DKIE CH28: Filming

Work usually makes the days pass slowly, but for Luka, it was the opposite.

Many of the old antiques in the underground castle had magical properties, which caused some problems when the craftsmen installed the teleportation array. Before it was repaired, he had to spend three hours a day on the road just for meals. Morning, noon, and night added up to nine hours, one hour more than the eight hours of golden sleep.

How could the days not pass quickly?

After being a shut-in for three days, on the morning of the fourth day, the supporting actors finally arrived.

In his letter to Lilian, Luka had mentioned asking her to help find some extras.

The group that rushed to Dragon Island this day was basically composed of newspaper staff.

“The well-known news of Mr. Tara being kept, and Miss Rach having a private meeting with a married nobleman, were all published by us.”

Stalking actors every day, they were more dramatic than the drama queens themselves.

Luka welcomed their arrival and directly took out the script, which already listed the character personas that needed to be played:

A gossipy and sharp-tongued Wang Ma.

A butler who already considered himself half a master;

A head chef who always gave the real young master a cold shoulder and only fawned over the fake young master;

A group of bullying students who had gotten a little power…

“I’ll have to trouble everyone to take a seat according to your role.”

The supporting cast felt they were being underestimated. Finally, a man with a mean face came out and said, “This kind of seat, I can sit in a whole row by myself.”

There was nothing he wasn’t good at.

“One person can only play one role. Choose the one you feel the most.”

Luka’s gaze finally fell on Quill, who had mixed into the supporting cast.

Since he was a person, he had to have a name.

The name Alex (阿萊克斯: A Lai Ke Si) certainly couldn’t be used. He was still a little worried about calling him “A’Lai”.

After careful consideration, Luka, looking like he was seeing an old friend, smiled and greeted him, “Hey, A’Cai, long time no see.”

It’s Cai, not Lai. If it’s Lai, you can’t avoid it.
(A pun in Chinese. 菜 (cài) sounds similar to 莱 (lái). The second part is a saying, “是莱躲不过” (shì lái duǒ bu guò), meaning what’s coming can’t be avoided.)

Luka casually made up a limerick and chuckled to himself.

Quill knew from his expression that he was up to no good.

After successfully making contact, Luka led the small group to find Rio, reminding everyone along the way not to run around and not to gossip about the dragons’ private lives.

The supporting cast promised, “Don’t worry, we’re best at bullying the weak and fearing the strong.”

The dragons are rock hard!

Only then was Luka completely at ease.

The snowflake dragon’s island was located at the westernmost part of the entire sea area. Its special architectural design made it look like a mirage from a distance, almost reflecting the phantom of the entire human city-state. Now the island was full of money-burning things, such as special recording stones, piles of magic crystals, and some filming props.

The following supporting cast swallowed hard at the sight.

These magic crystals were enough to buy a piece of territory.

“Luka!” As a younger dragon, Isa had a lively personality and was the first to greet him.

With the influx of foreign merchants, Luka’s identity was no longer a secret. Because Rio had said that Luka might prefer to be called by his pen name, Isa also called him that.

Luka smiled and nodded in response. He found that Rio and Denton both glanced at Quill, and he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

Fortunately, it was just a glance.

Seeing that they had no further reaction, Luka’s suspended heart gradually settled.

Compared to Quill, if he really had to say, the most suspicious one was himself, a magic cripple who had actually successfully critically hit Alec.

After secretly witnessing everything, Rio had yet to ask about it.

Just as Luka was hesitating whether to take the initiative to mention this matter, his peripheral vision caught some unfamiliar beautiful figures on the island. They all had an overly tall stature, exquisite clothing, and a natural, cold, inhuman aura, which was obviously a temperament unique to the dragon race.

Rio: “They lost the fight, so I called them over to help.”

Rio promised to share a side story for free. The other dragons didn’t mind coming over for a look and to see what a movie was.

Quill, standing behind Luka with a straight face, became thoughtful upon hearing this.

Rio should have seen that Luka’s cultivation was related to faith and took the opportunity to create a chance for him to have deep contact with other dragons.

Only through contact can goodwill be generated.

Looking at the young man who was already busy running around, Quill said softly, “It wasn’t for nothing.”

Now that Rio had paved the way, as long as Luka could make the other dragons have a good impression of him with his personal charm, he would at least save himself decades of struggle.

Distributing the scripts for the first two episodes, Luka was spinning like a top. It was also his first time filming a movie. Fortunately, he had followed many film crews before and was handy with the basic division of labor and the positioning of the recording stones.

The golden hour for filming had passed. The scenes for the first episode had to be filmed at dusk to create the atmosphere of just coming back from work.

“Let’s film the later scenes first,” Luka made a decisive adjustment.

The entire crew moved to a mansion building.

Everyone was busy with their own things. Luka was fiddling with Quill’s hair with a softener.

“Cai, your hair is too stiff. It doesn’t fit the character. It needs to be softer.”

It needed to have that tea-scented feeling.

Quill was frowning and was about to correct the address when it looked up and saw a slender neck.

From his angle, he could just see Luka’s slightly open collar. The two were too close, and Quill could even vaguely smell a slightly sweet scent.

“Drink less beast milk.” The grey-white eyes looked away.

Luka: “?”

The content of this filming was very simple, using a flashback to introduce the reason why the protagonist was brought back from the slums.

It all started in a sudden battle more than a decade ago. The child of a large family was stolen by the rebel army shortly after birth. The subordinate, fearing that his master would be too sad, brought his own newborn child over, lying that the young master had been found.

More than a decade later, a fugitive rebel general was captured. In order not to be executed, he confessed that the child he had stolen back then was still alive and was now living in the slums.

Now they were going to film the family’s perspective before the real young master returned.

Luka clapped the board, not too lightly or heavily, “Action.”

The former Quill, now A’Cai, was already familiar with Luka’s script. After a slow-motion shot, he smoothly said his lines:

“When brother comes back, do I have to give up my room…”

When he decided to play the fake young master, Quill had only considered the audience’s resentment and the joy of suppressing Luka in the play.

When he actually started reciting the lines, his face turned the color of vegetables.
(A pun in Chinese, as his name is Cai 菜, which means vegetable)

Are these words that a human can say?

“I, I’m very willing to give it up. It’s just that room, it has many precious memories of my childhood, especially with my father and mother…”

“Cut, cut, cut.” Luka quickly stopped burning the magic crystal and walked over, “You need to use a cautious and wronged tone.”

Wronged about what?

I’m asking you, what are you wronged about?

Quill’s almost icy eyes glared at him.

“Don’t break character.” Luka pretended to help him tidy his clothes and lowered his voice, “The more hateful you are, the more beneficial it is for you.”

Every time they cut, the wasted magic crystals were money.

Luka’s heart was bleeding as he burned them, so he could only persuade him with kind words.

Quill finally listened a little, but he really couldn’t make a wronged expression. When they started filming again, he simply walked directly to Rio and Isa, lowered his head, and pretended to be afraid of being abandoned.

Rio: “…”

These past two days, he had been busy engraving inscriptions on the recording stones and setting up the teleportation array. He hadn’t looked at the script much at all. Anyway, the dragon race had a photographic memory, so they only needed to glance at it before filming.

Now that he had read it, he only felt like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Rio’s originally majestic voice was for the first time slightly dry:

“It’s troublesome to move back and forth. I’ll have Wang Ma tidy up the guest room. Your brother can stay there when he comes back.”

The fake young master continued to feel wronged, “But I’m worried that brother won’t be happy.”

When it was Isa’s turn, she squeezed out a smile, “How could that be? I believe your brother won’t mind.”

“…Thank you, mother. Thank you, father. Thank you for loving me so much… and for being willing to let me stay in this family.”

“Silly child, you will always be our child.”

The smile on Isa’s face became more and more distorted. The last few words were almost squeezed out from between her teeth.

I should have read the script before the audition. I’m about to lose my love for this world.

“Closer, closer!” Director Lu held the script, his head held high.

Due to the height difference with the actors, he stood on the table to establish his authority, mouthing reminders with all his might: “Mother, you gently pat the fake young master to comfort him. Father, your expression should be softer, looking at this scene with seriousness but not without affection. The family finally hugs together… there must be an atmosphere of love!”

Outside the door stood many of his own race who had come to watch Rio make a fool of himself.

A hurricane dragon acting, just thinking about it could make them laugh out loud.

But now, no one could laugh.

A heaven-defying plot, to the point where just hearing one line would make you vomit.

Finally, the green crystal dragon couldn’t hold it in anymore and interrupted the filming to question the idiotic plot: “Whose parents would treat the fake young master better than the real young master?”

Luka: “Mine.”

“…”

The standard answer, no room for rebuttal.

When the merchants spread the word, there was always some embellishment. They artificially added a lot of dog-blood tragic past to Luka.

But for the dragons on Dragon Island, after hearing it, their hearts were not greatly moved.

Their lifespans were too long. Stories of couples turning against each other and flesh and blood fighting each other were already commonplace, especially when it involved the demon race, it seemed even more logical.

There is no true empathy in the world, so Luka made them experience it for themselves.

The green crystal dragon who had asked the question first had a gradually strange expression. So it wasn’t a bad movie that was detached from reality, but a documentary?

While the group of dragons was deep in thought, Luka took advantage of the intermission to run to a private room to change clothes and put on makeup.

The next scene was to film him arriving in the rich district for the first time and returning to his real parents’ home.

When Luka came out again, Quill’s vision went dark.

The young man was wearing the clothes from their first meeting in the Land of Exile. The tattered cloth shirt had been kept all this time. He had deliberately messed up his hair a bit, and the overall tone was gray.

The overly monotonous dullness, on the contrary, made that pair of eyes seem exceptionally bright.

The other brightly dressed people nearby, under the heaven-defying text, were all contrasted to have a scumbag feel.

“Ah, you’re dressed too shabbily,” Luka looked over and was about to hang a jade pendant, put on two rings, and add three waist pendants to Quill.

Quill: “…”

Do some human things.

“Everyone, familiarize yourselves with the script one last time.” Luka specifically emphasized that they must act out their love for the fake young master.

The surrounding magic crystals were rekindled, and the recording stones began to record the sins in the room. The surface of the crystal, which had been inscribed, clearly imprinted every detail of everyone’s attire.

The plot entered the scene where the older brother brings the real young master back home.

Quill was sitting on the sofa. Hearing the door open, he suddenly turned around. Seeing the two people at the door, he first ran towards the tall figure, “Brother, you’re back…”

Luka’s face was flushed. He was thrilled by this call of “brother”.

He scratched his head embarrassedly and started again with a silly smile.

Quill tried his best to restrain his expressionless coldness, “Brother, you’re back.”

The first “brother” was actually for the older brother character played by Denton. It was just that Luka and Denton were standing very close, and he had accidentally substituted himself.

Seeing Luka, Quill’s voice was weak. He seemed a little unaccustomed to it and also called out ‘brother’.

As expected of the person who almost ruled the continent!

This performance, full marks.

Luka was very satisfied with his state, and then he pursed his lips and didn’t speak.

Because he was too lazy to memorize the script, he gave himself a taciturn persona.

Considering the audience’s resentment after the movie was released, Quill endured the humiliation and said his lines, “Brother, why aren’t you talking to me? Do you… not like me?”

As the last word fell, Quill’s throat moved suspiciously.

He felt a little like vomiting.

Again, what are you feeling wronged about, what exactly are you feeling wronged about?

Luka turned to the side, in a half-dead angle of the camera, and frantically winked at Isa. It’s your turn!

Isa suddenly reacted. She recalled her lines and hurriedly walked over with a mean face.

She lightly put her arm around Quill’s shoulder while frowning at Luka:

“I know you have resentment in your heart, but your younger brother is innocent in this matter.”

According to the script’s requirements, Isa was a little dissatisfied with Luka’s posture of not even standing up straight after entering the door. “Your younger brother is also a victim.”

Quill nodded wronged, “Since I was young, I haven’t even seen my biological parents much.”

Then go see them now!

“Alright, it’s your first day back, it’s inevitable that you’re not used to things,” Rio spoke at this time. He looked at Luka from afar, not even walking over, and only ordered the servant, “Wang Ma, take the young master back to his room.”

Wang Ma quickly walked over, “The guest room has been tidied up. Please follow me.”

Hearing the words “guest room,” Luka’s thin shoulders trembled slightly. He followed Wang Ma upstairs without a word.

Not a single line in the whole process. Awesome.

Just this kind of protagonist who doesn’t have a mouth.

This scene ended perfectly.

After the recording stone stopped working, the gears turning in Quill’s blood vessels seemed to buzz. Unable to bear it any longer, he asked coldly, “Besides being wronged, do I have any other emotions?”

Luka: “Aren’t you wronged?”

Quill said word by word, “This is called feeling suffocated and wronged.”

There was no sound from either the actors or the audience on site.

Isa now regretted coming to act more than ever. She couldn’t imagine how her dragon mouth could utter such heaven-defying words.

And she didn’t know if it was her illusion, but it seemed like there had been several small earthquakes just now.

Is Uncle Grover turning over?

Seeing Luka walk over, Isa was about to mention this matter when a beautifully decorated piece of hard paper was handed to her first, with a few small gold foil flowers as decoration behind it.

“An advance payment for the performance fee,” Luka smiled. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Then he went to give Denton and Rio a copy each. The two dragons glanced at each other’s. Just by looking at the beginning, they knew the content was not the same.

Rio was a little surprised.

Filming would inevitably not be idle. He had actually tacitly agreed that Luka could write the same thing and had not made any special requests. He didn’t expect the other party to not only complete it with high quality, but also to be very attentive to the details of the manuscript paper.

Denton had already finished reading the first two paragraphs. The quality was consistent with the main text, which showed that he had not been perfunctory.

“He’s a good child,” he said in a deep voice. “If there’s any fault, it’s all the Demon King’s fault.”

He had forcibly instilled a wrong family concept in this child.

Isa also nodded heavily at the side.

Luka did not forget to give the crowd of onlooking dragons a small theater to watch individually. For a time, his reputation and public opinion were completely reversed.

Yes, a thousand mistakes, ten thousand mistakes, it was all the Demon King’s fault.

Taking advantage of the intermission, Luka said, “I’m going out for a walk to find a suitable place to film the first scene.”

He was unwilling to waste a single minute. This way, when the sun set, he could start reshooting the first episode.

Quill had run off somewhere to vomit. The other dragons were all reading the side stories to mend their spiritual trauma, so no one went out for a walk with him.

Luka walked alone on the empty street with the script in hand.

Grover was truly obsessed with architecture to the extreme. The decorations on the roadside streets were all painstakingly designed. The only drawback was that the architectural styles were not uniform, and the overall style of a street looked a bit nondescript.

However, this greatly facilitated the selection of filming locations.

Luka stared at the script while looking around, comparing to see if there were any suitable buildings.

“This one won’t do. It’s too gorgeous. It’s not enough to highlight the protagonist’s misery.”

“That building is not bad.” Luka’s eyes suddenly lit up. “We can have the person who impersonated the protagonist to go to school eat there with friends, and not forget to sneer at the protagonist when they see him.”

But this was a bit idiotic. After all, the protagonist’s family background was now very powerful.

“I’ve got it! The protagonist’s parents dislike that he hasn’t learned proper etiquette yet, so they haven’t announced his identity to the public. They plan to wait until he has learned it better.”

“As for the noble academy, he entered as a special enrollment student. As the first poor student, he was bullied as soon as he entered school.”

“The fake young master is the top student in the grade. The real young master, because he cares too much about his parents’ opinions, performed abnormally in the exam and was disliked even more.”

Haha, this abused protagonist’s life.

A smile appeared on Luka’s lips. As he strode forward, he suddenly felt a little cold.

He looked up, and a beautiful hexagonal ice crystal landed on his palm.

“Is it snowing?”

June, flying snow?

A cold wind drilled down his neck. The icy breath stimulated his skin. Luka hissed, “So cold.”

The sudden drop in temperature caught him off guard. Luka hurriedly gathered his sleeves and prepared to go back.

As he turned his head, he came face to face with a huge ice and snow dragon head.

The snow-white pupils almost blended in with the snowflakes between heaven and earth. The filtered breath was like crystal residue.

The distance between the two was infinitely close. With each breath of the giant creature, a person couldn’t even stand firm.

Luka’s small face turned pale.

A dragon, a dragon I’ve never seen before.

From the first snowflake that fell into his palm, the snow fell heavier and heavier. The magnificent buildings were covered with ice and snow. A ridiculous thought suddenly occurred to Luka:

Could it be, could it be that the sleeping snowflake dragon was awakened by my anger?

Although he knew that Grover would not randomly harm a guest brought to the island by Rio personally, Luka was like a tumbler, swaying with each breath of the giant dragon. There was an invisible barrier around him that could not be easily broken. The snow that had accumulated on his body was not as cold as at the beginning, but Luka was wrapped up like a snow doll.

The crystal-clear dragon claw rested lightly on his head, shaking and shaking, helping him shake off the fallen snow.

Finally, Grover spoke:

“So young, yet you don’t learn good things.”

__

Author’s note:

Excerpt from Luka’s diary:
The director’s life I dream of: actors vying for auditions, madly praising the script, tearing each other apart for screen time after release, and fans cursing each other out of heartache.

A’Cai: Do you want to see what you’re saying?

Rio: The side story is hard to earn, the plot is hard to swallow.

Isa wags her tail and signals from high above: SOS.

Denton: After I die in my twilight years, please recite the script repeatedly in front of my grave. I can still live.