447 Breaking Bad (1/2)
Chapter 447: Breaking Bad
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
”Red Dragon! Prince! What are you doing?” whispered Famous.
Red Dragon was lying in the grass unresponsive, and Prince's body was shaking like a fallen leaf in the wind, about to collapse.
No! The script was not like this. In the sequence of shots about the sneak attack, only the bravery of the three police dogs should've been highlighted. There was no need to complicate the story.
Famous was extremely confused. Had the script been quietly changed and it was not aware? Or were Red Dragon and Prince improvising? Famous was unable to decide. It bowed its head and rubbed Red Dragon using its nose, then stuck out its forepaw to push it. With difficulty, Red Dragon opened its eyes and looked at Famous, but immediately closed them. Its breathing was weak, and it was foaming at the mouth. If it were acting, then Famous would've looked at Red Dragon with admiration, however, this didn't seem like a performance. Red Dragon was clenching its teeth, and the white foam gushing from the gaps of its teeth was slightly yellow. Unless it had eaten some yellow dye in advance, it was not possible that it was acting.
As Famous was thinking, it hadn't realized that its own thinking speed had started to lag. It was at that moment that it heard another thump. Prince also fell to the ground. Famous quickly ran over to check. Prince seemed exactly the same as Red Dragon. Both were critically ill with shallow breathing.
Something was wrong! What had happened?! Famous was startled and realized this was bad! Why didn't it detect the crisis in advance? Was it because it could only see the future within a few seconds of it happening? When it had detected the danger, it had already started. It remembered Zhang Zian's words—not all dangers can be avoided in time—but it was too late.
As its forelimbs weakened, Famous could no longer support its own body. It slumped to the ground and laid sideways in the weeds. In front of its nostrils, there was a growing yellow setaria. Swaying from its breath, the setaria swung like a pendulum. As if there was some hypnotic effect, Famous felt increasingly sleepy… This time, it was not auditioning, nor was it acting. Its pupils were mirroring the hovering smoke. It seemed to have seen such a scene before.
Yes, there was problem with the smoke! Distant memories reappeared in its mind. Famous was certain that it had undergone similar situations in the meat grinder-like real battlefield. Some people had also released gas bombs and massacred hundreds of people in just a few minutes…
”Famous…Famous…” Zhang Zian's voice seemed to be getting closer and closer. There was the sound of urgent footsteps. Among the misty smoke and fog, the silhouettes of people appeared.
”Don't come…the smoke is toxic…” It tried to respond to Zhang Zian and wanted to remind him, but its throat was scorching hot, and its vocal cords only uttered muffled and horse hissing sounds. It couldn't produce a meaningful and complete sentence. ”Don't come here…” It drifted in and out of consciousness. Its mouth opening and closed, repeating this one sentence.
Famous knew who had done this. It was the pyrotechnician Guan Biao! Releasing toxic smoke to put all the people present in danger? Could he be such a lunatic? Was he out of his mind? Attempting such a thing, did Guan Biao really think he could escape the legal consequences and the condemnation from the public? Things were not that simple. Something had gone wrong, something that they had ignored…
However, Famous had no strength to think anymore. Its mouth stopped moving. A hexagonal snowflake fell from the sky and naughtily kissed it on its eye, which had lost all vigor…
...
As its eyelids felt the coolness, Famous suddenly woke up! It had fallen asleep on the ground. Nothing in its surrounding had changed that much from before. The crew members were busy making final preparations for the shoot in the afternoon. Having finished applying their makeup, the leading actor and supporting actors were in place on the battlefield, and so were a few foreign actors who were going to play the foreign criminals. The prop guns had been assigned to the actors.
Red Dragon and Prince were lying quietly next to it, and their eyes were brimming with vigor. Before falling asleep, they had been led by Feng Xuan through the route several times, and they were already familiar on what to do. Feng Xuan was leading the cinematographers and their assistants to adjust the positions of the cameras and the track of the lenses.
Zhang Zian was playing with his cell phone. He tilted his head and looked at it. ”You're awake, Famous. I told you I would wake you up a few minutes later.”
Famous stood up. Its legs and feet were feeble from the nightmare it just had. A thin blanket, on which Zhang Zian had previously been sitting on, slipped from its back.
”You may as well wake up. It's snowing now, it's a little bit chilly.” Zhang Zian leaned over to pick up the blanket and put it under his butt.
Famous looked up at the sky. At that moment, a piece of hexagonal snowflake fell on the tip of its nose and immediately melted. As it felt the coolness, it became sober. ”How long have I slept?” Its voice was hoarse.
Zhang Zian glanced at the phone. ”Not long, just a few minutes, no more than 10. Don't worry, you missed nothing.”
”What about Guan Biao? Where is Guan Biao?” it asked urgently.
”Over there.” Zhang Zian raised his hand to point to a few foreign extras with prominent noses and deep-set eyes who would be playing the armed criminals from outside the border in this scene. Standing in front of the extras, Guan Biao put plasma bags into their clothes, connected the hand-held detonators, and finally placed the thin aluminum plates between the plasma bags and the actors' bodies. The thin aluminum plates were used to absorb the impact, otherwise people would be in a lot of pain, or could even be injured from the small explosions that ruptured the clothes and plasma bags.
Zhang Zian had been observing Guan Biao. After making sure that Guan Biao wasn't doing anything abnormal, Zhang Zian was relieved.
”No!” Famous stared at the back of Guan Biao. ”He did something dirty. I saw it…the smoke, it's the toxic smoke! During the shoot, Red Dragon, Prince, and I…we all died…”
”Toxic smoke?” Zhang Zian was surprised. ”No way?! With so many people present, he wouldn't dare to use toxic smoke? How do you know, Famous?” No wonder Zhang Zian didn't believe it. Even Famous couldn't believe itself. No matter what, there was no way Guan Biao would use toxic smoke.
”I just had a dream, but I'm not sure if it was a sign. Maybe it was just a dream…” it said hesitantly, increasingly doubting its dream.
One dreams at night what one thinks in the day. Perhaps it was because Famous had a preconceived notion about Guan Biao, believing he was a man up to no good, conjuring this unrealistic dream.
Zhang Zian knew that with its ability to detect danger, Famous could predict a crisis a few seconds prior to the actual event. Nevertheless, there was at least ten minutes before the actual shoot. If Famous's dream really was an omen, it had occurred too far before the actual event was supposed to happen. However, he did not ignore its words. What if this was indeed an omen? What if Famous and the two police dogs really died after the shooting began? One can only live once, and there's no room for mistakes when it comes to life and death.
”Should I go to talk with the director and ask him to postpone the shoot and double-check the safety measures?” Zhang Zian suggested.
”Forget it,” said Famous, shaking its head. ”It's probably just a nightmare, and I'll be on guard when shooting.” Unless there was a specific reason, or force majeure, postponing the shoot was not a trivial matter. The delay was at the expense everyone's time. The director was unlikely to agree to such a request, and he would only think that Zhang Zian was being paranoid.
Having said that, Zhang Zian's thoughts were still fluctuating, and he couldn't set his mind at ease. But at this time, Luo Qingyu was still bothering him by constantly sending messages to harass him. He was upset by the message notifications.
Luo Qingyu begged Zhang Zian to recommend him to the director. Luo Qingyu said that in addition to taking unique pictures, he was very good at shooting videos. He was responsible for shooting the sports meetings and the like at school, and his videos had received unanimous praise from the school leaders. Apart from that, he also had participated in the Campus Cinematography Competition, but hadn't placed well because the script sucked. He himself was very knowledgeable about cinematography.