Hidden moth

Chapter 27 Script
Boss Peng also came here for Yin Mo. He had a female companion who should be the operator of the 110 command center. They had locked the clue of tracking down Yin Mo on Gao Xue'e.

He Kao's information differed from Qian Guran's. He remembered that in the recording, Peng Xian claimed to be a sorcerer from the "Guan Sheng Men" (official promotion sect). Later, when He Kao met Xiao Wu and learned about the sect, he realized it was called the "Guan Shen Men" (observation body sect).

He Kao had actually seen Peng Xian the last time, by the pool at the Bada Club. Peng Xian had also swam in, but He Kao and Xiaopang had already pulled Gao Xue'e out. He Kao's ears had gotten a little wet from his wet swim cap, so he couldn't hear much of what was going on.

He listened very carefully today. This General Peng's voice was very similar to the man in the recording! Subconsciously, He Kao just wanted Gao Xue'e to stay away from this person. He walked in front and helped Gao Xue'e across the bridge.

This wooden-clad iron chain bridge is over three meters wide, with high woven railings, making it quite safe to walk on. However, if someone is deliberately shaking it or there are too many people on it, it can be quite scary, especially when walking in the middle of the bridge.

Gao Xue'e was a little scared. At first she grabbed He Kao's arm, and later she almost hugged his arm.

There were fifteen courtyards of varying sizes within the Qile Villa. Peng Xian's was a medium-sized courtyard, located towards the back. Walking along a stone path accessible to vehicles, he saw numerous fruit trees planted on both sides, many of which were ripe.

At regular intervals on both sides of the road, there is a vertical painting on each side, which is still a propaganda poster with the theme of "Mountain and Water Encounter".

Because it is a vertical poster and the area is limited, part of the large poster was cropped, mainly the photo of a man and a woman and the landscape above the photo.

In the grass beside the road, there were speakers disguised as rocks, playing soft songs. At first glance, they sounded like foreign songs, but upon closer listening, they became understandable. They sounded a bit like the dialect of a frontier region, and the general idea was love at first sight between a man and a woman.

Qian Guran walked at the back of the team with a frown on his face. The Xingshenmen sorcerers liked to do things in a covert way, using all kinds of subtle tricks. Unfortunately, it didn't go well with the roasted whole lamb!
When we got there, we found a bungalow with five rooms. If you want to stay overnight, it can accommodate more than a dozen people. The living room is large enough to accommodate three tables, and you can also play mahjong.

The weather is nice, so everyone prefers to have a meal together in the yard. The stove pit and rotating rack for roasting whole lamb are right in front of the yard, so everyone can enjoy the sizzling scene of the fat lamb being roasted.

In the courtyard, there were long tables, a swing set nearby, and a separate square table and two lounge chairs on the other side. On the table was an exquisite tea set, with a plate of wild yellow and red raspberries.

There are many wild raspberries in Qiyun Mountain, and many tourists like to pick them. Displaying them here is also very suitable for the occasion.

The host today is Jinxing Media, but it seems that they only have one boss, Mr. Peng, and they are entertaining the Cloud Life Business Group, whose leader is Gao Xue'e.

If nothing unexpected happens, this table should be where the two leaders sit and drink tea and chat. There are only two leisure chairs beside the table, and others will not be unaware of the situation.

At this moment, President E was already sitting at the table to rest, but the other chair was occupied by an tactless person, He Kao.

Couldn't He Kao read people's expressions? He was just too good at it! Although he didn't have Lao Qian's ability and insight, he could vaguely guess Peng Xian's intention behind this arrangement, and he also knew that Peng Xian had bad intentions.

It's just a matter of being thick-skinned. If Huang Xiaopang can do it, so can he! A kettle was placed beside the table, and He Kao started making tea. He first poured half a cup for Ms. E.

Gao Xue'e smiled and said, "You can also make tea!"

He Kao: "What's the big deal? How complicated can making tea be?"

Gao Xue'e picked up the cup and said, "Of course it's very particular. I think your movements are quite handsome... Well, the tea is also very well brewed."

Qian Guran couldn't help laughing at the sight. Peng Xian, however, was in a bad mood. Last time at the swimming pool, he'd tried to act like a hero and save the damsel in distress, but someone had messed things up. This time, he'd thought he'd arranged everything perfectly, only to run into someone else messing things up again.

All kinds of environmental cues were just auxiliary and foreshadowing, also known as the "threshold to life" in common parlance. He mainly relied on the magic of the gods, but there happened to be a sorcerer who could see the air gate blocking his way, making it difficult for him to perform his magic.

Peng Xian has been in a bad mood recently because not long ago, his carefully designed promotion ceremony unfortunately failed!
What He Kao heard was "fake information", but Qian Guran's judgment was correct. In fact, he was really a sorcerer of Xingshenmen.

Xingshenmen sorcerers are promoted from second-level anglers to third-level performers. The ritual requires them to design a public performance that can resonate strongly with the public.

This is what is said in the tradition of the art. Some things are hard to say directly but everyone understands that this ritual is more of a scam than a performance.

The performance must not only fool everyone, but also make many people feel confident and want to do something about it. Only then can it be considered successful and trigger strong resonance.

This was not easy in ancient times. Many of the Xingshen Sect's ancestors were once traveling magicians, with a group of apprentices helping them to boast and gain fame, and occasionally engaging in fraudulent activities. This often required traveling to many places and performing many magic tricks to complete the ritual.

This kind of people are most likely to be suppressed by the government. In the eyes of traditional scholars in the East, they often represent factors of social instability. Unfortunately, most of the officials in the ancient East were scholars.

So some people changed their strategy and began to take the upper-class route, deliberately pretending to be mysterious and fooling high-ranking officials. This would make the performance more influential and spread the reputation further... The highest level of this route, of course, was to fool the emperor.

Throughout history, many emperors admired immortality and pursued immortality, which gave these people the opportunity to exploit loopholes. Facts have proven that a person's IQ doesn't increase with status, and deceiving important figures is no more difficult than deceiving ordinary people.

However, doing so is very dangerous and can cost you your head if you are not careful. Records show that many predecessors have fallen into this trap. The general public's understanding of sorcerers mostly comes from the sorcerers of Xingshenmen.

Many records about sorcerers and magic in unofficial historical notes are also related to the Xingshen Sect.

Because their promotion ceremonies, at least the ceremonies for advancement from the second level to the third level, need to be performed publicly and require strong public feedback.

Peng Xian often laments that he was born in a good era. Mobile internet and social media have made everyone an information producer and receiver, freeing him from the toil and risk-taking of his predecessors.

Peng Xian not only owns a self-media company but also has registered several organizations, including non-governmental charitable organizations. The promotion ceremony he designed was conducted through an online platform called the "Ci Xing Foundation."

Through this platform, live streaming is used to sell goods in the name of poverty alleviation and relief. The script was written by Peng Xian himself, and the theme is called "Collecting Mountain Goods".

"Collecting Mountain Products", designed by Peng Xian, was also inspired by another scam that was popular on the Internet a few years ago, "Selling Tea".

"Selling Tea" is not a script for the promotion ceremony of Xingshenmen sorcerers, but it was once very popular and well-known, so much so that it is now widely used. It needs to be appropriately adapted when borrowing it. The script "Collecting Mountain Goods" has the following elements:

First of all, there must be a soft and steady voice-over, like the narrator of a CCTV documentary, to introduce and connect a series of scenes.

The main character should be a minor from an impoverished mountainous area, preferably a pretty, delicate girl. Her clothes should be simple and not too fitted, her hair should be a little messy, her shoes should be muddy, and her trouser legs should not be rolled up too long.

The number one supporting role can be a slightly older child, preferably a female, and can be a friend or relative of the leading actor.

The second and third supporting characters should be elderly people, perhaps an old couple left behind in a mountain village. Their appearance and makeup should be weathered, and preferably have slight disabilities.

Physical disabilities or infirmities are a plus, but they shouldn't be too severe, otherwise they will affect your credibility. Clothes should be old, preferably from an older style with patches, but relatively clean. Deep frowns on the face and hands are best.

There are two main scenes.

Scene number one is a dilapidated house, the protagonist's home and the starting point of the filming route. Ideally, it should be an old-fashioned mud house with mud walls and a thatched roof. A brick house is also acceptable, and you can cover the roof with plastic sheeting to indicate that it's leaking and dilapidated, unrepaired.

The doors, windows and furniture should all be old and worn, and the items should be placed in a rather messy manner. It would be best if there is a stool with one leg missing and supported by bricks, placed in a clearly visible position.

Cooking is done on an old earthen stove or a pit stove, or an old stove, in short, not a modern gas stove. The bowls used by girls to serve rice should preferably have obvious cuts, but not affect their use.

Scene No. 2 is visually a house halfway up the mountain, which is the home of the old couple and the end point of the shooting route.

The building can be a brick and tile house, which is relatively dilapidated but relatively tidy. There is a courtyard or a large open space in front of the house, where old-fashioned bamboo weaving tools and other utensils are placed to display various "mountain products".

As for other scenes, located between Scene 1 and Scene 2, the protagonist's walking route should include at least the following elements:

It shows the distant view of deep mountains and dense forests; a small bridge with fast-flowing water below; and a mountain road that seems steep and difficult to navigate.

Let's call the protagonist Xiao Zhao, then a relatively standard shooting process of "Collecting Mountain Goods" can be unfolded with a few bird calls and off-screen commentary like this:

Before daybreak, Xiao Zhao, who lives deep in the Daliang Mountains, is already up. She's only twelve years old. Last month, her father was injured on a construction site, and her mother is caring for him in the hospital. Even at such a young age, she's shouldering the weight of life...

She had long since learned how to make her own fire and cook. After a simple breakfast, she would go out to work. Today she was helping Mr. and Mrs. Sangjie, who lived in the mountains, collect mountain produce. The large backpacks they carried were almost taller than she was.

The morning mist in the forest gradually dissipated, the air was exceptionally fresh, the scenery of the distant mountains was beautiful, there were many unknown flowers and plants on the roadside, and various birds were chirping in the distance...

(The shooting sequence is as follows: she makes breakfast, packs up and goes out. The lead actor can start the microphone and introduce himself. After going out, she walks through the auxiliary scene and arrives at the door of the cousin of the first supporting role.)
Xiao Zhao: "Cousin, have you finished your meal? Come out quickly, let's go to Uncle Sangjie's house."

Cousin: "What are you going to do?"

Xiao Zhao: "Didn't the uncles and aunts in the fan group ask us to collect more mountain products? I went to a few houses yesterday, and today I'll go to Uncle Sangjie's house to check. He collects a lot of mountain products every year and exchanges them for money in the city. Let's help him this year."

(The scene transitions to the two girls packing up their medicine baskets and rainproof sheets, and showing off the various mountain specialties hanging at their cousin's house, in order to increase the credibility of the video and to hint at and emphasize their identities.

The two of them go up the mountain and cross a bridge. The scene shows mountain streams, rugged paths, and various scenery. Combined with some introductions to the local conditions by the lead actor, they arrive at Scene 2.
Xiao Zhao: "Is Uncle Sangye home? We're here!"

Uncle Sangjie opened the door and said, "I'm coming, I'm coming." (The uncle and aunt could speak in dialect, with a heavy accent. The two girls could speak Mandarin, with a dialect accent.)
Xiao Zhao: "Uncle, last time you told me you had some mountain products at home. We'll collect them for you this time so you don't have to carry them down the mountain to sell them every time."

Uncle Sangye: "Thank you, thank you."

After entering the courtyard, Auntie Sangjie came to greet me: "Have you eaten? Come in and have something to eat."

Cousin: "No need, we've already eaten."

(The camera shows the mountain products in the courtyard, accompanied by the protagonist's introduction, using walnut oil as an example.)
Xiao Zhao: "The wild walnut trees on Daliang Mountain are hundreds or even thousands of years old. They grow at an altitude of 2,000 to 4,000 meters, with ample sunlight and rich in various nutrients.

The ancient mountain people here called them longevity fruits.

Our walnut oil is made using traditional techniques. It is a pure, natural, green, and ecological food without any additives. It retains its original nutritional value and has a particularly fragrant taste..."

The above is the standard script of "Collecting Mountain Products" designed by Peng Xian. Don't ask how the old couple can squeeze out so much industrial-grade walnut oil at home. If necessary, it is not impossible to sell dried walnut kernels.

Peng Xian's job is to form a team, hire actors, find scenes, and do live broadcasts. Afterwards, he makes short videos and puts them on major platforms. More importantly, he uses various methods to attract traffic and increase popularity.

In ancient times, it was extremely difficult to resonate with tens of thousands of people through a performance. Unless it was in a very special occasion, such as a large battlefield, it would have to be performed multiple times and repeatedly in different occasions.

However, in the era of smartphones and self-media, as long as you understand traffic operations, it is easy to achieve this effect and reap a wave of wealth by the way.

So Peng Xian once sighed that today's warlocks are simply too happy!
He was not a man with rich imagination and creativity. He just learned a few tricks from the art world and was inspired by popular online cases to design his own scam.

Given the scale of the Internet in the East, it is not difficult to increase the number of viewers to millions as long as the traffic is done a little better.

**
(End of this chapter)