The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 73: The Emptied Fish Pond

The next day, on the film set.

The atmosphere was unprecedentedly heavy.

Today, they were filming one of the most emotionally intense scenes in the entire series, arguably one of its climaxes.

The death of Chu Wuchen.

All departments were in position. Staff moved about, but their footsteps were light, and even the voices on the walkie-talkies were lowered by an octave, as if afraid of disturbing something.

The cameras, lighting, wirework—everything had undergone final checks and was ready, standing by.

In a corner.

Jiang Ci sat alone on a chair.

He was already in costume, dressed in ethereal, pristine white robes.

He had his eyes closed, not saying a word.

An aura of utter loneliness and desolation emanated from his entire being.

Assistant Sun Zhou, holding a cup of warm water, tried to approach him several times, but each time he was forced to stop about three meters away, repelled by that intangible low-pressure field.

He could only watch from afar, feeling anxious and helpless. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Brother Ci's state was downright terrifying.

Not far away, Qiao Xinran was also ready.

She wore Su Nian's pale cyan disciple robes, her face devoid of any color.

She glanced at Jiang Ci in the corner, took a deep breath of the chilly air, and then walked over.

She wanted to run through the lines with him one last time.

Her feet made soft sounds on the ground.

She stopped in front of Jiang Ci.

"Master..."

She had just opened her mouth, preparing to slip into Su Nian's mindset.

At that moment, Jiang Ci slowly opened his eyes.

He didn't look at her.

Inside his mind, a storm no one else knew about was raging.

Just now, when Qiao Xinran entered the fifty-meter radius around him, the system notification he had expected did not sound.

The familiar [Player Identification Aura], which had become part of his daily work routine on the *Three Lifetimes Tribulation* set, was completely silent.

What was going on?

Yesterday at the hotel room door, when she came to deliver milk... it seemed it didn't trigger then either?

Jiang Ci's brain worked at lightning speed.

It shouldn't be.

According to the system's definition, the aura triggers when someone maintains abnormal intimate relationships with three or more members of the opposite sex simultaneously.

Qiao Xinran's fish pond had at least five, six, seven, or eight fish in it.

Those male university students with great stamina.

The rich second-generation heirs with family mines.

And that somewhat famous band lead singer...

Jiang Ci could even clearly recall the brief annotations on the system panel for those "victims."

Why was there no reaction?

Did she delete all their contacts overnight?

Blocked all her backup options and immediately achieved enlightenment?

This wasn't logical!

This didn't align with the behavioral logic of a "Beginner Fisherwoman"!

Could it be... the system had a bug?

Jiang Ci's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

Qiao Xinran looked at the man before her.

He had merely opened his eyes and was sitting there quietly, doing nothing.

Yet she felt an immense sorrow radiating from him, enveloping her completely.

She almost instantly slipped into the emotional state of Su Nian facing her master's imminent soul dispersion.

"Master..."

She called out again, her voice already trembling uncontrollably.

Jiang Ci finally lifted his head to look at her.

He needed to run a test.

A test to verify if the system's other functions were still operational.

If the harvesting function for [Heartbreak Value] was still working, then the problem wasn't major.

If the harvesting function was also broken...

Then the problem was serious.

Under Qiao Xinran's gaze, brimming with tears, Jiang Ci parted his thin lips.

He activated the [Quick Mastery of Line Delivery (Beginner)] skill.

A simple, ordinary line, spoken from his mouth, carried an extreme, suppressed pain and tenderness.

"Nian'er, don't be afraid."

These four words instantly opened the floodgates of Qiao Xinran's emotions.

Her body trembled violently.

The tears that had long been gathering in her beautiful eyes could no longer be contained, breaking through the dam and streaming down.

At the same time.

A crisp notification sound rang in Jiang Ci's mind.

[Heartbreak Value +50 from Qiao Xinran!]

[Congratulations, Host! Lifespan extension obtained: 7 days!]

Jiang Ci: "..."

Success.

The Heartbreak Value and lifespan extension arrived, indicating the "ATM machine" itself wasn't broken.

That left only one problem.

The ATM functioned normally, but the [Player Identification Aura] didn't alarm.

This meant...

Qiao Xinran no longer fit the definition of a "Player."

Her fish pond...

was empty.

Jiang Ci's brain stalled for half a second.

An absurd, yet currently the only logical conclusion surfaced in his mind.

This girl...

Had she reformed?

Behind the monitor.

Director Wu and Gu Huai saw all of this clearly.

They saw Qiao Xinran approach, saw Jiang Ci open his eyes, and even heard that line delivered through the on-set audio equipment.

Gu Huai shook his head.

"This is no longer acting."

His voice was low, filled with emotion. "This is one-sided psychological domination."

Director Wu didn't speak, just stared intently at the face on the monitor that had instantly crumbled because of one sentence.

"This 'madman' Jiang Ci used his own state to forcibly 'remold' Qiao Xinran."

As Director Wu listened to Gu Huai's analysis, he felt a chill run down his spine.

He looked at the tear-streaked Qiao Xinran on the monitor, then at Jiang Ci, who simply sat there quietly yet seemed to bear the sorrows of the entire world.

He was thrilled!

He felt these two actors' states were absolutely explosive!

Today's scene would definitely become a classic!

But at the same time, he felt a faint worry.

He lowered his voice and gave an extremely serious instruction to the assistant director beside him.

"Make a note."

"Right after filming this scene, contact Qiao Xinran's agent immediately."

"Must, right away, take her for professional psychological counseling."

The assistant director was stunned for a moment, then nodded heavily.

At the center of the set.

Jiang Ci was no longer dwelling on Qiao Xinran's transformation.

So her fish pond was empty. Let it be empty.

For a wage slave like him, the process didn't matter.

As long as the KPI came through smoothly, even if she renounced the world and entered a monastery, it had nothing to do with him.

He readjusted his breathing, focusing all his attention on the upcoming shoot.

He was about to die.

As "Chu Wuchen," having lived for five hundred years, protected for five hundred years, he was finally going to die before the very person he most wanted to protect.

Excellent.

This ending was tragic enough, devastating enough.

"All departments, prepare!"

The assistant director's voice echoed throughout the set via the loudspeaker.

"Wirework team, final check!"

"Check the blood packs!"

"Actors, take your positions!"

Jiang Ci stood up and walked to the very center of the set constructed by the crew.

Qiao Xinran also wiped away her tears and stood opposite him.

All the cameras were aimed at them.

Just one second before the director called "Action."

Qiao Xinran suddenly lifted her head and looked at Jiang Ci again.

This time, her gaze no longer held the previous infatuation, nor that unwilling possessiveness.

Only one thing remained.

A kind of determination that Jiang Ci had never seen in her before, a determination that seemed ready to burn both herself and the man before her to ashes.