I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

"So, you're very brave then?"

"Just kidding, I'm super brave!"

"That's perfect. You can come and have a look at my house. It's quite big."

Lu Ban patiently and persuasively guided him.

After dinner, Ye Cheng went to Lu Ban's house.

Compared to his own mansion, Lu Ban's house was obviously much smaller. The first thing Ye Cheng noticed was the large mirror behind the sofa.

Ye Cheng looked somewhat haggard and pale in the mirror, not at all like someone who had just eaten.

Ye Cheng looked in the mirror for a while, and the person in the mirror waved at Ye Cheng.

"!"

Ye Cheng rubbed his eyes, and his reflection in the mirror also rubbed his eyes.

There was nothing unusual.

Am I seeing things?

He saw Lu Ban lead him to the bedroom and point to the bed.

"Lie down."

"?"

A question mark appeared above Ye Cheng's head.

"Director Lu, didn't we agree not to engage in any underhanded practices...?"

"Who wants to take advantage of you? This is training."

Lu Ban patted Ye Cheng on the shoulder.

"Lie down on the bed, wait until midnight, close your eyes, count your heartbeats five hundred times, then open your eyes and look under the bed."

"What kind of courage game is this?"

Ye Cheng didn't quite understand. He hadn't watched Lu Ban's early videos, so he naturally didn't know the corresponding game.

"Just do as I say."

The two watched some horror videos for entertainment. Lu Ban discovered that Ye Cheng was indeed quite brave. He usually didn't show any emotional fluctuation when watching short videos that would frighten normal people. Perhaps this was why he couldn't bring out his full acting skills and strength.

For the sake of this actor's future, Lu Ban decided to step up his efforts.

At 11:50, Ye Cheng lay down on Lu Ban's bed. Lu Ban drew the curtains, turned off the lights, closed the door, and returned to the living room.

Ye Cheng was completely surrounded by darkness.

He closed his eyes and could only hear the sounds of his neighbors' daily lives.

At exactly twelve o'clock, his phone beeped, and Ye Cheng began counting his heartbeats.

"one two Three……"

At first, he could accurately count his heartbeats silently, but gradually, Ye Cheng felt his heartbeat getting slower and slower, far below the normal rate.

At the same time, the surrounding sounds subsided, and all was silent, as if Ye Cheng had been thrown into another dimension.

crunch--

Suddenly, Ye Cheng seemed to hear the sound of the wardrobe opening, and something seemed to come out as the wardrobe door opened.

Ye Cheng initially thought Lu Ban was trying to scare him, but then he realized that Lu Ban had already left the room.

So now, who is walking out of the closet?

Or rather, what is it?

Ye Cheng continued to count his heartbeats, but his thoughts kept wandering.

He thought of the horror videos he had watched that night. Although he thought they were fake and just special effects when he watched them, now that he was in this environment, he felt that those things were also very real.

A tickling sensation came from beside his ear, as if someone's hair had brushed against it. Ye Cheng tried to raise his hand to scratch it, but suddenly found that he couldn't lift his arm.

Not only his arms, but the rest of his body was immobile, as if they were being heavily pressed down by something.

"Ghost, ghost on the bed?"

Such a thought couldn't help but pop into Ye Cheng's mind.

He counted his heartbeats, and they were somewhat erratic. No, Ye Cheng realized that his heartbeats had slowed to about once every ten seconds. Under normal circumstances, his body would probably be cold by now.

An inexplicable fear gripped Ye Cheng, and he felt helpless and alone, unable even to stop the game.

He struggled and tried repeatedly, but could only feel his body gradually stiffening and was unable to resist.

During this long and agonizing ordeal, Ye Cheng felt he was on the verge of collapse.

After what seemed like hours, or perhaps days, Ye Cheng finally counted his five hundredth heartbeat.

Perhaps for this reason, the restraints on his body were finally removed.

"what!"

Ye Cheng called out, opened his eyes, and sat up in bed.

Gasping for breath, he found himself covered in cold sweat, his limbs weak, like a seriously ill patient.

Just as Ye Cheng was about to ask Lu Ban outside the door for help, he suddenly remembered that there was one last thing he hadn't done in his game.

"Look under the bed..."

What's under the bed?

Ye Cheng swallowed hard. The experience he had just gone through left him feeling panicked. He wondered what he would see if he looked down now.

But after hesitating for a while, he finally decided to look over.

Sitting here is torture; I might as well just die sooner rather than later.

He held onto the edge of the bed and looked down.

Underneath the spotless bed, a clown doll with a comical smile was staring at him. Just as their eyes met, the clown's mouth suddenly split open, the opening extending all the way to its ears.

Ye Cheng couldn't even let out a scream before his vision went black and he fainted.

When Ye Cheng woke up again, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

"here it is……"

Ye Cheng sat up, somewhat bewildered.

"You're awake? The training was a success; you should have mastered the techniques for acting out fear by now."

Lu Ban clapped for Ye Cheng, as if to say "Congratulations".

In an instant, all the memories flooded his mind. Ye Cheng's expression changed; the corners of his mouth twitched, his pupils dilated, and extreme fear appeared on his face.

This expression is the kind that you can immediately tell he's afraid, uneasy, and has witnessed a terrifying situation beyond his comprehension.

It takes more than a decade of acting experience and innate talent to do this.

"No, don't come any closer!"

Looking at his appearance, Lu Ban was very satisfied.

"Maybe in the future I can teach a course at some film academy called Horror Movie Acting, and teach people this. Maybe it will even lead to an academy award."

He felt that Ye Cheng's future was bright.

Chapter 237 Lu Ban Falls from Grace

After helping Song Yunyan's friend, Lu Ban was finally able to relax and continue making things.

This time, however, Lu Ban did not remain silent as he had at the Yannan University Student Film Festival.

Making good use of one's identity and resources for publicity is an essential part of modern media and something one cannot avoid.

He first created a short trailer of only a dozen seconds, a PV that was like a pie in the sky. If it were put on a console game, it would be ridiculed by players as if the wheat had just been planted. He also registered all the relevant intellectual property rights.

The trailer shows a hand opening a book, picking up a pen and writing words, accompanied by a self-narrating voiceover: "When you see this story, I will no longer be in this world," creating a very eerie and suspenseful atmosphere. The trailer ends with the title "The Mouth of a Madman."

The trailer didn't offer much of an immersive experience; it was just ordinary footage. Lu Ban checked it again and uploaded it to the Silent Project accounts on various video websites, and then reposted it through his own account.

The movie "The Crying" was released at the end of last year, and now a new movie is being released directly. Audiences haven't even recovered yet. Even the normal publicity and distribution process takes more than a month, and there is also the need to secure theatrical release dates. All of these are necessary to gain more attention and spread the film more widely.

There used to be a saying that good wine needs no bush, but now, in this era of explosive information dissemination on the internet, today's hot topics are no longer being discussed by anyone tomorrow. With all sorts of information iterating, even the best movies will be affected if promotion and distribution are not done well.

Of course, sometimes during the promotion, it becomes clear that the product cannot be completed, and the product has to be delayed. Sometimes, the product is delayed three or four times, and the audience gets tired of it. In other cases, the audience's expectations are set too high, and as the promotion continues, it is discovered that the photos do not match the actual product, and the audience feels cheated.

Less than an hour after uploading, Lu Ban saw that the video had already garnered over 500,000 views on the Old Days Video Network, and the number was still increasing at a visible rate with each refresh.

Those who came at this time were mostly long-time fans of Lu Ban, and their attitudes might have been somewhat biased. Most of their comments were also praising him, which Lu Ban didn't read carefully.

By evening, he saw the notification from "Dongleme".

How would you rate the trailer for Lu Ban's new film, "The Mouth of a Madman"?

Lu Ban clicked on it.

The first comment with the most likes came from an online film critic, someone who frequently writes film analyses, movie reviews, and ratings, but is not actually in the industry.

[Deep Blue Melancholy: This trailer looks very mysterious, grand, and suspenseful, but it actually says nothing. The cinematography, dialogue, and scenes are all very high-class, but it doesn't really explain anything. Through the visuals of this trailer, it's clear that director Lu Ban's visual skills have improved significantly, but it still doesn't say anything. So what exactly is this trailer about? From the perspective of a trailer, I think the film is still very, very far from complete; it's probably still in the project approval stage. To see this film, we'll have to wait at least two years. We can wait until then to give our evaluation.]

"Indeed, it's not very well completed."

Lu Ban agreed. He was striving for perfection, but he had only completed about one-third of the progress. To finish it, it would take at least another month. The completion rate was indeed too low.

He then looked at the second most upvoted answer, which belonged to an industry professional, apparently a screenwriter who had participated in the production of some films and television series.

[My name is Teacher Zhao: This trailer is very simple, just a few shots and one line of dialogue. Analyzing the dialogue, we can deduce that this person is probably dead, and he's the narrator of the story. His clothing suggests a modern style. Then, judging from the title… sorry, I can't make this up anymore. It feels like only the title is useful information in this trailer; the rest is useless. It's impossible to deduce anything from it. Of course, this is also a promotional strategy. Horror films rely on creativity, and Lu Ban's currently popular film is also very creative. If the trailer reveals too much information and is easily copied by smaller studios, the final effect will be diminished. Let's wait for Lu Ban's subsequent trailers.]

"I didn't know there was such a thing."

Lu Ban couldn't help but agree.

Considering that Ye Cheng also participated in the filming of a new horror movie, many film crews may now be eager to capitalize on this trending topic.

The creativity of horror and suspense films is very important. Once some core ideas are revealed, the overall effect of the film will be greatly reduced. Therefore, promotional videos sometimes need to be a bit mysterious.

He looked at the third answer, which was a movie review account—the kind of blogger that edits together exciting scenes from movies and adds commentary, allowing viewers to watch the movie in just a few minutes.