"Is this part of your family tradition?"
Looking at the rather serious expression on Jacob Cheung's face, Chen Ming thought to himself: *How can a director of your stature be so insulting?*
Whose family tradition involves being a eunuch?
It wasn't just Jacob Cheung; the others sitting beside him were also piqued by Chen Ming's performance. It wasn't that they hadn't seen actors play eunuchs well before.
But this Chen Ming—he didn't seem to be acting at all!
He must have some ancestral connection to the role!
Seeing the reactions of the directors, the seven people who had come to audition with him knew in their hearts that they had already become mere background filler.
Xu Kang, who had auditioned first, muttered to himself, "Did this guy practice some kind of internal cultivation or something?"
"Director, I just like to ponder these things in my spare time. I’m a real, straight-up man, truly—if you don't believe me..."
Chen Ming explained earnestly, but was ruthlessly interrupted by the middle-aged man.
"Stop, stop. If I don't believe you, what are you planning to do about it?"
The middle-aged man next to Jacob Cheung found this young man quite interesting. He was, after all, a graduate of a proper acting program. He flipped through the pile of actor headshots—which looked like a small mountain—on the table and continued, "Chen Ming, right? Like the 'Ming' in 'birdsong'?"
"Yes, Director."
A moment later, the middle-aged man pulled out a document, glanced at it, and handed it to Jacob Cheung.
"You have a lot of acting experience. Here, I'll give you a few lines; let's see you try them!"
He pulled out a new sheet of paper. The production assistant trotted over to take it and, while handing it to Chen Ming, told the others, "You all can head back and wait for notification!"
Chen Ming knew this was his chance. Whether or not he could seize it depended on this moment.
He unfolded the script. It was indeed a line for Yu Huatian! But it was just the dialogue—no backstory, no setting, nothing.
But Chen Ming didn't need any of that! Right now, he understood *The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate* better than these directors did!
Nobody understands *The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate* better than me!
Nobody understands Yu Huatian better than me!
As Chen Ming began to contemplate how to perform, the others left the audition room reluctantly, constantly turning their heads to look at Chen Ming, who was standing there clutching the piece of paper, looking somewhat agitated. *How... how can someone play a eunuch so well?*
*Damn it, he must have secretly castrated himself!*
*This bastard is really willing to go all out!*
*You come to an audition and you’ve secretly cut it off, is that it?*
The audition room was silent. The directors had set aside their tasks and were smoking, watching the young man in the distance who had fallen into deep thought with great interest.
"I’m ready."
Chen Ming's voice turned somewhat sharp and thin as he lowered his head and spoke softly.
Because he kept his head down, the people in the room didn't notice that his eyes had begun to change.
From soft to frantic, then to cold, ruthless, and venomous!
If Chen Ming could have seen his own eyes, he would surely have thought he was bordering on being a deviant.
The middle-aged man who gave him the paper gestured for him to start whenever he was ready.
Chen Ming raised his head, his eyes slightly narrowed, a feminine, sinister smile on his face as he looked at the directors. His posture was no longer hunched as it had been before; he now stood perfectly upright.
The photos scattered on the middle-aged man’s desk seemed to vibrate. At that instant, he felt as if an invisible hand had gripped his throat, as if a cold, slippery venomous snake were coiling around his body!
The young man standing before them seemed to be sitting on a sandalwood chair soaked in countless gallons of blood. Even the cicadas outside the window seemed to have fallen silent!
"What the Eastern Depot can control, I will control," he said. One can always hear one's own voice when speaking, but to Chen Ming, his voice sounded like a thin blade scraping across porcelain—deeply unsettling.
"What the Eastern Depot cannot control, I will also control!"
The tail end of his sentence carried a perfectly executed breathiness, not full of the booming vitality one might expect from his imposing presence, but rather like a dying consumptive about to cough up blood.
Yet, Chen Ming's gaze made Jacob Cheung and the others feel like prey being stalked by a bird of prey!
A chill ran down their spines!
The middle-aged man opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but was startled by Jacob Cheung beside him.
"Bang!"
Jacob Cheung slapped the table.
"Where are the props? Get someone to call the props department! Get him a python robe!"
...
Outside the audition room, the corridor had become noisy again as the previous group emerged. Those with experience began handing out cigarettes and water, asking about the situation inside: What was the director's temper like? What were they asked to perform? What was the process?
These seemingly trivial things could sometimes determine success or failure.
The seven people filed out of the audition room. The "old drifter" who had been there earlier handed a bottle of mineral water to Xu Kang. "How’d it go, brother? Why do you guys all look so shell-shocked? Was the casting director super fierce?"
Xu Kang took the water, opened it, and took a sip. He opened his mouth but suddenly found he didn't know how to describe what had happened inside.
*Guys, I think I just met a real eunuch at an audition.*
Nobody would believe that.
"C'mon, give us a hint!"
As he tried to press further, another person nearby said, "Hey, brother, that Chen Ming you mentioned—he didn't come out."
The old drifter looked up; sure enough, there was no sign of Chen Ming.
*Tch... could it be that the kid actually got the part?*
*Even if he did, so what?*
*Isn't it still just a 240-yuan job?*
"If that kid can get picked, then the rest of us shouldn't have much trouble either!" the old drifter said to the others like a big brother.
Xu Kang looked at him and said, "Man, don't take this the wrong way... but the gap might be a little huge!"
The old drifter was stunned. Just as he was about to retort, he heard someone shout from behind.
"Holy shit! Is that Lord Zhou downstairs?"
"Move aside, let me see—it's Zhou Xun!"
"She's coming this way. Is she going to be the female lead for this unit?"
The crowd waited patiently for a while, but the person who stepped out of the elevator wasn't Lord Zhou, but a chubby, cute girl. She trotted to the entrance of the audition room and bumped into the young production assistant who had brought Chen Ming and the others in earlier.
"Hello, our Ms. Zhou is here. When can she go up?"
The girl's implication was for them to clear out the riff-raff.
The so-called riff-raff naturally referred to this group of extras.
But seeing the look of awkwardness on the young man's face, the girl—who was quite experienced—immediately asked, "Is there some other teacher inside?"
She knew that if it were just an ordinary bit-part actor inside, the young man wouldn't have hesitated to go in and announce them.
"Let me go in and ask for you? Please have Ms. Zhou wait a moment!"
"Okay!"
The young man turned and walked into the audition room.
Less than a minute later, he came back out.
"Director Cheung says..."
Seeing him hesitate, the girl frowned and urged, "What is it?"
"Please have Ms. Zhou wait a little while longer. They are in the middle of a very important audition!"
When these words fell, the previously noisy corridor went instantly silent.
The assistant might not know who was inside, but they did!
Wasn't it that Chen Ming, the one nobody dared to use?!
Was he so highly regarded by the directors inside that they would make the great Lord Zhou wait?
The crowd's gaze shifted back to the old drifter, who had been so certain in his assessment of Chen Ming. His face was now flushed red, his hands hanging awkwardly at his sides. A moment later, he turned and headed downstairs.
"Brother, where are you going?"
"Going to buy cigarettes. My brother Chen loves Furong Wang!"