Chapter 76: 076 New Drama Broadcast

Chapter 76: 076 New Drama Broadcast

Yan Qichen finally faced his moment of judgment.

Lu Xu suspected that Yan Qichen might be even more of a failure than Gu Sinian and Zhang Che. News of him acting like a diva, altering scripts, and bullying extras was exposed, yet few colleagues spoke up for him. The crews he had worked with remained completely silent, and no one uttered a word.

At this moment, silence itself was an attitude.

Even if some colleagues did speak up, they were all supporting Shao Yao.

Shao Yao, who had been bullied by Yan Qichen to such an extent, didn’t hold a grudge at all. He bought a set of night cream and moved on.

But what about Yan Qichen? Clearly the perpetrator, he desperately tried to portray himself as the victim.

In the entertainment industry, this type of celebrity is the most despised—fans may blindly love the characters he plays, but they would never approve of his actions toward Shao Yao.

Moreover, Yan Qichen had already isolated Shao Yao once in the *Nan Xiangzi* crew. By bringing up Shao Yao’s supposed bullying of him, he was essentially repeatedly victimizing Shao Yao.

The difference in character was now clear.

Naturally, Yan Qichen began to lose fans, collaborations, and more scandals were exposed. Brand D quickly canceled their partnership with him.

Yan Qichen was considered a relatively popular figure at the moment, but objectively speaking, his foundation wasn’t stable, at least not as stable as Zhang Che’s. Zhang Che had works to back him up, while Yan Qichen’s popularity largely came from his agency’s aggressive marketing tactics—the dramas he starred in weren’t particularly successful, but he himself was much more popular than his works.

In terms of works alone, Shao Yao was a hundred times better than Yan Qichen, but Shao Yao was more low-key and rarely used his daily life as a selling point.

It was only after *Voices of the Dead* finished filming that fans began to realize the charm of Shao Yao’s personality, as he became noticeably more talkative.

Later, when fans revisited his past works and watched his dramas, they found that Shao Yao was grounded and reliable, with qualities worth admiring.

The public perception of Shao Yao and Yan Qichen suddenly flipped.

By the time Shao Yao’s reputation had mostly recovered, *Voices of the Dead* officially premiered on Grape TV.

Given that Lu Xu had been severely bullied by the Verse trio and Shao Yao had been severely bullied by Yan Qichen, their collaboration this time was seen by many fans as a tale of canine revenge.

Lu Xu & Shao Yao: "..."

Who do they think they’re looking down on?

They had now mastered the essence of V-learning and were exploring new depths.

#Brimming with Confidence#

#The Return of the Two-Headed Hellhound#

#Question: If a three-headed hellhound equals one head, how many heads do two-headed hellhounds equal?#

But fans could see that, under Lu Xu’s influence, Shao Yao had indeed become more talkative and confident.

"Lu Xu has the ability to make those around him better!"

"Maybe this is the allure of a puppy!!!"

...

Before *Voices of the Dead* aired, several drama critics and film bloggers made predictions about the drama’s final success. Some believed that *Voices of the Dead* would break 10,000 in popularity, while others thought that episodic crime dramas like *Voices of the Dead* hadn’t seen a major hit in a long time. Even though Lu Xu had starred in several hit dramas, *Voices of the Dead* was clearly a show driven by its plot rather than its actors.

"If the *Voices of the Dead* crew had strong confidence in this drama, they wouldn’t need to use the couple pairing of Jiang Lin and Su Yang as a selling point."

The film and TV blogger's review is objective, without any bias towards the crew or any specific actor, nor is it unfounded pessimism.

In recent years, the TV drama market has seen big hits either in historical romance dramas or in realistic dramas that rawly depict human emotions, such as *The Path of Bones*. The genre of *Voices of the Dead* is relatively niche.

Of course, for a drama to become a hit, it requires the right timing, conditions, and people. Even a high-quality drama doesn’t always become a hit.

However, the industry is well aware that Lu Xu desperately needs a hit drama.

Although Lu Xu personally doesn’t place much importance on whether the drama becomes a hit or not, *The Path of Bones* has given him the cushion to survive a flop. But for Lu Xu, the current period is critical for his positioning.

*The Path of Bones* successfully elevated Lu Xu to 1.5-tier actor status. If he can have another hit drama comparable to *The Path of Bones*, Lu Xu is sure to join the ranks of top-tier actors.

More importantly, looking at Lu Xu's resume, he is one of the few actors in the industry who has risen without relying on historical romance dramas. Actors like him are rare in today’s entertainment industry.

In other words, once Lu Xu reaches top-tier status, he’ll naturally stand out from other actors.

Because he doesn’t need to compete in the fiercely contested historical romance drama arena, and he naturally excels in serious dramas—when selecting actors for this type of drama, Lu Xu is sure to be a top choice.

However, it’s not easy to target Lu Xu right now.

The four male actors who marketed the "hit" sensation in *The Empress* have fizzled out. After all, *The Empress* is carried by Qiao Mengyao, and it won’t significantly impact the male actor ecosystem.

But if a drama from a top-tier male actor directly competes with Lu Xu's drama and flops, it would essentially hand Lu Xu a free ticket to the top tier while suffering losses themselves. No one is willing to pay that price.

Lu Xu... is quite enigmatic.

This year, Lu Xu is even more of a threat than last year.

The Starlight Award for early next year has already opened submissions, and the crew of *The Path of Bones* naturally submitted Lu Xu for the Best Actor category.

If... there is even a one in ten thousand chance that Lu Xu continues to be nominated for the Starlight Award, his rise to the top tier is inevitable.

But if *Voices of the Dead* flops, Lu Xu’s ascent to the top tier could be delayed.

...

*Voices of the Dead* is still airing in the prime time slot on Grape Video.

The two trailers have already prepared the audience for the content of the drama, but the moment they open the episode, the dark and haunting opening theme still sends chills down their spines.

The music for the opening theme is a vast and ethereal piece, as if it comes from distant mountains, descending to Earth as the last ray of light disappears on the horizon.

It sounds like a confession, and also like a cry.

The visuals are completely dark, with only occasional flashes of words like ashes—

"Kill"

"Why kill me"

"Hate"

"Why why why"

"Please"

"I don't want to die"

The ashes scatter with the wind, but the spreading hatred is long-lasting, causing trauma to those who experienced it even decades later.

And so, the story begins with the first episode.

A body was found in S City's central lake. The body had been there for quite some time, likely since before summer. It was badly decomposed and missing parts. The investigation team didn’t want to involve Jiang Lin, the supernatural expert, but he casually showed up among fishermen, blending in and gathering info.

The team leader's annoyed expression was obvious, even on screen.

Jiang Lin’s disheveled hair made him look half-asleep. He wore a monster T-shirt, jeans, and slippers, his droopy eyes making him seem lazier than the old men exercising nearby.

The team leader gestured to a subordinate: "Get Su Yang here."

The camera zoomed in on the body—or rather, a mangled mass of flesh with a human head. The rest of the body could be in the lake or anywhere else—no one knew.

"What a gruesome death," a cop muttered. "This case is going to be a nightmare."

Jiang Lin, though, started circling the body slowly.

Since 'Voices of the Dead' didn’t shy away from showing the pale, bloated corpse, most viewers were actually watching Jiang Lin.

To Tan Qi, Jiang Lin, played by Lu Xu, was a big change from his past roles—this guy wasn’t exactly good-looking. What struck her first was his personality—his laid-back vibe reminded her of her own lazy weekends.

On camera, Jiang Lin gave the corpse a casual look.

But the second he focused on the body, a sound erupted.

Unlike the chatter around the lake or the team leader’s orders, this sound felt otherworldly, like it came from hell—definitely not human. It was shrill, sharp, and dripping with bitterness.

Just hearing it sent chills down your spine, filling you with real dread.

But Jiang Lin didn’t even flinch.

He cocked his head, listening closely.

Cries, screams, pleas, despair—each sound shook you to your core.

A bike on cobblestones, a ringing bell, vendors shouting, a window breaking—ordinary sounds. But tied to a corpse, they turned horrifying.

"There’s someone at my door trading knives for pots, ahhhh!"

"Why does it have to be so creepy?"

"When the corpse locked eyes with me, I nearly screamed. The bike sound freaked me out even more—I heard it this morning."

"Same here... A bike just passed my house, ahhhhh!"

Despite their fear, the audience kept watching.

Luckily, after this eerie sound, the scene became less terrifying, and the music and other sounds returned to normal.

Soon after, Su Yang showed up behind Jiang Lin.

Su Yang was clearly a cool guy, with a clean, well-pressed shirt and a brisk, decisive stride.

When he met Jiang Lin, their eyes locked for just a few seconds before Jiang Lin revealed all the information he had gathered—

"Cobblestone ground, morning, not a new residential area, closer to an urban village... Find the candied hawthorn stall near the sea, roughly in this area."

Su Yang actually carried a map with him. As soon as Jiang Lin revealed the information, he unfolded the map and drew a circle at the location Jiang Lin pointed to.

"There might be more than one victim."

Su Yang only nodded slightly: "What about the suspect?"

Jiang Lin immediately understood his meaning: "There's only one."

"Wait, I didn’t catch that. How did they both figure it out?"

"Only you two can have that unspoken connection, huh? Guess the audience doesn’t deserve to know? [laughing emoji]."

As the plot progressed, Jiang Lin did provide an explanation—the breathing and footsteps of one suspect and two suspects are different.

Hearing the voices of the dead is indeed a supernatural ability, but how to extract useful information from what the corpses provide is the result of his constant practice.

The sea breeze is stronger on the coastal side since S City is by the sea. Having grown up by the sea, Jiang Lin is more attuned to the sound of the wind on the coastal side.

Jiang Lin and Su Yang each embarked on their own investigative journeys.

Even in the first episode, the two already displayed a remarkable unspoken connection.

This kind of deep trust between them was hinted at in the preview, but when the series actually aired, the audience found that what truly moved them was not just the unspoken connection in their eyes, but also their ability to quickly extract information and proceed with the investigation.

"Voices of the Dead" is clearly a game for the sharp-minded.

"This is pretty intriguing!"

"Two episodes in! The pacing is really quick! And I can’t shake the feeling that these two episodes are full of foreshadowing. I’ll rewatch them carefully once this case wraps up."

"Is this the legendary powerhouse duo? I’m all for it."