Chapter 152: Koji Shino's Determination! Artillery! Number 56 First

"Yeah!"
"Oh ho ho!"
"Too cool!"...

At the temporary camp of the *Drawing Sword* crew, all the members gathered together because they were in for a great show today.

A makeshift stage had been set up, but the performance on it was no ordinary act—it was a bodybuilding show, and the stars were Jiang Shui, who played Sun Desheng, and Wu Xiang!

The two men on stage were wearing nothing but underpants—not the professional posing trunks, mind you, but decent enough. Their bodies were greased up. Since they didn't have professional tanning oil, they used soybean oil instead to make their muscles pop, planning to wash up later.

Despite the rudimentary conditions, the physiques of these two men were genuinely impressive. Striking various poses and holding different stances, they looked utterly fantastic.

Teacher Li, Teacher He, and the others watched from the audience, sighing in admiration.

"Look at these little punks today! They really know how to put on a show!"
"Hahaha..."

Everyone was cheering. Most of the brothers were close to Wu Xiang, so they felt completely unrestrained. But let's not forget, there were female comrades present as well!

"Hahaha, wonderful!" Yan Ni was even more uninhibited. By now, she fully understood what kind of director Wu Xiang was—he was simply a master of antics!

"Hehe, hehe..." Gao Yuanyuan had reverted to her familiar fake-smile mode. She didn't want to, but she honestly couldn't bring herself to laugh. What kind of director compares muscles with his actors?

"Heeheehee..." That was Hai Qing. Her laughter was suppressed and stealthy. She covered her eyes with both hands, though she was actually peeking out through the gaps between her fingers.

Hai Qing had also joined the crew. Her scenes were coming up soon, and most of the earlier work was already wrapped up. Besides, the renovation of their new home was finished, and she had no active acting gigs at the moment—why wouldn't she come? There were several little vixens in this crew; she had to keep a close eye on her little Wu!

Well, that was only human nature, especially a woman's nature.

She wasn't the only one who arrived; Li Bingbing came along with her. The two women sat together and laughed uncontrollably.

This time, Li Bingbing was purely making a friendly cameo appearance—truly. She had almost no heavy scenes, basically just playing the role of the woman who later seduces Li Yunlong.

Wu Xiang was maximizing the resources at his disposal to the absolute limit. Furthermore, every single supporting actor and actress had prominent backgrounds; this production was definitely being crafted with meticulous care.

Bodybuilding was exhausting, and holding those poses was no casual matter. Before long, the competition between the two men came to an end.

"Director Wu! You're really something! I honestly couldn't tell before!" Jiang Shui no longer treated Wu Xiang as an outsider.

"Old Jiang, you weren't bad either! Hahaha..." Suddenly, Wu Xiang felt a surge of heroic empathy toward a fellow warrior. As for what others thought, who knows?

"Director Wu, this time we fought to a draw. Between rushing to shoot scenes these past few days, our bodies haven't been properly cared for. Otherwise, if I had controlled my diet and cut out salt, you definitely wouldn't be my match!" Jiang Shui refused to admit defeat.

Cutting out salt accelerated water loss in the body. Bodybuilders always did this before a competition, and it was agonizing. Under the current conditions, however, neither Wu Xiang nor Jiang Shui could possibly do that; without salt, nobody could endure the physical demands of filmmaking.

"Fine! We'll have another match if the opportunity arises." With that, Wu Xiang had essentially won over this buddy. Whenever similar productions or roles came up in the future, he wouldn't have to worry about casting.

In the end, the two men struck one final joint pose, flexing their biceps. Whether it was the rippling muscle fibers, the gleam in their eyes, or even the reflection off their teeth, everything seemed to shine!

This lighthearted commotion helped lift the heavy atmosphere of the crew. When spirits were high, everyone worked with renewed vigor.

Moreover, with Hai Qing's arrival, Wu Xiang could finally escape someone else's entanglement. Seizing the opportunity, he found a quiet, deserted spot to chat with Hai Qing.

"Little Hai, do your hubby a favor and go teach that Gao Yuanyuan how to act." This was the strategy Wu Xiang had cooked up.

"Why?" Hai Qing found it extremely strange. Her own scenes were few, and arriving at the crew at this stage felt way too early.

"You have no idea. That woman has issues with her acting. But she's the female lead now, so I have to make sure she can actually act. Besides, she keeps pestering me and won't let me direct in peace." Wu Xiang exaggerated artistically.

"What? Pestering you? Do you two have something going on? You big pervert, whenever you see a pretty face..." Sure enough, Hai Qing's imagination ran wild.

"It's not what you think!" Wu Xiang immediately denied it. His previous wording had been a bit ambiguous—intentionally so, perhaps—but he hadn't expected his wife to jump to that conclusion. He needed to be more careful from now on, and this experience taught him to be vigilant. "She just doesn't know how to act and keeps bugging me to teach her. It's not like that at all. You're overthinking it."

"Really?" Hai Qing cast a sidelong glance, clearly unconvinced.

"I'm wronged! Of course it's true."

"Fine, let's assume you're telling the truth. Then why should I go teach her? What's in it for me?" Hai Qing's question hit the nail on the head.

"There is a benefit! Think about it: if you teach her, she'll stop pestering me. That way, there won't be any romantic distractions around your husband, and you won't have to worry." Wu Xiang smiled cunningly.

"You!" Hai Qing's facial expression became brilliantly dramatic. She couldn't believe someone could actually say such a thing. "You have no shame!"

Despite her words, her face was full of smiles.

"Hey, wifey, do me a kindness. Your husband needs to focus on serious work, hehehe..." Seeing that the matter was practically settled, Wu Xiang slowly edged closer to her. "Wifey, it's been so many days since we last saw each other. Come give me a kiss!"

"Ah, go to hell!" Refusing to let Wu Xiang succeed, Hai Qing turned and ran off immediately.

"Hey~" Wu Xiang didn't get his kiss, but the problem was solved. He could now clear his schedule to shoot a specific sequence. Neither the television series nor the original novel of *Drawing Sword* contained this particular sequence, but Wu Xiang believed that adding it would make for a fantastic piece of cinema.

What kind of sequence was it?

Wu Xiang no longer needed to personally manage the female characters' scenes. He had mapped out a plan: Ning Hao would step in as the executive director to shoot Li Bingbing's scenes as Zhang Bailu, along with the sequences involving Hai Qing and He Zhengjun. Those scenes were relatively few, not overly difficult, and secondary in importance, making them perfect for Ning Hao to handle. If those turned out well, Wu Xiang even considered letting him direct the scenes between Gao Yuanyuan and Teacher Li.

What would Wu Xiang be doing, then?

He was going to find the Japanese actors to shoot that newly added sequence—the storyline involving the little Japanese devils!

The most important actor for this was none other than Teruyuki Kagawa.

"How well do you understand the script I gave you?" Before officially rolling cameras, Wu Xiang naturally wanted to check Teruyuki Kagawa's mental state. This plotline of his was extraordinary, which was why he had taken the initiative to visit the actor's room.

"Wu-san! I always feel there's something problematic about this plot. Did things like this really happen back then?" Teruyuki Kagawa had been following the crew closely these past few days, reading and rereading the script to deepen his understanding. To better comprehend it, he had even followed Wu Xiang's example by interviewing local villagers and conducting field research.

"Of course it's true! You've asked around these past few days. Although language barriers might have made communication difficult, I'm sure they told you similar stories." Wu Xiang spoke with absolute confidence. Naturally, he hadn't shadowed Teruyuki Kagawa, but he knew such stories were by no means isolated incidents.

"But, but..." Teruyuki Kagawa looked deeply conflicted.

"You mean you grew up without ever imagining that such things happened in history?" Wu Xiang finished the sentence for him.

"Wu-san!" Tears welled up in Teruyuki Kagawa's eyes.

"That's completely normal." Wu Xiang patted Teruyuki Kagawa on the shoulder. "It's not your fault, nor is it the fault of ordinary people like you. To be honest, ordinary Japanese citizens are quite tragic. You've always been controlled by your government. I know it very well—your government consists of those old aristocrats, or the military men who rose to power during the Meiji Restoration, most of whom had powerful backgrounds, whether as samurai or ronin, essentially the mafia. You've always been controlled by them. They let you know what they wanted you to know, and kept hidden whatever they didn't want you to see. You're actually better off; in a few years, young Japanese people won't even know who won that war. They might even believe they were the invaded party and that they were innocent. You've seen recent news—the Nanjing Massacre is disappearing from your textbooks, and gradually, more and more truths will vanish."

"Wu-san!" Teruyuki Kagawa truly wept. He knew Wu Xiang was telling the truth. Japan was currently stuck in a state where social classes were rigid, ordinary people had almost no path upward, and they could only toil away diligently for a lifetime while their worldview remained completely confined to those islands.

The world seen from inside those islands and the world seen from the outside were practically two different realities.

"To be honest, I know this plotline of mine is very hard to accept, and it places extremely high demands on the actors. I don't know if you can pull it off, but right now, you're my only choice. By the way, did you watch the movie I recommended earlier?" Wu Xiang still had plenty of persuasion tactics up his sleeve.

"I watched it! Director Jiang Wen's *Devils on the Doorstep* is truly a formidable film!" Overcome with emotion, Teruyuki Kagawa blurted out in Japanese, *Sugoi ne*...

"Hehehe..." Wu Xiang couldn't help but laugh. That movie practically cursed the Japanese people as a bunch of fools, yet here they were praising it. Excellent—the mindset of masochism was real! But he couldn't voice those thoughts aloud. True to form, Wu Xiang had a way of selling someone out while making them thank him for it.

He simply said, "If you perform well in this storyline, you'll make a name for yourself. I guarantee you, your performance in this sequence will be crucial!"

"Hai! I will definitely work hard!" Teruyuki Kagawa even bowed in response.

Why did Wu Xiang mention the movie *Devils on the Doorstep*?

Because the storyline Wu Xiang had added was essentially his own version of *Devils on the Doorstep*!

*(Note: Thanks to Brother Biao and Brother Leesen for the tips, thank you very much! The author couldn't sleep because of watching the football match, so he decided to drop a chapter right now. Your support is much appreciated, thanks a lot!)*