There weren't many scenes of the funeral, which added up to less than two minutes. It was finished in no time at all. Lu Zhen's acting was quite mature and reserved. Even though she simply stood next to the tablets of the soldiers and said nothing, there was a rich mixture of emotions in her eyes, not just sadness.
The director looked at Lu Zhen's pale but beautiful face on the screen and marveled to himself.
He felt there was something different about Lu Zhen. She had been an excellent and experienced actress in the first place. She satisfied him in the past, but he had not been impressed.
But now, she had the soul of an actress. It was as if she had realized the essence of acting.
The director naturally didn't know that Lu Zhen was no longer the same Lu Zhen from before.
After the funeral scenes were shot, the camera panned to the guillotine. The magistrate, who had betrayed the soldiers, knelt on the platform with his hands bound and his eyes blindfolded.
He was trembling. When he heard Lu Zhen's footsteps, he suddenly wailed, "General Qin, I'm sorry! Please spare me. You can't kill me. You'll regret it!"
Another camera followed Lu Zhen's footsteps as she slowly walked up to the scaffold. She was wearing white linen clothes, white silk, and her face was pale.
She was like a murderous demon. Her gaze was cold and terrifying.
Lu Zhen's performance wasn't exaggerated. She didn't even have any superfluous expressions or movements. But at that moment, everyone felt as if she was the very embodiment of the female general who would personally avenge her soldiers.
"Her finger's moving. Film it!" the director said, suddenly realizing something.
Lu Zhen seemed to be immersed in her character. Her eyes were suddenly filled with madness. Her right hand, which held the machete, slowly tightened. A terrible murderous aura emanated from her. Those who saw her felt fear.
Everyone present held their breaths.
Lu Zhen stepped onto the scaffold and immediately lifted the black cloth that covered the magistrate's head. The magistrate looked at her and opened his mouth to speak, but found that he was too frightened to even speak.
The woman in front of him no longer seemed human. She was like a ghost who had come to take his life!
The actor playing the county magistrate clearly knew that Lu Zhen was just acting, but he actually felt a wave of fear from the bottom of his heart. For a moment, he even forgot what he should say next.
A few seconds passed before the county magistrate finally wailed and begged Qin Qing to spare him. However, Qin Qing only looked at him coldly with her lifeless eyes. It was as if she was looking at a corpse, or at the dead soldiers through him.
After a long while, Qin Qing suddenly smiled. Her smile was shockingly beautiful, but extremely vicious.
The hatred in her eyes burned fiercely. There was a hint of madness amidst her ruthlessness. She slowly raised the knife in her hand—
The magistrate's eyes widened in horror. He tried to shout, but no sound came out.
The sharp knife swung down, and scarlet blood splattered from the guillotine to the ground. A few drops sprayed onto Qin Qing's face. The redness of the blood was a strong contrast to her pale skin. She looked terrifying and beautiful.
She looked like an evil spirit that had risen from the depths of hell. Everyone in the room was trembling inside. Even the director was stunned.
After a long time, the director shouted, "Cut!"
The actors in the center of the stage relaxed when they heard the director's voice and quickly returned to their normal state.
The actor playing the county magistrate was covered in red blood. He got up awkwardly and looked at Lu Zhen with a hint of fear and nervousness. After a long time, he finally mustered the courage to say to Lu Zhen, "Miss Lu, you acted so well…"
He didn't know how to describe that feeling. Others might not have seen the look in Lu Zhen's eyes, but he had.
Those emotions were so raw that they didn't seem like they could be acted out. That look of hatred, grief, and despair in her eyes was something he would never forget.
Lu Zhen was silent. She felt as if a great weight had been placed on her chest. She looked at the actor who was acting with her and nodded. "Thank you."
Sun Xiao ran out from behind the camera with a clean handkerchief in her hand. As she carefully wiped Lu Zhen's cheeks, she said in a worried tone, "Zhenzhen, are you okay?"
The scene was over. It had been a difficult scene, but it was filmed in one go. It was simply shocking.
Sun Xiao looked nervously at Lu Zhen, who, she sensed, still hadn't snapped out of character. That look in her eyes was … still scary.
Lu Zhen took two deep breaths and slowly shook her head. "I'm fine. Let's go."