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

Chapter 765: What? They Want Me to Become a Celestial Master ASAP?!

Seeing that both Xiao He and Liu Rulan looked confused, Zhuang Hongyi immediately explained: "The Hong Kong Feng Shui Association is a legitimate, officially registered industry organization local to Hong Kong. Strictly speaking, they have no law enforcement power and can't stop us from filming, but the authorities still maintain relatively strict controls over this sort of thing. Our production team's project isn't small, and we have a large number of personnel. As soon as we go there to shoot, we're bound to attract their attention. So we have to restructure the team and cooperate with the Association's 'supervision.'"

Besides, Hong Kong is ultimately their locals' turf. Local businesspeople put a lot of stock in these matters. If Zhuang Hongyi wanted to collaborate with them, he had to play along.

—Actually, despite Zhuang Hongyi filming "Dragon," which is all about ghosts and monsters, he personally didn't believe in any of that stuff. He was a pure materialist at heart.

But business was business. Many of the older big shots genuinely believed in these things, and the production team's filming required deeper understanding of this culture and knowledge. So in the end, Zhuang Hongyi compromised and replaced one actor who wasn't suitable for playing a "Celestial Master."

As for why he wasn't suitable?

It all came down to things like fate, fortune, and incompatible energy fields.

Having that actor play their Celestial Master would be an insult to their entire industry and would negatively affect the production team's luck.

Anyway, this was already metaphysics territory. Did anyone expect them to give precise, logical answers?

Of course not.

On top of that, regulations in this area were already very strict nowadays. One wrong move, and they'd be accused of organizing feudal superstition gatherings... This was their first time venturing into this field, so trouble naturally came one after another.

Liu Rulan and Xiao He had never heard of such things before. After clicking their tongues in amazement, Liu Rulan suddenly spotted a key point: "Then what about Xiao He—"

She glanced at Xiao He, then at Zhuang Hongyi, the implication crystal clear.

Since those people had requirements for the actor playing the "Celestial Master," they naturally had to confirm things for the male lead.

After all, the male lead was the most important Celestial Master of all!

But since Zhuang Hongyi hadn't mentioned it to them before, it probably meant they'd already confirmed it—Xiao He was fine and could take the role.

Liu Rulan certainly didn't want Xiao He to be dropped from the production team for some bizarre, inexplicable reason!

That would be even more laughable to hear about.

Fortunately, when this topic came up, Zhuang Hongyi nodded readily and said, "They've already checked. They said Xiao He's Eight Characters are suitable, his birth chart aligns, and he can play the role. His presence even boosts luck, wards off misfortune, stabilizes the subject matter's energy field, and ensures smooth box office success."

Xiao He and Liu Rulan's mouths twitched simultaneously.

Uh, they'd already checked?

And when the hell did you get my Eight Characters?!

Xiao He shot a look at Liu Rulan, knowing for sure she was the one who'd given it.

Liu Rulan, however, spread her hands innocently, her eyes replying: "They asked for it, so of course I gave it!"

Besides, there really were quite a few partners in the industry who were superstitious like Ma Qianyou. Sometimes they would genuinely ask for a person's Eight Characters before signing a contract to find a master to calculate whether things would work out.

Having seen this many times, Liu Rulan had naturally learned to say different things to different people!

Need a resume? Give them a resume. Need Eight Characters? Hand those over for calculation too.

Anyway, she didn't believe in any of it. She was a staunch materialist warrior who adapted on the fly!

Xiao He was left speechless.

Wasn't there a saying that you shouldn't casually let others calculate your Eight Characters?

What if someone used them to cast a curse on him?

Ah, wait—casting curses was more like voodoo and gu poison stuff, which wasn't the same as Taoist methods... Bah! He was also a staunch materialist! How had he gotten led astray?!

Xiao He withdrew his gaze, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Seeing that Xiao He and Liu Rulan had both been rendered speechless by this, Zhuang Hongyi said with an awkward chuckle: "Sorry, we really should have informed you about this earlier, but so many things happened with 'Imperial Enterprise' during that time that we didn't want to bother you."

Actually, when he first heard that the Celestial Master Association had opinions, Zhuang Hongyi was a bit worried they might meddle and force a cast change—especially for Xiao He. He had invited Xiao He personally, and Xiao He had specifically turned down a script offer from foreign streaming giant Netflix. If the collaboration ended up failing because of incompatible Eight Characters, Zhuang Hongyi would have been too embarrassed to even face Xiao He.

But unexpectedly, the master took one look at Xiao He's Eight Characters and facial features, was stunned for quite a while, muttered to himself for a long time, and finally nodded to Zhuang Hongyi: "This person carries lethal intent in his fate and should have sunk into evil and depravity. Yet he has a clear mirror in his heart and can distinguish right from wrong. His aura of slaughter can instead suppress the yin, expel the turbid, quell disasters, and keep the production team safe... The protagonist you chose is an incredibly fitting match. And I've rarely seen such a birth chart in my lifetime. If he can come to Hong Kong, I would be willing to personally guide him a little."

As soon as Zhuang Hongyi heard it was good news, he instantly relaxed.

As for what the master had said, Zhuang Hongyi simply chalked it up to Xiao He having absorbed the villain role so deeply that it had permeated his essence. After all, the master's "facial reading" was also a scholarly pursuit. Naturally, he wouldn't repeat things like "excessive lethal intent" or "slaughter clinging to his person" to Xiao He and the others, to avoid causing unnecessary misunderstandings.

So now both sides were relieved.

"Since Xiao He has been busy lately, don't worry about the audition. I'll handle it," Zhuang Hongyi said. "But Xiao He might need to seriously study some knowledge about metaphysics and feng shui going forward. I've already asked the masters from the Association for some materials. You can take a look."

The Association only accepted legitimate masters—not those shady, self-taught types. After the authorities cleaned things up, there was even a complete set of very formal examinations before they could issue paper certificates.

This was to prevent fraud, the spread of feudal superstition, and the promotion of inappropriate ideologies.

The same applied on the mainland.

So don't actually believe that anyone with a phone claiming to be a master was genuine. These people were also managed by official agencies. All masters were registered, held formal certificates and related credentials, and couldn't fake anything. Doing so would be illegal.

Xiao He felt sweat forming on his forehead just listening: "So... where do I even start learning?"

"I've found some electronic documents. Take a look when you have time."

Zhuang Hongyi directly sent them to Xiao He.

Xiao He stared at the massive compressed file on his screen, the corner of his eye twitching: "Director Zhuang, are you sure you want to train an actor, or are you just planning to train a Taoist priest for the Association directly?"

How was he supposed to finish so many books?!

This was already a level Director Chou could never reach. Xiao He seriously suspected Zhuang Hongyi was trying to kill him!

Memorizing the lines for "Imperial Enterprise" had already been torture. And now this? They wanted him to become a Celestial Master ASAP.

Director Zhuang, how could Director Chou ever compare to your ruthlessness!

"Director Zhuang, I'm applying for a role change," Xiao He raised his hand. "Let them find some young person from the Association to play it. I really can't do this."

Save me, shouldn't he run away now?

What difference was this from escaping a wolf's den only to walk into a tiger's lair?

Xiao He couldn't hold it together anymore.