ATPnovel Chapter 576: Desert Under the Moon—A Dazzling Dance Like a Passing Glimpse of Heaven
Chapter 576: Desert Under the Moon—A Dazzling Dance Like a Passing Glimpse of Heaven
This fight scene was exceptionally brilliant and could be considered one of the highlight action sequences in "Thief Catcher 2". It was mainly divided into two parts: one was the duel between the protagonist Jiang Rushuai and Shen Jue, and the other was Jiang Rushuai's battle against the other pursuers. Every move was a highlight.Shen Jue, having been injured by a sneak attack, trusted no one. Therefore, his approach towards Jiang Rushuai was also with moves aimed at killing, striving to force out Jiang Rushuai's techniques before he completely lost his combat ability, thereby confirming his identity. Jiang Rushuai, in turn, transitioned very naturally from defense to offense.
After Shen Jue lost his fighting ability and withdrew from the battlefield, the focus shifted once again to the fight between Jiang Rushuai and the pursuers.
Filming this fight scene was somewhat chaotic. Firstly, the sky was filled with yellow sand, often making it hard to keep one's eyes open. Secondly, both sides were wearing messy period costumes and anti-sand cloaks, which made movement very cumbersome. During the fight, hands and feet were often tripped up by the clothing.
However, overall, the filming was still incredibly satisfying.
Both Xiao He and Pu Rong were people with real martial arts skills. When they fought, it truly had the authentic feel of martial artists exchanging blows. Coupled with having rehearsed the actions and directions in advance, their coordination was naturally quite seamless.
It's just that after several days of filming, Xiao He felt his face had become rough, and his skin had darkened by a shade. Sand constantly accumulated in his shoes and clothes, impossible to shake out completely. Even between his fingernails, there was endless sand to pick out.
Xiao He felt like some sand might have even gotten into his brain.
The filming conditions here were also relatively harsh. Most of the production team basically lived by the edge of the sandy area, sleeping in tents at night. If you wanted to take a shower normally, you could only go wash in one of the few RVs that came with the crew. However, the water storage on the RVs was limited. Transporting water back and forth took three to four hours, and there were so many people in the crew. With people coming and going, using them was also complicated. So, Xiao He basically wiped himself down whenever possible and didn't participate in the competition for RV shower rights.
It was also at this time that he began to miss his own RV.
"If only I had known, I would have had Lao Qi drive the RV over," Xiao He said, patting the sand off his head, his tone slightly gloomy.
Pu Rong, however, was quite cool about it. He clasped his hands behind his head, directly using his arms as a pillow as he lay down. "Isn't this also an interesting experience? Before, we paid to come to the desert for sightseeing. Now we get to experience it thoroughly all at once. How is that not enjoying life?"
They had witnessed both the magnificent vastness of the desert and experienced the hardship and difficulty of frontier life.
"No wonder the ancients, once they arrived here, had endless poetic sentiments to express—"
The scenery was beautiful, it was just that reality shattered the fantasy.
As Pu Rong spoke, he watched the setting sun gradually descend at the edge of the sky. A surge of heroic spirit filled his chest, and he actually began to recite poetry—
Xiao He gave him a dead-fish stare. "How did you go from a sports student to a little ancient-style scholar after just a few days of filming?"
"Hey! We sports students are also liberal arts students! I, at the very least, got into the sports institute with high liberal arts scores. Why do you make it sound like I'm illiterate!"
Pu Rong immediately took offense and turned to look at Lin Yipeng beside him. "Director Lin, didn't you take the arts student path? Then tell me, what was your Chinese language score back when you were a liberal arts student?"
Lin Yipeng was originally lying on top of this sand dune filming the sunset scene ahead. Hearing Pu Rong's words, he answered offhandedly, "139."
Pu Rong fell silent for a moment, then exclaimed, "Damn! Director Lin, I didn't know you were a top student! With that score, why take the arts student route?"
Lin Yipeng looked at Pu Rong with confusion. "Who told you I was admitted as an arts student? Although I took the arts exam, I was admitted to university through the liberal arts stream."
Pu Rong: "??? Then why did you take the arts exam?"
Lin Yipeng said casually, "My dad made me take the directing exam. He was afraid I wouldn't get into university."
Pu Rong: ...
He lay back down on the ground. "Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything."
Just as Pu Rong lay down, Lin Yipeng suddenly exclaimed, "Got it, got it!"
"Got what?"
Xiao He and Pu Rong both squeezed over to look.
Lin Yipeng showed them what he had captured.
The dusky sky set against the golden desert, a lone wild goose cutting through the vast expanse, spreading its wings as it skimmed past the sunset's afterglow.
It was a perfectly captured scene of the desert at sunset.
"Perhaps this is what they call artistic conception," Pu Rong said after a glance, feeling quite moved.
Xiao He also nodded. "Send me a copy later. I'll post it on my Moments."
...
After following his father into the crew for a period of study and training, Lin Yipeng's directing skills had become more refined, and he had even more ideas in his head.
After filming the lone goose under the sunset, he too seemed to have experienced the poetic mood described by Pu Rong. His heart swelled with surging emotion—
It's just that the ancients' method was to compose poetry, while his method was reflected in the filming of the upcoming plot.
At night, the bright campfire stretched everyone's shadows long, swaying back and forth with the wind. The landlady, having just finished telling the story of her past, finally removed the windproof veil from her face, revealing her features under the glow of the silver moon.
A beauty under the moonlight, standing alone from the world. Yet, the burn scars on her face, over time, had gradually transformed into an ugly mask, like the knife strokes of time, carving one stroke after another onto a perfect painting, ultimately destroying the value of her existence.
But watching the person dancing under the moon, Jiang Rushuai was stunned.
That kind of beauty was a flawed beauty, the beauty of a story ultimately becoming a regret, the beauty of that fleeting, stunning dance over a decade ago that directly pierced into the imperial city.
It's a pity that fate is ever-changing, and beauties often have ill-fated lives—
-
Qu Qiuyan truly lived up to her past reputation as a "goddess". Her ability and appearance, even placed in today's entertainment circle, are still something many find difficult to reach.
It's just a pity that her fate was similar to the landlady's. Both were like an epiphyllum, blooming brilliantly at their most dazzling moment, only to then decline, never to regain their former glory.
Perhaps because the fate of the character and the fate of the actor were intertwined, Qu Qiuyan's dance, improvised for this scene, was profoundly moving.
Xiao He sat by the campfire, attentively finished appreciating Qu Qiuyan's dance, and couldn't help but say to Pu Rong, "I finally understand now why, in foreign films, when emotions run deep, people can't help but start dancing."
Originally, he thought it was awkward when, in TV shows, the story would be progressing and then the protagonists would suddenly start dancing. But at this moment, through Qu Qiuyan, Xiao He truly empathized with that pitiable woman of a troubled fate.
Pu Rong also agreed with Xiao He's words. "Although I don't know if this segment will make it into the final cut, I really think this scene is beautiful and deserves to be seen by more people."
"Speaking of which, I was quite surprised that Teacher Qu was willing to make a comeback," Xiao He said.
Actually, after learning that "Thief Catcher 2" wanted to wait for Qu Qiuyan to play the landlady, Xiao He had already given up hope.
He just never expected...
"Probably still for Director Lin's sake," Pu Rong said, his gaze drifting into the distance, landing on Lin Yipeng.
"Director Lin's father seems to be preparing to step down. The heavy responsibility will fall on Director Lin from now on. 'Thief Catcher 2' probably won't be as low-key as the first one. His mother probably still wants to help her child one last time."
A mother's love for her child is profound.