Chapter 58: A Rematch

“Third Brother Xie, I have never said the word 'Xie' in my entire life.”

Zhang Yuan: *Gagagaga...*

Watching Xu Jingjiang and the other lead actors perform the scene where the father and son of Lingshe Island meet, Zhang Yuan laughed heartily.

The actress playing Granny Jinhua—who is also Daiqisi, the Purple Silk Dragon King—was named Yan Qingyu. She was a veteran actress who had previously played Baochan in the 1987 version of *Dream of the Red Chamber*.

The 2003 version of *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber* was filled with beauties, and she could certainly be counted among them. Even as a beauty in her twilight years, she still retained her charm and elegance.

Zhang Yuan then shifted his gaze to Chen Zihan, who played Zhu'er. Twenty years later, in Wong Jing's film version of *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*, she would "upgrade" to the role of the Purple Silk Dragon King. That film was mediocre, and the female leads weren't particularly impressive, but Chen Zihan's Daiqisi was stunning—both beautiful and enchanting.

But what moved Zhang Yuan most was Xu Jingjiang.

While Zhou Haimei eventually "upgraded" to the role of Grandmaster Miejue in later years, this woman remained the Golden Lion King even twenty years later. As the saying goes: "Wei Xiaobao is a flowing stream, but Grand Tutor Ao is an iron fixture."

Despite Xu Jingjiang's acting sometimes being a bit flamboyant, once she played a character, the audience would remember it for a lifetime; no one else could capture that specific essence.

"Cut!" Lai Shuiqing waved his hand. "That scene is a wrap."

"Next scene: Youpeng, Jia Jingwen, Zhang Yuan, get ready."

Zhang Yuan had long since finished his makeup and put on his costume, waiting nearby.

The next scene was his action sequence. The plot involved Song Qingshu accidentally killing Mo Shenggu, being coerced by Chen Youliang to poison Wudang Mountain, discovering that the powder Chen Youliang gave him was highly toxic, and fleeing in panic. Simultaneously, Zhang Wuji, who was being framed for Mo Shenggu's murder, would step in to intercept Song Qingshu. Upon their clash, Song Qingshu would be defeated and captured by Chen Youliang and the leader of the Beggar Gang.

Since there was a fight scene, he had proactively sought out Su Youpeng to rehearse the choreography in advance. In this scene, Zhang Yuan would use a sword while Su Youpeng would be unarmed, to demonstrate the gap in their respective strengths.

"Brother Youpeng, should I slow down the rhythm like last time?" Zhang Yuan asked after they finished practicing the moves.

Last time, he had almost injured Su Youpeng; it was only by matching the other's speed and slowing down his moves that they managed to finish the take. So, he thought it best to give him a heads-up.

"No need, just fight at normal speed." Su Youpeng's smile was full of confidence.

Ever since his setback last time—especially after seeing how much the martial arts master Zhang Wan-yi favored Zhang Yuan—he had sought out Ma Yuchen and even hired a private instructor every night to strengthen his martial arts training. This was the "top student" mentality: *If I can't beat them, I will push myself harder.* It was the opposite of the "slacker" mentality, which would be to give up or find ways to make others as mediocre as oneself.

Over the past month, he felt he had made great progress; his body felt much lighter than before. He had even received frequent praise when performing fight scenes with other actors. This gave him the confidence to say, "just fight at normal speed."

"Alright." Seeing the other's confidence, Zhang Yuan nodded in agreement.

As the two prepared, the other actors watched from the sidelines. Not only were Xu Jingjiang, Chen Zihan, and Gao Yuanyuan present, but even Shi Xiaolong had come to join the fun.

" *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*, Scene 187, Shot 1, Take 1, ACTION!"

"Song Qingshu, where do you think you're going!"

Su Youpeng let out a loud shout and charged forward.

At this moment, Zhang Yuan's character had already been knocked off his horse by a stone. Seeing this, he braced himself with one hand on the ground, performed a rapid "carp leap" to stand up, and drew his precious sword from his waist in one fluid motion.

Su Youpeng was being careful this time. Having learned his lesson, he used everything he had learned over the past few dozen days, driving forward with power from his legs.

As Zhang Yuan raised his hand for a downward slash, Su Youpeng should have easily dodged to the side. He bent his knees slightly, using his calves to propel his entire body sideways.

But before he could move out of the way, Zhang Yuan's sword was already there!

Su Youpeng's vision blurred; a flash of silver streaked past, and his belt was suddenly sliced off. He was cautious, and Zhang Yuan was cautious too. Because he had nearly injured him last time, Zhang Yuan was extra careful this time; the moment he saw Su Youpeng was slow, he immediately adjusted the direction of the blade so as not to cause any harm.

"Cut! Youpeng, are you okay?"

Su Youpeng's mouth hung slightly open, his eyebrows raised in shock. "I'm fine. Sorry, let's take it again."

"Alright, all departments, attention. Everyone and everything back to positions."

Taking it again, Su Youpeng preemptively dodged backward this time, narrowly avoiding Zhang Yuan's slash. For his next move, he was supposed to take advantage of the gap between Zhang Yuan's two strikes to deliver a palm strike to the opponent's chest.

But before his hand could even extend, the tip of Zhang Yuan's sword had already tapped the inside of his arm. Su Youpeng hadn't even seen it coming!

"Cut. Zhang Yuan, slow down your movements a bit. Youpeng can't keep up," Lai Shuiqing said truthfully.

Meanwhile, Su Youpeng looked utterly bewildered.

*Did I do it wrong? I've practiced for so long, and I've clearly improved so much, so why am I still not as good as him? No, it's not that I'm not as good—the gap has just become even wider!*

Su Youpeng glanced at Zhang Yuan. Last time, he had indeed been careless, but he had only been half a step slow. This time, even though he had given his absolute all, he was still more than a full step behind. *I've become stronger, but he has progressed even more!*

Beside the director, Ma Yuchen nearly dropped his jaw upon seeing Zhang Yuan's movements. He had been present during Zhang Yuan's audition; back then, he was at most a novice with good fundamentals, but now he had clearly reached a new level. How much time had passed?

"Could he truly be a martial arts prodigy?" Ma Yuchen wondered, dazed.

Even the onlooker Shi Xiaolong was stunned. He noticed shadows of the Shaolin kung fu he had learned within Zhang Yuan's moves. In just a few days, Brother Yuan had integrated them so thoroughly that if he kept teaching him, the kid would probably see right through him!

After several more consecutive NGs, they finally managed to finish the scene in a somewhat stumbling manner.

"Director, there's a problem with this scene," Ma Yuchen said, approaching Lai Shuiqing. "Even if Zhang Yuan slows down, in the camera, it still looks like he's chasing Youpeng around."

"Indeed." Lai Shuiqing rubbed his bald head; he had noticed it too. "Should we change the scene or use special effects? Otherwise, the leader of the Ming Cult looks too weak, being chased around like that. It won't look good."

Lai Shuiqing thought about it; using special effects was less efficient than just changing the scene, as it would save on VFX costs. "Fine, let's turn the martial arts scene into a dialogue scene and just gloss over it."

"That's for the best. In the subsequent plot, Song Qingshu and Zhang Wuji don't have a fight scene anyway, so we won't have to make things difficult for Youpeng," Ma Yuchen agreed.

Director Lai called Zhang Yuan, Su Youpeng, and Jia Jingwen over and revised the script on the spot. Zhang Yuan had no objections; he simply followed the director's orders, which made things easier for him.

However, Su Youpeng felt deflated, feeling as though all his hard work had been in vain. He had never experienced anything like this in his life. Since childhood, he had been an excellent student; problems that others struggled with for hours, he could understand after a few glances. As a child, he used to mock classmates who didn't work hard, but looking back now, he finally understood how those classmates must have felt about him. Only now, the roles had been reversed.

However, he felt no resentment or jealousy toward Zhang Yuan; instead, he wanted to associate with him even more. Birds of a feather flock together, and Su Youpeng liked having capable friends.

"Oh my, I wonder who it was? Just a moment ago, someone was so certain they could fight at normal speed, and then... oops!"

Jia Jingwen, who was naturally playful and had become even more mischievous after being cast as Zhao Min, saw her friend's conflicted expression and sauntered over to tease him.

"You're such a poser!"

"If you can't do it, just say you can't. Zhang Yuan is just better than you."

"Keep talking, and see if I don't slay you, you demoness!"

If anyone else had said that, Su Youpeng might have taken offense, but he and Jia Jingwen were close and joked around constantly.

"I bet even you, Great Sect Leader Zhang, might not be able to beat a demoness like me!" Jia Jingwen said, drawing a sword from her waist and challenging him with a smile.

Su Youpeng joined in on the fun. Since he was unarmed in the previous scene, he looked around and picked up the sword Zhang Yuan had just used.

"Witness my Wudang swordplay!"

"Bring it on!"

The two of them played around playfully, the swords clashing with *clink-clank* sounds.

Seeing this, Lai Shuiqing quickly turned on the camera. "Film it. We'll use it as behind-the-scenes footage."

Watching the two of them playing happily, Zhang Yuan felt a twinge of envy. To have a friend who could play wildly with you regardless of time or place was one of life's greatest blessings.