I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 240 - 240 239. Is this what they call pie in the sky_1

Chapter 240: 239. Is this what they call pie in the sky?_1 Chapter 240: 239. Is this what they call pie in the sky?_1 “The Madman’s Mouth” released its second trailer, and the internet fell silent.

It was too sudden!

Everyone thought that since the first trailer released by Lu Ban was so brief and uninformative, the actual film was probably just starting production, with actors potentially still being cast—the dough only just kneaded from freshly sowed wheat seeds.

But unexpectedly, within less than a month, the second trailer Lu Ban dropped was incredibly polished.

The trailer’s first three monologues were similar in style, yet they evoked different fears.

The first was about shadows; darkness has always instilled a primal fear in us all. Perhaps as a child, you might have imagined a hand or something else lurking in the shadows, ready to snatch you up. Darkness represents the unknown, and fear of the dark is a human instinct.

The second was about colors—if pure darkness induces the fear of the unknown, then overly vivid, unnatural colors signal danger. Just like poisonous mushrooms and insects use bright colors as a defense, those eerie paintings conveyed a similar primitive terror.

The third was about insects—spiders, centipedes, milipedes—all creatures with more than four legs are often venomous. Few people in the world are unafraid of spiders, and seeing them crawling out of a person’s body in the trailer, a teeming mass, was utterly spine-chilling.

Moreover, Lu Ban’s films possess a power that transcends reality. When viewers saw the monsters in the darkness, it felt like something was stirring in the shadows near them. When they saw the oil painting of the bizarre creature, it seemed ready to crawl right off the screen, and as spiders engulfed the entire screen, one could viscerally feel the sensation of bugs skittering across their skin.

As for the rest of the trailer, it’s a standard sequence for an adventure-mystery film: grand set pieces, individual showcases, comedic relief, capped off with a thrilling visual.

All these elements, combined with the special effects unique to Lu Ban’s film, created a chemical reaction—simply put, it was exhilarating.

On the movie rating site “BeanBeanNet,” a discussion group frequented by film industry insiders saw an uptick in conversations about Lu Ban’s new film following the release of the second trailer.

[Actor Zhao Kuo]: It seems like Director Lu’s second film used the same actors. Does anyone have a way to contact them?

[Movie Bricklayer]: Even if you contact them, what’s your plan? Stealing someone else’s actors?

[Actor Zhao Kuo]: No, that’s not it. Doesn’t anyone else find it strange? All of Lu Ban’s actors, one by one, display top-tier acting skills. The women are beautiful, and the men perfectly fit their roles. Take, for example, the director in “The Cry”—he was just like a real mad doctor. It’s odd that this caliber of actor hasn’t appeared in other films. That doesn’t make sense, right?

[Hengdian Xiaozhi]: What’s strange about that? There are more actors you don’t know about than you could imagine. With so many extras around the country and even Hengdian welcoming hundreds of newcomers daily, Director Lu probably has some special channel to find those suitable for the roles.

[Ordinary Screenwriter Ah Xiang]: Indeed, sometimes the more skilled directors prefer to work with newcomers. Take, for instance, that person, or that other one—Lu Ban might just be picky with who he works with.

[Yannan Xiaoliu]: Speaking of which, I was recently on a set where one of the supporting actors was a rich second-generation funding his own way in. He originally did variety shows, and his acting stank, but somehow, he managed to get in touch with Director Lu and supposedly received some coaching and instruction. Now his acting is off the charts. Give it some time, and you’ll see—the look of sheer terror on his face, heh, just like someone who’s actually seen a ghost.

[Red Bean Popsicle]: Is Lu Ban really that remarkable? It seems like just a year ago, he was another common graduate. Could there be some powerhouse shaping his image from behind the scenes?

[Movie Bricklayer]: Speaking of which, it cracked me up. A buddy of mine told me over drinks the other day that, last March or April, he was handed a horror film script by some errand boy. Without even looking, he outright rejected it. Turns out, that errand boy was Lu Ban. What a coincidence, right?

[Ordinary Screenwriter Ah Xiang]: Well, your friend really did us a favor. If he had taken that script, we probably wouldn’t have Lu Ban today. Lu Ban’s style of filming and his visual effects, an ordinary director in China really couldn’t handle it. If it were handed over to some fresh-faced kid for a cameo, along with a traffic-chasing lead actor, that movie would’ve been doomed.

The discussions about Lu Ban and his “The Madman’s Mouth” soared along with the teaser trailer’s views. In just one day, the second teaser surpassed thirty million plays. On film websites, the anticipation for “The Madman’s Mouth” immediately maxed out, ranking at the top of the list, with its popularity far surpassing the total of the second to tenth places.

Some industry insiders noticed that if “Cry” was a purely horror genre film, with classic horror elements from setting to story, then “The Madman’s Mouth” clearly took the path of a thriller adventure film. This kind of movie was more mainstream, with adventurous and comical scenes as well as thrilling and exciting plot points. Although its audience was still not as wide as that of proper family-friendly films or big war movies, it was significantly larger than that of the pure horror film “Cry”.

Plus, this was the Silence Plan’s first official film, and people were even more curious about the world view it would display.

Yet, everyone was skeptical of Lu Ban’s production capacity.

After all, for a movie, even if the pre-production was already complete, from the start of filming to the end of shooting, and post-production special effects, it would still take several months, and then there’s the scheduling, promotion; half a year could easily pass by.

Those previous videos aside, starting from “The Hundred Poets,” Lu Ban had indeed entered the production of major films. There was less than a two-month interval between “The Hundred Poets” and “Cry.” Now, was “The Madman’s Mouth” already completed in just a four or five-month gap?

That even included the Spring Festival.

No way, does Lu Ban not take breaks or rest at all?

There are many directors whose every film is well-made and box-office hits, but usually, they release one every two or three years. But Lu Ban, three in one year?

It’s like in the era when every web novel author updates four thousand words daily, there’s this one person whose writing is great and updates twenty to thirty thousand words every day, totally crushing it.

Is this going to incite fierce competition within the film industry too?

Film and television professionals were anxiously concerned, worried if Lu Ban would bring about a transformation to the industry.

Various film companies were also busily producing their own horror films, hoping to cash in on the popularity of “Cry.”

However, before the Qingming holiday in April, the Film Bureau in Yannan received a film master tape.

The label on it read “The Madman’s Mouth.”

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