A Fall

Dong Yong obtained the surveillance footage proving his innocence and handed it over to the opera troupe's leader.

He had thought the matter would end there, and Dong Yong had planned to return to practicing his songs, but the leader still stopped him and settled all his wages.

It turned out that although Dong Yong had cleared his name, the whole incident had been deliberately arranged by the leader of the Seven Fairies Opera Troupe to frame him, all so his own son could become the troupe's leading male performer. So even with the matter resolved, Dong Yong was still kicked out of the troupe.

With nowhere to go, Dong Yong went to the nearby Huangmei Tavern. He drank himself into a stupor out of grief, then wandered off somewhere unknown.

Over at the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe, their leader was troubled because the opera actor playing Dong Yong had suddenly run into trouble and failed to show up. In a little while, the troupe's performance of The Heavenly Match was due to begin. The male lead playing Dong Yong had been in a car accident and could not come—this was a major crisis.

The Heavenly Match, also known as The Seven Fairies Descend to the Mortal Realm and Dong Yong Sells Himself into Servitude, was now commonly seen in its adapted form. It mainly told the story of the Jade Emperor's seventh daughter, who did not care for the splendor of heaven and sympathized with Dong Yong, a young man from the mortal realm who had sold himself into servitude to bury his father. She secretly descended to the mortal realm and became his wife. The Seventh Fairy wove ten bolts of brocade overnight, turning Dong Yong's three years of labor into one hundred days. When the hundred days were up, the couple returned home together, longing for a beautiful life. But the Jade Emperor ordered the Seventh Fairy to return to heaven, tearing apart a fine marriage between heaven and earth. [Note: Explanation from the internet.]

Accidents were things that caught people off guard and caused great pain. The leader of the Space Pirates had placed two Hunter Boxes, one in the Huangmei Tavern and one in the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe.

The marshal of the Interstellar Empire issued a second mission to help the two dejected men and the Accelerators.

"Mission 2 Notice

A Hunter Box has appeared in both the Huangmei Tavern and the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe. The Hunters will be released in 44 minutes. Find Dong Yong and the leader of the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe to obtain mission clues."

As soon as the mission was released, Qu An called Xiao Ming.

Xiao Ming did not stand on ceremony with him and went straight to the point. "Brother Qu, did you see the mission?"

Qu An said, "I did. We need to find people for clues."

"They're only mission clues, not the final answer. It still feels difficult, and it doesn't say where Dong Yong is." Xiao Ming's mind raced. "Dong Yong should be somewhere near the Seven Fairies Opera Troupe and the Huangmei Tavern. I was just at the Seven Fairies place, and I heard their NPCs discussing Dong Yong."

When he had gone to verify things earlier, Xiao Ming had passed the people guarding the entrance and overheard their conversation. Qu An had walked too quickly at the time and happened to miss it.

["Didn't Dong Yong not steal the money? Why does the leader not seem to have any intention of protecting him?"

"You don't know? The leader's son is coming back from out of town. The leading male role will definitely be reserved for his son. And Dong Yong is so inflexible, he's definitely getting kicked out."

"Then he'll probably go drink at the Huangmei Tavern again. Every time he gets upset, he goes there."]

"So you can ask the people at the Seven Fairies entrance where Dong Yong usually lives and things like that," Xiao Ming said.

Qu An answered with a sound of agreement and added, "The Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe isn't far from you. Go over there and ask where their leader is. We'll split up and call each other once we find clues or need help."

Because the wall was not very high, Xiao Ming once again launched his "wall-climbing operation." The cameraman beside him looked helpless, but eventually could not help reminding him.

"There's a path you can take."

Xiao Ming dusted off his hands, his expression unchanged. "I know, but this is faster, and it's harder for them to catch up to me."

The cameraman carrying the camera was somewhat helpless, but this meant he had no way to film him. The entrance was so far away.

"There should be one of your cameramen inside. Switch with him. Have him film me while you go take a break."

Their segment would not be included in the final cut anyway, so the two spoke quite openly.

The cameraman reported the situation to the directors. There really was no other solution, so they had one of the mobile cameramen over there follow Xiao Ming first while Xiao Ming's assigned cameraman found a way inside.

Normally, if an Accelerator ran off and lost their cameraman, the production crew would not bother about their footage. But Xiao Ming's methods were simply too outrageous, and the area near the mission point was important.

The moment Xiao Ming climbed over, he ran into someone. The newcomer was so startled that he fell flat on his butt.

"Y-you, who are you? A thief?"

He had not expected his unusual way of entering to nearly get him mistaken for a thief. Luckily, Xiao Ming reacted quickly and covered the man's mouth before speaking.

"I'm not a thief. I'm here to find your leader, but people are blocking your front entrance, so I couldn't get in. I had no choice but to come this way."

"Mmph... Didn't the leader just go to East Street to look for an opera actor?"

"Okay, thank you." After thanking him, Xiao Ming left. This time, though, he did not climb over the wall, because the main entrance was closer to East Street. He also intended to take a look at what the device was like.

Xiao Ming quickly found the device in the central hall. There were several buttons next to the Hunter Box, labeled "Sheng," "Dan," "Jing," and "Chou."

Xiao Ming knew that Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou were classifications of opera roles, and that Mo had already been absorbed into Sheng.

After looking it over, he prepared to head for East Street. Just as he reached the entrance, he ran into He Songyi and Yi Xiaoda coming in.

Xiao Ming had done two missions with Yi Xiaoda during the first episode and was fairly familiar with him. Seeing him now, his social anxiety did not act up.

"Brother Xiaoda, I found out that the Celestial Immortal leader is over on East Street. Someone is already going to find him, so someone else should stay here and wait."

"I'll stay, then. I just escaped the Hunters and I'm a little tired from running," He Songyi volunteered.

"Okay." Xiao Ming and Yi Xiaoda had no objections.

East Street was a little far from the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe, and Xiao Ming and the others had to pass the Seven Fairies Opera Troupe, so he figured he might as well call Qu An.

"Brother Qu, I've already come back from the Celestial Immortal Opera Troupe. I saw the device. It has four buttons, and I'm guessing the one at the Huangmei Tavern is probably similar. That Celestial Immortal leader is over on East Street, so I'm heading there now. Brother Songyi is waiting by the Celestial Immortal device."

When Qu An heard about the Celestial Immortal leader, he gave a soft laugh over the phone that made half of Xiao Ming's ear tingle.

"Okay. I've also come out of the Seven Fairies place. Dong Yong is on East Street too, and I'm heading there. We'll meet on East Street."

After they finished talking, the two each headed toward East Street. But the Hunters were also heading there.

[Why are they going this way? Is there a mission?]

[I have a feeling the camera is about to start shaking again.]

[I think I can see someone. They're too far away to make out clearly.]

[Who are those yellow and blue figures?]

[Qu An or Xiao Ming?]

[Xiao Ming and Yi Xiaoda? Going by their clothes?]

[It's shaking now!]

[Run!]

The moment Xiao Ming spotted the Hunter, he immediately moved to the side. He had already memorized the map. He quickly ran through his current position in his head and circled around along a route that could shake off the Hunter while still leading to East Street.

Perhaps because his bright yellow outfit was too conspicuous, the Hunter chased straight after him.

An accident happened along the way. Xiao Ming's accompanying cameraman happened to run in front of him to film him, directly blocking the route Xiao Ming intended to take.

To avoid running into him, Xiao Ming could only change direction abruptly. But in that instant, his foot slipped. Just as he nearly fell completely, he braced himself against the ground and scraped his hand for a moment. Soon enough, though, he recovered and continued running forward.

[Wifey fell!]

[Is wifey okay? That looked so dangerous.]

[Feels like wifey is about to get caught.]

[Come on, wifeyyyyyy!]

[He got back up!]

[I thought he'd slow down after falling, but he actually ran even faster.]

[What kind of monster is Xiao Ming? He can still shake off a Hunter after falling.]

Xiao Ming had already hidden according to the route he had planned. The fall had merely been an accident. He glanced at his bloody palm and asked the cameraman beside him, "Sorry, do you have any tissues?"

"Teacher Xiao, why don't you withdraw from the program and get your wound treated first?" The cameraman was worried and deeply guilty, because he knew he had blocked Xiao Ming's path just now. "I'm sorry, Teacher Xiao. I made you fall. I'll talk to the directors. You should rest first."

"It's fine. The wound isn't big or serious. Can you bring me a first-aid kit? I can handle it myself. The mission isn't over yet." Xiao Ming waved his hand and did not blame him. They were both working people; it was not easy for them either.

His palm stung a little, but it was still bearable. Besides, he had suffered fractures and cracks in his bones before, so he did not think this level of injury required much attention.

Meanwhile, the assistant director of Full Speed Ahead! saw this scene from behind the monitor and immediately panicked. He ran straight to the chief director to discuss what to do.

The chief director pulled up Xiao Ming's footage and watched it, also hearing what he had said. His expression turned serious as he pondered for a long while. In the end, he said, "Listen to him. Send the first-aid kit over. Put this segment into the behind-the-scenes footage later, and include the cameraman's voice too."

Producer Li, who had rushed over after hearing the news, covered his face and said, "Foolish."

"If Film Emperor Qu finds out, we're finished. Don't you know those two are involved? Why didn't you make Xiao Ming withdraw from the program first?"

"If I made him withdraw from the program, then we'd really be finished. Just wait and see. At most, we'll get scolded a little. The show's popularity still depends on him. He was a newcomer in the first episode, yet he alone contributed thirty percent of the discussion!"

"But when they signed the contract, Film Emperor Qu went with him. He values him so much—how could their relationship possibly be simple?"