The young man staggered and fell to the ground after being hit by a bullet from another direction.
"Cough—"
Clutching his pierced chest, he gasped heavily on the ground. Even in his final moments, his face remained twisted with resentment and unwillingness, glaring fiercely at the person across from him as if he would become a vengeful ghost.
"You... won't succeed."
An idealist who saw no hope in the darkness would eventually be drowned by the tides of the era. The efforts of countless people would ultimately meet with failure.
Yet all he wanted was to survive in this era—
"We will win, we will succeed. Not only that, we will sow the seeds of hope across the land of Huaxia, allowing countless common people to live happy and prosperous lives in the future."
The male lead Li Shuo remained completely unfazed by the dying man's words, his voice firm and domineering as if he could already see that bright future. Looking down at the man on the ground with disdain, he sneered, "And you... don't deserve to see it."
"Cough—"
The young man's eyes widened, as if deeply provoked by his words, his body trembling slightly from the fear of death. Yet in the end, he couldn't utter another word, only glaring hatefully at Li Shuo as the light in his eyes gradually dimmed, his hands falling limply to the ground.
The room was filled only with his suppressed, irregular breathing, which soon faded into silence.
His face remained handsome, but the shadowy and twisted expression greatly marred that impression, making it instead appear terrifying. Even in death, his eyes remained open, as if this alone could refute Li Shuo's words.
Thus quietly exited a pitiable and detestable character born of the era.
Yet no one would mourn for him.
----------
Even the handful of audience members below merely nodded silently in acknowledgment.
Director Wen Hongyuan and screenwriter Tan Yuan exchanged a glance, instantly understanding each other's thoughts. Clearly, they were very satisfied with Xiao He's performance.
Though his acting still showed some slight rawness in places, the rich shifts in his gaze and the unique aura he brought to the role still earned him high marks from them.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that among all the actors they'd recently screened, he was the best performer by far. Many others only portrayed Meng Zetian's cruelty superficially, while Xiao He concealed that venom within, hiding murderous intent beneath restraint.
This even gave Tan Yuan new inspiration.
Zhang Mo, who had acted opposite Xiao He, also stepped off stage and nodded slightly to Wen Hongyuan and Tan Yuan. Though as the male lead of this drama, Zhang Mo didn't have much say in casting, he'd formed a very favorable impression of Xiao He during their scene together.
Seeing this, Wen Hongyuan had already reached his decision.
Thus, shortly after returning to the "Thief Catcher" set, Xiao He received news that he'd passed the audition for "Starry Radiance." He was instructed to come sign the contract tomorrow and immediately join the filming, studying the full script as shooting progressed.
There was no helping it—the role of "Meng Zetian" had been delayed for too long. While other production aspects were progressing rapidly, this storyline had remained stuck, much to the crew's frustration.
But transitioning directly between productions was utterly exhausting.
Xiao He checked the rough schedule and realized he'd likely be spending New Year's with the "Starry Radiance" crew. The role of Meng Zetian had considerable screen time, and he wasn't sure if filming could wrap up before Spring Festival.
At this moment, Lin Yipeng was once again the first to get the news, coming to congratulate Xiao He: "Congratulations!"
Xiao He: "Director Lin, your information network is truly impressive."
To this day, we still don't know exactly what kind of connections Director Lin Yipeng possesses.
"Bah—" Lin Yipeng waved it off casually, instead urging Xiao He: "Hurry up, get ready for your final scene, then wrap up and get out of here."
"Got it, got it."
Xiao He responded while sitting down for the makeup artist to prepare him.
The scene he was about to film would be his last in "Thief Catcher"—simultaneously the drama's final scene.
--------
By this point in the story, Jiang Rushu had successfully used the evidence in his possession to sow distrust among several factions, making them suspect and fight each other to mutual destruction.
No one paid attention anymore to the pawn who had moved between their factions. Even at the very end, they all believed Jiang Rushu belonged to opposing groups. To avoid having more secrets exposed by their rivals, the bounties on Jiang Rushu quietly disappeared.
Everything seemed to return to how it was before.
The common people who had suffered under exorbitantly priced illegal salt finally regained access to affordable salt again.
—Though many knew this wouldn't last. The powerful elites had never cared about their survival, and the salt smugglers would surely return.
But this temporary respite allowed many to survive, bringing smiles back to numerous faces.
For them, as long as they lived, life could continue.
One had to keep going, after all.
Under the setting sun, Jiang Rushu rode his horse while absentmindedly flipping a copper coin in his hand, then lightly tossed it to catch again in his palm.
Shen Jue glanced at him, his gaze lingering briefly on Jiang Rushu's coin before calmly looking away. "Was it really worth it?"
Jiang Rushu deftly spun the coin between his fingers, waving it proudly. "Why wouldn't it be? When I, Jiang Rushu, work as a Thief Catcher, the rule is simple: take the bounty, get paid, transaction complete—"
Everyone speculated about which wealthy faction had hired Jiang Rushu for this job. Yet none could have guessed that Jiang Rushu, who seemed to value money above all else, had entered this game as both the stick stirring muddy waters and the bait on the hook. After narrowly escaping death multiple times and throwing multiple factions into chaos, his motivation had been nothing more than a single copper coin.
Or rather, just a helpless child's plea.
Having been friends with Jiang Rushu for years, Shen Jue thought he knew him well. Yet at times like this, he always felt he still didn't understand this man: "I don't get it."
"How can you not? This was everything that child owned—her most valuable possession." Jiang Rushu tossed the coin again. "It's like how you, Brother Shen, have so much fine wine but only ever open one jar of the newest peach blossom brew for me. What people value differs, so naturally the meaning changes too."
"If you want a drink, just say so."
Shen Jue rolled his eyes, nudging his horse to start moving forward at a gentle pace. "No need for roundabout talk."
"Haha—" Jiang Rushu laughed heartily. "Of course, if Brother Shen is willing to bring out that jar of Qiongqin brew you've been hoarding for years, I might consider selling you my life."
"You'll get a drink when you've repaid all you owe me."
"Oh? Really?"
But Shen Jue had already ridden ahead.
Jiang Rushu's eyes sparkled as he threaded the coin onto his belt—where dozens of identical coins already hung, glinting brilliantly in the sunset's glow.
"Wait for me!"
Jiang Rushu urged his horse forward in pursuit, the two gradually disappearing down the overgrown path.
And with that, the final scene of "Thief Catcher" came to an end.