Thank you, Charlie and Shihane for the kofi.
Jing Li slept straight through until noon. Fortunately, he didn’t have any scenes scheduled for the morning, so he hadn’t delayed anything.
However, due to expending considerable spiritual energy the night before, he still appeared rather haggard.
Lying in bed to recover for a moment, Jing Li reached for his phone on the nightstand, only then noticing unread message notifications.
Upon opening them, he saw messages from Gu Tingshen.
“Is there anyone who can sense others’ oaths?”
Jing Li thought for a moment before replying, [I haven’t heard of anyone with that ability.]
[Jing Li: Though according to the rules, all vows must receive the Heavenly Dao’s acknowledgment to be considered valid, so presumably the Heavenly Dao has this power.]
[Jing Li: But the Heavenly Dao is the creator of universal laws. No one has seen its true form, so whether it’s even a “person” is unclear.]
[Jing Li: Novels and TV dramas have personified it, but that’s not necessarily accurate.]
At first, Jing Li assumed Gu Tingshen had come across such descriptions somewhere and was curious, but after replying, he felt something wrong.
Gu Tingshen didn’t seem the type to be interested in such things, let alone suddenly ask such questions about it.
Jing Li’s fingers paused as something flashed through his mind, suddenly recalling various past events.
Gu Tingshen’s dream memories of the Spiritual Realm, the unusual aura about him, the mysterious blue island, and Jing Li’s own shell…
Connecting this with Dark Forest’s deliberate approach and obsession with Gu Tingshen, Jing Li’s previous confusion suddenly cleared.
Could Gu Tingshen actually be the Heavenly Dao?!
But why had he lost all his memories and powers?
Jing Li felt increasingly surrounded by mysteries. To unravel Gu Tingshen’s situation, he’d likely need to speak with him face-to-face.
So he casually replied, [Did you dream of something again?]
[If you’re not busy these few days, find time to come see me. I have some things I want to discuss in person.]
Gu Tingshen was probably occupied and didn’t respond to his messages.
After waiting a moment, Jing Li set his phone aside and got up to freshen up.
Exiting the bedroom, he found his assistant just setting out lunch delivered by the hotel. Looking up, the assistant greeted him, saying, “I was about to call you. It’s already noon, and you have scenes this afternoon. If you didn’t get up soon, we’d be running late.”
Last night, Jing Li had specifically told him not to disturb him, so the assistant had stayed in his own room, completely unaware of Wang Xiaoning’s visit and what had transpired. He’d assumed Jing Li was simply tired and needed extra rest.
Jing Li nodded in acknowledgment, then walked to the table and sat down. Seeing the extravagant spread before him, he glanced at his assistant in surprise. “Is lunch always this lavish?”
Though his meals were always rich, they typically prioritized quality over quantity, with at most three or four of his favorite dishes in one meal. Today’s lunch, however, was an irregularity, covering the entire table. An outsider might think he was hosting guests.
Moreover, half the dishes were highly nourishing, with a comprehensive variety. They’d likely used every nutritious ingredient in the kitchen.
“It is quite lavish,” the assistant nodded seriously. “But I can’t take credit for this.”
Noticing Jing Li’s puzzled glance, he suppressed a smile and explained, “This film city was built by the Gu Group, and this hotel is under their umbrella too.”
Jing Li: “…”
He suddenly had a bad premonition.
Sure enough, the assistant cleared his throat and continued, “Earlier, when I called the hotel to order, they got excited as soon as they heard our room number. They said everything was ready and would be sent up immediately.”
“They mentioned Mr. Gu had already instructed them to provide the best service for you.”
“Then the hotel manager personally led a procession of food carts up here, asking you to try them. If you like it, they’ll prepare meals to this taste from now on.”
“Oh, right. The manager brought five carts, totaling 64 dishes. I thought our table couldn’t fit them all, so I only had them set up two carts’ worth.”
“If anything doesn’t suit your taste, I can have them change it.”
Jing Li: “…”
“Also, the manager saw our suite’s layout and thought it might be inadequate. He asked if you’d like to move to the top-floor presidential suite.”
“He said it’s more spacious and comfortable. If you want to move in, they can immediately redecorate it to match this suite’s style exactly.”
Jing Li: “…”
What is all this?!
Jing Li had been thinking about Gu Tingshen’s situation, but now he was distracted. Massaging his temples in frustration, he hurriedly said, “Tell them to stop. The original standard is fine.”
“And I’m perfectly comfortable here. I don’t need any special treatment.”
“Oh.” The assistant glanced at him, barely containing his laughter, but said, “But Er Shao, these are all Mr. Gu’s direct instructions. I doubt they’d listen to me.”
Initially, he’d been shocked by his young master’s relationship with Mr. Gu. After all, Mr. Gu’s reputation was that of a cold, aloof CEO. Although he appeared to be very gentle and easy-going to his young master, it was hard to imagine him falling for his young master.
But seeing the eldest young master’s unsurprised reaction, as if he’d known all along, the assistant gradually accepted it.
Yet he never expected the domineering Mr. Gu’s approach to romance to be like this!
His boyfriend goes out to film, and he must use his company’s film city, stay at his hotel, prepare 64 dishes for one lunch, and offer the best, largest, and most expensive suite.
It’s more exaggerated than a Mary Sue novel protagonist!
Heaven knows how he felt watching the hotel manager lead a parade of uniformed staff with food carts through the door.
Jing Li turned to glare at him.
“It’s true,” the assistant blinked innocently. “Maybe you should call Mr. Gu yourself?”
After a few seconds of silent staring, Jing Li finally gave in and took out his phone to call Gu Tingshen directly.
However, the call repeatedly indicated the number was out of service range.
After two failed attempts, he gave up and told his assistant, “I can’t reach him. Go inform them to stop these extravagances. I’ll ask Gu Tingshen about it later.”
The assistant agreed, suppressing a smile, and Jing Li finally began eating.
With afternoon scenes scheduled, Jing Li ate lightly before heading to the set.
This time, the movie being filmed was a modern police drama, so there was no need for elaborate makeup. Soon after finishing his makeup, he arrived at the set.
Many people were already there, including Hu Li and Wang Lele.
Hu Li was a bit surprised when he saw Jing Li, then quickly walked over to him, whispering, “Why do you look so haggard? Did you fight?”
“No,” Jing Li shook his head, about to explain when he noticed Wang Xiaoning approaching. He paused, “Everything went smoothly. Don’t worry. I’ll explain later.”
Following his gaze, Hu Li also saw Wang Xiaoning and nodded, choosing to remain silent.
Before they could continue, Wang Xiaoning reached them and greeted them with a nod. His expression remained calm and normal, as if nothing had happened between him and Jing Li, showing no signs of warmth towards Jing Li.
However, it was evident that he was in good spirits, even more so than a few days ago.
Jing Li and Hu Li exchanged glances and returned the greeting before focusing on the upcoming shoot.
The film was a police drama, with Jing Li playing a righteous narcotics officer. Because he accidentally discovered that there was a mole in his team who tipped off the criminal group during an investigation, he secretly launched an investigation, and finally found out that his partner and close friend was actually an undercover placed by the criminal group in the police.
The male lead, having graduated from the police academy with his partner, struggled to accept this betrayal. Remembering their shared dreams and aspirations, he decided to have a heart-to-heart over drinks, hoping to persuade his partner to confess before it was too late.
The scene being filmed was the moment when the male lead found out about his partner being the mole, struggling to believe and accept it, and later inviting his partner for a drink and a chat.
Hu Li played the partner. Both being skilled actors and having worked together before, they nailed the scene in one take.
After filming his scenes, Hu Li still had more to shoot, so Jing Li went to his designated spot to rest.
Shortly after sitting down, Wang Xiaoning walked over and sat next to him.
Jing Li raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
“Thank you,” Wang Xiaoning said softly, gazing at the set. “I don’t know Dark Forest’s exact location. Each time we were summoned, that person directly extracted our demon souls.”
“The place is very dark, pitch black where you can’t see anything. But I could smell damp earth, so it’s likely underground somewhere.”
“I never saw the person clearly. They wore a mask and a hooded black robe, which covered everything except their eyes. I’ve sketched the eye shape from memory and will give it to you later.”
…
Wang Xiaoning made no mention of the source remaining within him, nor did he betray any emotion about it. He simply relayed all the information he knew about the Dark Forest as agreed.
From his account, Jing Li gradually pieced together many crucial details. By combining this with the information previously gathered by him and Hu Li, they had essentially figured out the identity of the mastermind behind the Dark Forest.
It was a black bear spirit over ten thousand years old, with unfathomable power. However, because it was seriously injured recently, its strength had diminished greatly. It was frantically devouring its underlings’ souls to recover, causing nearly half of Dark Forest’s lower ranks to dissipate completely.
Recently, it had sent Wang Xiaoning, Wang San, and someone named Zhang Jiao to establish arrays at the five cardinal boundaries, intending to absorb China’s dragon veins to regain power and execute their grand plan of “substituting the heavens.”
But Taoist cultivators had sensed the disturbance and thwarted the attempt, resulting in mutual injuries and a retreat to their lair.
Sending Wang Xiaoning to negotiate with Jing Li this time was due to his superior strength, while the other two were injured.
However, the leader clearly hadn’t anticipated Wang Xiaoning’s long-standing resentment and desire for freedom since being tricked into Dark Forest, nor his potential betrayal.
After listening, Jing Li pondered briefly before smiling, “In that case, would you consider working with me to completely break free from Dark Forest’s control?”
“I thought my attitude yesterday sufficiently proved my sincerity,” Wang Xiaoning lowered his gaze. “But it seems you still don’t quite trust me, Jing-laoshi.”
Weren’t you unsure of my exact position within Dark Forest?
“Not at all,” Jing Li smiled earnestly. “I just felt awkward bringing it up without having fully eliminated the hidden threat in your body.”
“But this isn’t something we can rush. I can’t risk alerting the enemy before understanding the situation fully, can I?”
He looked at Wang Xiaoning with an innocent expression. “After interacting with that thing inside you yesterday, I suddenly thought of a method that might help you without alerting them. However, I haven’t tried it before, so I’d need to experiment first.”
Wang Xiaoning turned to look at him upon hearing this.
But before he could speak, a man’s voice suddenly came from behind them, “What method?”
Since we’re down to the less than 10 chapters before KMCF is completed, please help me decide what series to work on next. You can check the poll posted on my kofi page. It is open for everyone, and will be open until July 3.
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