I Became Famous in the Entertainment Industry with High Martial Arts Skills - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Searching for the Good Citizen

Yin Shisan’s eyes curled at the corners, revealing a hint of world-ignorant innocence, yet the soft sword drawn from his waist was brimming with chilling intent.

The youth’s laughter was light and crisp: “Both of us use soft swords; it’s fair enough.”

The assassin was also a member of the martial arts world, having only come to coordinate this assassination plot to repay a favor to the person behind the scenes.

He secretly thought to himself that things were looking bad, cursing Song Yu’s luck for having Yin Shisan step in to help. He feared the original plan was about to go awry.

As expected, Yin Shisan’s wrist moved lightly as he stepped forward. The soft sword in his hand sliced through the air, creating a sharp, loud whistling sound, with killing intent manifesting within the silver-bright afterimages of the blade.

The assassin reacted quickly, pushing off with his toes to retreat. He used his own soft sword to parry the tip of the blade aimed at his throat, narrowly escaping.

The youth’s eyes slanted slightly upward, his jet-black hair fluttering and entangling around him. His voluminous sleeves flipped with his movements, creating wave-like undulations.

His face was as white as jade, as gorgeous as a specter.

Zhang Yunjiang’s eyes widened, and he quickly barked orders: “Fill the light! Cameras, switch angles! Add a close-up shot!”

This segment completely exceeded his expectations. The assassin was from the martial arts instruction team, so the fighting movements were already fluid enough.

However, he hadn’t expected Xie Ci’s movements to be even more natural and ethereal. It was exactly the duel of his dreams it wouldn’t even need post-production!

Zhang Lingshan, behind his mask, was also surprised. He never expected this sickly-looking, thin newcomer to perform at this level.

Having practiced martial arts since childhood and worked as a martial arts instructor for over a decade, he could naturally see the high technical value in Xie Ci’s movements.

They were crisp, rapid, and fierce. The prop soft sword in his hand seemed to become a legendary weapon, every move carrying immense weight.

Great skills!

Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, the assassin retreated to gain a better position, jumping behind a table cluttered with messy dishes. Seeing Yin Shisan swing the sword again, he gritted his teeth and swung his soft sword toward the youth’s waist.

Ssssss— With a sound, the two soft swords entangled like silver snakes, intertwining tightly and emitting a series of rapid, tooth-aching “chi-chi” noises.

The assassin’s brow furrowed as he exerted force with his arm, attempting to wrench both soft swords toward himself. However, this played right into the youth’s hands.

Yin Shisan’s eyes flickered, and he actually followed the force, letting go of his hilt.

Without a hand to guide it, the tension in the entangled blades vanished, and they separated during the friction. Seeing this, the assassin lunged forward, wanting to seize both swords.

Without a weapon, even a martial arts expert like Yin Shisan would be nothing to fear.

He was feeling smug when he saw the seemingly weakened youth advance sideways. Xie Ci caught the falling soft sword a step ahead of him, the sword’s momentum shifting abruptly. With a single swing, he severed the tendons in the assassin’s right hand.

The assassin let out a muffled groan, knowing the game was up. Still unwilling to give up, he spoke hoarsely to the shocked Song Yu and the old Emperor on the stage: “Your subordinate…”

Before he could finish, the assassin’s eyes flew wide. He stumbled and fell straight backward, blood gurgling from a fatal red line across his neck.

“Cut!”

The lens lingered on Xie Ci’s cold movement as he sheathed the sword.

Zhang Yunjiang was speechless.

One take.

For a plot-driven film like Diving Abyss that contained a fair amount of fighting, post-production editing of action scenes was essential.

If an actor’s movements weren’t up to par, it was common for the post-production team to work themselves to death trying to edit and fix them.

In recent years, wuxia films had gradually declined. The era of the old actors had ended, and there were very few young actors who could film excellent action scenes. Most of them barely passed by relying on slow motion and replays.

But those scenes were soft and weak, lacking any of the carefree spirit of wuxia. It wasn’t the feeling Zhang Yunjiang, a director who had witnessed the glory days of wuxia, wanted at all.

Therefore, the few actors in this movie with action scenes were specifically auditioned by him just to capture flesh-and-blood action.

Unexpectedly, Xie Ci—the last one to join the crew—had given him the biggest surprise.

Wiping a thin layer of sweat from his forehead, Xie Ci walked over to Ji Xiuheng and helped up the ill-fated male lead of the drama.

The veteran actor playing the old Emperor had already been assisted by staff. Seeing Xie Ci approach, he couldn’t help but praise him: “Xiao Xie, that action scene was filmed beautifully.”

Chen Deshui nodded repeatedly as he spoke, “Your skills are better than mine were when I was young. The younger generation is truly to be feared, hahahahaha…”

Ji Xiuheng stood to the side, a look of agreement crossing his handsome face.

Xie Ci’s growth rate was faster than he had imagined. In the video saved on his phone from the youth’s first scene on set, his movements and expressions were still slightly green.

But in today’s performance, although his expressions and lines were still a bit lacking, his reaction time and choreography were enough to prove Xie Ci’s talent for acting.

Thinking of the thick notebook Xie Ci always carried and the script covered in notes, Ji Xiuheng couldn’t help but look at the somewhat thin and slender youth beside him.

Perhaps, it was also inseparable from his hard work.

In the depths of Ji Xiuheng’s eyes was a density that couldn’t be dispersed; his restrained mask of a gentleman was thin and almost breaking.

Extreme beauty combined with overwhelming power the intense contrast made Xie Ci look…

Very charming.

The banquet assassination scene wasn’t finished yet, but Xie Ci’s part in it was over.

In the subsequent plot, because of the assassin’s final words, the Crown Prince is suspected by the fatuous old Emperor, and the Fifth Prince’s mother, the Noble Consort, adds fuel to the fire from the sidelines.

In a fit of rage, the old Emperor places the Crown Prince under house arrest, refusing to listen to anyone’s explanation. A few days later, he announces the deposition of Song Yu as Crown Prince on the grounds of rebellion.

Although he really wanted to stay and watch a group of veteran actors show off their skills, the phone showed it was already 5:26 PM.

Xie Ci changed out of his costume and prepared to find Xiao Yun to film the promotional video.

“Teacher Xie! You’re here!” It was the lively voice of the joyful Xiao Yun.

Xie Ci smiled: “Is it okay for me to film the promo like this?”

It was late summer/early autumn, and there was still some lingering heat in the evening.

Xie Ci was dressed very simply in a solid-colored top and slate-gray trousers, looking clean and fresh.

Xiao Yun circled Xie Ci once, thinking to herself: Clearly, Teacher Xie has gorgeous features, but he looks so clean and pure.

Like a white equinox flower, he had a contradictory yet harmonious beauty.

She teased playfully: “A great hottie looks good in anything. The netizens’ calls for you are about to drown out the crew’s account.”

With that, she took Xie Ci to a dedicated promotion room.

“Teacher Xie, you don’t need to be nervous.” Xiao Yun signaled her colleagues to adjust the camera positions and handed Xie Ci a prop soft sword.

“Teacher Xie, can you do a few sword movements from the drama?” Considering the audience’s preferences and Xie Ci’s character, the team leader spoke up to guide from the side.

Xie Ci thought for a moment. With a flick of his wrist, the soft sword suddenly sprang to life, performing a beautiful sword flower.

“Is something like this okay?”

“! Of course! That movement just now was excellent!”

The team leader instantly perked up, staring at Xie Ci’s every move with great interest.

“OK, prepare to start filming.” Xiao Yun signaled the photographer to begin.

In the frame, the blade danced and vibrated; the soft sword was like supple silk in Xie Ci’s hand.

Chopping, stabbing, parrying, pointing, flicking after several sword forms, the soft sword traced arc after arc like waves. The explosive power within caused a sharp “shoo” sound to occasionally ring through the air.

“Very good, yes—perfect!”

The head of the publicity team looked delighted. He immediately called for the makeup and hair stylists to speed up and give Xie Ci an exceptionally elegant and ethereal look.

Dressed in green and white robes with his ink-black hair tied up by a simple jade hairpin, Xie Ci’s fair neck appeared even more slender.

“Teacher Xie, with this look, can you do those movements again?”

Xie Ci nodded, casually brushing a strand of hair from his chest to his side, and took the soft sword to dance again.

Xiao Yun, standing nearby, watched the image of the beauty dancing with a sword without blinking. She decided right then to stan Xie Ci as her new “bias”!

The video took a full hour and a half to film. Mo Li, who had long since finished class and rushed back to the set, stood by holding the phone, occasionally taking photos of Xie Ci dancing with the sword.

The team leader looked very pleased. The material filmed today was enough for him. He would edit through the night, determined to seize the hot search in one go!

“Too perfect! Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Xie.”

Seeing the shoot come to an end, Mo Li trotted over. “Brother Liu, this is the social media account our Xiao Xie just opened. Please include it when the crew does the promotion; it’ll make it easier to cooperate on publicity in the future!”

Mo Li pushed the account handle over, smiling brightly.

It was a win-win deal, so the publicity head naturally agreed.

On the way home, Mo Li was driving. “Xiao Xie, I find myself admiring you more and more!”

Xie Ci remained unmoved. “Is that so? Since you admire me, you do the dishes tonight.”

Mo Li was very expressive with his emotions; Xie Ci was used to his occasional outbursts.

Sure enough, Mo Li’s moods came and went quickly. Hearing this, his face changed instantly.

“That won’t do. One thing has nothing to do with the other!”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Xie Ci couldn’t help but laugh. The rearview mirror reflected their shared smiles, which, accompanied by the soothing music in the car, drifted through the slightly open window and circled gently in the night.

Wanyue District Public Security Bureau.

“Brother Li, that citizen left right after doing the good deed. He didn’t wait for us to arrive at all.”

A young policeman looked at the screen on his computer and continued hesitantly, “However, some witnesses at the scene reported that the person who subdued Wang Dahao is named Xie Ci, and he’s an actor.”

The man called Brother Li raised an eyebrow and walked over to take a look.

Such a beautiful, thin youth could knock down that 200-plus-pound Wang Dahao?

And Wang Dahao had a kitchen knife!

But after watching the livestream clips on the computer, Brother Li was completely convinced: “My goodness, you really can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Thinking about Xie Ci’s act of bravery, Brother Li’s mind turned, and he said with a smile: “Doesn’t the bureau have a promotional account? How about we make a ‘Searching the City for a Good Citizen’ promotional video?”

The higher-ups had requested better community outreach wasn’t this a god-given opportunity?

No sooner said than done. In less than half an hour, a unique “Missing Person” video was posted to the Wanyue Public Security Bureau’s accounts across various platforms.

Title: Searching the City! Looking for this brave Good Citizen!

White text on a blue background—clear, direct, and possessing a certain “earthy” sense of justice.

Paired with the clips of Xie Ci from the livestream, this unique “Missing Person Notice” caught the attention of many netizens.

The crew was working overtime to finish editing Xie Ci’s promotional video when they received a private message from the Wanyue District Public Security Bureau account.

“Hello, we are official staff from the Publicity Department of the B City Wanyue District Public Security Bureau. We are currently looking for a good citizen who acted bravely at the Wanyue snack street yesterday. According to the information we have, this citizen is very likely an actor in your production…”

Xiao Yun stared at the computer with a blank face, then turned to look at the team leader beside her. “Leader, the police have come knocking on our door.”

Leader: “!!!”

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