Trembling in the Skies

Chapter 44: Is This Ever Going to End?

Mrs. Guo’s face turned ashen, and she didn’t say another word. This time, she’d fallen into the trap set by the script, confusing the concepts of “playing a ghost” and “being a ghost.” She hadn’t realized that their crew wasn’t simply acting—they were portraying another crew filming a horror movie, a play-within-a-play. This twist had completely ensnared her! But man, Li Teng’s luck is just too good, isn’t it? He actually drew the one and only real “ghost” slip! Life is so unfair! Why him? She clearly drew first, and even with three chances to draw, she never got the “You Are the Ghost” slip. Li Teng drew last—though it wasn’t really a draw; he just took the slip left over after everyone else had drawn—and ended up with a top-tier slip that guaranteed him victory without lifting a finger! Not only that, but he also made her draw a fake “You’re a Ghost” slip, leading her to mistakenly believe she was the only ghost among the eight of them. If it weren’t for this misunderstanding, she wouldn’t have voluntarily revealed her slip, thereby inviting the ghost to possess her! At the very least, her mortality rate wouldn’t have been 100 percent. The woman in sunglasses berated Li Teng for quite a while, but after he explained the situation, she realized she really didn’t have a leg to stand on. Li Teng had never once said that he’d lost to the old witch or that he was going to be turned into a wax figure—all of that was just their imagination and a misunderstanding on their part. As a result, he’d successfully swindled her sympathy—and that roasted chicken—for nothing. She had no choice but to let go of Li Teng. It wasn’t so much that she let go of Li Teng as it was that Li Teng had already released the wrist she was about to grab to pull his ear. “We won! Grandma was right—if someone has a string of bad luck for a while, good fortune is just around the corner. I believe the heavens are fair,” Gao Fei walked over to congratulate Li Teng. The “mother-in-law” he referred to was the elegant old woman who had turned into a wax figure. “We really got lucky this time. The very last slip turned out to be the real ‘ghost slip,’” Li Teng nodded. During his first performance, his luck had been absolutely terrible—he’d run into his enemy, Guo Zhipeng, and even suffered the misfortune of being hit by a car. For this second performance, his luck had finally turned. He drew the very last slip—and it turned out to be a top-tier fortune. Filming for tonight’s scene of *The Death Crew* has officially wrapped. After filming wraps, the cast will spend some time chatting behind the scenes. During Li Teng’s first shoot, the behind-the-scenes discussion consisted of six segments. If there are no complete newcomers on the crew, there will only be five segments. The first segment is the performance debrief—a ten-minute period during which the actors are free to speak, discuss, and summarize the scene, with the on-set director also participating. The chaotic argument that just took place happened to use up the entire ten minutes, so the first segment was skipped, and they moved directly to the second segment. Any actor who “dies” in this scene will be turned into a wax figure. The chosen person… is, of course, Guo’s mother. The entire process was no different from the previous scene where Guo Zhipeng was encased in wax, so there’s not much to say about it. The third segment is the points distribution, where the number of points each person earned in this scene is announced. All the extras who didn’t “get their boxed meal” received 10 points. Since the Pretty Boy and the Woman in Sunglasses were one rank higher, their pay was doubled to 20 points. The fourth segment was a Q&A session. Since only extras and minor supporting actors were present, the two minor supporting actors—the pretty-boy and the woman in sunglasses—took turns answering questions from the others. The order followed the seating arrangement. The man with glasses, the female office worker, Gao Fei, Li Teng, and the young girl. “Earlier, you mentioned the actors’ guild to me. Could you explain in more detail what the actors’ guild is all about?” The man with glasses asked the pretty-faced guy with a fawning expression; clearly, this was a question the two had agreed on beforehand. This was a lengthy question that could help the Fair-Faced Guy earn several more points. The director approved of this question and had already set a reward of three points for it beforehand. “The Actors’ Guild is an organization established with the official permission of the film studio.” “Only actors at the ‘Special Guest Star’ level or higher who are part of a production crew are eligible to establish an Actors’ Guild.” “Establishing an Actors’ Guild costs 5,000 points.” The pretty boy began to explain. “Five thousand points? The person setting up the guild must be crazy! With five thousand points, wouldn’t it be better to just lower the stone pillar and return to the surface?” the female office worker couldn’t help but interject. “Not everyone wants to go back,” the fair-faced man shook his head. “Don’t want to go back? They like staying here? Are they out of their minds?” the female office worker muttered under her breath again. “You’ll understand later; you wouldn’t get it now anyway. Establishing an Actors’ Guild costs 5,000 points. The guild master doesn’t have to cover the entire amount alone—multiple actors can pool their funds to become shareholders. Shares are allocated based on each person’s contribution, and any debt is recorded on the guild’s books, to be gradually repaid from the guild’s income,” the fair-faced young man continued. “Joining a guild isn’t that easy; you usually need a referral. Once you join, you have to pay guild dues, which are generally based on your actor rank. Every extra has to pay two points to the guild for each performance they participate in, and the dues double for the next higher rank—basically, it’s about twenty percent of the pay for each performance,” the pretty-faced guy continued his explanation.