1novels Chapter 92 Breaking the Illusion
Chapter 92 Breaking the Illusion
Chapter 92 Breaking the Illusion
Time flies, and it's already late March.
In late spring in Hong Kong, the air was already thick with a sticky, humid heat.
Inside the studio in Tai Tam Bay, the humid heat was amplified several times by dozens of high-powered spotlights, making the entire set feel like a giant steamer.
At this moment, the entire set was filled with a sweet smell—the aroma of caramel.
To film the iconic "Mirror Maze" showdown in "Enter the Dragon," the crew used not ordinary glass to build the maze, but "sugar glass," which was made by boiling syrup, cooling it, and then coating it with a mercury film.
This is to ensure that actors will not be cut by sharp shards when they crash into the mirror during intense fight scenes.
However, as temperatures rise, these delicate props become the biggest problem.
"Damn it! This one's gone soft again!"
The props team leader wiped the sweat from his face and looked at the mirror in front of him in despair.
The originally smooth mirror surface, under the influence of high temperature, became like a damp piece of paper, slightly collapsing in the middle, making the reflected image distorted and grotesque, like a funhouse mirror.
"Take it down! Replace it with a new one! Now!" Ridley waved the microphone in his hand, his voice sounding somewhat impatient.
This is the fifth mirror we've replaced today.
Each piece of sugar glass, transported from the cold storage to the site, must remain hard under light for no more than two thousand minutes.
Once the time limit is exceeded, the mirror will soften and blur, not only revealing the flaw, but also looking like a piece of maltose being torn apart when it shatters, with no aesthetic appeal whatsoever.
This means that the shooting speed must be faster.
"All departments, get into position! Hurry up! Before the mirror gets smudged!" the assistant director shouted through a megaphone.
The clapperboard slammed shut: "Enter the Dragon, Scene 108, The Showdown in the Mirror Room, Action!"
As the camera zooms in, Bruce Lee's bare upper body is covered in scratches and bloodstains, his skin gleaming with a bronze sheen.
He cautiously stepped into this bizarre world, surrounded by countless versions of himself, and also countless enemies.
Veteran actor Shi Jian, who plays the villain Mr. Han, had already been lying in wait in the shadows.
"Kill!" With a roar, Shi Jian emerged from behind a mirror, his steel claws gleaming coldly as he aimed straight for Bruce Lee's throat.
The two fought in the narrow corridor of mirrors.
However, the fluid and graceful fight did not occur.
Bruce Lee seemed hesitant when throwing a punch, and Shih Kien's footwork also appeared restrained.
The two were like elephants fighting in a china shop, their movements were unusually stiff, completely lacking the urgency of a life-or-death struggle.
"Cut!" Ridley slammed the script down in front of the monitor, his face grim. "What are we filming? Two lost old people looking for a restroom in a shopping mall?"
"What I want is that kind of bewildering feeling where you can't tell what's real and what's not! Not this feeling of looking around aimlessly, like I'm just strolling through a store!"
Bruce Lee stopped what he was doing, somewhat annoyed: "Ridley, the lines of sight in this maze are too blurred. The mirrors are making me dizzy, and I don't know which pane of glass to break."
"Besides, this road is too winding," Shi Jian said with a wry smile. "I'm afraid if I run too fast, I'll break the maze."
Qin Han stood to the side, his brows furrowed.
He looked at the meticulously designed maze, its visual design undoubtedly top-notch.
The layers of prisms create an unparalleled sense of depth, but this is also a double-edged sword—it is too complex.
Seeing that the newly replaced sugar glass surfaces were starting to ooze fine sugar beads again, if this continued, the props would be ruined again today.
"We can't let them find their own way," Qin Han made up his mind.
He looked around at the dazzling array of reflections and pointed to a straight line: "Ridley, we need to adjust the design of the maze to make it simpler."
"Make it simpler?" Ridley complained. "But that defeats the purpose of the Room of Mirrors!"
"No, visually, we'll keep it as it is, but the characters' movements must be simple."
Qin Han squatted down, picked up a shard of broken glass, and drew a straight line on the ground: "Master, Uncle Jian, you don't need to distinguish which is the road and which is the mirror."
"We'll set up a dead end—a bloody path that can only be fought for through destruction."
Qin Han pointed to the mirrors along the straight line: "Props team, replace the glass on site. Replace all the glass that doesn't need to be broken with real glass, and reinforce it with tape to ensure that it won't hurt anyone if it breaks."
"Just keep the sugar glass pieces that need to be broken along the path, so that Master and Uncle Jian can rush straight to the middle!"
"The flying shards of broken glass not only increase the tension of the image, but also cover up the monotony of the movement."
"Alright, now it's truly breaking through the illusion and facing reality—" Bruce Lee muttered to himself, then clenched his fist: "Let's do it!"
Ridley visualized the scene in his mind:
In slow motion, the crystal-clear fragments explode in the air, reflecting countless distorted expressions, and violence and aesthetics are perfectly blended in an instant!
"Props team! Do as Qin says! Make the replacements along the movement path! Hurry, get moving!"
The entire film set sprang into action once again.
Fifteen minutes later, "Enter the Dragon, the final battle in the Mirror Room, Take 2, Action!"
This time, Bruce Lee's eyes changed.
Without the slightest hesitation, only pure killing intent remained in his eyes.
He let out his signature strange howl, his whole body like a cannonball fired from a gun.
"Bang!"
The mirror blocking his way was kicked to pieces, and countless sparkling shards exploded like a rain of diamonds under the light.
He passed through the flying debris without pausing, heading straight for the void ahead.
Meanwhile, Shi Jian no longer hesitated. He swung his steel claws, creating a sharp gust of wind that tore the mirror obstructing his view to shreds.
The two men charged forward, destroying everything in their path, following the straight line set by Qin Han.
Finally, in the very center of the maze, the two met.
Without any unnecessary words, fists and feet clashed, steel claws grazed flesh, blood flowed freely, Bruce Lee dabbed his own blood, and gently licked it.
The two sides clashed again, and a fierce battle ensued!
In the final still frame, Bruce Lee delivers a flying kick, sending Shih Kin flying and shattering the last large mirror.
"Splash—"
A tremendous roar echoed throughout the photography studio.
Ridley stared intently at the monitor until Bruce Lee struck that classic finishing pose, then suddenly jumped up from his chair.
"Cut! This was perfect! Filming wrapped!"
The announcement of "Filming wrapped" instantly ignited the crew, who had been on edge for nearly a month, with cheers, applause, and whistles erupting all around.
Bruce Lee let out a long sigh of relief, ignoring the sugar residue and sweat on his body, and walked over to give Chin Han a big hug.
"Ah Han, that's a brilliant idea!" His eyes gleamed with excitement. "The moment I kicked the mirror and shattered it, I felt like I'd really broken free of some kind of constraint. That feeling—it was so exhilarating!"
Ridley walked over, still maintaining his serious British gentleman demeanor, but a smile was hard to hide on his lips: "Qin, without you, we might have had to film this scene until next year. Indeed, sometimes destruction is more beautiful than rules."
Qin Han smiled and handed a towel to his master: "Thanks to everyone's good cooperation. Okay, the main shooting is over. Next up are some reshoots of the minor details and post-production dubbing."
Just then, the door to the film set was pushed open.
A familiar shout rang out: "Yamato Foods extends its appreciation to the film crew! Everyone has worked so hard!"
Several staff members pushed two food carts in.
One vehicle still carried the cooked shrimp sushi, while the other carried a huge stainless steel insulated container.
"Here we go again?" Qin Han frowned slightly and glanced at Andrew subconsciously.
Qin Han had been keeping an eye on things ever since that "Yamato Foods" appeared, but in the past month, they hadn't done anything unusual except for their normal food deliveries.
There were no incidents of mass food poisoning on the set, and because of these extra "meals," everyone had a pretty good impression of the company.
Wow! They have herbal tea!
The staff, who had just endured the scorching heat, were ecstatic when they saw the insulated buckets emitting cool air.
Andrew was the first to rush forward, grab a disposable paper cup, fill it to the brim, and gulp it down.
"Ah—! That feels great!"
He wiped his mouth and beckoned to Qin Han with a satisfied look on his face: "Qin! Come quick! This herbal tea is amazing! It's ice-cold!"
The crew flocked to the food truck, and soon a long line formed in front of it.
Qin Han shook his head. Perhaps he was just overthinking things?
The temperature in the studio was at least 30 degrees Celsius. Coupled with the intense concentration I had just maintained, the dryness in my mouth and throat was extremely pronounced as I relaxed.
He walked over, and Andrew had already kindly filled a glass for him and handed it to him.
I took a sniff, and it had a faint herbal scent.
"What kind of herbal tea is this?" Qin Han held the cup, not in a hurry to drink, but looked at the staff member who was distributing drinks.
The smiling middle-aged man spoke fluent Cantonese: "Mr. Qin, this is our company's special 'Refreshing Drink,' made with Prunella vulgaris, monk fruit, and several other secret ingredients. It's excellent for relieving summer heat and calming the mind."
"Calm your mind?" Seeing that no one around him seemed to be acting strangely, he raised his cup and took a small sip.
It has a slightly bitter taste upon entry, with a unique astringent flavor characteristic of herbs, but after gliding down the throat, a hint of sweetness emerges.
"The taste is a bit strange—" Qin Han smacked his lips, the bitterness seemed to be stronger than that of ordinary herbal tea.
But soon, that chill began to spread throughout his body.
After taking a sip of the herbal tea, my heart, which had been racing due to the high temperature, actually calmed down.
Even a lazy, comfortable feeling rises from every part of your body.
"How is it? I told you it was delicious, didn't I?" Andrew went to get a second cup, chewing on sushi as he mumbled, "These Japanese people make pretty authentic herbal tea, it tastes just like the old Cantonese style."
Qin Han didn't speak, but quietly felt the changes in his body.
That feeling of "peace of mind" came too quickly and was too obvious.
It's like—it's like someone artificially turned down the switch in your brain that regulates excitement.
He looked at the remaining half-cup of black water in his hand, his eyes gradually sharpening.
Not right.
Normal herbal tea takes time to reduce internal heat; it doesn't have such an immediate "calming" effect.
He looked around and saw that most of the crew members who were excitedly celebrating the wrap-up of filming were now sitting or lying on the ground, looking relaxed and no longer making a lot of noise. Some of the production assistants were even dozing off against the wall.
An eerie tranquility permeated the entire film set.
"Andrew." Qin Han's voice was low, yet it carried a chill.
"Hmm?" The assistant, with a blissful squint, leaned against the prop box. "What's wrong, Qin?"
"Did you investigate Yamato Foods when I asked you to?"
"I checked," Andrew yawned, his eyelids seeming a little heavy. "It's a food trading company registered in Yokohama. They just opened a branch in Hong Kong two months ago. All the paperwork is in order, no problems whatsoever."
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