Chapter 454: Film Emperor? No, a Mad Dog! |
On the Kapok Alley film set.
A room that had been converted from an abandoned warehouse into the "Fierce Tiger Gang" headquarters.
All doors and windows were sealed tight.
Every camera had been set up.
Even the high-speed camera, usually kept in reserve, had been rolled onto the track.
In the middle of the set stood a human beast.
Tony. A true underground Muay Thai fighter from Thailand. A ruthless man who had claimed three championship belts.
Now, bare-chested, his bronze skin slicked with oil,
as he breathed, veins bulged and writhed like earthworms.
Tony was warming up.
His right leg swung like a battle axe, tirelessly pounding a heavily weighted sandbag in front of him.
If that kick landed on a person, it would break at least three ribs.
And his opponent—our newly minted Asian Film Emperor, Jiang Ci—was crouched in a corner ten meters away.
Jiang Ci was wearing that filthy, faded sleeveless undershirt, a pair of loose, baggy shorts, and he’d already lost one of his flip-flops.
He squatted there with absolutely no dignity, head down, completely focused on… picking at his toes.
"Is this guy really a Film Emperor?"
The new clapper loader girl felt her worldview shatter. She muttered under her breath, "Isn't he just that deadbeat from the village entrance?"
Behind the monitor, the light in Jiang Wen's eyes was terrifyingly bright.
"This is A Jie," Jiang Wen said softly. "Only when you lower yourself to the dust can your eruption be truly fierce."
Ten minutes earlier.
Jiang Wen had walked over to Tony, who was wrapping his hand wraps, and patted the beast on the shoulder.
In his incredibly broken Thai-accented English, he said, "Hey, Tony. That Chinese star says your Muay Thai is like a woman's dance—all show, no power."
Tony's movements stopped.
He slowly turned his head, looking at Jiang Ci, who was drinking water nearby. The murderous intent in his eyes flared up instantly.
"And," Jiang Wen continued to stoke the fire, "he said this fight has no choreography. As long as you don't kill him, you can do whatever you want."
Tony said nothing.
He just silently clenched his mouthguard tighter, the veins on his neck throbbing wildly.
On the other side, Jiang Ci was stuffing something down his pants.
"Bro… what the hell are you stuffing down there?" Sun Zhou watched, his heart pounding. "The flour the props team gave you?"
"Lime powder," Jiang Ci corrected, his eyes dark and menacing. "In A Jie's world, this is lime powder."
He then pulled a brick from the prop box.
It was a special-effects prop brick. It wouldn't crack someone's skull open, but the hardness and weight were enough to raise a massive welt if it hit your head.
"Director Jiang said we're fighting for real," Jiang Ci said, weighing the brick in his hand before hiding it in a pile of rubble behind him. "Fighting for real is good. I like fighting for real."
"All departments, get ready!"
The assistant director's trembling voice broke the silence.
"Action!"
Before the word had even faded.
"Whoosh—!"
A gust of wind erupted from the ground.
Tony didn't bother with any probing.
His right leg was already raised high, hurtling straight for Jiang Ci's face!
Fast! Too fast!
So fast the cinematographer almost lost focus.
"Holy shit!" Sun Zhou was so scared he covered his eyes.
But in that split second before the deadly steel leg could make contact, Jiang Ci moved.
He just dropped.
"Shloooop!"
Jiang Ci rolled with the momentum, right onto the ground—the legendary "lazy donkey roll."
The posture was utterly ugly. Completely pathetic.
But he dodged the lethal strike.
Not only did he dodge, but he also counter-attacked.
The instant Tony's kick missed,
Jiang Ci grabbed a handful of sandy soil mixed with coal cinders—prepared in advance by the props team—from the ground.
Without even looking, he threw it right into Tony's face!
"Fuck!"
Tony felt his vision go black and instinctively closed his eyes, stepping back.
Now!
Jiang Ci sprang up from the ground and stomped his foot as hard as he could onto Tony's bare toes!
And that wasn't all.
He curled his two fingers into hooks, aiming them straight for Tony's eyes—it was a borrowed action, but the movement was vicious.
Although Tony's eyes were closed, his fighting instincts remained. He tilted his head to avoid the eye-gouge.
But the next second, excruciating pain shot up from his calf.
Jiang Ci, like a mad dog, opened his mouth and, right through the layer of oil on Tony's leg,
sank his teeth into Tony's calf muscle!
Biting down hard!
"Aaaaargh!!!"
Tony let out an enraged roar.
He was a boxing champion. He had fought masters on the ring. He had broken ribs and split his brow bone.
Was this a fight? This was the kind of move stray dogs fighting over food would use!
The pain completely enraged the beast.
Tony held nothing back.
"Bam!"
This knee strike landed solidly right in Jiang Ci's stomach.
Even though Tony had pulled his power back by about thirty percent at the last second, it was still the knee of a boxing champion.
With his [Body of Steel] buff, Jiang Ci could deflect seventy to eighty percent of the force.
But he still let out a "Gugh!" and spat out a mouthful of sour bile.
The assistant director was terrified. He raised his megaphone, ready to yell "Cut!"
A large hand clamped down on his megaphone.
Jiang Wen stared at the monitor, his gaze cold and frightening. "Don't move. Watch his hands."
On the monitor.
Jiang Ci's hand was still clutching the edge of Tony's shorts.
Without letting go even once.
"Cough, cough…"
Jiang Ci was sprawled on top of Tony when he suddenly broke into a chilling grin.
"Big guy…"
Jiang Ci said a line from the script in the Flower City dialect.
"Go eat shit, you!"
The next second.
Jiang Ci's hand—the one he'd been hiding down his pants—whipped out.
"Pffttt!!!"
A cloud of white powder exploded between them.
Tony never expected this guy to counterattack. Not like this. Not with such a despicable, low-handed tactic.
The white powder coated Tony's entire face, blinding his eyes.
"My eyes!!!"
Tony flailed his arms in panic.
Opportunity!
Jiang Ci reached behind him into the rubble and grabbed the brick he had stashed earlier.
He bounced up off the ground and mounted Tony's neck.
His legs locked tight around Tony's throat.
He raised the brick high.
"Smack!!!"
The brick slammed into Tony's forehead, snapping in two.
Dust and debris flew everywhere.
Even though it was a prop, the sheer viciousness of the action sent chills down everyone's spines.
Tony wobbled twice, then crashed heavily to the ground.
Jiang Ci mounted the giant, who was a full size bigger than him.
He raised the remaining half-brick. Once. Twice. Three times…
He kept going until Tony stopped struggling.
Only then did Jiang Ci stop.
His face was covered in blood—a mix of prop stage blood and real blood from scraped skin. He was covered head to toe in dust.
He gasped for air, his chest heaving violently.
Suddenly, he threw his head back and let out a heart-wrenching, guttural roar:
"This is Kapok Alley!!!"
"This is my goddamn turf—!!!"
At that moment, he wasn't Jiang Ci, the brilliant Film Emperor on the red carpet.
He was A Jie.
That worthless piece of mud that couldn't be propped up against a wall. That good-for-nothing who only knew how to steal and scavenge.
But who, to protect this tiny shred of dignity, dared to fight a tiger to the death.
"Cut!!!"
Jiang Wen's voice boomed with a spine-tingling resonance.
The set was dead silent for five full seconds.
Then.
"Whoosh—!!!"
Thunderous applause erupted.
Many of the martial arts brothers felt their eyes sting. *This* was a fight scene! *This* was a real fucking man!
Jiang Ci slid off Tony and collapsed onto the ground. He didn't want to move a single finger.
A large hand appeared in front of him.
It was Tony.
The Thai boxing champion now had a face full of flour, looking ridiculous. But the way he looked at Jiang Ci had changed.
Gone was the earlier contempt. All that remained was the respect you give to one of your own kind.
"You are a madman."
Tony pulled Jiang Ci to his feet, gave him a thumbs-up, and said in broken Chinese, "Ruthless man."
Jiang Ci grinned, a trace of blood still clinging to his teeth.
"You're too kind."
Jiang Wen walked over, holding a bottle of ice water.
He didn't offer any praise. He just tossed the water to Jiang Ci and let out a cold sneer.
"That was ugly as hell to watch."
Jiang Wen looked at Jiang Ci's sorry state. "Like a stray dog."
Jiang Ci unscrewed the bottle, poured the water over his head, washing away the flour and blood from his face.
"Director Jiang, only a stray dog can survive."
Jiang Ci wiped his face, the wild, crazy light in his eyes not yet faded, staring straight at Jiang Wen.
"That scene… is it good enough to pass?"
Jiang Wen nodded, then turned and walked back.
After taking two steps, he stopped. Without turning around, he waved a hand dismissively over his shoulder.
"It's a wrap."