Chapter 970: Chapter 968: Provocation
Although the ’photography studio’ of the Tenth Disaster cannot be observed, perceived, or detected from outside,
even divine domain’s plane detection finds it hard to capture it, unless multiple plane migrations occur, during which the resulting tremors might be detected.
However, within the City of Evil, a massive photography base is constructed, which is precisely the territory of the Tenth Disaster.
Its size is equivalent to the capital city of a conventional world, with filming locations spanning hundreds of years and various landscapes and cultures, providing any desired setting.
Work starts at 09:00 daily and wraps up at 18:00 in the afternoon.
Apart from a two-hour lunch break, two boxed meals are provided, distributed based on the quality of performance.
Yi Chen and the others arrived early at the film crew’s entrance,
only to be surprised when the jacket-clad director came out to greet them proactively.
For some reason, although the director wore a seemingly normal smile, Yi Chen found it quite uncomfortable to look at.
"Arriving so early! Being able to get up on time in the hotel shows you have good self-discipline. Today, the official shooting of [Scene One] begins. Your scenes are basically nonexistent; you just need to observe carefully and pay attention to various filming details as much as possible.
Oh ~ Mr. Yi, you don’t seem to have slept well? Your spirits seem less vibrant than yesterday? It’s the first time I’ve encountered someone who couldn’t rest well in a hotel.
Could it be that you’ve felt the hotel’s ’net’ constantly resisting you?
How about this—in any case, you’re the [second male lead] of this film, why not just rest with the crew? If anyone bothers you, you can come to the office to call me.
Of course, there’s no way to stay in my office; I have a habit of sleeping alone."
"That’s not necessary. Last night I just got too engrossed in the script and lost track of time.
After all, I am not a vessel of malice. If I stay with the crew, it might cause unnecessary trouble. It’s better to come over during work hours, so you, the director, can focus more on filming without extra concerns."
"To be able to read the script late into the night in the hotel environment, I really didn’t misjudge you. Come on in!"
The director led the group to the filming location of Scene One on the photography base’s shuttle quickly,
and upon seeing the crew members again,
Yi Chen’s nausea and resentment intensified,
he even saw in the darkness a face, an orphanage-era face of his own, a face like a demon about to erupt from his body, urging him to commit slaughter driven by malice.
At the crucial moment, it was a woman’s hand gently resting on his shoulder.
"Oh ~ you found the feeling, Yi! Calm down, the teacher knows you are very thirsty, very hungry... but now is not the time to eat."
Under this reminder, Yi Chen steadied his emotions, pretending discomfort to head to the nearby restroom, splashing his face with the chilling water.
However, even the water flowing from the faucet carried a stench, and occasionally strands of hair with skin would emerge.
Nevertheless, this was already the crew’s ’relatively clean’ water source, compared to the free energy drinks distributed during work, in which an entire red liquid contained visible brain matter sediment floating inside.
Yi Chen’s discomfort was due to last night’s overnight film viewing.
The DVDs here are unlike reality; under malignant catalysis, they completely immerse viewers, bringing them into the scene.
Experiencing the pure malice firsthand, even blood would splash onto Yi Chen.
However, in every film’s murderous villain main characters remove their masks in the end credits, revealing appearances corresponding to the crew members.
Whether photographers, artists, musicians, or makeup artists, each has starred in their own past film, all as some kind of perverse masked murderer, performing heinous massacres documented as vulgar movies sold in the City of Evil.
The director was no exception.
Such numerous masked murderers gathered into a whole, collectively forming this crew and becoming the [Tenth Disaster].
Yi Chen, too, figured out the basic structure and origin of the crew, yet there remained a core question unresolved,
why would so many masked murderers unite without disputes, willingly setting aside past identities to jointly film a movie themed with [Michael Myers]?
Perhaps the answer lies with that blank mask of Myers.
As Yi Chen was washing his face to calm down, a scene staff quietly entered the restroom,
short, bulky with fat, his arms abnormally robust from years of heavy lifting, his face resembling a pig, looking exceedingly repulsive.
He was mainly responsible for moving the backdrop, and Yi Chen was trapped in the convenience store scene with this person’s involvement.
Similarly, he corresponded to an early film Yi Chen watched last night, ’Pork Landlord’.
Like in the movie, the landlord in a poverty area rents single-room houses to women at low prices, sneaks into tenants’ homes at night wearing a pig mask, hiding in closets, under beds, or behind curtains to spy.
Once exposed, he’d resort to killing, supplying his co-business pork pawnshop.
This person also looked down on someone like Yi Chen, a ’connected person,’ who played the [second male lead] with little merit yet due to small cleverness.
"What... Are you scared of getting killed during acting, coming here to sober up? Rest assured, the script assigns you a final death, so you’ll definitely survive until the end.
However, you must act well without wasting the crew’s hard work like a waste."
While speaking, this person undid his waistband, directly peeing on Yi Chen’s shoes.
"Oops ~ Drank too much last night, still a bit unclear, terribly sorry!"
Pig Man quickly shook off, but the upsurging liquid also splashed onto Yi Chen’s trousers.
Yi Chen just stared at Pig Man with a murderous look, not intending to cause trouble within the crew, patience was key till the end.
Aided by Yellow Skin to prevent liquid’s infiltration into the fabric, keeping the trouser leg and shoes clean, he turned and left the restroom.
"Just leaving... didn’t you have any backbone. I made it so blatant urinating on you, surely you’d at least punch me once, then I might regard you a bit.
Turns out, you’re quite a coward, no way you’ll portray someone challenging Myers. I wonder how your mother ever taught you.
I guess it must be to yield outside, avoid trouble, be a good child, right? Hahah!"
What Pig Man didn’t know was his words contained a word that pierced into Yi Chen’s soul.
As he looked into the urinal filled with yellow liquid proudly, preparing to zip his pants,
he discovered his small bird meant to be tucked away vanished, leaving nothing but an empty, even somewhat icy, crotch.
"Hmm? Where’s my bird?"
As blood seeped out and pain made him open his mouth, a dead bird was stuffed into it, swallowing his screams of agony.
The bathroom lights turned black,
one uppercut landed on his jaw, compelling his teeth to fiercely snap shut, exploding the dead bird’s body in his mouth, his entire fat body sent flying, crashing heavily against the bathroom’s farthest wall corner.
Yi Chen approached with deliberate steps, wrapping his fist in a white tie, eyes showing no sign of human life.
Straddling the opponent’s bloated belly, he unleashed punch after punch upon the skull.
The entire crew sensed something, gathering towards the restroom,
yet upon witnessing the internal scene, none intervened; instead, they took great interest in observing, nodding in agreement repeatedly.