Chapter 139 – Illusionary Realm; Waking Up

“Hoho,” Suihan chuckled without saying anything. Wanting to rely on yourself to carve out a career was easier said than done.

Qingming wanted to be an actor. Everyone close enough to him knew that.

He was a good actor, but the entertainment industry needed more than mere talent. Becoming famous had never been a matter of talent. You needed connections, money, and backers.

The two of them were thinking about different things while sitting inside the car, so only the faint sound of their breathing could be heard for a while.

“Suihan, you’ve got everything it takes to be a celebrity. Why don’t you become one?” Qingming asked suddenly. “You’ve got backers, you’ve got plenty of connections, you’re ridiculously good looking and your acting’s not bad. Why not?”

He sounded so genuinely puzzled as if he couldn’t understand why his good friend would give up this wonderful chance despite having all the qualifications needed for this job.

“I don’t have any ambitions. I just want to enjoy life,” said Suihan flatly. But there was a stir in his mind as if he felt like he did have something he wanted to do, and it was a goal that he had nearly no hope of achieving.

“What in the world did I forget?” wondered Suihan to himself, a slightly confused look appearing in his beautiful eyes reflected in the car window.

He felt like he had forgotten something important, something terribly, terribly important. But he simply couldn’t recall and he felt as though there was something missing in his heart.

“I had a very strange dream yesterday, but I don’t remember anything after I woke up. I just feel this emptiness in my heart, as though I’ve forgotten something,” murmured Qingming as he leaned back in his seat.

Suihan’s heart leaped in shock when he heard that his friend had the same experienced. He glanced at Qingming but kept a straight face as he said, “A dream? Was it a wet dream? Is that why you remember you even had a dream?”

“No…” Qingming’s eyes were a little unfocused as he stared blankly out of the window. “It was some crisis. I was nearly killed in that dream.”

“So, it was an exciting dream with ups and downs? Not bad, not bad at all,” sniggered Suihan as he laughed at his friend. He parked the car and patted the dazed Qingming on the shoulder. “We’re here. Let’s go.”

“Forget it, I don’t want to think about it anymore. It’s only giving me a headache. Let’s go watch the movie.” Qingming snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head as he dismissed all the strange ideas running through his mind. He clenched his fists gently and said resolutely, “Suihan’s managed to get me a ticket to this premiere, so I’ve got to seize this opportunity and get to know some big shots.”

“We’ll be watching the movie first, followed by a cocktail party, which is where you’ll have to get to work. I’ll just be there to look pretty,” Suihan whispered into Qingming’s ear and gave him a fist bump to encourage his friend.

More and more people streamed into the venue and the theater finally dimmed. A melodious tune filled the theater and the movie started.

It was a movie about cultivators. The script was simple and it was a good old story about the righteous versus evil. The upright and noble MC was dumb enough to bring along a bunch of companions who were more trouble than help, but the antagonist was even dumber. He refused to fight and kept sending useless person after useless person to attack the MC, which only resulted in giving the MC more fighting experience.

The ending wasn’t too bad, though. Instead of the usual good triumphing over evil ending, both sides died. That was a more realistic ending than most movies in the same genre.

The dialogue was so cheesy and the storyline was so dumb. If the special effects weren’t so good, Suihan would have fallen asleep within the first 15 minutes.

This was basically yet another standard film that was going to sell only because they used popular actors. There was no real substance to this movie and there was nothing new about it. Many movies released in the recent year were similar and none of them were worth paying to watch in the cinema.

“It’s over?” mumbled Suihan as he rubbed his eyes drearily.

“It seems like this movie wasn’t our friend’s cup of tea, huh,” a voice that sounded like he was trying very hard to suppress his anger came from next to Suihan.

“That’s right. It’s just trash!” Suihan didn’t even bother to look at who had spoken to him.

“Why, you!” The one who had spoken flew into a rage and stood up with a start. He pointed at the big screen in front and yelled, “The special effects alone cost $80 million and even the supporting actors are all A-list actors. The entire movie cost more than $300 million to make and you say it’s TRASH?!”

His agitated voice rang loud and clear inside the quiet theater, which attracted a lot of attention. Some were curious, while some were disgusted.

But most of them were surprised by what the man had said because that implied that the person next to him had called the movie trash, which was what started this in the first place.

“I did call it trash. You mean I can’t say that? If you think it’s not bad, that’s just your opinion and it has nothing to do with me. Now, fuck off and leave me alone.”

Suihan finally turned to look at who was talking to him. It was a young man with a squarish, fair face, a tall and muscular body, large eyes, and a broad nose. He was one of the supporting actors in the movie.

But that fact didn’t bother Suihan and he still spoke coldly to him anyway.

“What poor manners you have, cursing without even batting an eye. Your parents must have brought you up poorly,” snapped the young man with a furious look on his face. Suihan’s comment had affected him so badly, he was trembling all over in anger.

“My parents?” Suihan looked confused for a moment. His first thought was that he didn’t have parents, but his memory told him very clearly that his parents were still well and alive.

“Tsk, you’re just one of those spoiled rich kids,” muttered the young man when he saw Suihan’s pretty face and expensive clothes even though he also had a jealous look in his eyes.

An old man next to him tugged at his elbow and the young man sat down again reluctantly. He said politely to the old man, “Master, I was just…”

“Master?” There was a glint in Suihan’s eyes as though a thought had just hit him. “I’m…I’m Gu Suihan, I’m…I’m an Immortal!”

“Suihan, are you alright?” Qingming shook the dazed Gu Suihan worriedly and glared angrily at the young man next to his friend.

“I’m fine.” The gleam in Gu Suihan’s eyes slowly faded. He glanced at Qingming, then stood up and wrapped his fingers around the neck of the young man next to him.

“What are you trying to do?” The old man with the young man started to panic, bewildered as to why Gu Suihan would attack his protégé over a few words.

The young man struggled like crazy, but Gu Suihan kept a firm grip on his throat and lifted him from his seat.

“What a pitiful little ant!” Gu Suihan had a little pity with a tinge of disgust in his eyes when he saw the pleading look in the young man’s eyes. He let go of the young man again, then headed for the exit as if nothing happened.

“Suihan, Suihan!” Qingming called out after his good friend in an anxious voice, but he had noticed a difference in the way his friend carried himself. Those domineering words had made his heart palpitate fearfully. He could sense that…this old friend of his was somewhat different now.

“I’m leaving first. You can try to find some opportunities at the party,” said Gu Suihan as he turned around to smile at Qingming before leaving.

“How do I weaken his will?” Gu Suihan lay lazily on the couch and started thinking of a good way to deal with Qingming.

Regaining his memories so quickly had shocked him at first, but he was also pleasantly surprised.

That meant that he could set up everything to trap Qingming and use minimum effort to kill him.

He couldn’t touch Qingming’s family, though. Not only would that not work, but it might also trigger something in Qingming that would help him to regain his memories. Once that happened, he would no longer have this advantage over Qingming.

“His career!” Gu Suihan remembered the stubborn and obsessed look in Qingming’s eyes. His eyes slowly lit up, shining as brightly as a gemstone.

“I’ll raise him up, then let him fall,” murmured Gu Suihan as he started twirling a strand of hair absentmindedly.

“Suihan, I’m home,” Qingming’s depressed voice came from the door.

Gu Suihan snapped out of his thoughts and hid his evil aura and the sinister glint in his eyes, replacing them with a warm smile, “It didn’t go well?”

“Yeah. They saw that I wasn’t good-looking enough and didn’t want to talk to me beyond one or two sentences. They didn’t even let me have a name card.” Qingming flung his jacket onto the couch like he was pissed.

“Why don’t I help you to make some arrangements?” There was an unnoticeable gleam in Gu Suihan’s eyes. “You should have a company and a manager at least.”

Qingming bounced up from the couch like a frightened rabbit. He said angrily, “No! I’ve told you many times already! I want to rely on myself…”

“Don’t you think you’ve been very selfish?” Gu Suihan cut Qingming off with a wave of his hand and said sternly, “Your family’s not very well-to-do and can only be considered average or worse. Putting you through school was already difficult enough for them. You still have two younger sisters and they’ve been forced to stop school because there isn’t enough money left for them. You’ve graduated for more than a year now, but you’ve not gotten a proper job and you’re still living off your parents. Have you ever considered how your family feels?”

“I…I didn’t want things to turn out this way either! But I…I really can’t accept this either!” Qingming’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the patterns on the coffee table. “I still want to make a name for myself with my own efforts.”

“But have you ever considered how many more years your family can support you like this?” said Gu Suihan quietly. His expression was gentle and he sounded like a good friend trying to give sound advice, but he also sounded like a devil tempting a mortal. “Your parents are getting on in age and they really should be looking at retirement since you’re old enough to work. But they’re still worried about you, so they continue to work hard even at this age. Are you sure you can bear to watch them continue living like this?”

“Then…then what should I do?” wailed Qingming as he clutched his head in agony.

“Tell you what. I’ll find you a company to sign you on and get them to give you a few small jobs. Once you’ve gotten more exposure, you just need to accumulate a bit of reputation and you can start taking on better acting roles. That way, you can still make it big with your own efforts, even while I help you a little here and there,” said Gu Suihan with a faint smile as he came up with a big plan for his friend’s road to stardom that allowed his friend no room for negotiation.