.
He leaned against a large rock behind him, immersed in the world of winning people over with virtue, training for the next life-and-death challenge.
However, this time’s life-and-death challenge was a bit difficult; Qing Chen had died countless times in that world.
Qing Chen was somewhat puzzled.
At some moments, he always felt that something was missing while training for this life-and-death challenge.
It was like a huge jigsaw puzzle missing the most central piece.
No matter how well the edges were put together, the puzzle was always incomplete.
Qing Chen opened his eyes.
The last time he trained for the life-and-death challenge in the world of winning people over with virtue, he hadn’t felt this way; it was odd.
This strange feeling seemed to have started after completing surfing over the sea.
There was no uncontainable impulse within his body, no signs of an awakening, and none of the tranquility and joy after completing the life-and-death challenge as before.
It seemed, it was because he had trained too thoroughly in the world of winning people over with virtue previously.
So much so that when he faced the waves, the experience gained from training times made him lack a real life-and-death experience.
After completing that life-and-death challenge, Qing Chen even felt that life-and-death challenges were no longer dangerous, so in the mysterious world of virtue, training was no longer as thrilling.
Qing Chen suddenly became vigilant.
He relied too much on this Mysterious World, losing a bit of reverence for the real world.
This is something a knight should never lose.
The romance of a knight is to venture into the unknown at the cost of one’s life.
If every outcome along the way is predetermined, then the life-and-death challenge will also be meaningless.
Qing Chen probably understood where his problem lay.
In this world, everyone takes various detours; even Qing Chen was no exception.
He was taking a path that no other knight had ever taken, so constant reflection was a must for him.
The next second, he looked forward.
Liu Liqun came over with a lunchbox and handed it to him, "Eat up, there’s still a little left from Li Yu’s special meal today; you’ve been working hard, you eat it."
"Thanks," Qing Chen said with a smile, "Lao Liu, how long have you been in the entertainment industry?"
"Over twenty years," Liu Liqun also fiddled with his lunchbox.
"Don’t you ever get bored sticking with one job?" Qing Chen asked.
"Not really," Liu Liqun shook his head, "Every time I come to a new film crew, I meet new people, it’s like starting a new journey."
"Lao Liu, you’re quite poetic," Qing Chen said with a laugh.
Liu Liqun said in a low voice, "Can you help talk to Sun Chu Ci and his team, ask them not to hold a grudge against Li Yu anymore? Although that male actor is indeed an idiot, the crew can’t start work without him right now, and it’s hard to find a replacement in such a remote place."
Qing Chen laughed, "Lao Liu, it’s no use telling me this."
Liu Liqun’s expression paused, and he lowered his voice to say, "Your words definitely have weight; you’ve been working for them for so long and you know each other so well."
Qing Chen shook his head with a smile, "I’m not going to be that mediator."
"Alright then," Liu Liqun sighed.
He turned around with his lunchbox and went towards Director Zhang.
Director Zhang asked, "How did it go?"
"No way," Liu Liqun pondered for a moment and said, "I think Li Yu has to apologize in person. He provoked someone he shouldn’t have, and this is the result. Or, you see how my Qing Xiaotu is, his looks are definitely no problem; if you’re afraid he’s not good enough at acting, you can have the second male lead replace Li Yu and let Qing Xiaotu take on the second male role."
Director Zhang glanced towards Qing Chen, "No way, acting skill isn’t just talk, there’s a real difference between having studied and not. I’d better go and try to sort things out with Li Yu first; if that doesn’t work, then we’ll see."
Liu Liqun scratched his slicked-back hair, unsure of what to say next.
The night deepened into silence, with all the film crew members fast asleep.
Sun Chu Ci was walking through the forest, inspecting the guard posts to see if anyone was shirking their duty by sleeping.
Just then, the roar of vehicles could be heard from afar once again; Sun Chu Ci shouted, "Alert!"
The vehicles approached rapidly, giving Sun Chu Ci a bad feeling.
But he wasn’t worried about any danger; he was more concerned about having to be the boss’s messenger again…
At that moment, he raised his gun toward the sky and pulled the trigger to signal the approaching vehicles to keep their distance.
The vehicles stopped, and someone jumped out ahead, walking alone toward the campsite.
Assistant Director Wang and others had also arrived.
Using the firelight, they recognized the newcomer, "Lao Zhou, why are you here? Mister Sun Chu Ci, please lower your gun, this is Zhou Ping, the assistant director who worked on ’The Justice Bringers’."
Sun Chu Ci was surprised; was it yet another film crew here to scout for locations?
Zhou Ping greeted Director Zhang with a smile, "You are here too? I brought my crew to scout for locations; I didn’t expect to run into you all."
Zhou Ping, without any care, turned around and yelled to the vehicles behind him, "Come on over, there’s no danger!"
The vehicles moved in. This film crew wasn’t very large, roughly sixty or seventy people, all of whom started setting up equipment near the lakeside next to Qing Chen’s camp.
Director Zhang expressed his confusion, "I hadn’t heard you were filming anything new recently."
"Haha, I just secured some investment, and two main actors just freed up their schedules," Zhou Ping explained.
Director Zhang surveyed the newcomers and indeed, several familiar actors appeared.
Sun Chu Ci quietly observed Qing Chen and noticed that his expression was icy.
His heart tightened.
Just as he suspected, there was something off about this film crew.
First off, a normal film crew would definitely not travel at night.
Furthermore, a normal film crew would not continue approaching after a gunshot warning; they would surely turn their vehicles around and leave immediately.
Though this film crew was well-equipped and included some famous actors, their behavior was too abnormal.
This was Sun Chu Ci’s assessment.
For Qing Chen, the reason for suspecting this film crew was even simpler.
Because Yan Chunmi was among them.
According to Qing Chen’s plans, Yan Chunmi, the Kite Falcon, was supposed to be leading other Kite Falcons to monitor Qing Xing in City Number 10.
Her sudden defiance of his orders to blend into this crew suggested two possibilities.
The first possibility was that she might have come with Qing Xing.
But this was highly unlikely as she had caused trouble in Blossom Community and cleaned up Qing Xing’s undercover agents.
If Qing Xing was pretending to leave City Number 10 under the guise of the film crew, her goal would be too obvious by joining this crew.
So, the only other possibility was that something was off about this film crew, likely related to a deal with Qing Mu.
Yan Chunmi had to come personally to signal Qing Chen in the wilderness where there was no signal.
Qing Chen donned a cap and remained silent, head bowed.
Was it Jindai who had come or another Shadow Candidate?
Both were possibilities.
Qing Chen’s gaze shifted toward his own crew’s side, where Li Yu, upon hearing the vehicles, had hidden as if afraid Sun Chu Ci would introduce him again.
The next moment, Qing Chen suddenly realized something was off.
He had heard the engine sounds early when the vehicles were approaching, even earlier than Sun Chu Ci had noticed the other party.
Yet, although there should have been twenty-two vehicles based on the engine sounds, only eighteen had arrived at the campsite.
Thus, four vehicles had stopped midway, and their passengers had already disembarked, using the trees beyond the lake to conceal their movements as they slowly approached the campsite.
Qing Chen frowned; the others were not merely passing by but had come specifically for this film crew.
