Getting to the Root

At the Lu Family, Lu Yuanhai laughed and said, "Isn't it hilarious? Ling Miaoying made such a commotion, and in the end, the movie she was filming was burned down! I laughed about it for a whole hour."

Lu Yuanshan didn't laugh. He was older than Lu Yuanhai and had a longer-term perspective on some things.

"Uncle Qiu, do you think this is an opportunity?"

Qiu Zhiheng looked at Lu Yuanshan: "You also want to make movies?"

"Ling Miaoying's idea is indeed excellent—to shoot ten movies at once. If we can pull this off..."

Madam Duan Shaoxia said from the side, "Yuanshan, have you ever made movies? We can't just stick our hands on things we're not sure about."

Lu Yuanshan, "That's why I discussed it with Uncle Qiu, because we weren't sure."

Qiu Zhiheng didn't rush to speak; he needed to carefully consider this matter as well.

Lu Yuanhai said, "I think it can work. It all depends on the actors. As long as the actors are famous, the movie will definitely sell well."

Duan Shaoxia rolled her eyes at Lu Yuanhai: "You make it sound so easy. Actors aren't that easy to find. The Ling family is capable; they can even hire Song Queen. I heard they even took their on-screen romance off-screen. Do you have that kind of ability?"

Lu Yuanhai scoffed, "What kind of skill is that? Those so-called Song Queen and movie queens will do anything as long as you pay them enough. Forget about turning a fake relationship into a real one, you could make them do it from beginning to end..."

Lu Yuanshan frowned and said, "Stop with the nonsense and get down to business. Ling Miaoying is planning to remake this movie. If we can finish filming it before them, this lucrative opportunity will be ours!"

"Is it profitable?" Lu Yuanhai didn't think a movie could make much money.

Lu Yuanshan sighed and said, "It's exhausting talking to you. I'm not just talking about this movie, I'm talking about the whole industry! There's a lot of money to be made in this industry!"

"This is our first time venturing into this business. If we lose money, that's a small matter. The real problem is ruining the Lu Family's reputation, making it difficult to get involved in this industry again in the future."

Monkey Qiu understood the implications of this situation, but he was still uncertain. "Since we're unsure, let's find someone who is confident to do this."

After thinking for a moment, Lu Yuanshan said, "The only person I can think of who has the confidence is Ma Wu."

Lu Yuanhai nodded. "He really has the talent! I heard he's acted in movies before, but most theaters wouldn't show them, saying they were indecent!"

Duan Shaoxia advised from the side, "Don't keep thinking about taking advantage of Jun Yang. I've heard that in the film industry, if you make a mistake, you can lose everything. Jun Yang's financial situation isn't like ours; how can he withstand that kind of setback?"

Lu Yuanshan said impatiently, "This isn't cheating him, it's helping him. We can give him some money, and both sides can benefit."

Qiu Zhiheng nodded and said, "We'll contribute half the money, and Ma Wu can raise the other half himself."

Even if we lose money, our losses won't be significant, and it won't damage the Lu Family's reputation.

"Once we make money, we'll share the profits in this lucrative business; we won't treat him unfairly."

Lu Yuanshan put on his clothes and said, "I'll go find Ma Wu right now."

In Carefree Dock, Ma Wu and Li Banfeng discussed matters related to the movie.

"Seventh Brother, do you think we can agree to this?"

"Say yes, why wouldn't you? Haven't you made movies before?"

"The movies I've made aren't exactly serious."

"I've seen it, and I think it's quite serious."

Ma Wu was still somewhat worried. "The Ling family has invested heavily in this movie. If we beat them to it, I'm afraid Ling Miaoying will try to kill us."

"They've already gone all out." Li Banfeng didn't recount the details of what happened; he only described Ling Miaoying's usual methods and techniques.

Now he was more concerned about something else. "How exactly did we come to have this feud with the Ling family?"

Ma Wu had been thinking about this problem for a long time, but apart from Lu Xiaolan, he couldn't think of any other clues.

"For Lu Xiaolan? Is she worth it?"

Li Banfeng would never believe that Ling Miaoying targeted Li Banfeng and Ma Wu because of Lu Xiaolan's looks. What kind of woman hadn't Ling Miaoying seen?

"It's also possible that we rose to prominence too quickly, and the Ling family wants to suppress us in advance."

"Are we worthy?" Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "You once said that the Ling family is the fifth largest Lineage in Pro State. Is this all the magnanimity of the fifth largest Lineage? To kill two small fry who have just started out?"

They make newspapers, records, and movies. We've never been involved in any of these things. How could we possibly have the influence to catch their eye?

Something's fishy here. They have powerful connections. We need to find out who that person is!

This wasn't the only thing that was overlooked; there was another person whom Li Banfeng ignored.

As dusk settled, Li Banfeng went to Wonderful Sound Phonograph Store.

The storefront is still small, but being small has its advantages.

Since Ling Miaoying's incident, Wonderful Sound Phonograph Store has been vandalized more than a dozen times. Fortunately, the vandalism only occurred in the lobby. The interior of the record player shop is too complicated for ordinary people to break in, and those who are capable would not stoop to doing such a thing.

Behind the dilapidated counter, Ling Miaosheng was dozing off as usual. When he saw a customer arrive, he looked up and smiled.

He recognized Li Banfeng. Although Li Banfeng's appearance had changed, as a high-level cultivator, he still recognized this old customer.

"Are you here to buy a record player, or to get revenge? If you're here for revenge, then go ahead and do it. Unfortunately, I don't have much to smash here."

Li Banfeng glanced at the curtain behind Ling Miaosheng: "If I remember correctly, all the good stuff is inside, right?"

Ling Miaosheng shook her head slightly. "You can't just smash the things inside; they're my life."

"I'm here to buy a record player, so at least let me see the goods."

Ling Miaosheng nodded and led Li Banfeng into the inner room.

The shop assistants who used to clean the various rooms have all disappeared, and no one dares to work for Ling Miaosheng.

Li Banfeng looked at several record players and chose a hand-cranked one, intending to buy it.

The sound quality of this record player is not bad, of course it can't compare to the one for my Wife, but the record player is made in Amikan Country, and the parts are interchangeable with those for my Wife.

Ling Miaosheng confiscated Li Banfeng's money. "This record player is yours to express my previous apology. Don't worry, I checked it carefully, there are no hooks on the record player."

Li Banfeng cranked the record player, and a soothing violin melody began to play.

"Can I ask you something?"

Ling Miaosheng guessed what Li Banfeng was going to ask and answered directly, "I don't know most of what happened between my eldest brother and the third brother. They planted spies in my shop and record player, but I don't actually know much about them either."

Li Banfeng was skeptical. "You're also a cultivator at a high level, how could you not see through their tricks?"

Ling Miaosheng smiled wryly, "You're right, I am indeed a cultivator. I'm not bragging, but my cultivation is above that of my eldest brother and third brother. However, finding a hook isn't just about cultivation level; it's about cunning."

In such a large shop with so many record players, a single hook looks like a needle. I really can't imagine where they would stick the hook.

Even today, there are still many hooks in record stores, but I can't find them. I may never know where they buried them.

All I know is that they're working for a big shot who's currently Outer State. I don't know their exact purpose or what their next move is.

Li Banfeng remained silent, Ling Miaosheng personally packed up the hand-cranked record player and handed it to Li Banfeng.

"You still might not believe me, that's okay. If you want to fight, let's go outside and fight, but don't break my record player."

Li Banfeng pulled down his top hat, picked up the record player, and left the record store.

Ling Miaosheng took off her hat, placed it in front of her chest, bowed, and watched Li Banfeng leave.

Back at Carefree Dock, Li Banfeng hummed "Night Fragrance" into the record player, but there was no sound of the hook breaking.

Ling Miaosheng is most likely telling the truth; we can't find any more information from him, the clues are still with Ling Miaoying.

Big shots from Outer State.

Could it be some important person?

"Jiaqing, your friend went to my second brother's record store today and bought a record player."

"Just buying a record player? I doubt he has the time or inclination for that," He Jiaqing laughed. "He's probably gone to ask your second brother about something."

"I also suspect he asked some questions, but my second brother has cleaned up most of the hooks. I don't know what they talked about yet. I plan to ask my second brother."

"You should know your second brother's temperament. Asking him won't help. My brother is digging deep. Your second brother doesn't know much to begin with, and I'm worried he'll come after you next."

Ling Miaoying nodded. "It's best that he came to see me. I suspect he's involved in the fire, and this is a good opportunity to settle things with him."

"No!" He Jiaqing's tone was firm. "We must do a good job of remaking the movie. There can be absolutely no more mistakes on this matter."

Replace the male lead; find another actor.

"Zhou Changhong is the best actor, you know that too."

"Just because he's the best actor, there are other things for him to do."

The next day, the newspaper published the news that Ling Family Film Industry was remaking "Blood Blade Detective". Ma Wu frowned and said, "They're really quick. I haven't even found all the actors yet, and they've already started filming."

Li Banfeng had visited the filming location a few times and was fairly familiar with the main actors. After reading the newspaper, he noticed a change in the cast list. "Why has the male lead been replaced?"

Ma Wu examined it carefully. "They replaced Zhou Changhong. He's a good actor, and I can recruit him. But he's been with Ling Miaoying for seven or eight years. I don't know if he'd be willing to join me."

Ma Wu immediately sent someone to contact Zhou Changhong, only to learn that the man had left Green Water Bay yesterday.

Where did he go?

That evening, Ma Wu learned from the Guanfang Envoy that Zhou Changhong had gone to Outer State.

"Why is he going to Outer State instead of filming here?" Ma Wu asked, puzzled. "Does he want to act in a movie in Outer State?"

He followed Ling Miaoying for seven or eight years, but when Ling Miaoying was in a hurry to remake the movie, he ran off to Outer State.

Outer State...

Li Banfeng told Ma Wu, "Keep a close eye on this person's movements and let me know as soon as you have any news."

Two days later, the news came.

Ma Wu said, "Zhou Changhong is back, but he hasn't taken on any roles. I heard he's still getting his travel Travel Permit and will be going out again in the next couple of days."

Li Banfeng said, "Keep an eye on his whereabouts, and get me the same Travel Permit too. I want to see if he's delivering a message or is dealing with some important figure from Outer State."

P. S.: Zhou Changhong is the best actor, and this is no exaggeration.