Chapter 47: Entertainment World (3)

Lin Yuetian had indeed thought of someone who could be of use—perhaps an excellent candidate for the “client creation” process.

This idea only came to him later, after he had started filming on set.

Lin Yuetian had always believed in the principle of specialization. The more outstanding a professional was in their field, the more they understood this concept. For him, the biggest challenge in this mission was… that he wasn’t actually the original body—a trained actor. Even though he had honed his acting skills considerably to carry out his own line of work, that didn’t necessarily mean he could perform well just by following a script and a director’s instructions. Even though he had inherited the original body’s memories, Lin Yuetian wasn’t entirely confident he could reach the level of a Best Actor award winner.

However, when he boldly told Gao Yan that he would retire from the entertainment industry after this film, it wasn’t just an empty boast (though the system believed that, despite his claims of never lying, lying came as naturally to him as breathing). The reason he chose this particular film from all of Gao Yan’s scheduled projects was simple: it was a crime thriller. More importantly, the character Lin Yuetian had secured was a ruthless killer—a role of pure cruelty and bloodshed.

Lin Yuetian had read the script in advance and memorized all his lines.

The film was called Shadow Peering, featuring a dual male lead setup. Gao Yan played Zhao Yingnan, while Lin Yuetian played Bai Ziqing.

The story of Shadow Peering began more than a decade ago on a sweltering afternoon. Zhao Yingnan, a high school sophomore, had just moved into a new home with his parents. His life was as ordinary as any other boy’s, with his biggest worries being struggling with classes, failing homework, and losing basketball games.

Until one Saturday afternoon, when he accidentally discovered a small hole in the wall behind his bedroom desk. Out of curiosity, the teenager leaned in to observe the life of his neighbor.

Next door lived an older young man with the surname Bai, who had recently graduated and started working. He was polite and refined, always composed and courteous. Maybe Zhao Yingnan just wanted to see what this older brother did in his free time. Maybe it was just a fleeting curiosity—after all, a little harmless peeking seemed innocent enough. But Zhao Yingnan never expected that he would witness this seemingly gentle neighbor brutally torturing and murdering a man.

Terrified, Zhao Yingnan let out a cry before immediately choosing to call the police. The officers arrived quickly, but they found no trace of evidence in the neighbor’s home. Throughout the interrogation, the young man named Bai never showed the slightest flaw. Since Zhao Yingnan was still a child known for being mischievous, while Bai had a reputation for his good temper, the whole incident was dismissed as a misunderstanding.

Zhao Yingnan was consumed by fear but couldn’t tell anyone, afraid of retaliation. Fortunately, the neighbor moved away soon after. That same evening, as Zhao Yingnan returned home from school, he found a note slipped under his door:

“You will pay the price for witnessing evil.”

From that moment on, his adolescence was haunted by an ever-present shadow of terror. For years, he lived in constant dread, fearing that man would one day return to make him pay…

Because of this deep-seated fear, Zhao Yingnan grew up to become a police officer. He worked diligently, but a mistake during an old case had stalled his career advancement for years. At the beginning of the film, he is frustrated over his inability to bring a criminal to justice due to insufficient evidence.

One evening, while sulking at home, he hears noise from next door—his new neighbor had just moved in. The new resident was a refined university professor… and he looked exactly like that young man named Bai from years ago. His name was Bai Ziqing.

Zhao Yingnan was no longer the powerless boy he had once been. Determined to find Bai Ziqing’s flaws and bring him to justice, he started observing his neighbor, engaging in a tense game of mutual probing.

Meanwhile, a series of murders broke out across the city. Ex-convicts and criminals with prior records were being killed one after another, and at every crime scene, a chilling message was left behind:

“You will pay the price for witnessing evil.”

Zhao Yingnan was convinced Bai Ziqing was responsible. But with no solid evidence, he couldn’t persuade his colleagues, and Bai Ziqing appeared completely innocent… Zhao Yingnan’s mental state began to deteriorate. The despair of being unable to uphold justice, the suffocating pressure of his childhood trauma, and the crushing failure of a recent interrogation where Bai Ziqing walked free—everything culminated in a breaking point when he saw Bai Ziqing flash him a confident, knowing smile.

That night, Zhao Yingnan spent hours digging another hole in his bedroom wall. From there, he once again saw Bai Ziqing committing a murder. Overcome with rage, he burst into Bai Ziqing’s home, kicking down the door. Bai Ziqing denied everything and even attempted to silence Zhao Yingnan permanently.

A horrifying chase ensued, straight out of a horror film. But in the final moment, Zhao Yingnan managed to turn the tables and kill Bai Ziqing.

Just as he let out a breath of relief, sirens wailed outside. The red and blue police lights illuminated the dimly lit room, revealing everything before him—

The face of Bai Ziqing, the university professor, was completely different from that of the young man named Bai from his past.

It was only at that moment that Zhao Yingnan remembered the truth. Years ago, during a case he mishandled, he had actually encountered the real Bai. By then, Bai had already become a dangerous fugitive. Zhao Yingnan had lost control and shot him dead on the spot. From that moment on, his mental state had begun to deteriorate.

Driven by his extreme pursuit of justice and his hatred for the crimes he had witnessed, Zhao Yingnan had unknowingly constructed another “neighbor killer” in his mind, desperate for another chance to deliver justice.

In his delusion, he had murdered an innocent man.

And the real serial killings across the city? They had all been committed by Zhao Yingnan himself—under the guise of his “Bai Ziqing” persona, carrying out what he believed to be a “cleansing of evil.”

In Peering Shadows, Lin Yuetian had an extensive role, undeniably the primary protagonist. His performance was also highly challenging, as he had to portray different facets of his character: the seemingly good-natured neighbor, who coldly and methodically cleaned up after committing murder next door to high schooler Zhao Yingnan; the university professor Bai Ziqing from Zhao Yingnan’s delusions, exuding an air of chilling indifference and enigmatic charm, a madman who drove Zhao Yingnan to his breaking point; and the real fugitive, a desperate criminal, ultimately gunned down by the deranged Zhao Yingnan. The complexity of these roles was immense.

However…

“Cut! That’s a wrap! We’re done for today!”

Wei Dawen quickly approached Lin Yuetian, patting him on the shoulder with undisguised excitement. “Yuetian, I know people have praised you countless times, but honestly, I still have to say it—you were incredible! That look in your eyes just now, absolutely stunning! You were like a real killer!”

【How could it not be, when he’s playing his true nature?】 the system commented coldly.

Meanwhile, the client Lin Yuetian had identified was a minor actor on set named Qian Yang.

Lin Yuetian took notice of him for two reasons. First, he seemed to appear in the original host’s memories. Second, he often looked at Gao Yan with a mix of envy, resentment, and bitterness—suggesting there was more to his story.

The original host had been poor at socializing and had a rather emotional and chaotic memory, so it took Lin Yuetian some time to recall that Qian Yang had been Gao Yan’s university classmate. The two had once competed for the opportunity to be an extra on a set where the original host worked. In the end, Gao Yan had won, and later, as fate would have it, Gao Yan was the one who skyrocketed to fame.

In the original host’s memories, there was an incident where Qian Yang had confronted Gao Yan, and the two had a heated argument. From what Qian Yang had said, it seemed he suspected Gao Yan of using underhanded means to win that competition back then.

Whether Gao Yan had competed fairly and how the matter was ultimately resolved, the original host didn’t know. But what was certain was that Qian Yang’s career had only gone downhill since. Rumor had it that he had swallowed his pride and served an older, wealthy patron just to secure a supporting role in Peering Shadows.

After recalling all this, Lin Yuetian went straight to Qian Yang and got straight to the point: “Got a moment to chat?”