Chapter 1 The Masses Actor Li Mou "Lu Director, it's just these people, there aren't any more.

  "Zhang, also known as 'Group Head', pointed at the twenty or so crowd actors he had brought along to explain to Director Lu."

  The Zhongyuan Film and Television Base is very large, with many crews filming here, often resulting in a shortage of extras.

  Lu Dao frowned and looked at the twenty or so people in front of him, speechless, and waved his hand to let the makeup artist take them away for makeup.

  He is about to start shooting this scene, which requires a large number of extras, but only half have been found so far. It seems that he can only discuss with the photographer and use multiple shots and angles to render the number of people in the scene.

  Li Chengzhong was brought before the makeup artist, and soon had his hair styled into a bun with a chopstick pinning it up, wrapped in a kerchief, and his face powdered with yellow powder.

  He was then taken to the tailor's place.

  The dresser took his measurements, instructed the assistant to bring a large round-necked coat and put it on him, looked at his sneakers and frowned, then handed him a pair of Tang boots.

  Li Chengzhong hastily tried it on and found it fit perfectly, so he quickly made way for the next person to collect their clothes.

  As an unsatisfied actor in a crowd scene, Li Chengzhong was also deeply enchanted by the movie dreams he wove for himself, just like most ordinary people.

  He fantasized about being discovered by a director and becoming famous overnight, achieving a brilliant life.

  But things don't always go as planned, and Li Chengzhong, who didn't have any distinctive features, naturally struggled in the crowd of extras, with no chance to stand out.

  He has appeared in dozens of film and television works, with his longest appearance being eight seconds, playing a dead Qing soldier. Unfortunately, his face was covered with thick pig's blood, which left him with a deep impression of the stench. To this day, he still feels nauseous when eating pork.

  Li Chengzhong's failure is also reflected in his lines.

  For three years, he only said one line of dialogue. That time, he played a servant and bowed his waist to answer respectfully with a "yes".

  Although only his back appeared on screen, he still downloaded the movie from the internet and watched it repeatedly, smiling foolishly, then fell asleep happily. In his dreams, he met with countless fans, signed autographs for them, chatted freely in front of reporters, revealing his hobbies, sang loudly under the spotlight, and received cheers from music fans... This is Li Chengzhong, an unsuccessful extra actor, but he didn't lose heart or give up. He continued to work hard at the Zhuozhou Film and Television Base, sometimes going for many days without getting any roles, while other times working himself to exhaustion from dawn till dusk.

  Many of the companions who came with him at first have left one after another, but he has been searching for opportunities all the time. He believes that heaven will not disappoint those who are kind-hearted, and he believes that persistence can bring about the day when his dreams come true.

  Today in this play, a scene of ancient war is being filmed. Li Chengzhong has to play the role of a corpse and lie down in the woods.

  In order to create the atmosphere of the battlefield after the fire attack, he and several other extras who played corpses were each given a simple paper smoke bomb, which they would light up on the battlefield according to the director's instructions.

  Before the shooting started, everyone was resting and waiting, but no one knew which link had a problem, and the director's command was delayed.

  Li Chengzhong took a look and estimated that there was still some time left, so he nodded to his fellow traveler beside him and went into the woods behind.

  I really need to go to the bathroom and I'm about to burst.

  Just as he was about to relax, Li Chengzhong walked back and forth, and immediately felt a little flustered.

  What? Where is everyone? How did they finish filming so quickly? He looked around for a moment, but didn't see anyone from the crew! He hastily ran out of the woods, and there wasn't even a single person in sight! Just as he was wondering, he finally saw three people riding horses towards him from afar. Certain that it was them, he hurriedly went to meet them.

  Today, among these scenes, only Lu's play has a horse.

  As the two sides approached, the three riders pulled tight on the reins, and their horses' heads rose up, stopping in place. The three men sat stably on horseback, looking very elegant.

  Li Chengzhong couldn't help but praise: "Good horsemanship!" The leading rider leaned forward slightly from his horse, looked at Li Chengzhong and asked: "Where are you from?" "Ah?" Li Chengzhong was taken aback, didn't react.

  A rider behind shouted, "Hey, you! Answer our questions quickly!" Is this... being filmed? And... there's a script! Li Chengzhong was thrilled, he had no idea how the director had arranged it, and when did he, an extra, get to be part of the scene? Was it just a coincidence? What a great opportunity! He didn't dare look for the camera, afraid of hearing the director yell "cut".

  But how can I continue this conversation? With a hundred thoughts racing through his mind, he hastily cupped his hands and said: "General, I am just a local."

  Although he didn't know the lines, as a seasoned actor with more than three years of experience, Li Chengzhong had seen many ancient costume dramas being filmed and had thought about it himself, so at this time, he could imitate and act out a scene.

  Having said that, he leaned in to listen, but didn't hear the director yell "cut", and was even more delighted.

  The horseman who led the way asked, "Local? Where do you live?" Li Chengzhong was a bit dizzy, how to respond to this line? But a living person cannot be urinated to death, it's easy to get such a chance to appear on camera, and he must not drop the chain! He quickly responded, "No home, just traveling around."

  A horseman behind rode forward and said in a low voice to the leading horseman, "It seems that he is a rural knight-errant."

  The leading rider nodded, smiled at Li Chengzhong and showed a mouthful of yellow teeth: "Since you are a local, looking at your strong body, are you willing to join the army?" Li Chengzhong was so happy that he almost fainted, his blood rushed up to his head, and his face turned red with excitement, shouting loudly: "Yes!" Ah, this is actually three lines of dialogue! Many second- and third-line professional actors don't have that many lines! What kind of luck did Li Chengzhong have, and how did he suddenly get so many lines? The most important thing is that the director didn't shout cut! What does this mean? It means his acting has been recognized! "Let's go then, can you keep up?" The leading rider asked, stroking his horse's mane.

  Fourth sentence! Li Chengzhong became more and more immersed in the play, and he bowed again with his fists: "I can!" The three riders controlled their horse speed, and Li Chengzhong ran behind them in small steps. It was only then that he had time to look at the three riders.

  All three were dressed as cavalrymen, with outer coverings of black lacquered leather armor, but Li Xiangzhong estimated that it was probably blackened foam plastic.

  The quiver and bow hanging on the horse look exquisite, it seems that this film has put in a lot of effort in terms of props.

  After observing for a long time, he suddenly came to his senses and ran away like this. Where's the camera? Usually when acting, they would run around the camera position in a big circle, but now running in a straight line, without seeing the camera following up.

  He busily stole glances around, but never saw anyone else from the crew. He ran out for over a mile, and his heart began to pound.

  After running for a while, they saw that it was only two miles away. The three riders slowed down and stopped their horses. The leader laughed and said: "He's indeed a good young man, he can really run!" Li Cheng thought to himself, what's the big deal about this? He had been a soldier before becoming an actor, and every morning in the army, he would have to carry heavy loads for five kilometers of cross-country running. Now, running two miles without any load was simply a piece of cake.

  He took a deep breath but didn't bother to respond, just looked around, and his heart grew more and more anxious.

  Where did the crew go? Where's the camera? I didn't think this place was so desolate before, not even a single person! And how come there's such dense grass on the ground? Finally, he discovered a big problem - no utility poles! In northern China, if you ask what's most abundant, there's only one answer: utility poles! If you ask what's least abundant, it's also just one answer: grasslands! But this place gave him a feeling of lush grass and sparse people.

  Although there are not many trees, a dozen or twenty of them form a small forest, scattered across the vast grassland.

  No farmhouse, no fields, no signs of human habitation, no village... Li Chengzhong was somewhat dazed.

  Three riders galloped their horses around in a circle about four li away and then gathered back together, beckoning Li Chengzhong to follow.

  Li Chengzhong followed closely behind him in a daze, running several miles before stopping to rest.

  Take a rest for a while and then continue running.

  He was a bit dazed, what's going on? Where is the Zhuozhou base? Where is the crew? The village farmers? The utility poles? The fields? How did all of these suddenly disappear? Taking advantage of a pause, Li Chengzhong hesitated to ask the rider who had always been called "Pei Rong": "Where are we?" The rider was taken aback: "Aren't you a local?" Li Chengzhong shook his head: "I was born in Zhuozhou, but grew up in Gu'an and have never been here before."

  The three riders whispered a few words and burst out laughing, but it was unclear what they found so amusing. Li Chengzhong grew somewhat angry.

  He decided not to follow foolishly anymore, he wanted to go back and ask the crew what was going on.

  Just as he was about to bid farewell, the guy who had been called "Pian Rong" made a gesture for everyone to be quiet, then took down his bow and arrow from his horse, drew the bow full moon, and with a "whooshing" sound, an arrow pierced the grass thirty meters away.

  A horseman galloped past, leaned over to scoop up a grey hare with an arrow stuck in it and threw it to the ground.

  Li Chengzhong took a look and saw that the arrow was stuck in the rabbit's hind leg, the rabbit was still kicking its legs, but it was clearly dead.

  The three riders all burst out laughing, peeled off their wet clothes and started a fire on the spot.

  Li Chengzhong's mouth was a little dry, and he swallowed hard, thinking to himself that things were not going well. He didn't dare say anything about leaving, but his mind kept repeating the same thought: this bow and arrow weren't just for show! After eating the rabbit meat thrown over by "Peng Rong", they continued on their way. Li Chengzhong ran while thinking, trying to come up with a plan to slip away safely. The more he looked at these three men, the less they seemed like good people. Finally, he plucked up the courage to ask: "Where are we going?" "Peng Rong" turned his head and replied from horseback: "You're joining the army, aren't you? Just follow us!" Li Chengzhong thought to himself that these three men must be crazy - what did they mean by joining the army? What was really going on? Was it a kidnapping? As soon as this thought occurred to him, he shook his head secretly. Firstly, he wasn't a woman or child, and secondly, he looked like someone without any money, so why would anyone kidnap him? Although he couldn't understand what was happening, he slowed down his pace, wanting to make a run for it.

  But just as he was about to stop, the three of them also slowly reined in their horses, giving him no chance to turn around and leave.

  Looking at the bows and arrows on the three men's horses and the horizontal knives attached to their waists, Li Chengzhong felt helpless and had no choice but to follow them again.

  After walking several more li, Li Chengzhong finally saw people.

  These people were dressed in the same attire as the three riders, riding horses with armor on, with swords hanging from their waists or holding spears, moving back and forth in groups.

  Crossing a mountain slope, Li Cheng's mouth was wide open for half a day without closing, and his heart suddenly surged like a stormy wave, unable to calm down.

  A gigantic ancient campsite stretching for miles appeared before our eyes!