Chapter 178: The House of the Butcher

Han Fei was telling the truth, he needed to return home to play the game at night, his life literally depended on it. He came only to give face to the two directors. However, for the other actors, to be able to be a part of Director Zhang’s movie, even if just for a small part, it was an honour and recognition. It would help greatly in their future career. Therefore, they could not understand Han Fei at all. In their ears, Han Fei’s words sounded like mockery. They felt insulted. In their minds, Han Fei emitted arrogance and harbored a great ego. Even a normal person would be offended when affronted like such, much less these young actors who were well-loved by their fans.

They were young and handsome. Be it at their companies or at events, they were the centre of attention. All they ever heard were praises, they had never been so humiliated in their lives. Granted everyone had their online detractors but no one had dared to say anything unbecoming towards them in real life. The room dropped into a freezing silence. No one said anything to counter Han Fei but everyone was burning with fury inside. Some turned back to study their scripts, while others scoffed with derision. They were waiting to see Han Fei make a fool of himself.

Of everyone present, only Wu Li lowered his head in awkwardness. He was there at Twin Flower’s celebratory dinner with Director Qian, he knew the real actor that Director Zhang had his sights on was Han Fei. So when he heard Ah Cheng boasted that he had voluntarily surrendered the main character role in Twin Flowers because he had already been handpicked by Director Zhang, Wu Li was already feeling embarrassed on the man’s behalf. However, he did not expose Ah Cheng. He merely chuckled along.

When he saw Han Fei leave the room to try for the role without even taking the script with him, his supposition was further confirmed. The character was tailored for Han Fei, most of the people in this room were there just to provide a background. Honestly, Wu Li did feel rather defeated internally. He was nominated for the best new actor that year but it was merely a nomination, he didn’t even get the chance to show his face on stage. Now, the feelings of being an extra returned to him.

Han Fei did not take another look at the other actors and walked out from the room. Wu Li was slightly envious of the man’s presence and nonchalance. Han Fei did not care about making small talk and casual relationships, he put his whole attention into honing his craft.

“Wu Li, should we decide on our order now? We’ll go out following the order, it’ll be sure to leave a good impression on Director Zhang.”

“Sure…”

When he left the waiting room, the worker outside the door was quite surprised, “Mr. Han, you’re done reading the script?”

“Yes, let’s begin the reading.” With the worker leading the way, Han Fei walked out from the backstage and onto the theatre stage. In the large auditorium, only 5 seats in the front row were taken. The thin Zhang Director, in spectacles sat in the middle. He was reticent and gave off a serious aura. However, when he saw Han Fei, a small smile lit up his face.

“This is the first time I’ve managed to get to know an actor through social news. You have something about you that the rest of them don’t. I hope you’ll be able to show that to us tonight.” Director Zhang was a senior figure in this industry. Even though he had not come up with any new products in recent years, no one could challenge his clout in the business. “You should have read the script, right? Our movie is based on an urban legend who existed about 1 decade ago. This man was a thriller-writer but he never caught his big break, so no one really knew much about his stories.

“Our team has visited plenty of places and people before we managed to piece together some of his background. His brain has been purchased by Immortal Pharma at a very high price from the writer’s own adopted son. He was the only schizophrenic patient in human record to have been able to murder all of his other personas.

“The stories that he penned are very symbolic and very hard to understand but once you dig deeper into them, you’ll realize the grotesque scenes are actually mirrors of real life.

“For example, in the book, Cattle Alley, the sins in humanity were manifested in forms of livestock. It gave the readers a rare chance to glimpse the world through the author’s eyes. In its sister-book, The House of the Butcher, the author recorded in details how he managed to murder his other 8 personas. The man was a walking mystery, even his pen name, Spider appears to be related to a known supercriminal.”

Director Zhang personally explained the background of the movie and Han Fei listened patiently. Incidentally, there was a Cattle Alley in the cryptic world and Han Fei had to go there to unlock the hidden profession, Midnight Butcher. This thriller-writer, Spider might be related to the cryptic world. Director Zhang was very satisfied with Han Fei’s attitude. He noticed Han Fei not only listened to his description, he took them in and tried to digest them to help his performance.

“The character I need you to play is Spider’s main persona, and the biggest villain. You’ll slowly take out your other 8 personas one by one.” Director Zhang valued Han Fei and assisted as much as he could. “This movie needs 9 very good actors. They will come from different age groups and professions. I’ve already casted the other 8 actors but I have been having trouble finding a suitable actor to play the main persona, I hope you’ll be able to surprise me.”

After that, he nodded for a man to get on stage. “I’ve tailored the script just for you, I didn’t put much limitation in it, I want you to be able to express and show your skills as freely as you can.”

With a nod, Han Fei went through the script again in his mind. Deep inside Cattle Alley, there was an old building, it was called the House of the Butcher. The building was home to 9 different people and the main persona played by Han Fei would eventually murder everyone inside the building. In the script provided by Director Zhang, there were already tenants at the house who had been murdered. Everyone was nervous and suspicious, worried about being the next target.

In that circumstance, one of the side personas started to suspect the main persona. The main persona played by Han Fei did not have much screen time in most earlier parts of the movie, he hid in the background from the audience and from himself. Instead the movies were carried by Spider’s other 2 personas—a male doctor who had years of clinic experience and a female teacher who was loved by children. The doctor kept trying to cure everyone and the teacher was there for emotional support.

From the audience’s perspective, they would be perfect as the main male and female characters. They were the force of justice, doing their best to pursue the criminal but in reality, they were also the biggest hurdle for Spider to return to normalcy.

For Han Fei, this scene was not hard. The reason was simple, he had once lived in an apartment like that. He had experience that no movie could ever replicate. Anxiety, fear and horror, he tried to silence these emotions that would waylay his survival. When all the lights faded away, Han Fei felt like he had returned to that dark corridor.

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