CH 511

Its master’s blood could help Big Sin suppress the curse but to completely digest the curse it would require more time. Even for Han Fei who had plenty of Life Points, he was slowly reaching his limit. He gained high resistance to Soul Poison and was basically immune to the curse in Xu Qin’s cooking. He ate and praised Xu Qin’s cooking. In this half an hour, Han Fei gained a lot of affection with Big Sin and Xu Qin.

“That’s all for today. We’ll continue tomorrow night.” After absorbing Han Fei’s blood, 3 different patterns appeared on Big Sin’s body. The first was its own pattern, the second was the Unmentionable’s curse and the last came from Han Fei’s blood. The 3 patterns weaved together. It was like a demon had painting the most inexplicable painting on Big Sin. “This thing is looking more and more preposterous. It’ll probably scare a normal player to death.”

After his Life Points returned to a safe level, Han Fei chose to leave the game. Due to the Unmentionable’s presence, Han Fei was very careful lest he was spotted by him. Unmentionables could move even when the blood-red city was frozen. If he spotted Han Fei, he might come towards the Ziggurat.

Han Fei removed the gaming helmet and walked out of the gaming hub. He sat at his table and went over the information in his mind. ‘The plastic surgery hospital has 3 Pure Hatreds. If they enter the Ziggurat together, Zhuang Wen couldn’t stop them on her own. Then, my altars will all be taken away from me. I need to weaken them as much as possible before they come to Ziggurat.’ Ziggurat was currently shrouded in Soul Mist. The 3 Pure Hatreds couldn’t be sure if the Butterfly was dead so they hadn’t made their move but as time progressed, they would realize the problem. ‘Ten Fingers from at mall have escaped to the hospital zone, they have seen me in the altar world, I need to vanquish them. But the good thing is that whenever I kill a Pure Hatred, its resentment would be enough to strengthen my neighbors by a lot.’

The Ziggurat had a stronger foundation than the hospital. Other than the Butterfly, there was the Failed Hatred, Zhuang Wen; the senior ghost who was close to igniting the black flame; Spider who had been hiding himself; Little Eight who could explode with enormous power; Jin Sheng at Yi Ming Private Academy; and the Wandering Singer. If the ghosts weren’t hostile against each other, they would have mowed through the hospital already. Han Fei believed the hospital was more like a buffer zone between the Ziggurat and the theme park, something Fu Sheng had arranged.

After clearing his mind, Han Fei started to search for the cases related to plastic surgery. “It’s time to put some new faces on this wall…”

At 9.30 am, Han Fei received a video call from Director Zhang. The man looked like he was in a very good mood, “Are you ready with your outfit? Bai Xian is driving over to fetch you, our crew is going to participate in the festival with our heads held high.’ Director Zhang hadn’t had a hit for quite some time, but this time, he finally had something proud to show.

“Okay, see you at noon.”

Just as Han Fei hung up, Bai Xian’s call came, “Brother, have you bought your clothes? I’ll going to fetch you now.”

“Why are you all calling me to ask me about my clothes? Do I look like someone who’d walk around without any clothes on?”

“Haha, today’s event is different from normal. I’m afraid that you’re not ready so I even brought a set of suit for you. Honestly, you look very handsome in formalwear.” Bai Xian was driving over. Han Fei could hear the traffic in the background.

“I’ve bought the clothes.” Han Fei really thought Bai Xian was a kind person. After hanging up, Han Fei went to take a shower. At 12 pm, Bai Xian and Han Fei arrived at the intelligent city. All the cast members and crew of Thriller Novelist were there and they entered Yun Shui Lou restaurant together. The 2nd floor of the restaurant was decorated. There was a banner that said, “Congratulations to Thriller Novelist for breaking the 1 hundred million box office on the first day, creating a new record for horror movies.”

Seeing that, Han Fei went online to search for the movie box office record. Currently, the box office for Thriller Novelist was at 170 million, it was only several hundred thousand less than 2/3 comedy. The box office for 2/3 Comedy was slowing so Thriller Novelist had the chance to surpass it that night.

“Bai Cha’s acting is worse than yours and now your box office might be better than his, so the best new actor award is most likely yours.” Bai Xian’s words were filled with envy. “Unfortunately, this year’s nominees for the best male actor are too strong, I won’t have any chance.”

Director Zhang heard Bai Xian and said, “Don’t give up, you’re still young, there are still plenty of chances.”

Bai Xian shook his head and smiled, “I doubt there are any more chances for me. The stage is Han Fei’s from now on. He’s just 20 plus but he already has a master’s acting capability. I’m curious, how did you manage to gain so much experience and ability? Your ability to assume every character is amazing.”

“Brother Bai, actually I have a unique training method, are you interested to join me?” Han Fei smiled at Bai Xian.

“Unique training method? Are you pulling my leg?”

“Why would I lie to you? You are so kind to me.” Han Fei switched on the masterful acting in his mind.

“Okay then, I also think my acting skill needs a new breakthrough.” Bai Xian started to seriously discuss this issue with Han Fei. “Currently it feels like I am shackled, I can do better when it comes to emotions.”

“Yes, you need to break the shackles of emotions and unleash yourself once and for all!”

“Yes, yes!” Bai Xian nodded. “That’s what I mean.” They chatted over the meal until 1 pm.

“Let’s start packing. The actors need to enter the hall before the event.” Director Zhang’s assistant was busy as he led everyone to the festival’s main hall. On the way there, Han Fei finally saw the influence of the movie festival. Every media was there. Their cars almost clogged up the area. People were everywhere. Every heavyweight actor and industry people were there, this was the biggest party for the entertainment industry. Every award-winning actor would start a new direction for the industry. There were about 10 virtual monitors broadcasting the events inside the hall. The organizer had invited many idol singers. There were fans and camera flashes everywhere.

“Director Zhang, isn’t the actual event at night, why are there so many people now?”

“Starting from 3 pm, the review team made up of 18 influential characters in the industry will start their open voting. They will select the winners for the many awards after factoring in many things.” Director Zhang smiled, “I was one of the reviewers the year before this. But because I have a movie nominated this year, I’ll be joining you guys under the stage.”

“It’ll start at 3 pm? That’s good.” Han Fei was worried that the event would go on for too long and he’d be late to go home and play games.

“The best new actor is the newest award and so it will be announced first. The award itself is more industrial and economical. The review process for this award is different from the other awards. The young people represent change and liveliness, furthermore, this award has the least value in reward money and influence so if the review team wishes to attempt a new voting method, they will start with this award. For example, the online voting that got introduced this year. If it works, then it’ll be utilized by the other awards.” Director Zhang patted Han Fei’s shoulders, “But don’t misunderstand me. The award is less important compared to the other awards but to be nominated is impressive enough. Look at Bai Xian, the reason he is still not an A-list actor has many things to do with the fact that he hasn’t won any big award.”

“Why are you adding salt to my injury? Do you think I want this?” Bai Xian was very familiar with Director Zhang, he got his big break working for Director Zhang.

“I was only making an example, don’t mind it. Come, we should enter the venue already.” Director Zhang led his cast down the red carpet. Everyone smiled before the cameras. The red carpet was only 100 meters long but they had to take more than 10 minutes to walk through it. After they entered the venue, the usher came to help them find their seats.

All the nominees were seated in the front row. Han Fei, Director Zhang and Bai Xian say together. Han Fei saw the crew of 2/3 Comedy which was not that far away. Bai Cha was seated behind Xu Zheng. A middle-aged lady beside Bai Cha was constantly talking to him.

“You two are not running away this time.” Director Zhang was still angry thinking about what happened last time. His two cast members were nominated but they had both disappeared. Director Zhang had no choice but to take the stage on their behalf. He had never been so embarrassed for over 20 years already.

“Don’t worry.” Han Fei adjusted his seat and took out his phone to study cases related to plastic surgery accidents. At 2.30 pm, basically, all the actors were there. The venue that could hold several hundred people was full. Various platforms had started the livestreem. This time, the movie festival adopted Deep Space Tech’s latest technology. After the netizens entered the livestream, it would be like they were at the venue in person, they could watch everything at close range. Compared to before, this year’s movie festival was very lively. Many platforms broadcasted it at the same time. The searches on the movie festival even temporarily surpassed Perfect Life to get the number 1 spot on trending.

After the opening performance was over, the nation’s 2 famous hosts walked out together. They were very humorous and enlivened the atmosphere even more. After that, the voting for the first award of the night began.

To ensure the fairness of the voting process, the process was done live. The judges’ choices and reason would be released through the livestream. It was the reason why the awards were so valuable, they were actual verifications of an actor’s hard work and talent.

“As technology continues to advance, so does our understanding of movies. Movies have their own artistic value but they have to gain the public approval too. Just the approval from a small handful of professional individuals is no longer enough.” The female host walked forward. Behind her, the many voting data showed up. “The original voting method has been used for 6 years already but this year, we wish to attempt a new method for the best new actor award.” As she waved her finger, the data and names on the monitors changed. “This year’s best actor award will be decided by the voting result of our 9 professional reviewers and the result from online voting.”

The music began and the information on the 9 reviewers appeared on screen. They were making their voting backstage. They were in separate rooms so they couldn’t influence each other. The tension was high. Everyone stared at the monitors and even Han Fei sat up.

“This doesn’t seem right.” Director Zhang stared at the monitor and he frowned. “In the past, the review group consists of mostly veteran scriptwriters, actors and directors. Why are there people from the entertainment agencies this year?”

“People from entertainment agencies?”

“Yes, the two people on the right. They are affiliated with entertainment agencies.” Director Zhang felt something was wrong. He patted Han Fei. “We are live so no matter what happens, we need to watch our actions.” As an experienced director, Director Zhang predicted certain things. When the music ended, the data on the monitors stopped changing.

The result from online voting was out. Bai Xian from Deep Space Entertainment was ranked first, Han Fei 2nd and Xu Junchi 3rd. Then it was the national popularity report calculated by the computer, Bai Xian was 1st, Han Fei was again 2nd. When these 2 data were revealed, Bai Xian looked at Han Fei worriedly.

After that, the result of the 9 reviewers was handed over to the host. When she saw the result, she revealed a surprised expression, it was like she didn’t expect this result. But as a professional host, she didn’t say much and pointed at the big monitor again.

The result of the 9 reviewers appeared on screen. 4 of them chose Han Fei, their reason was because they were shocked by Han Fei’s acting in Thriller Novelist. They went into details on how Han Fei had managed to uplift the movie.

One of them chose Xu Junchi and the reason was because Xu Junchi was a master at ancient Chinese movie and he was good at creating different characters.

The other 4 reviewers all chose Bai Cha, their reasons were very different. Some liked the changes to Bai Cha’s acting, his potential; others pointed out how he represented the younger generation.

There were 3 voting criteria and 2 of them were won by Bai Cha so he was naturally this year’s best new actor.

The female host tried to explain this in the most professional way possible but when the music rang, there was not much applause among the crowd. Bai Cha was congratulated by his crew but more eyes were on Han Fei. Han Fei smiled like usual, like nothing was out of place. Director Zhang pressed on Han Fei’s arm and whispered, “I will go and demand an explanation after this. How can they not use acting skills as a standard to choose the best actor, how preposterous!”

“It’s alright.” Han Fei smiled lightly, “I’m already used to this.”

On the stage, Bai Cha accepted the award from last year’s best female actor. He was extremely excited, the award was a biggest validation for an actor. He held the award with both hands and he started to give his speech. He stammered and thanked everyone. He also promised to work harder. When he was near the end, he strayed from his speech. He added a few words and even openly glanced towards Han Fei. There was a gloating in his smile. Indeed, with Deep Space Entertainment backing him, he could reveal such a smile.

After he ended his speech, there was still not that much applause. Other than his company colleagues, no one really congratulated him.

“We’ll see how they settle this online.” Bai Xian said coldly as he took out his phone to log onto the livestream. He had something to say. Not only him, but many other people also had the same thought. The livestream was a mess and the admins were trying their best to maintain the rules. Even after Bai Cha returned to his seat, the whispering at the venue never stopped.

“We should proceed to the next award. The subsequent awards will be using the usual voting and review method!” The host quickly moved the proceedings along. The next award was the best male supporting actor. Different from best new actor, this award would include nominees from all ages and experiences. They were young actors and veteran actors. It was because young actors had never won this category that the organizer started the best new actor award.

With the host trying her best, the whispering slowly died down. Everyone focused on the new voting process of the best male supporting actor. The big monitor changed. Other than the original 9 reviewers, another 9 reviewers were added. Some of them were veteran directors, others were A-list actors or veteran actors. After the previous voting, the 9 new reviewers looked very serious.

After the voting started, one of 18 reviewers wrote down his choice and slammed it on the table. He didn’t say a word. The worker didn’t dare to interrupt him because this actor was very important. After everyone was done, the monitor changed again. The camera gave each reviewer their own camera time. They needed to show their voting result and explain why they voted as such. They started with the 4 reviewers who voted for Bai Cha in the previous award.

The first reviewer was an experienced movie critic, he still voted for Bai Cha and the reason was equally as ridiculous.

The second reviewer was also a movie critic but he still valued his face. He voted for a veteran actor. The third and fourth reviewers voted for a B-list actor and a veteran actor.

When the camera switched to the 5 reviewer, the name appeared on screen, Zhuang Ren. He was the oldest among the reviewers. Different from the previous 4, Zhuang Ren’s expression was severe, his eyes were furious.

After the organizer opened Zhuang Ren’s mic, Zhuang Ren turned to look at the first reviewer who still voted for Bai Cha in this round. “Are you blind?” Once he said that everyone was shocked. The workers wanted to cut off Zhuang Ren’s mic but they were denied.

“Even though I am called the king of bad flicks, at least I can tell what is good acting and what is bad acting. From characterization, script, movement details, internal turmoil, how is Bai Cha better than Han Fei? This is an award for acting and you people don’t review acting but vote based on his potential and youthfulness? What nonsense!” Zhuang Ren started to compare Han Fei and Bai Cha’s acting. He wanted to say more but the camera had already panned away. The monitor showed Zhuang Ren’s vote, clearly he had voted for Han Fei.

The next reviewer was a veteran actor, he had given his life to the silver screen. “My vote is for Han Fei too. Even though my old friend is among the nominees, they are not as impressive as Han Fei this year. The young man is amazing, he is already close to being a masterful actor.”

The camera moved to show the 7th reviewer. The old man still had a bandaged arm. He looked into the audience and found Han Fei. “This kid will be a star in the future. His acting is like a sharpened knife. When it is unsheathed, it cut through everything, but when it is sheathed, it is the most beautiful thing in the world. He has my vote.”

Of the 3 reviewers, 3 of them had voted Han Fei. Bai Cha’s team was nervous. The middle-aged woman kept making calls. Bai Cha’s expression had completely changed. He was losing control but since this was live, he didn’t dare to do anything. He lowered his head and his hands that gripped the awards were pulsing with veins.

The camera moved to the 8th reviewer. The man also voted Han Fei without hesitation. Then 9th and 10th… As the voting continued, everyone was drawn by the number on the big screen, even the host had not seen such a big number before. Soon it was the last reviewer. When he appeared on screen, many people in the audience gasped.

The 18th reviewer was the nation’s top comedy actor, even though he hadn’t released any movie in the past 6 years, he was still a A-list actor, Firefly.

He looked at the camera and revealed a smile. He lifted up his voting plaque and the name was clear—Han Fei.

Of the 18 reviewers, 14 gave their votes to Han Fei. Such a landslide victory hadn’t appeared for years already!

Someone started the applause and then it thundered. It overwhelmed the music.

The female host looked at the voting result and she was excited too. “Let us congratulate Han Fei, this year’s best male supporting actor!”