IPCFS: Chapter 122 Part 1

Xu Cheng heard Ji Li’s answer and his smile widened. He patted the other person’s shoulder. “Just do your best. There are no rigid requirements that you have to pass it in one take here.”

The first three movies were filled with a lot of rivalry scenes with no physical rival on set, and it took a while for actors to get into the right filming state.

Xu Cheng knew better than anyone how difficult it was to film a rivalry scene without a physical partner.

The reason why he had only arranged such a scene on the opening day was because he wanted to control the difficulty and to give Ji Li, the male protagonist, more time to get used to filming without a physical partner.

“Thank you, Director Xu. I will work hard.”

Director Xu picked up the script and gestured. “Let’s go. I’ll tell you about the scene while you try it out.”

They had already thoroughly rehearsed these intangible performances during the crew training session, but they still had to familiarize themselves with each fixed point on site for the visual effects team’s capture and post-production.

It took nearly 40 minutes for the crew to position this first scene well.

Xu Cheng returned to his director’s seat. “Ji Li, you can digest the information silently. We will start filming in five minutes.”

Ji Li nodded. Then Baozi came up with the makeup artist. “Brother Ji Li, hurry and drink some warm ginger water. You will be frozen when you take off your clothes later.”

“I got it.” Ji Li smiled.

In fact, Baozi had been promoted by Chaoying to become his publicity agent, and the company had found a new assistant to join the team. However, Baozi seemed to have already developed this habit. As long as he could take care of things, then he basically did it himself.

Ji Li forced himself to drink half a cup of spicy, warm ginger water. He felt his entire body warming up and took off his padded jacket.

The makeup artist placed the prepared black hat on Ji Li’s head. The color of the hat matched his robe that had golden incantations on a black piece of fabric.

Then he added some lip color. “Brother Ji, the makeup is almost done.”

“Yes.”

Ji Li lifted the black veil on the edge of the hat and his mind vaguely returned to the first scene of ‘Schemes of the Great Zong Dynasty Youth.’

At that time, he was just an unknown stand-in, and he wore a white hat to hide his appearance.

Step by step, he had now become the male protagonist of a movie and had a similar look.

It was just that this veiled hat was a sharp weapon used by the demon monk to kill demons.

Surrounded by the quietness that only existed before filming, Ji Li closed his eyes and quickly went through the scene. Then he calmly gestured ‘OK’ to Director Xu Cheng.

“Okay, all set. Three, two, one, action!”

“First shot of the 3rd scene!”

Clap!

The sound of the clapboard was heard, and filming of the first scene of ‘Demon Monk’ started amidst much anticipation.

***

Extremely lush old trees covered the entire sky, blocking out all light outside the canopy. Hundreds of tree whiskers fell down, and dead vines spread and climbed on the ground in a twisted posture.

This dense environment had become the best habitat for some alien creatures.

Hiss—hiss—

Various subtle sounds echoed, and the entire mountain forest fell into a frightening and strange state.

The camera swept over the scenery in the forest from far to near, finally landing on an inconspicuous fallen leaf.

An evil wind hit, blowing up the accumulated fallen leaves on the ground and also rolling up countless grains of fine dust.

Suddenly, a black figure broke in.

The footsteps of the visitor seemed light and fluttering, but the dead branches and leaves on the ground were instantly ruthlessly crushed into powder and scattered.

The camera moved upward along the black hem of the visitor’s clothes. The film clearly swept across the golden incantations on the clothes before moving on to the slightly exposed neckline. Two lines of mysterious black-red incantations were imprinted on the overly fair skin and spread to both sides of the visitor’s neck.

In the darkness, the incantations seemed to contain an extremely powerful and mysterious power.

Xu Cheng stared at Ji Li on the monitor and showed a satisfied smile. “Yanzhi, do you see Ji Li’s demeanor?”

His figure was very straight. Even if it was obscured by the clothing, it could still make people imagine his tight abs and perfect body line.

In the eyes of others, Demon Monk Chen Yi was powerful and inviolable.

This should be reflected not only in his technique but in the posture of his body. If Ji Li’s body leaned forward even a little bit, then his external aura would become completely different.

Xu Yanzhi knew that Xu Cheng was taking this opportunity to teach him and nodded. “Director Xu, I understand what you mean.”

He had been away from the movie and television industry for too long. He needed to keep in mind any essentials that might seem to be ‘old-fashioned.’

“I really want to see the face of the demon monk.” The production assistant standing behind them let out a low sigh.

She knew very well that the actor of the demon monk was Ji Li, but the other person could reawaken everyone’s desire to see his appearance with just one posture.

Filming continued.

The staff member standing behind the cameraman turned on the small fan in his hand and froze the frame according to the angle that had been discussed before. This created a beautiful picture in the camera lens.

A mountain wind came from nowhere and gently brushed along the edge of the veiled hat.

A corner of the fluttering black gauze rolled up, revealing seductive lips so red that they seemed like they would drip blood. The curve of the visitor’s lips was very light, like a smile, and there was an indescribable itchy feeling that it provoked.

Another gust of wind blew, and the veil covering his face fluttered back. A shocking face was completely revealed in front of the camera.

The eyes were a light and cold brown, while the flush at the corners of the eyes was evil and charming. The bridge of the tall nose was dotted with a small dark red mole. Combined with the slightly raised corners of his lips, there was an indescribable demonic feeling that was inadvertently seductive.

The female staff members almost couldn’t control their screams. Even the male staff members lost their concentration for a moment.

Sure enough, actors needed to stay in a specific filming environment to show their character and charm 100%.

In less than a minute, Ji Li’s demon monk had completely conquered them!

The camera froze on a close-up of Ji Li’s face. His gaze had slightly shifted to the rear left.

Suddenly, a playful killing intent flashed in his indifferent eyes and his thin lips parted slightly. “Interesting.”

After he finished speaking, he reached out to cover his face with the veil again. Then he continued to walk forward.

The position of the camera lowered, sweeping across the empty pile of dead vines and focusing on the ground. A picture would be added with post-production visual effects.

The ground that Chen Yi had stepped on had no traces of dead leaves. Only a line of dust remained.

In fact, the reason why Chen Yi stopped was because he noticed a strange movement behind him.

This impenetrable ring-shaped tree nest was actually the forbidden territory of the python snake demon clan. The moment Chen Yi entered this territory, he was discovered and followed by a group of snake demons who were guarding the area nearby. This matter was immediately passed on to the snake king of the clan.

This was why Chen Yi encountered the anaconda monster by the pool.

Of course, the monster thought it was waiting for a rabbit, but Chen Yi was actually leading the snake out of the hole.

***

“Cut! It has passed!”

Xu Cheng was very satisfied with Ji Li’s performance in the first shot. He got up and asked, “Ji Li, shall we directly start the second shot while your state is good?”

Ji Li hadn’t broken free from the character’s state at all and quickly nodded.

In less than three minutes, the crew directly started filming the next scene.

The demon monk played by Ji Li walked to an unfathomable pool.

The surface of the dark green-black water had no ripples at all. It was as calm as a stagnant pool of water. In the dim light, this gave people the chills for no reason.

Hiss—hiss—

The slight, eerie sound started to echo over and over.

If ordinary people encountered such a sight, they would either run away in a panic or be cautious. Meanwhile, Chen Yi seemed to subconsciously approach the edge of the pool and crouch down.

The movement of his body created a small breeze, and a corner of the hat veil fluttered again.

The eyes hidden under the hat were filled with a demonic and gloomy killing intent, which was more terrifying than this mysterious, forbidden place.

The camera captured this scene at the right time and sent the footage back to the monitor. This further deepened the satisfaction in Xu Cheng’s eyes.

“He is a demon monk, but deep in his soul lives the holy monk who was worshiped back then.”

On the sidelines, Xu Yanzhi understood this look and also understood the meaning of Xu Cheng’s words. He sincerely admired Ji Li.

At this moment, Ji Li’s aura was obviously weak yet powerful. Meanwhile, his eyes gave people a strong and chilling lethality.

The eyes of the demon monk and the aura of the holy monk—these were two people!

How did Ji Li do it?

His excellent acting skills completely surpassed their age group!

Filming continued and the camera lens swiped down to the right.

Ji Li gathered up the hem of his long clothes. Then he stretched out his right hand and slowly moved it toward the surface of the water.

His fingers were particularly good-looking, white, and slender. Under the illumination of the lighting, they seemed to have a shiny luster.

The fingertips tapped on the calm water.

Subtle waves appeared in the water, turning into obvious ripples in the blink of an eye. In an instant, a strong vortex appeared in the center of the pool.

The wind suddenly picked up and frantic sounds occurred all around him.

Killing intent quietly came.

***

The shot ended here. It was still flawless, and the female staff outside the venue were already deeply trapped in Ji Li’s charm.

“Wu wu wu. Ji Li is too good-looking. His hands look like they can perform magic.”

“When I watched ‘Special Operations’ during the summer vacation, I felt that Ji Li had blue veins on the back of his hands, and his hands should hold a gun to protect his family and defend the country.”

“But after watching this filming session, I feel that the hands of the demon monk should be like this.”

There was no rough texture on his skin at all, and his hands must be used to seduce people. It would also be very touching if such a pair of hands was stained with blood!

“That’s right. The roles are different, but how can even his hands give off a different feeling?”

The watching Yu Fuya heard the praises in the recording studio and couldn’t help raising her head while showing a proud look.

His hands were definitely different.

These exquisite things cost money!

Ever since Ji Li returned to China, he asked her to make an appointment with a hand beautician. He received a hand mask once every two days and carried hand cream with him. This was all done to appear in the most perfect state when filming the hand close-ups.

Her family’s shaping of the character was detailed in all aspects!

Just as everyone was relaxing, Ji Li filmed the fixed long-range shot. It was the same scene as the one that was just recorded. This would facilitate the transformation and connection of the scenes during the post-editing process.

The first half of filming temporarily came to an end, and the crew started filming the plot of the second half of the scene without stopping.

The next scene was the core test of performing without a physical partner.

On the surface of the pool, a giant snake covered with scales broke out of the water. The monster that originally wanted to eat Chen Yi was shaken by his appearance and had a different mind.

She conjured up a strange human head and wrapped around Chen Yi’s body to charm him.

Not only did Chen Yi not refuse, but he used an even more charming and purer demeanor and words to fascinate the monster. Then he fiercely killed her and took the demon pill from her body.

This anaconda monster would be created in post-production.

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TL: Advance chapters are available over on my Patreon. You can go check out the details on my Patreon page.

Proofreader: Azure