The Overlord of Puluo

Chapter 257: This Is Art!

Normally, Ma Wu was unbothered about the state of his reputation, but this time, he was genuinely angry.

Lu Yuanshan poured Ma Wu a cup of wine. ”Junyang, what are you saying? You’re earning a lot of money. Given the bond between us brothers, we’re happy for you.”

Lu Yuanhai chimed, ”Exactly. We’re both happy for you.”

”Happy for me?” Ma Wu did not touch the cup of wine. ”Shouldn’t you be happy for yourselves? Our two families funded and produced this movie together. Now that it’s making money, we should split it however it ought to be split!”

”Now, now. Why are you talking like we’re strangers?” Lu Yuanshan said as he handed Ma Wu a cigar. ”Talking about splitting money makes it all sound too formal, polite. We’re brothers, aren’t we? Let’s not talk about money.”

Lu Yuanhai added, ”Old Wu, it hasn’t been easy for you, working so hard to make a living in Greenwater City. As your brothers, It pains us to watch you like this. It’s only right that we help you out financially.”

”What do you mean, help me out financially?” The more Ma Wu listened, the angrier he became. ”This was a business partnership. You invest and get a return when there’s a profit. Tomorrow, I’ll call all the reporters over and talk about how we’re dividing the profits first.”

”No splitting, no splitting!” Lu Yuanshan waved his hand dismissively. ”Uncle Qiu and the two of us already discussed it. All the profits from The Legendary Bloodspear Detective goes to you. Our share will count as our sponsorship for the sequel.”

Lu Yuanhai said, ”To be honest, my brother and I don’t care about this little bit of money. We went into this movie-making venture for you. There’s no need for you to stand on ceremony with us.”

Stand on ceremony?

Were those two brothers really that kindhearted? Did they really think Ma Wu could not read between the lines?

It was not that they truly did not care about the money; it was that they did not want to damage the Lu Family’s reputation.

The film production company had been jointly established by Ma Wu and the Lu brothers, with the Lu Family holding half the shares. The casting process for supporting and lead roles, promotional marketing—they had learned the entire process. Screenwriters, directors, cameramen—they had also secured a full team for themselves.

They now had experience, resources, connections, and methods. The Lu Family had already extended their reach into the movie industry.

The Ling Family’s The Legendary Bloodblade Detective had been pushed out of the limelight by Ma Wu’s The Legendary Bloodspear Detective, suffering heavy losses in both reputation and profit. It had become extremely difficult for the Ling Family to monopolize the movie industry. That meant a space was conveniently opened up for the Lu Family to step into.

All of the Lu Family’s objectives had already been achieved. As for the infamy, they planned to let Ma Wu bear it all. In the future, the Lu Family would establish a new company to produce proper movies.

As for the company they had founded with Ma Wu, the Lu Family would gradually withdraw, ostensibly leaving it to him as a show of friendship. In reality, it had become a foot-cleaning rag used to produce dirty movies and handle dirty work.

It was hard to blame the Lu Family for being ruthless. This was simply how business was done. However, Ma Wu was a shrewd businessman. There was no way he could not see through this.

Ma Wu was furious. ”The press conference for the sequel is coming up soon. If you two don’t show up, then I won’t make the sequel!”

Lu Yuanshan hurriedly tried to smooth things over. ”Old Wu, those words of yours will hurt our friendship.”

Lu Yuanhai also tried to persuade him. ”Old Wu, what’s gotten into you? You didn’t have such a temper before. Have a drink and calm down.”

No drink would help!

Ma Wu could not take it anymore. He left and returned to Freewind Wharf. Upon hearing that Li Banfeng was back, he opened two bottles of good wine and spent the whole afternoon pouring out his grievances to Li Banfeng.

”Old Qi, do you think this movie can still be made?”

”Of course! Why not?”

Ma Wu waved his hand. ”Old Qi, you don’t understand. To compete with Ling Miaoying, I threw my reputation away. You probably haven’t even watched the movie I made...”

Li Banfeng set down his wine cup. ”I’ve watched it. Twice.”

”You’ve watched it. Then you should know. That’s not even a movie anymore. It’s disgraceful. Even I feel ashamed.”

”How is it not a movie? How is it disgraceful?”

Ma Wu lowered his head and said nothing. He came from a wealthy family, but he was still, at heart, a man from Puluo. Some of his values remained constrained within its boundaries and influence.

Li Banfeng patiently tried to persuade him. ”In the Outer Provinces, there are countless directors who became famous through movies like this. This is art. Greenwater City also has plenty of Western art galleries. Those painters don’t feel ashamed painting Western-style art, so why should it be shameful when it comes to us?”

Ma Wu shook his head. ”Paintings are paintings. What we’re doing is film. It’s not the same.”

”What’s different about it? It’s all art. What’s disgraceful is failing to get it done. If you complete it, you’re a master! It’s settled then. This movie must be made.”

Ma Wu raised his head. ”Then should we put your name on it too?”

”That won’t do! I’m not saying no because I find it disgraceful. It’s just that I need to keep my identity a secret.”

Ma Wu let out a deep sigh. ”Fine. I’ll just go with whatever you say. Then should the sequel be made the same way as the first movie?”

”It can’t be the same as the first. The first one had plenty of impact, but the story was weak. The audience will get tired of watching it for the visuals. Tell the writers to put more effort into it. Make the story better.”

”I’m worried there won’t be enough time. I don’t know what methods the Ling Family uses, but they can finish making a movie in just one month. If I take my time to polish it, I’m afraid I won’t be able to release our movie before they release theirs.”

”There’s no need for you to do that,” Li Banfeng said, totally confident this was the right move. ”Spend more time and effort on the sequel. Even if you’re ten days or half a month later than them, it won’t matter. Being slightly later might even work better. At least half of the efforts the Ling Family puts into promoting their movie will end up benefiting us.”

Ma Wu blinked. ”You really think this makes for proper business?”

”Proper. Very proper!” Li Banfeng looked at Ma Wu with complete sincerity. ”You won’t go wrong doing as I say. We’re going to devour this industry!”

***

”We can’t let Ma Wu keep filming like this, or he is going to devour us!” Zhou Changhong exclaimed as he set down the newspaper he was reading. He turned to Ling Miaoying. ”We need to cause him some trouble. They dared to burn our film reels. That means we can smash their set. That’s how you return the favor.”

After The Legendary Bloodblade Detective was released, its box office performance fell far short of expectations. Zhou Changhong was in a terrible mood, and Ling Miaoying was under immense pressure.

Now that Zhou Changhong wanted to resort to dirty methods, Ling Miaoying felt he was being rather irrational.

Ling Miaying replied, ”Ma Wu has the Lu Family backing him. If we make a move against the Lu Family, we’ll be tearing all pretenses apart.”

”We don’t need to take action ourselves. How are things going with the Three Heroes Sect?”

”The second-in-command has a good relationship with us, so they should be willing to help. But people from sects speak in jianghu terms. It’s hard to say how much they’re willing to do to help us.”

Zhou Changhong was confident. ”We don’t need to demand much from them. As long as they send people, that’s enough.

Ma Wu’s film is too dirty. The Lu Family won’t want to get too deeply involved. Once they see the Three Heroes Sect stepping in, they definitely won’t easily reveal their involvement. They’ll definitely leave Ma Wu to shoulder everything alone. Let’s see how he handles it this time!”

***

Ma Wu had finalized the cast and locked in the script. On the first day of filming, a skinny young man arrived at the set with more than a dozen subordinates.

A crew member stepped forward to clear the area. ”Gentlemen, we’re filming. The director just said that all uninvolved persons should leave.”

”What do you mean ’uninvolved’?” The young man held a meat patty, took a bite, and chewed as he spoke. ”Aren’t you filming? We’re here to watch. Are we not allowed to watch?”

The crew member tried to say more, but one of the young man’s subordinates shoved him, causing him to stagger backward.

The director could tell these men were here to cause trouble and quickly told someone to notify Ma Wu.

By the time Ma Wu arrived at the set, the young man was lecturing an actress. ”Look at you. You’re so young and so pretty. You could do anything, yet you insist on doing this?

Once this gets filmed and released, everyone will have seen your whole body. How will you live after that? Do you think you’ll still be able to get married? Will anyone even want you?”

The actress was so frightened that she burst into tears.

Ma Wu walked up and looked at the young man. ”Sir, what advice do you have for us?”

”Sir? Advice?” The young man laughed. ”We’re not ’sirs.’ We’re brothers.”

Zuo Wugang quietly said to Ma Wu, ”Master Wu, they’re from the Three Heroes Sect. They all call each other brothers.”

Ma Wu said, ”I have no conflict with the Three Heroes Sect. For you to come here today—”

The young man interjected, ”Of course there is. How can you say there isn’t?” ”We brothers of the Three Heroes Sect are all decent, proper people. We just can’t stand your improper business. Think about it yourself. Do you really think what you’re making is proper? Don’t you feel ashamed looking at it?”

Zuo Wugang said quietly to Ma Wu, ”Master Wu, you need not ask them any more questions. They’re obviously here to cause trouble. Just tell me. Are we fighting or not?”

When it came to fighting, Zuo Wugang was truly unafraid. However, Ma Wu did not want to make a move.

The Three Heroes Sect was not a major aristocratic family but a gang, and that meant they used underhanded methods. If things were to escalate, it would be like stirring up a hornet’s nest. They had plenty of tactics that Ma Wu simply had no way of combating.

If a gang shows up to cause trouble at a film set, it’s probably for money, right?

Ma Wu had someone bring over one hundred silver dollars and pressed the bills into the young man’s hands. ”Brother, my business still relies on your support. This is just a small token of my sincerity.”

The young man pushed the money back. ”Young Master Wu, I don’t want this money. We’ve met before, but you probably don’t remember me. Let me give you a piece of advice. Stop making this movie. Don’t make any more in the future either. You’ve already earned plenty of money. It’s still not too late if you stop now.”

Filming could not continue that day. Ma Wu returned to Freewind Wharf and told Li Banfeng everything that had happened.

Li Banfeng was really curious. ”Why is the Three Heroes Sect making things difficult for us?”

Ma Wu shook his head. ”I’ve been thinking about this for a long while and still can’t figure it out. We haven’t done anything to offend the Three Heroes Sect.”

”What did the Lu Family say?”

”Lu Yuanshan said he’d go ask about it, but I doubt anything will come of it. If I’m not mistaken, the Ling Family is the one who got the Three Heroes Sect involved.”

Li Banfeng rubbed his temples. The relationships between the major aristocratic families and gangs in Puluo Province were far too complicated. He could not figure out all the relations in such a short time.

”What about that young man who caused trouble at the set? What’s his background?”

Ma Wu said, ”Old Zuo is looking into it, but there’s no news yet. I’ve heard he’s a rising talent in the Three Heroes Sect, but no one even knows his surname or given name.”

Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat. ”I’ll go meet him tomorrow.”

”Old Qi, it’s not a good idea to offend the people from the Three Heroes Sect.”

”I don’t intend to offend them, but we can’t let them sit on our heads and run wild!”

***

The next day, filming resumed. Not long after it began, the young man from the Three Hero Sects returned with his subordinates.

Today, he was not eating a meat patty. He had switched to a chicken leg.

With a greasy hand, the young man slapped Ma Wu on the shoulder and laughed. ”Young Master Wu, you really don’t know what’s good for you. I told you to stop filming. Why won’t you listen?”

Ma Wu replied, ”Brother, let’s step away from the set to talk.”

”What’s the point of stepping away? It’ll still be the same conversation,” the young man said, following Ma Wu off the set anyway. ”Young Master Wu, if you want to do things the hard way, I’ll go along with it. We can fight anywhere you like. But there will be no filming done today.”

”Then tell me, when will you let us film?” Li Banfeng asked. He stepped out from a corner of the backstage area and walked up to the young man. ”What exactly is going on? Why are you causing trouble here?”

The young man looked at Li Banfeng, and the chicken leg slipped out of his hand, falling to the ground. ”Th-that... Big Bro Qi...”

Li Banfeng was startled. ”Who are you?”