378. She Cracked

What a tragic scene it was.

That was the state of human death—being burned alive, without a shred of pity, without any redemption, a state of pure despair.

Every image was like a knife, piercing Ms. Merritt's heart.

She felt a pang of heartache, as if the director were stabbing her chest again and again with a merciless, blunt knife.

I clutched my chest, but the story continued.

Ms. Merritt saw the ghostly witch who had appeared before.

In her narration, the truth about this shrine and this world was revealed to Ms. Merritt.

Only the noblest people and the highest aspirations, transformed into the power of despair, can nourish the pure fire.

Only pollution can combat pollution; stronger pollution can cover weaker pollution.

For thousands of years, all priestesses have been like this.

If we don't do this, the world will be destroyed.

Ms. Merritt's brain had completely shut down at this point.

All the images in her mind were fixed on the once lovely, petite girl's current miserable state.

Until the ghostly witch revealed that Amber had called out the protagonist's name the last time, repeating it hundreds and thousands of times.

The scene shifts to the moment when Amber drinks the potion, is bound to the attic, and is burned by flames.

She was desperate, she struggled, she hated, she cursed everything.

Meanwhile, the people below the attic cheered and laughed with joy.

The two images intertwine on screen, and Ms. Merritt can no longer distinguish whether the raging flames are a merciless fire that devours life and hope, or a warm fire that sweeps away despair.

She saw that Amber, whose skin had peeled off and whose flesh had melted, was still repeating the protagonist's name.

She said, "I'm sorry."

Ms. Merritt thought that if she could choose again, Amber might choose to ignore those responsibilities and leave with the protagonist.

She also hopes that Amber will make the same choice.

However, it was too late.

Everything forms a closed loop, and it is precisely because she is such an outstanding person that she is standing here.

Her death was not due to personal desires, and it cannot even be considered a tragedy.

One person's death, and the survival of many.

Although not of his own volition, it was a necessary sacrifice for the world.

This made Ms. Merritt feel truly powerless.

If Amber was killed by a major villain out of hatred, or if her death was caused by someone's mistake, then Ms. Merritt could be angry, could be resentful, could accuse, and could blame those who committed the crime.

She could yell at the protagonist to break all of this, burn down the entire shrine, destroy the entire Divine Cherry Tree, and ruin the world.

However, no one in this incident is unforgivably at fault; everyone is rushing headlong toward making the world a better place and ensuring its survival.

If there is anything wrong with this, then the fault probably lies with the entire crazy world.

Even in such a world, Amber hopes that the protagonist can survive here.

Everything has formed a deadlock.

"Live on."

Through the ghost witch, the protagonist hears Amber's last wish.

Ms. Merritt was somewhat shocked.

Her eardrums buzzed, and blood rushed to her head.

From her throat to her stomach, a cold sensation, like tentacles, churned within her.

Ms. Merritt felt as if her brain had been boiled in boiling water. Her eyes were bloodshot, her back was hunched, and acid rose in her throat, causing her to vomit.

She didn't eat much that night, so most of it was stomach acid and alcohol.

Even the foul-smelling vomit seemed pleasing to Ms. Merritt at that moment.

She saw on the screen that the protagonist finally left and went to the sea. The world continued. In the warm spring sunshine and among the brilliant cherry blossoms, he heard a silvery sound. He looked up and saw a blazing arrow streak across the sky like a shooting star. Just as Amber had said, no matter where he was in the world, she could see him.

"You saw it."

The protagonist chuckled softly, his figure disappearing as the cherry blossoms fell like rain.

It was a beautiful and splendid scene, but what it represented behind it sent a chill down Ms. Merritt.

The more beautiful the scene was, the harder it was for her to accept the plot she had just witnessed.

Simply put, she broke down.

"Is this director insane? Why did he have to kill Amber like that? Does he have some grudge against this character?"

"I can't accept this ending. How could such a good girl be killed like that while everyone else is laughing and cheering!"

"The director must be a dark person. He's just waiting for the audience to see this, isn't he? He likes it when the audience criticizes him, isn't he? What a perverted masochist!"

Ms. Merritt stood up, and immediately felt dizzy. What she had just witnessed challenged her reason. Her vision went black, and the rush of blood made her faint.

thump--

Ms. Merritt collapsed onto the sofa, her body only occasionally twitching, a testament to her continued life.

After more than ten minutes, she gradually regained consciousness and sat up from the sofa.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and the angrier she became, the more she thought about it. She immediately went to her computer to prepare to write an article to accuse Lu Ban.

But just as Ms. Merritt was about to type, she realized something.

As a judge, I cannot give away spoilers before the film is officially released.

Especially considering the content of this movie, this kind of plot twist is at the core of the film. Of course, she could take a moment to be smug and reveal everything about the movie, but in doing so, her judging qualification would definitely be revoked, and she probably wouldn't be able to make a living in the industry afterward. The price would be too high.

and

After calming down a bit, Ms. Merritt thought carefully about how long it had been since she had felt such a strong emotional response to the fate of a movie character.

The more furious, sad, and regretful she is now, and the more she resents and denounces the director, the more it means that the character of Amber has successfully entered her heart, right?

The more Ms. Merritt thought about it, the more she realized that she, like the protagonist, had entered a dilemma.

The more she wants to criticize the director, the better the director's filming is considered to be.

The better the director's filming, the more she wanted to criticize him.

Even his past sharp, sarcastic, and outrageous remarks have now become hymns of praise for the director and the film.

Moreover, with such excellent actors and such an engaging atmosphere, even the ending that infuriated Ms. Merritt reflects the core of the story.

It can be said that the reason she is the way she is now is entirely because the movie has completely conveyed what it wanted to express.

At that moment, after the movie ended, Ms. Merritt finally understood the protagonist.

Then, she fell into true despair.

*

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By the way, although there are some jokes about art films in the main text, there are still many excellent art films, experimental films, and avant-garde films in reality!