So, a few days after Mo Tun's debut, Xiao Zhao the Roamer, having gathered enough clips of Mo Tun, showed off her skills and once again pushed a mixed-cut video with Brother Xiao on the thumbnail onto the trending list——
The video thumbnail showed a young man with somewhat long hair that looked messy from neglect. He held a blood-stained small knife aloft, looking down at the camera with a cocky, contemptuous stare. He wore nothing more than an ordinary set of beachwear and shorts, but he carried an intimidating aura as if he were a two-meter-tall boss. Under the knife's sliced arc in the image was a line of red brush-stroked characters that looked torn by a blade—"Seal lips, speak not; let the gods pass by"!
When people passing by saw such a tension-filled, dangerous thumbnail, many of them swallowed instinctively. Those who had watched the drama felt it even deeper—the cover made you feel as if the man were cutting your mouth, that your life was at risk at any moment—so why in the world did their cursed hand still click in without thinking?
Then, to the beat of dangerous, fast-paced music, Mo Tun appeared.
His decisiveness, cruelty, and cunning; his violence, caution, and treachery… as the music climbed to its climax, the man on screen casually brushed aside the messy fringe pressed against his temple, looking at the camera with a mocking glint, as if deliberately hinting at his appetite for others' lives. He laughed lightly, tilted his head, spat the betel nut he'd been chewing into the seawater beside him, and raised the gun in his hand——
In the next instant, a gunshot rang out. The leader who had been about to swing his machete at Mo Tun collapsed with a thud, falling into the sea as a vast patch of red blood floated up.
Mo Tun's muzzle swung toward the group charging at him.
They were close to him, and he was alone; his gun couldn't possibly fire quickly enough to stop everyone. If they used sheer numbers to swarm, one knife per person could kill him.
Yet, against expectation, Mo Tun's personal aura intimidated every one of them. The knife-wielders hesitated, frozen in place.
At that moment, even the once-pumping music had somehow quieted. Suddenly the edited video only retained the original scene's white noise.
It was the sound of the sea, the fearful gasps of the people—and—
The sound of Mo Tun tearing open another wrapper with his teeth and continuing to chew.
"Traitors, you sons of bitches! Eating the black with the black, you're not human!"
One thug's voice suddenly rose, then the paused BGM resumed. Mo Tun shot the speaker clean in the head, then kicked the clustered knife-wielders away, picked up the leader's dropped machete from the ground, and brought it down across a man's face——
The blade wasn't as sharp as one might imagine; it jammed into the man's mouth. Mo Tun didn't flinch. He released the machete, fired again, killing the nearest thug and ripping the blade from his hand.
What followed were sequences of knives and guns used together: stabbing, slicing, shooting, bodies piling up until the blood ran like a river. The camera cut smoothly to other scenes—not for plot development, but to serve pure, exquisite slaughter and unbridled brutality.
Even viewers following Mo Tun's rampage felt their adrenaline surge; they watched with skin-prickling terror and trembling limbs.
Finally, the camera returned to the drifting boat.
The little gang that had once gathered was now largely down.
Horrifyingly, someone still crawled on the deck. Though the upper half of his face was smeared with blood and the lower half was gone, he was still alive.
As he tried to pull himself to the edge to climb over, the man behind him grabbed his collar and forced the half-ruined face close: "Trying to run?"
The man on the deck stared at Mo Tun in panic, shaking his head frantically, pleading with his eyes.
"Oh—almost forgot, you can't talk anymore."
Mo Tun, suddenly bored, dropped him back to the deck and stood up.
"Tsk—"
"Sorry, brother, I have to make sure you're quiet forever—"
With that, he lifted his foot as if resigned and stepped on the man's neck.
Accompanied by the music's slowing finale and the dying whimpers of a person in pain, the video finally reached its end.
The last shot was Mo Tun sitting with swagger on the speedboat, returning under the setting sun.
Behind him, a small yacht burned fiercer beneath the crimson sky. Black smoke curled upward, gradually shrouding the scarlet horizon…
"Holy crap! I give up! How can someone step into the same river twice? Unless it's Xiao He!"
"Oh my god! As expected, Roamer! I was wondering why there was nothing after Xiao He's Mo Tun came out days ago—turns out she was saving the big one!"
"Same formula, same silky-smooth Dove chocolate feeling—just hit the one-click triple action, it's all yours!"
"Ahhh, can't take it, Mo Tun is truly evil, but Xiao He looks so damn handsome—this rascal charm!"
"Who would've thought this was shot in two days!"
"What? Two days shooting? No way. This guy's popularity is deadly! The acting and the set—two days pull that off?"
"You can check some behind-the-scenes of Sea Fog Pursuit. They said the original actor for Mo Tun suddenly couldn't make it. Director Wang was frantic, and it was the assistant director who saw news about Fearless Journey and thought of Brother Xiao, and they rushed to ask him."
"I really admire Brother Xiao—his portrayal of a villain basically rules the district."
Under the video, fans enthusiastically debated, and the clip's massive heat pushed it precisely onto many people's home feeds; for the past few days, almost anyone opening the platform would see the thumbnail first.
When Xiao He learned about it, he immediately opened the app on his phone and saw his own video cover.
Xiao Chen exclaimed at his side, "Wow, Brother Xiao, this editor is seriously amazing! Her videos about you almost always hit a million views—she's insane!"
Maybe Xiao Zhao the Roamer just excelled at edits with a bit of gore, violence, and the aesthetic of murderous beauty, so her Xiao He mixes were especially tension-filled and feral; every time they landed his related videos on the trending list. She was slightly less impressive when editing others' clips.
"I actually followed her with a side account too."
Xiao He said a bit shyly, but his hand was honest—he had already long-pressed like.
Liu Rulan walked in from the doorway carrying a stack of files. "This editor really does have talent, and she's low-key—basically a technical fan of yours."
She set the stack down and said, "These are some business offers that came in after Mo Tun. I picked out ones worth taking and ones you could accept. See if any interest you."
Xiao He casually grabbed one, glanced at it, and was a little surprised. "Coconut milk beverage?"
It was still a national-level old brand. He hadn't expected an ad offer.
"Right. Since Sea Fog Pursuit is set in Haishi, and Mo Tun's overall style fits that vibe, they want to leverage this heat and use your image for promotion."
"I think that's fine."
"All right, I'll connect you later." Liu Rulan sighed helplessly. "Besides that, there's one more troublesome thing you need to know—"