Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 727: The Death of Shen Jue - Body Never Found?

【What do you mean? So Director Lin, don’t you dare tell me Shen Jue is dead.】

【One second I was grinning like an idiot, the next I’m dumbfounded. Come on, Director of Thief Catcher, what the hell are you playing at? What’s with those bloodstained bone-cleaving knives? Don’t you dare tell me Shen Jue is dead, with his body never even found.】

【A little-known fact: deserts have lots of quicksand that can swallow people whole. Once you fall, there’s a good chance your body will never be recovered.】

【Haha, stop the knives, stop the knives! If Director Lin dares to do this, I’ll just grab a knife and camp out on his doorstep!】

After watching the trailer for Thief Catcher 2, without a doubt, the long-awaited veteran fans went absolutely ballistic.

To get Thief Catcher 2 into theaters, the story was actually not as tightly connected to Thief Catcher 1. Aside from the same protagonist and his background, this new storyline was easy for even new viewers to follow without any barriers.

But the first batch of viewers to show up were mostly people who had already seen Thief Catcher. After all, Thief Catcher was a pretty popular big-budget film on the platform. Back when it first launched, it wasn’t too expensive, it got clips recommended on various short-video platforms, and later it participated in free or VIP-free viewing events. Its audience was absolutely massive.

So even if some people had forgotten the plot of the first movie, the moment they saw Jiang Rushu and Shen Jue’s bone-cleaving knife technique, these veteran fans would inevitably push back their hair and sigh, “Ah, I remember, I remember it all!”

Shen Jue was way too iconic. And how many people had been blown away by Xiao He’s real-life Bone-Cleaving Knife Technique back then?

So when they saw in the trailer that the Penglai Inn, where Shen Jue and the Landlady stayed, had been burned down, and Shen Jue was suspected dead, his body never found, the fans who genuinely loved Shen Jue were seething with rage.

Oh, wait, no—they were already getting stabbed in the heart in advance.

And most importantly, who had the highest popularity in the Thief Catcher series right now?

That was definitely Xiao He too!

So naturally, even more fans got hit by this emotional knife!

【If Shen Jue dies in Thief Catcher 2, my youth is truly over.】

【Director Lin, say something! Hurry up and talk! Don’t leave me in suspense!】

【Director Lin, I’m begging you, you’re just doing this for publicity, right? You edited it that way on purpose, right? Actually, Shen Jue and Jiang Rushu are both fine, the Penglai Inn is okay too, and everyone happily goes home in the end, right? I’m begging you, just tell me!】

【Oh no, could it be that Xiao He’s become more famous and expensive, so the production team decided to give Shen Jue the boot, so he can conveniently fake his death and not participate in future sequels?】

【No, I won’t allow it! I’m still waiting for Thief Catcher 3!】

【So why release the trailer so early? Why can’t I just wake up to May Day? I’m really pissed off now!】

That Thief Catcher 2 could hit theaters was, of course, a joyful thing for veteran fans and other supporters. But now, no one could be happy anymore.

Even if this trailer still carried that familiar wuxia combat, added so many new characters from old wuxia, and the overall plot retained the style of the first movie—fiery enough, satisfying enough—

The first thing to hit the hot search was still 【Shen Jue - Body Never Found】.

-

After watching the trailer and then the netizens’ discussions on the hot search, Xiao He couldn’t help but wipe a bead of sweat for Lin Yipeng.

As a performer with a god’s-eye view, he naturally knew that Shen Jue wasn’t dead in the end. Those seemingly ambiguous clips were just Lin Yipeng’s little tricks in editing the trailer. But other people had no idea!

And it seemed netizens were really good at writing their own tragedy and imagining their own heartbreak.

They hadn’t even confirmed it yet, hadn’t even seen Shen Jue’s death scene for real, and now they’d already conjured up a “body never found” plotline in their heads—and now the comments were all exploding, everyone howling and crying.

Xiao He: ...This move has a huge chance of getting the knife thrown back at you, but it works like a charm!

Hadn’t he already taken over multiple hot search slots in one go?

Uh, it was just that it felt like he was being torn apart alive...

Xiao He had to admire Lin Yipeng’s creativity.

He opened his own account again and sure enough, it was bustling with activity. The comment section was flooded with people asking him about Thief Catcher 2.

Too bad, obviously, Xiao He wasn’t about to tell them the truth right now.

So he could only leave them helplessly wailing in the comment section.

Xiao He expressed his Helpless Sympathy with regret, then went ahead and reposted the promotional poster for Thief Catcher 2, welcoming everyone to watch it together on May Day.

Lin Yipeng, quick on the net, immediately showed up with his main account and posted a team photo of them watching the sunset in the desert back then.

【Lin Yipeng: Everyone, come watch on May Day! Click here to pre-order tickets for the premiere in your local area—[link]】

Xiao He clicked on the photo to look at it, then saved it at lightning speed.

The sunset that day was absolutely gorgeous. Many people from the Thief Catcher 2 crew couldn’t help taking selfies right there on the spot. And Lin Yipeng had been camped out at the highest point of the sand dune, waiting to capture the most beautiful twilight.

But no one expected that during this waiting period, taking advantage of his position at the highest and best spot, he secretly took photos of many people.

And the most coincidental thing was that in this photo, almost everyone was smiling, looking genuinely happy, completely unaware that someone was filming them from afar. So all their actions were spontaneous. Bathed in that last faint warmth of the winter desert sun, they chatted and laughed, each doing their own thing—a scene of perfect harmony.

Even Xiao He was talking with Pu Rong, their arms slung over each other’s shoulders. The vibe between them at that moment felt just like Jiang Rushu and Shen Jue from Thief Catcher, carrying a bittersweet feeling of the plot becoming reality.

There was no denying it—Lin Yipeng was really good at taking photos.

And he knew exactly how to squeeze the audience’s intense anticipation right now, luring more people into the theaters for Thief Catcher 2—

But wait, hey! Why were some viewers saying this scene was actually using joy to highlight sorrow?!

Wasn’t everyone grinning from ear to ear? Where exactly did you see any sorrow?!

What? Oh, you’re saying the sunset and desert themselves just carried a lonely, melancholic vibe?

Xiao He: ...

Alright, you win.

Anyway, until you walk into the theater for me, I’m not going to tell you that Shen Jue is actually alive and well—not only is he not dead, but he might even continue to appear in the third installment.

So Xiao He pretended not to see the wailing in the comment section and replied to Lin Yipeng with complete calm.

【Xiao He: When did you take this? Send me a copy later—it’s worth commemorating.】

Netizens: ?

Wait, Bro Xiao, did you just say “commemorating”?

Something feels off about that word, doesn’t it?

Ptooey, ptooey, the guy’s still alive—what’s there to commemorate? Don’t you dare actually take the boot just because the pay for Thief Catcher is low! We’re still waiting for Thief Catcher 3!

Bro Xiao, if you really get that obsessed with money, we’ll get seriously angry.

Xiao He, who “treats money like dirt”: Hehe...

Mislead the audience into crying miserably—what a joyful thing it is~

Understand Director Lin.

Become Director Lin!