On the set of Into the Devil, the atmosphere was heavy. Even the usually good-tempered director, Chang Yan, wore a grim expression.
The fourth male lead, Qi Yuqiu, was trending on the hot search again, and again, and again.
In the three days since joining the cast, Qi Yuqiu had leeched off every bit of fame he possibly could.
On the first day, the male lead merely glanced at him, and it was twisted into “casting flirtatious glances” at him.
As a result, the male lead’s fans flamed him onto the hot search overnight, and the topic was only suppressed the next day.
On the second day, the female lead accidentally bumped into him, which then became her being “unable to forget him.”
The starlet’s company issued a clarification on Weibo that very night. That evening, fans and passersby jointly mocked him onto the hot search, and the topic still lingered at the bottom of the hot search list.
From then on, everyone on set didn’t even dare to spare him a glance, terrified that they would be next.
However, despite all their precautions, no one expected that Qi Yuqiu, in his desperation, would not only target A-listers but also refuse to let go of even the small-time actors!
Early this morning, the paparazzi dug up a Weibo post from a minor actor on the set, who had posted late at night claiming he just wanted to act well and not engage in hype. Immediately after, someone released a picture of Qi Yuqiu grabbing the minor actor’s arm, and the entire internet exploded.
Countless netizens flooded the official Weibo account of Into the Devil, demanding Qi Yuqiu be replaced and kicked out of the entertainment industry. Some even threatened to boycott the movie if he wasn’t replaced.
Inside the RV, two people sat facing each other in a heavy atmosphere.
Steam was practically rising from the head of his agent, Li Qi, his face contorted.
“Qi Yuqiu, I take my eyes off you for just three days, and you cause this huge mess for me! Do you still want to make it in the entertainment industry? If you don’t, just say so sooner!”
Unlike his usual explosive reactions, the young man just kept his head obediently lowered, revealing a section of his snow-white neck. His hands were under the table, and he didn’t make a sound. When scolded, he only flinched his shoulders slightly, not refuting a single word.
“I understand you want to be famous, and I tolerated you leeching off others’ fame, but use your brain before you do things! That minor actor just wanted to step on you to climb up. Why did you get tangled up with him? Look at how badly you’re being flamed now!”
“And don’t expect the company to do any PR for you. I’ll be honest, the higher-ups have already given the word to let you fend for yourself. If you keep messing around like this, you’ll be finished sooner or later. Don’t forget, you’re still carrying tens of millions in debt. Once you’re blacklisted, you can go live on air!”
The young man raised his head. Looking at the exquisite face before him, Li Qi once again lamented internally. What a pity he was mentally ill; otherwise, he could have become famous on this face alone.
He had initially taken a fancy to this face, but who would have thought this guy was a lost cause, a brainless fool who only knew how to stir up trouble.
“Go apologize to Director Chang later. Whether you can stay or not will depend on his mood.”
Li Qi sighed. The phrase “playing a good hand badly” was a perfect description of Qi Yuqiu. Getting the role of the fourth male lead in Director Chang’s film was an opportunity countless people couldn’t even dream of, yet he had to go and take the crooked path as soon as he arrived.
The young man’s fair face was tinged with a faint blush, and his dark, round almond eyes were slightly moist, making him look so pitiful that one couldn’t bear to scold him further.
“What are you looking at me for? Go!”
Qi Yuqiu leaned closer to him and said, “I just saw that your Life Palace is turning red and Miasma is gathering at your crown. I’m afraid you’ll have a bloodshed disaster today, so I wanted to give you a heads-up. I have a Peace talisman here, selling it cheap. WeChat transfer, fifty for one. Want a couple?”
Li Qi felt that there might be something wrong with his ears.
“What did you say?” he asked, refusing to believe it.
Qi Yuqiu repeated very patiently, “I said you’re going to have a bloodshed disaster. Do you want to buy a Peace talisman? It’s very cheap.”
“You… you…” Li Qi’s finger trembled as he pointed at Qi Yuqiu’s nose, while his other hand quickly fumbled for the emergency heart pills in his pocket.
“Qi Yuqiu!” The veins on his forehead bulged with anger, and his voice cracked as he roared.
Seeing how furious the man was, Qi Yuqiu quickly pulled out the Want Want milk he had hidden in the sofa crack and stuffed it into his hand. “Let’s talk things over slowly. If you think it’s too expensive, I can give you a discount.”
“Are you planning to quit the entertainment industry and switch to fortune-telling?” Li Qi was so angry he laughed.
Qi Yuqiu considered it seriously for a moment, then said, “I still have to stay…”
Only by staying in the entertainment industry could he come into contact with rich people. Otherwise, he’d never be able to pay back that ten-million-yuan debt by setting up a fortune-telling stall.
Besides, the original owner had made a great wish to become someone standing at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry. Since he had occupied the man’s body, he had to at least fulfill this wish for him to settle the karmic debt.
“If you want to stay, then find a chance to apologize to Director Chang, post an explanation on Weibo, and then leave it to fate. If you really can’t make it in the future, don’t blame Brother Li. I’m just a minor agent, and I need to eat too.”
Li Qi sighed, not wanting to say more. This person no longer had any value. He might as well focus his energy on the few newcomers the company had assigned him.
Qi Yuqiu patted his shoulder and comforted him, “Why are you sighing at such a young age? There’s no obstacle in this world that can’t be overcome. You are a fortunate person. As long as you get through this recent calamity, everything will go smoothly in the future. So, buy a Peace talisman.”
Li Qi looked at Qi Yuqiu, and his heart skipped a beat. Could it be that this guy couldn’t handle being flamed every day and his brain had really short-circuited?
“You… how much?”
Qi Yuqiu’s eyes lit up. “Not much, fifty yuan is enough.”
With a complicated expression, Li Qi transferred five hundred yuan to him, patted his shoulder, and said, “If you can’t take it, just go back and rest for a while. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
Qi Yuqiu stuffed the Peace talisman into his pocket and smiled. “Don’t you worry.”
After Li Qi left, Qi Yuqiu sat on the sofa and closed his eyes. The last fragments of memory belonging to the other person appeared in his mind. He rubbed his forehead, his expression pained.
The owner of this body shared his name. He was originally a student who later entered the entertainment industry, relying on his good looks.
Only after entering the industry did the original owner realize that he couldn’t get ahead without a backer, so he started to get crooked ideas. He found an opportunity to get close to the CEO of Min Corporation, Min Yu, and then faked a pregnancy to marry into the Min family.
After marrying Min Yu, the original owner thought he had a backer and began to cause a stir in the entertainment industry, offending many people. However, the Min family didn’t take him seriously at all, providing him with no resources and not even making their relationship public.
The people he had offended were initially afraid he had someone behind him, but when they discovered no one was backing him up, they retaliated without restraint. The original owner’s reputation was soon ruined, and he was saddled with debt.
Later, when the fake pregnancy was exposed, the original owner was sent directly to a Mental Hospital. Before long, he truly went insane and eventually died in the Mental Hospital.
Qi Yuqiu was so clear about the original owner’s fate because he had just happened to read a book yesterday, and this cannon fodder character who shared his name and had “risen in status through his child” left a deep impression on him.
While reading the book, he never understood why no one suspected a man faking a pregnancy, and why even doctors couldn’t detect it.
Now he understood. His body’s structure was still normal; there was just a Gu worm in his stomach.
Qi Yuqiu sighed. He, the grand martial uncle of Qingyang Mountain, had woken up married to a man. He no longer had the face to see his master and senior brothers.
He took out his phone and opened Weibo. The related topic was still trending high on the list. While netizens were cursing him out, he also took the opportunity to follow the minor actor who had been “implicated” by him.
Qi Yuqiu clicked his tongue in wonder. This person named Zhao Zhe was truly bold. Although he had only just familiarized himself with this world, he understood that Zhao Zhe had deliberately latched onto the original owner to “leech off his fame.” To be so brazen while shrouded in a cloud of resentment was truly commendable courage.
Since that was the case, he should be happy to help others and lend Zhao Zhe another hand. After all, the ancestral teaching of Qingyang Mountain was to do good deeds and not ask about the future.
Netizens who were passionately following the drama suddenly saw that Qi Yuqiu, who had been silent for three days, had posted on Weibo.
“Qi Yuqiu: The Adultery Gate is dark, there’s a mole on the Mountain Root, and the mole is blood-red. I advise you to take care @ZhaoZhe”
After posting, he let out a sigh and a smile, feeling that he was truly a great person, completely unaware that his words had ignited a new round of verbal warfare.
When the Weibo post first appeared, some people were confused about what it meant. Soon, someone came out to translate it.
“Daoist of Jinling: A dark Adultery Gate and a mole on the Mountain Root are both facial signs of an imprisonment disaster. The darker the mole, the closer the disaster.”
And so, everyone was enraged by his Weibo post. Even some people who didn’t follow the entertainment industry were angered enough to passionately join the fray.
“Is this person an idiot? When hyping himself up failed, he resorted to cursing someone to go to jail?”
“This is too vicious. As a passerby, I really can’t stand to watch this anymore.”
“I’ve never seen such an arrogant person in my life. Today, I’ve finally witnessed it.”
“Blacklist him, blacklist him! Qi Yuqiu is a troublemaker, get out of the entertainment industry!”
The topic “Qi Yuqiu, Curse” quickly shot to the top of the list, replacing “Qi Yuqiu, Zhao Zhe,” which had been trending since morning.
“Brother Qi, Director Chang is looking for you,” the young assistant Deng Chao said, standing at the door of the RV and peering timidly through the crack.
Qi Yuqiu nodded and followed him out of the lounge.
The moment he stepped out, he could feel the disdainful gazes being covertly cast at him from all around.
Under such gazes, Qi Yuqiu walked all the way to Director Chang’s lounge without a change in expression.
“Tsk, tsk, so thick-skinned,” someone couldn’t help but say, raising their voice slightly.
Qi Yuqiu followed the sound with his eyes, and that person immediately turned their head, pretending nothing had happened.
“If you have the guts to say it, then stand up! What kind of person is this,” Deng Chao, who was following behind, complained in a low voice.
Qi Yuqiu sighed. This kid Deng Chao had been led astray by the original owner. His reputation was in the gutter now; he couldn’t do anything about people cursing him.
However, he had already found a way to salvage his reputation. The internet was a good thing. As long as he learned how to use it, nothing would be a problem. He had just successfully taken the first step, and he believed he would soon be able to completely clear his name!
“Director Chang, I really didn’t mean to offend Brother Qi. How about I go apologize to him later?”
Before he even entered the room, he heard Zhao Zhe’s pitiful voice.
There were three people sitting in the room. Besides Director Chang and Zhao Zhe, there was a man in his forties. From the original owner’s fragmented memories, Qi Yuqiu knew this person was a good friend of Director Chang, the Film Emperor Liu Rui, who was here for a cameo.
The moment he entered, all three of them looked at him. Director Chang’s face was grim, while Zhao Zhe’s expression was a mixture of fear and forbearance, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
Only Liu Rui kept his head down, lost in thought.
“Director Chang,” Qi Yuqiu greeted Chang Yan. “Did you need me for something?”
“Don’t you have any idea why I’m looking for you?” Chang Yan said with a cold face. “Qi Yuqiu, I don’t care if you buy articles to hype yourselves up, but for you to post a Weibo cursing someone, isn’t that a bit too much?”
Zhao Zhe lowered his head and smiled smugly. He knew this Qi Yuqiu was an idiot. Originally, he had only planned to take a few photos to leech off some fame, but he never expected this guy to post that kind of Weibo to add to his own popularity. Really, thank you so much!
Qi Yuqiu glanced at Zhao Zhe and smiled. “He wanted to be famous, so I just gave him a helping hand. I’m afraid he won’t have the chance in the future.”
Zhao Zhe pinched his own palm, and his eyes immediately turned red. “Brother Qi, what you’re saying is too much. Are you saying it’s my fault that you posted on Weibo to curse me?”
Looking at the tears welling up in his eyes, Qi Yuqiu couldn’t help but marvel that this person was indeed worthy of being an actor. His expression and tone were perfectly controlled.
He sighed and said, “Why are you acting so wronged? I was just kindly reminding you that what you’ve done in the past is about to be exposed. After you’ve had your fill of fame, you should hurry up and make arrangements.”
“Or have you really forgotten that you have half a life on your conscience?”
As soon as Qi Yuqiu’s words fell, Zhao Zhe’s expression froze, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.