Chapter 29.2

In order to protect himself, Jing Yuanqi had studied Chinese kickboxing. Due to his continued dedication to training, none of these bodyguards were a match for him.

“You!”

Several bodyguards made a collaborative effort to catch Jing Yuanqi, but the youth weaved through their attempts effortlessly. He plopped himself down beside Shi Qing.

“Shi-laoshi, it’s fine if you don’t want to talk to other people, but how could you keep me away as well?”

The film emperor put down his book. There was a chilling light in his eyes, “Get away from me.”

Jing Yuanqi was stunned.

This was the first time that Shi Qing used such a strong tone with him.

In the past, Shi Qing would never talk like this even when he drove Jing Yuanqi away.

The young man knew the weaknesses of his prey like the back of his hand. He skillfully raised the brightness of his sunny smile and moved about a millimeter away from the film emperor.

He had the face to tease him, “This is far enough right?”

Shi Qing’s eyebrows tightened even more. His petal-like lips pursed slightly like he was very dissatisfied.

Jing Yuanqi could sense that something wasn’t right.

What happened?

Why was Shi Qing suddenly so intolerant towards him?

Was it because of Cui Yunqing’s eyebrows? Was Shi Qing refusing him because of that little fool?

Cui Yunqing, who was currently chatting with other people outside the circle of bodyguards suddenly felt a chill on his neck. He ducked his head subconsciously. Turning around, he saw Jing Yuanqi staring at him from within the circle.

Cui Yunqing immediately forgot about the strange feeling just now and waved happily at Jing Yuanqi.

Jing Yuanqi: Hehe. Fool.

How could Shi Qing’s attitude towards him change because of him?

Then what was this about?

While he was thinking, those girls walked over.

The first step to having a conversation with famous people was, of course, to say hello. The girls tried to ignore the bodyguards as best they could. They were bubbly as they asked for a round of introductions.

After that, it was time to bring out the icebreakers.

For the purpose of enhancing the livestream, the props department carried over a box of darts.

“These are the signature darts of the ‘Ancient Fog Monster’. Every one of these is coated in deadly poison. Be careful everyone!”

That was just a joke.

The Ancient Fog Monster was an ominous villain from ‘God’s Arrival’. He always carried poison-laced darts on him. Anyone hit by one of them would survive for three days at most.

This was obviously an attempt to pander to the fans of the novel.

As the referee, AA Rabbit explained the rules: “It’s very simple. I’m going to put a dart on the ground. The participants will throw their darts one by one. It must be able to stand on its own and be as close to my dart as possible. The nearest dart will be the winner and the farthest one will be the loser. After that, the winner can ask the loser a question or dare the loser to do something of their choosing.”

“Okay, now that we’re all clear on the rules, who wants to go first?”

Cui Yunqing was eager to volunteer, but Jing Yuanqi was a step ahead.

Cui Yunqing: “Jing-ge, you want to try it first?”

Jing Yuanqi pulled Shi Qing out by his arm: “No, Shi-laoshi will go first.”

Cui Yunqing: “???”

He shrunk back once he glanced at the frowning Shi-laoshi.

He didn’t seem too thrilled no matter how you looked at it.

Shi Qing didn’t speak. He accepted one of the darts, held it gently in his hand and immediately tossed it out.

The comments stopped for about two seconds. The dart couldn’t have landed further away from AA Rabbit’s if he tried.

Soon after:

[Hahahahahahahahaha!!!]

[OMG!!! Why did he throw the dart like a handkerchief?! Is he being serious right now ah!]

[Even I can tell that he wasn’t using any strength. He didn’t even grasp the dart very tightly.]

[How did someone like this become a film emperor?!]

A mocking curtain of comments swept across the screen. The film emperor couldn’t see it of course. Seeing the vast distance between the two darts, he only quietly moved aside.

Jing Yuanqi looked at Shi Qing’s lightly drooping eyelashes. His silence seemed to contain a trace of disappointment. For some reason, Jing Yuanqi’s mind was a mess.

He could admit that he was hoping Shi Qing would miss by a significant margin when he pushed the man out, but he didn’t expect that Shi Qing would just toss it with so little strength.

It was caught on stream, so he’s definitely feeling embarrassed.

Jing Yuanqi never intended for Shi Qing to lose face.

The young man carefully avoided the lens of the camera and tugged on Shi Qing’s arm: “Shi-laoshi……”

Shi Qing reached out and gently removed his hand. “I’m not angry.”

Jing Yuanqi carefully glanced at the frigid film emperor: “You held back just now?”

“En.”

Jing Yuanqi didn’t ask him why. He purred softly like a feline, “Then I’ll win later okay? If I win, it’ll be just the two of us.”

The film emperor finally raised his eyes. Inky black irises pierces into him: “You have this much confidence in yourself?”

“Of course.”

Jing Yuanqi has never felt the need to boast about his strength and fighting capabilities before.

But when he looked at Shi Qing, he couldn’t help but strut around like an arrogant leopard, showing off all of his accomplishments.

Jing Yuanqi really could back up his words.

He waited until everyone else had a chance to throw their darts.

After confirming his target, he took the dart and threw it out.

–Ding!

This dart landed right next to the dart AA Rabbit placed so far away. A crisp sound rang out.

“Wah!!!”

Cui Yunqing was the first to jump out: “You’re so cool Jing-ge!!! You’re the best!!!”

The room was filled with cheers.

Even the commenters lauded this newcomer with all kinds of praises. He could maintain his accuracy from so far away.

Therefore, the next part of the game was Jing Yuanqi vs Shi Qing.

The youth has been waiting impatiently for this.

“Truth or dare? What’s the name of the person you like?”

Shi Qing paused for a second, “Dare.”

Jing Yuanqi was disappointed.

If they were playing in private, he would ask Shi Qing to do it with him at least once on the bed, on the wall, on the ground and on the treadmill.

Unfortunately, they were being livestreamed.

The young man’s smile reached all the way to his eyes, which were glittering mischievously like he was a malicious trickster: “Then I want Shi-laoshi to cut me a slice of watermelon and personally feed it to me.”

Obviously, this was Jing Yuanqi’s alternative scheme to receive affection.

Within five minutes, a crew member came back with a watermelon and a knife. He was laughing and yelling from afar: “The watermelon’s here!”

Maybe the ground was uneven or something, but when he was nearby the staff member suddenly slipped. His entire body fell forward.

“Ah!!!”

The man tumbled to the ground. The watermelon and knife flew out of his hands.

The viewers of the stream could only watch with horror as the knife flew straight towards Girl C.

Girl C didn’t even have time to scream before she was shoved down with great force by a man.

It took less than a second for all this to happen.

When everyone returned to their senses, Shi Qing was lying on the ground. He was holding the girl who almost got stabbed in his arms.

“Shi Qing!”

“Shi-ge!!!”

“Shi-laoshi–”

The people on the scene responded. Jing Yuanqi was the first to rush over. He almost instinctively arrived at Shi Qing’s side as he pushed the girl in his arms away. His long hands patted Shi Qing up and down.

“Are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere? ”

Girl C didn’t have time to react before she was pushed away. She was still in a state of confusion. It was only when her friends helped her out that the wheels in her head began to turn again. When she thought back to how close the knife was to her face in the last second, her heart seemed to drop into her stomach.

“Shi-laoshi, Shi-laoshi, are you okay?”

She remembered how Shi Qing saved her just now. But she had the nerve to complain about him being a tryhard earlier. Girl C was overwhelmed with guilt. She hobbled forward on her jelly-like legs towards Shi Qing who was still on the ground.

“I’m fine.”

Shi Qing sat up with Jing Yuanqi’s support. He glanced down at his body: “Everything’s okay. I’m not hurt.”

His expression was normal and his eyebrows were relaxed, so the others believed him and hurried to help him up.

“Thank goodness you’re okay. It was so scary just now.”

“Shi-laoshi, let’s get you off the floor.”

The stream audience saw everything that happened.

[Fuck, that wasn’t a skit right? I thought Shi Qing was a selfish bastard at first glance.]

[Whatever that was, it was driven by pure instinct.]

[If it wasn’t for Shi Qing, that girl’s face would’ve probably been ruined.]

[Did anyone record that? I want to rewatch it.]

The System was very happy after reviewing the comments: [Host! Host! They’ve completely changed their opinion of you!]

[The Host is so powerful!! Here, flowers for you!]

Shi Qing: [Save your praises for later. It’s not over yet.]

In full view of the camera, the film emperor stood up and dusted himself off as if nothing had happened. Then he turned to say a few words to the others.

[Fuck me sideways–]

[OMG ah!! There’s so much blood!!!]

[Fuck that’s a dart, right?? It’s in him??]

They could see the dart that was being used as a target in the game was embedded in Shi Qing’s back. The wound was bleeding freely.

It must have stabbed Shi Qing when he threw himself over Girl C to protect her.

The comments exploded as a large portion of the white shirt was slowly dyed red by fresh blood.

The crew blew up too.

“Why is there so much blood?? Someone quickly call for an ambulance!”

“Are you feeling alright Shi-laoshi? Shi-laoshi? How are you doing?”

“Why didn’t you tell us you were injured?”

Among the multitude of people speaking at once, Jing Yuanqi remained silent.

He stared dully at Shi Qing’s ashen face. His usually cold demeanour was cracking as he felt around his own back in a daze. When he saw the blood on his hand, the expression on his face became even more lost.

The eyes that were as cold as ice revealed a fragility that Jing Yuanqi had never seen before.

It was impossible to tell if the film emperor was sad, but Jing Yuanqi felt that the other person was close to tears.

He lowered his head away from the cameras. “I’m sorry but please stop filming,” he said hoarsely.

Jing Yuanqi’s heart ached to see this side of Shi Qing, even if he didn’t know why Shi Qing was so vulnerable right now.

The young man coaxed with a soft voice he has never used before: “Shi Qing. It’s alright. They won’t film you anymore.”

Jing Yuanqi gathered the film emperor in front of him and sheltered him from the cameras.

But they continued to follow him.

Shi Qing’s voice was too quiet. Everyone was too occupied by his injury to notice his pleads.

So the film emperor murmured in his hoarse voice again and again while avoiding the cameras. He was almost begging: “Don’t film me, don’t film me……”

He stared as Shi Qing, who was so skittish around him before, willingly hid himself in his arms. Complicated emotions filled Jing Yuanqi’s heart.

Heartache and annoyance dominated the rest.

The young man stalked over to AA Rabbit to grab her phone and end the broadcast: “Stop filming!”

AA Rabbit was stunned.

When she was about to ask why, her eyes coincidentally met the youth’s.

They were sharp and bitterly cold like a knife left outside in winter. There was a promise of wrath hidden within.

She shivered and did not dare to speak again.

***

Shi Qing was escorted onto the ambulance.

Since the entire event was being livestreamed, it inevitably spread all over the internet.

The short video of him reflexively saving a girl he didn’t know also began to spread online.

[I didn’t expect that from someone like him. Shi Qing’s always seemed so gloomy and miserly, but he’s actually a pretty cool dude! I stand corrected!]

[But doesn’t anyone else find it strange that he didn’t react at all to being stabbed? Was this really not planned?]

[It was a livestream. Why don’t you try something in front of that many stars and see how well that goes.]

[I used to have a very negative impression of Shi Qing. But what happened has totally changed my view on him. He unconsciously turned so that his body would hit the ground instead of the girl. If it wasn’t for him, the girl would definitely have been injured by that dart instead.]

When Shi Qing’s fan base increased dramatically because of this incident, a post appeared quietly. It soon made it onto the HOT list.

[Former worker in the entertainment industry. I’m here to say what I know about Shi Qing]

Poster ID: Long time out of circle

Long time out of circle: [I’ve been in the circle for long enough to see all kinds of stars. Shi Qing, however, remains unique.

Many people know that his family was influential. When he first started out, he didn’t take bodyguards everywhere like he does now. Instead, he asked whoever was his assistant to stay by his side 24/7. They were dismissed if they left for even a second.

We didn’t understand why yet, so we thought he was being so harsh to deliberately torment the people around him. Someone even gave him the nickname ‘Loose Hand’, because no assistant could last more than a month under him. Anyways, Shi Qing left a ‘wonderful’ image in our minds.

He acted so gloomy and distant everyday. He gave short answers and liked to do everything alone. He hid himself away even during times when actors usually got together, like mealtimes and when putting on makeup. He gave others the impression that he was really difficult to get along with.

I’m not interested in boring you, so I’ll cut straight to the chase. At that time, due to various circumstances aligning, I found out something. Shi Qing was very numb to pain. An example that I remember very clearly was when he sat down on a random chair after filming a particularly demanding scene. Who knows, maybe he was too tired to make it back to his dressing room. I was resting nearby at the time. It was only when he left that I found a nail sticking out of that chair.

It wasn’t very long, but it was definitely enough to draw blood. If a normal person like us sat on it, there’s no doubt we would jump up immediately. But Shi Qing sat there for ten frickin minutes until he recovered enough to get up.

I paid special attention to that nail and wiped it down with some toilet paper. There was blood on it.

I didn’t know why he couldn’t feel any pain then. After a period of close observation, I found that he really couldn’t feel the pain that ordinary people could feel. He didn’t hurt even if he bled. I saw with my own eyes that there were many times where he only reacted to wounds when he noticed he was bleeding.

Later, when I went home to do a bit of research, I found a condition that seemed to fit his symptoms. It’s called congenital insensitivity to pain or CIP for short. People with this condition can’t feel pain. You might think that’s a good thing since you won’t feel toothaches or headaches or other kinds of discomfort.

But it’s not. CIP is a terrifying condition because pain is our body’s warning system. For example, you might take your temperature if you have a headache and find out that you’re feverish. You can then quickly take some medicine for it. Or maybe you get stabbed by a nail, so you go get a tetanus shot.

How are people with CIP supposed to find out if something is wrong? They can’t feel headaches so they don’t know that they have a fever, which can lead to more severe complications like pneumonia.

If they were injured by rusty nails, they wouldn’t know because they don’t feel any pain. As a result, they might get tetanus and die.

It says online that it is very difficult for people with CIP to live past 25. I don’t know how Shi Qing’s survived for so long, but it couldn’t have been easy for him.

In order to protect himself, he has to eat alone, rest alone, and even get his makeup done separately from everyone else. He can’t get close to others, because a careless action on their part can result in injury for him. Anyways, Shi Qing has been by himself for as long as I’ve been in the crew.

People in the industry say that he’s gloomy and aloof. So let me ask you this: if you could die through no fault of your own by interacting with others, would you?

Later on he started taking his bodyguards everywhere in public. People thought that he was overbearing and laughed at him for not being able to read the atmosphere, but I could see that he just wanted to continue living.

That’s all I have to say. I’ve already retired from the circle, but I saw in the news today that there were several commenters saying that it was all a publicity stunt. That’s why I made this post.

This is a throwaway account that will be deleted soon, so don’t bother messaging me.]

A new wave of discussion occurred among the netizens upon reading this post. Jing Yuanqi also read through it.

He froze for a long time.

He didn’t want to believe it, but it brought all the pieces together.

Shi Qing liked to eat devil’s peppers.

It’s common knowledge that the sensation of heat didn’t come from taste, but from pain.

He was able to eat the normally intolerable devil’s peppers with a straight face because he lacked the ability to feel pain.

He was always alone.

Alone in the dressing room. Alone while eating. Alone when sleeping.

When he heard there was going to be a livestream, his first reaction was to call his bodyguards over.

He didn’t call them just to ensure his safety.

It was to have someone to remind him when he got hurt.

The reason why he didn’t say anything on set was because no one cared if he was hurt or not.

There was only one reason for his actions.

Shi Qing didn’t want to let others know he couldn’t feel pain.

Now that everyone knew he was ill, what mood was Shi Qing in?

At this moment, all thoughts seemed to fade away from Jing Yuanqi’s mind.

The young man arrived at the hospital almost as fast as he could.

Gao Zhi was on guard outside the ward. He weakly smiled with tired eyes as he saw him: “Jing-ge.”

Jing Yuanqi didn’t have time to rest. He gasped for breath as he asked, “Is Shi Qing doing okay?”

Gao Zhi shook his head.

“Shi-ge hasn’t been in a good mood since he found out about that post. He said he wanted to be alone for a while, but he’s been stewing in there for more than three hours already.”

“Jing-ge, I don’t think Shi-ge wanted to let others know at all. Even someone like me who follows him around all the time didn’t know about this. Shi-ge obviously intended to hide it.”

He sighed: “But given his personality that makes sense. Shi-ge has always been very independent. There’s no way he wanted others to know that he was ill.”

Jing Yuanqi took a deep breath. At the thought of Shi Qing wearing that fragile expression in the ward, his heart throbbed painfully.

He was past the point of caring about why he was in a bad mood.

A person that valued appearances as much as Shi Qing was forced to show the soft meat hidden under his shell in public……

The young man put a hand over his heart. His face was clouded.

The poster who exposed Shi Qing better hope he didn’t find him!

[Ding! Jing Yuanqi’s animosity value: 49!]

Congratulations Host! Congratulations! The Host is skilled in both literature and martial arts. May you rule over the Jianghu for thousands of years!!]

In the ward, the pain-insensitive Shi Qing listened to the cheers of the System. He raised an eyebrow.

He turned on the computer and navigated to the forum account.

Next to the ID [Long time out of circle]–

–He clicked to sign out.