Huayu: Starting with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu

The fire went out.

The pyrotechnics team, consisting of more than a dozen people, simultaneously activated the fire extinguishing equipment.

The orange flames began to retreat from the outer edge, disappearing completely within a few seconds as they reached the central tents.

The entire hillside was plunged back into darkness.

Only smoke remained, still floating on the ground.

Chen Mo dismounted.

He did not immediately head to the surveillance shed.

He stood beside his horse and looked up at the camp that was still smoldering.

No one knows what he's looking at.

But he stood there for about a minute.

Then he turned and walked toward the surveillance shed.

Luo Yifeng watched him walk over.

Chen Mo walked to the entrance of the monitoring shed but did not go in.

He stood at the door for a moment.

"Director Luo."

"Um."

"Can I see a replay of what just happened?"

Luo Yifeng nodded.

Chen Mo entered the monitoring booth.

Luo Yifeng pressed the playback button.

The screen showed a picture of Chen Mo on a slope, with firelight illuminating half of his face.

Chen Mo looked at the screen.

He stared at it for about twenty seconds.

He didn't speak.

Luo Yifeng didn't say anything either.

The two of them just stared at the screen.

After the 20-second replay finishes...

Chen Mo spoke.

He said something that Luo Yifeng hadn't expected.

"Director Luo."

"Um."

"That face in this one."

"Um."

"It's not mine."

Luo Yifeng was stunned.

Chen Mo didn't look at him; he was still looking at the screen.

"This face is Teacher Wang's face."

Luo Yifeng sat there, not saying a word for a long time.

He didn't speak for a long time.

How did you figure that out?

"This is a fifteen-year-old boy imitating his grandfather's face," Chen Mo said. "I didn't think about this when I was filming, but now when I watch the playback, I see it."

"This face is not Zhu Zhanji's face."

"It's Zhu Zhanji's face with Zhu Di's face on his face."

"This is not an act. This is Zhu Zhanji's face before he was fifteen years old. He watched his grandfather every day and remembered how his grandfather looked when he saw this kind of scene. Now it is written on his own face."

"So this face is essentially Teacher Wang's face."

"I stole it from Teacher Wang."

After hearing this, Luo Yifeng...

He didn't speak immediately.

He stood up, walked to the door of the monitoring shed, and lifted the curtain.

He shouted outside.

"Old Wang, come here for a second."

Wang Xueqi was sitting on a folding chair on the other side of the set when he heard Luo Yifeng shout. He stood up and walked towards the monitoring booth.

He went into the monitoring booth.

Luo Yifeng pointed to the screen.

"Take a look at this."

Wang Xueqi walked in front of the screen.

Chen Mo stepped aside.

Wang Xueqi stood in front of the screen, looking at Chen Mo's face for about ten seconds.

He watched it twice.

Then he turned his head and glanced at Chen Mo.

This was the longest look Wang Xueqi had given Chen Mo on set in the past few days.

He looked at it for about five seconds.

He spoke.

"This face is what I taught you to look like."

"Mm," Chen Mo said.

When did you learn that?

"On my first day on set," Chen Mo said, "I saw how immersed Teacher Wang was in his role in the mirror in the dressing room."

"Um."

"At that time, Teacher Wang had her eyes closed, her face was relaxed, and her brow bone was very flat. I remembered that then."

"Um."

Wang Xueqi didn't say anything more.

He walked out of the surveillance booth.

He went outside and stood on the hillside in the darkness.

He looked up at the sky.

There was no moon in the sky.

There were only some cold stars.

Wang Xueqi stood there for a long time.

He remembered something.

He played a role when he was twenty-four years old.

At that time, he was also a newcomer, working alongside an experienced actor who played his master. He acted in a scene where he was a disciple who dared not speak in front of his master. After the scene was filmed, his master said something to him.

Wang Xueqi stood here tonight, thinking for a long time before he could remember what his master had said.

The master said something like this.

Wang Xueqi has remembered his master's words to this day.

He turned around and walked towards the monitoring shed.

His steps quickened slightly compared to before.

He walked to the entrance of the monitoring shed and lifted the curtain.

Chen Mo is still inside.

Wang Xueqi stood at the door, looking at Chen Mo.

When he spoke, there was a barely perceptible hoarseness in his voice.

"You can give that face back to me next time you play a different role."

"Mm," Chen Mo said.

"This face isn't yours, it's mine. You borrowed it, but you'll have to return it someday."

"Um."

Don't forget.

"Never forget."

Wang Xueqi nodded.

He turned to leave, but when he reached the curtain, he turned back and glanced at Chen Mo.

That eye held something he hadn't let Chen Mo see all day.

There was relief, exhaustion, and a touch of moisture.

"Xiao Chen."

"Mm," Chen Mo said.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Just those three words.

After Wang Xueqi finished speaking, he turned and left the monitoring booth.

Luo Yifeng sat in the monitoring booth, watching Wang Xueqi's figure disappear into the darkness.

He didn't speak for a few seconds.

His voice was very soft.

"Xiao Chen."

"Um."

"Old Wang said those three words to young actors no more than three times in his entire life."

Chen Mo looked up at Luo Yifeng.

Which three times?

Luo Yifeng smiled.

"One time was sixteen years ago with the current Director Gu."

"One time was twelve years ago with the current director Zhou Mu."

"You're the third one."

Chen Mo remained silent for a few seconds.

He didn't speak.

He simply looked down at his right hand on his knee.

His right hand was the same hand that had been holding the reins on the horse, and there was a faint red mark on his palm from the reins.

Chen Mo looked at the red mark.

He said something to himself.

He didn't say that aloud.

The sentence is:

I will not let you down.

This drama spans a long period, from the young Zhu Zhanji to his ascension to the throne.

Young Zhu Zhanji could imitate Zhu Di, but he could not be Zhu Di forever.

After ascending the throne, he will become himself.

That's why Wang Xueqi said, "Remember to give me back my face."

This is the ultimate advice a veteran actor gives to a young actor, and it carries more weight than any praise of "acting well" or "having talent."

This is a performance that carries on the tradition.

......

The final scene of the three night raid sequences is the charge.

Following Luo Yifeng's reverse order, this scene is filmed last.

Filming officially began at 2:00 AM on the 24th.

Before filming began, action director Zhao came to see Chen Mo again.

It was 1:30 a.m.

Chen Mo was in the crew's rest tent, which contained only a cot, a small heater, and a folding table with a prop lance on it.

The total length of the lance is 2.4 meters.

This was a commonly used heavy cavalry weapon in the early Ming Dynasty.

The spearhead is made of steel, and the shaft is made of hardwood. A lance made to actual specifications would weigh between six and eight kilograms.

Chen Mo's prop lance was made to the specifications of the real thing.

It weighs seven kilograms.

It is three times heavier than a regular prop gun.

When Zhao Jin, the martial arts director, entered the tent, Chen Mo was sitting on a folding bed. He was wearing night armor, holding the shaft of a lance in his right hand, with the lance upright on the ground, the head pointing upwards and the butt against the floor, feeling the weight of the lance.

Action director Zhao Jinlai.

"Teacher Chen."

"Teacher Zhao."

Let me confirm with you again.

"Um."

"I've already discussed the three pursuit and slashing moves for this charge scene with Fang Hai; he can do them for you."

Martial arts director Zhao mentioned Fang Hai's name again; Fang Hai was the stunt double assigned to Chen Mo by the production team.

"Fang Hai has been practicing this lance for a month. He is more skilled at riding horses than you. When he performs these three movements, the audience can't tell the difference when the footage is edited together."

"Mm," Chen Mo said.

"Then what do you mean?" asked Zhao, the martial arts instructor.

Chen Mo did not answer immediately.

He held the lance horizontally across his knee.

"Teacher Zhao," he said, "I want to do it myself."

Martial arts instructor Zhao looked at him.

"What's the reason?"

"The audience can't tell the difference between these three actions," Chen Mo said, "but I can see the difference in the character of Zhu Zhanji myself."

Martial arts director Zhao frowned.

"What's the difference?"

"It's different from the reaction on a fifteen-year-old boy's face when he first stabs someone with a lance."

"Fang Hai is a professional stuntman. These three moves are part of his daily work. After he finishes a move, he has that calmness on his face, the calmness of someone who has 'finished the job'."

"The audience couldn't tell that it was the calmness of a martial arts performer; they thought it was the calmness of Zhu Zhanji."

"But Teacher Wang can tell."

"Director Luo can see that too."

"Zhu Zhanji should have the calm feeling of 'the work is done,' but this calm cannot be the kind of calm that comes from fighting."

"This calm must be the kind of calm that a fifteen-year-old boy experiences after his first murder, when he is suppressed by something he himself was not prepared for."

"These two kinds of tranquility look exactly the same."

"But they are not one thing."

Chen Mo paused here.

"Fang Hai can't act this calm; he doesn't have the concept of 'first time' in his body."

"I have."

"I have never used a lance to stab anyone in my life."

"My first time was Zhu Zhanji's first time."

Commander Zhao sat down on the folding chair next to the cot.

He sat down and thought for a long time.

Then he spoke.

"You've been practicing this lance for a week."

"Um."

"You can get three injections a week, but those three won't look very good."

"I know," Chen Mo said, "It doesn't have to be pretty."

"So what do you want?"

"I want truth."

Martial arts instructor Zhao looked at him.

After a while, he nodded.

"OK."

"But there is a bottom line."

Which one?

"The three extras you stab must wear real protective gear. I'll wrap the spearhead in real soft cloth. You have to stab them. I want to see you stab them with my own eyes, but the force you apply must be within the line I've drawn for you."

"Um."

"Once this line is crossed, I will immediately shut down the machine."

"Um."

"in addition."

"Um."

"You have two chances. If the first one doesn't work, I'll switch to Fang Hai Shang for the second one. There won't be a third chance."

Chen Mo nodded.

"I only need it once."