Under Liu Rulan's arrangements, Xiao He's schedule became extremely busy yet fulfilling.
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On the island, Lin Yu'an openly started his business: anyone could exchange five gold bars with him for one Rabbit card.
—This was an exchange mechanism Lin Yu'an had discovered while exploring the island.
At the very center of the island, there was a shop run by the organizers where players could exchange points for many items, including some cold weapons and valuable things like gold bars.
Some players gritted their teeth and spent one point to exchange for weapons for self-protection, but they had no intention of exchanging for anything else from the shop.
After all, compared to island items, what they truly anticipated was the money they could exchange when leaving the island! Exchanging items at the island shop now would undoubtedly be flaunting their wealth, inviting others to plunder them, ultimately resulting in losing both lives and possessions.
But this mechanism was absolutely perfect for Lin Yu'an!
Points on the island couldn't be directly traded. Even though points could theoretically be exchanged through battle outcomes, the trust level between everyone was almost zero, making this method clearly unreliable.
At this point, the organizers' shop served a crucial intermediary function!
They could exchange points for physical objects, enabling safe transactions without going through game challenges—straightforward exchange with guaranteed security!
Lin Yu'an even openly conducted his business right at the entrance of the island shop, making it convenient for other players to find him and quickly complete point conversions.
As for how to bring items off the island or ensure others wouldn't entertain malicious thoughts—that wasn't Lin Yu'an's problem to consider.
Sure enough, one player's eyes shifted cunningly before he suddenly shouted: "There's only two of them! Are we really going to lose to them in a fight?"
Then he was the first to draw the small knife he had exchanged and charged toward the two.
Inspired by this player's words, others began stirring with similar intentions. Soon, several more people pulled out their exchanged weapons and rushed toward Lin Yu'an.
Lin Yu'an quickly retreated several steps, revealing Xu Ning behind him: "Xu Ning!"
Then he was the first to draw the small knife he had exchanged and charged toward the two.
This Tang sword was the weapon Xu Ning had exchanged for himself after finding the shop. Lin Yu'an had only seen him cleaning the blade before but hadn't witnessed him using it to kill—
The young man's movements were lightning-fast. As the blade severed the first person's throat, he immediately followed with a clean spinning motion, slashing the sword across another person's face.
In an instant, one person clutched their throat and collapsed kneeling, while another was left with only half a face and half a skull.
Blood sprayed out, deeply shocking everyone present with this display.
Compared to the death threats from the organizers, Xu Ning brought raw bloodshed and violence.
Seeing the crowd retreat several steps, Xu Ning twisted the sword hilt in his hand, flicking the blood from the Tang blade onto the ground, leaving the edge gleaming clean again.
"Don't be afraid of him! He can't hold out for long!"
Compared to the death threats from the organizers, Xu Ning brought raw bloodshed and violence.
Of course, the clever ones noticed Xu Ning and Lin Yu'an were together and immediately turned their focus toward Lin Yu'an.
But Lin Yu'an wasn't stupid—seeing someone trying to grab him during the chaos, he immediately grabbed the backpack he'd exchanged and started circling around Xu Ning.
And Xu Ning showed no mercy whatsoever, cutting down anyone who approached—whether single attackers or pairs, even those who had exchanged weapons like long swords were utterly insignificant before Xu Ning's killing prowess, directly cut down like worthless opponents.
Wherever Xu Ning fought, Lin Yu'an followed, stubbornly hiding behind Xu Ning without ever exposing himself.
Only after all the players who rushed to cause trouble had fallen did Xu Ning reluctantly shake his sword, maintaining its clean gleam, then looked at the crowd with anticipation: "Who else wants to give it a try?"
And Xu Ning showed no mercy whatsoever, cutting down anyone who approached—whether single attackers or pairs, even those who had exchanged weapons like long swords were utterly insignificant before Xu Ning's killing prowess, directly cut down like worthless opponents.
Didn't dare try, didn't dare try—trying meant dying.
At this point, Lin Yu'an swaggered out from behind Xu Ning, putting on an exaggerated show of regret: "Ah, killing so many people—what a pity! These are all points!"
If they had to die, they should have been squeezed dry first!
Xu Ning glanced sideways at him, calmly sheathing his Tang sword.
Others stared at Lin Yu'an with horror: This guy must never become a capitalist—he's truly ruthless!
"Alright everyone, make way! Those wanting to buy cards, hurry! Limited cards available—first come, first served!"
Looking at the bloodstains on the ground and the young man holding the sword, everyone swallowed hard in unison. The previously somewhat chaotic crowd instantly became orderly.
From this point on, the Law of the Jungle on the island was rewritten by Lin Yu'an!
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Since Xiao He completed the fight scenes for this part of the plot very smoothly, they arrived at Wang Xingyuan's film set half a day early.
The filming for "Sea Fog Pursuit" took place in a village near Haishi. It was originally a fishing village, but as the economy developed, it gradually evolved into a tourist resort. The former villagers abandoned fishing lifestyles and instead opened homestays, offering boat tours for nearby tourists.
When Xiao He arrived, he spotted Xiao Song from afar.
Xiao Song was the casting director from "Heart of Embers" who had grabbed Xiao He from the crowd, enabling him to successfully play the role of Mu Ze. He also served as the assistant director and had been working with Director Wang over the years.
Since Xiao He completed the fight scenes for this part of the plot very smoothly, they arrived at Wang Xingyuan's film set half a day early.
Xiao Song was delighted to see Xiao He, quickly jogging over: "It really has been too long! Thank you so much, Brother Xiao, for coming to save the day this time!"
Xiao He waved his hand: "Ah, it's not really saving the day. I really like this script—being invited by Director Wang is an honor for me."
After a while, Director Wang personally came to greet him.
Seeing a familiar face, Xiao He took the initiative to greet him: "Brother Song, long time no see!"
When they last met, he was a relaxed, portly director with a prosperous appearance, but now his cheeks showed hollows, clearly indicating his exhaustion these days.
Despite this, Wang Xingyuan's mental state remained full of energy, his eyes shining when looking at Xiao He.
"Having you here is wonderful, thank you so much!" Wang Xingyuan's voice choked up slightly, "I'm so happy to see you."
He then shook Xiao He's hand with such enthusiastic back-and-forth motion that Xiao He nearly got dislocated. Xiao He quickly made eye signals to Sister Liu while subtly extracting his hand, moving to Director Wang's other side: "Director Wang, don't get too excited! Let's change clothes first! We can talk while walking."
Before coming, Xiao He had asked Liu Rulan to investigate further and learned that Wang Xingyuan had assembled this crew under tremendous external pressure, even investing money he'd earned from previous assembly-line idol trash dramas, determined to create a hit drama with both critical acclaim and popularity.
However, reality was harsh.
When Wang Xingyuan switched to filming suspense dramas, previous investors who were willing to back him withdrew funding, afraid to invest in what they considered Wang Xingyuan's doomed project. Previously cooperating actors and celebrities also avoided involvement, unwilling to become casualties in Wang Xingyuan's drama.
After much struggle, Wang Xingyuan pleaded with many people before finally assembling the main cast and several important supporting roles.
Before coming, Xiao He had asked Liu Rulan to investigate further and learned that Wang Xingyuan had assembled this crew under tremendous external pressure, even investing money he'd earned from previous assembly-line idol trash dramas, determined to create a hit drama with both critical acclaim and popularity.
And just like last time, it was Xiao He who came to save the day.
Somehow... it felt like he and Director Wang had quite a fateful connection.