Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Sakamoto Hide held the sword with both hands, enduring Xia Fan's intensive slashing, but he could only watch the dagger stabbing at him from top to bottom, with no time to dodge...

"I'm dying, dying, dying... The director team seems to have purchased accident insurance, so it should be reimbursed, right?

Just as Sakamoto Hide was wailing madly in his heart, the dagger seemed to have missed and sank into the soil by brushing against his robe.

At the same time, the power transmitted from Xia Fan's sword suddenly weakened to a negligible level.

"What just happened was..."

When Sakamoto Hide came to his senses, the two had finished their fight, passed each other, and stopped with their backs to each other.

"Whoosh..."

Xia Fan's long sword slipped from his hand and stuck diagonally next to the short sword.

“Tick…tick…tick…”

"I am a great young master, but I am not as skilled as others..."

He looked down at his palm and saw blood flowing down, dyeing the golden chrysanthemums red.

Behind him, Sakamoto Hide dropped his sword exhausted, fell to the ground, and gasped heavily.

This was in the script, but his physical strength had indeed reached its limit at this moment, and even his breath smelled of despair and blood.

"Higata!"

"Come on, Hijikata!"

Shirakawa Rika exclaimed, trotted forward and checked on his condition.

Not far away, Xia Fan silently picked up the two swords with his bloody hands and slowly put them back into their sheaths.

"Canju ghost, from now on, make good use of your limited life."

He glanced at Sakamoto Hide who was being helped up by Shirakawa Rika, a hint of pain flashed in his eyes, and said so.

"Ah, I'll show you how to do it."

Sakamoto Hide raised his head and looked at him with a smile.

"Humph."

Without saying anything more, Xia Fan turned and left, disappearing into the depths of the sea of ​​chrysanthemums with proud steps.

"……Card!"

Behind the monitor, Director Nakano shouted excitedly.

Chapter 129 Finishing

2024-07-13

"Good! Great acting! It was a great shoot for me!"

Before Director Nakano could say anything, the cameraman started praising loudly.

"It's really an explosion of acting skills. Whether it's actions, expressions or lines, they all show the character to the fullest!"

"It's really great! We spent the whole morning planting fake chrysanthemums and it paid off!"

The staff members around the sea of ​​chrysanthemums also cheered and applauded.

"Um, Mr. Kawasaki...what do you think?"

Nakano turned around and looked at Kawasaki Airi.

"..."

Kawasaki Airi lowered her head to the ground, her body trembling slightly, and did not answer him.

"Well, this is just the first test shoot. If you think there's something wrong..."

Nakano suddenly became a little nervous and tried to make amends with a wry smile.

"Good... great..."

"From the time I agreed to make The Chrysanthemum and the Sword into a live-action film until now, every time I read the vicious comments from netizens, I would ask myself if this decision was wrong..."

"But after watching this performance, I finally got the answer in my heart."

"For the first time, I felt that it was great that my work could be adapted into a real person!"

Kawasaki Airi raised her head, her face already covered with tears.

"Mr. Xia, I sincerely apologize for my previous disrespect to you."

"In that duel just now, your performance was meticulous and detailed, and you truly and emotionally presented Manye Kazama's conflicted feelings and deep love!"

She strode up to Xia Fan and held his hands tightly.

"Man'yo Kazama appeared here, not only to fulfill his promise to duel with Hijikata Toshizo, but also to fulfill his promise to take Chiyo away before the war spreads over here."

"But in the last sword fight, out of his love for Chiyo and his admiration for Hijikata Toshizo, he deliberately lost the duel and left alone."

"Although there was no dialogue, your actions, eyes and tone of voice silently portrayed the self-sacrifice of Manye Kazama who proudly gave up her love in exchange for the happiness of others!"

She gazed at the "Thousand Leaves in the Wind" and the pear blossoms in the rain, speaking word by word.

"As the author, I felt really bad for Kazama-kun when I was writing this story. With this kind of obscure writing style, I'm afraid there are only a few readers who can understand his feelings."

"Manye Kazama is so lucky to have met an actor like Xia Jun who understands his feelings!"

Having said this, Kawasaki Rika smiled with relief.

"Hey, you grabbed my hand without my permission, and you are saying something I can't understand..."

Xia Fan raised his eyebrows unhappily and suddenly slapped himself hard.

"Oh no, I mean, it's such an honor for me to have this performance recognized by Mr. Kawasaki."

Then, he seemed like a different person and bowed humbly to Kawasaki Airi repeatedly.

"Well, today's main scene has been filmed, and all that's left are some make-up shots."

"Teacher Kawasaki, we will send the 'final chapter' to you for review as soon as possible after post-production is completed..."

Director Nakano also breathed a sigh of relief and handed a tissue to Kawasaki Airi.

"No, you don't have to review it. Please broadcast the final episode just for the audience to see this wonderful duel!"

"I'll leave the rest of the post-production to Director Nakano and everyone else."

Airi Kawasaki wiped away her tears and bowed deeply to Nakano and the crew.

……

Three hours later, under the reflection of the fiery setting sun, the entire sea of ​​chrysanthemums seemed to be burning.

"Okay, reshoots, basically everything is done."

"Everyone, the last day of filming has come to an end for now. If there are any shots that need to be re-shot during post-production, we will notify you separately..."

“Thank you all for your strong support for “The Broken Chrysanthemum and the Knife” and myself. Thank you for your hard work!”

Director Nakano's eyes were filled with tears, and he bowed deeply to the three leading actors and the entire crew.

“Thank you for your hard work, Director Nakano!”

"Director, don't cry. Just treat us to a few more servings of Wagyu beef at the wrap party later!"

The crew members, including Xia Fan, smiled with relief and greeted him in return.

With the concerted efforts of the entire crew during this period, the main filming of the final episode of "The Withered Chrysanthemum and the Sword" has come to an end and is about to enter the post-production stage.

"Okay, today's work schedule is over. Everyone, take off your makeup, pack up, and get ready for dinner!"

"By the way, remember to take away the fake flowers in the chrysanthemum field. We promised the botanical garden to restore them..."

"Hey, fake flowers are hard to tell apart, so troublesome!"

In a relaxed atmosphere, the crew began the on-site finishing work.

"Xia Fan... just now, thank you!"

Sakamoto Hide strode forward and patted Xia Fan's shoulder apologetically.

"If you hadn't reacted quickly and performed so well, I would have ruined it."

As a professional actor, he obviously still couldn't get over the "mistake" he made in the previous duel scene.

Having exhausted his physical and emotional strength at once, Ng would never be able to reach his previous height in subsequent reshoots.

"I just reacted instinctively. Sakamoto-kun is indeed a talented actor. Hijikata Toshizo's determination and carefreeness were perfectly presented!"

Xia Fan exclaimed sincerely.

It was with the help of the "Noh Mask" that he was able to perfectly play the role of Manyo Kazama.

But Sakamoto Hide, who acted opposite him, relied on his solid acting skills and excellent talent to complete the role of Hijikata Toshizo satisfactorily.

"Genius actor... these four words are ironic from every angle."

Sakamoto Hide laughed at himself.

Just talking about the last scene against each other, not to mention that the other party made up for his mistake, in terms of acting skills alone, he is not as good as Xia Fan's Kazama Manye.

If other people said that, he wouldn't care.

After all, Sakamoto Hide now considers himself to be a singer-songwriter and music producer, and acting is just a skill he acquired in exchange for singing opportunities...

But the person who said this, Xia Fan, was the monster music newcomer who wrote "Sakura" and "Red Lotus", which made him very angry.

"Damn you, go take off your makeup first. I'm going to compete with you again at the wine table later."

"Sorry, I don't drink alcohol, but if it's juice, I can still give it a try."

"What? Are you an old man from somewhere..."

Sakamoto Hide patted Xia Fan's shoulder vigorously and walked towards the temporary dressing room.

As for Rika Shirakawa, although her main role today was as a "background board"...

But that gorgeous kimono and the grand makeup and hair took several hours to create, so I couldn't wait to remove the makeup.

"By the way, if you want to go to the dinner party, you have to talk to Section 9 first."

With his exaggerated appearance of silver hair, ghost horns, golden pupils and fangs, Xia Fan walked towards the back door of the botanical garden not far away.

There was an inconspicuous black business car parked on the road outside the back door.

This is the "nanny car" of four people in charge of security when Xia Fan goes out in Lesson 9.

"Well, everyone, I have to go to a dinner party later, so I might be a little late..."

Xia Fan walked to the front of the car and knocked on the glass.

"Ok?"

Looking through the car window, four agents were lying in the car with their eyes rolled back and foaming at the mouth.

Chapter 130 Are you, director?

2024-07-13

"Hey guys, what's wrong with you?"

Xia Fan subconsciously pulled the car door handle, but found a dent on the door that looked like a palm print, causing the door lock to deform and unable to be opened.

"Don't worry, they are wearing life monitoring devices. In order to avoid trouble, I left them alive."

A hoarse and resentful voice sounded, and a man covered in a hooded sportswear, as burly as a mountain, jumped high in the air and then fell onto the roof of the car...

"Of course, if you try to notify the police in any way, I will have to sacrifice the lives of the four of them to the Red God first."

The entire business car was shaking violently, and the roof began to sink and deform inward like a wrinkled paper, squeezing the agents' living space.

"who are you?"

Xia Fan took a step back and subconsciously touched his legs...

But he found that his shogunate-era military uniform did not have a pocket designed for a cell phone.

Moreover, because of the filming, his mobile phone was still in the dressing room.