Gregory Xander’s hem was caught, and he cleared his throat awkwardly as he looked at the person hiding behind him,
"Don’t worry, it’s just a person at the door."
As soon as he spoke, Ariel Zimmerman heard the director’s voice at the door, suppressing his anger.
"Teacher Zimmerman, open the door."
Ariel glanced at Gregory Xander beside her, then at the two-person room, obviously reluctant to open the door, and asked through it,
"Director, what’s up? I’m not feeling well today, my assistant has already asked for leave."
The director outside sharply twitched his lips upon hearing this.
Nearly lost his temper,
"What do you mean what’s up? Don’t you know what today’s shooting is? Today is your important scene, the set is ready, everyone is waiting for you! You just called in sick last-minute, that’s not appropriate, right?"
Previously, the director thought Ariel Zimmerman knew her limits, occasionally stirring some antics with the second female lead was fine, but skipping such an important scene today was daring.
It’s just a matter of giving her highlight to the second female lead, it’s not like she’s losing the female lead role.
Does she need to make everyone unable to work properly?
She’s not a newcomer, aren’t these things common in the industry?
If she can’t handle such situations, how will she move forward?
"Ariel, I’ll be frank with you, this matter is already decided by the producers and investors, even if you stir things up, it’s still the same, so why not keep some dignity for both sides and finish filming this drama nicely?"
"We’ve worked together before, everyone knows each other’s difficulties, you stirring things with me is one thing, but if the producers and investors know about this, they’ll just think you’re unreasonable, and no one will want to work with you in the future."
Ariel stood inside the room, listening to the director outside, her clenched fist tightened, but she softened her tone,
"Director, I really have an issue today, I’ve encountered some trouble..."
Before she could finish her words, the impatient director outside interrupted,
"Ariel, enough with using these excuses to fool around, it’s getting tedious!"
Ariel felt a wave of shame and anger hit her, especially with Gregory Xander present.
Not wanting to listen any longer, she stepped forward and abruptly opened the door.
The director outside was about to speak when he suddenly came face-to-face with Ariel’s noticeably sleep-deprived dark circles, and was instantly startled. Seeing the situation inside the room, he was even more dumbfounded.
Ariel actually hid a man in her room?
She didn’t sleep all night, what was going on?
Before the director could imagine further, Ariel, with reddened eyes, choked up and spoke,
"Director, I really have an issue, do you really not trust me?"
Choosing between confronting him head-on and feigning vulnerability, Ariel ultimately chose the latter.
No matter how harsh the director’s words were, he was stating the facts.
In this industry, falling out with someone is the most foolish move.
"What’s... what’s wrong with you?"
The director, seeing her like that, couldn’t help but ask out of concern.
Ariel knew that people in the entertainment industry rarely disbelieve in ghosts and deities, so she began talking about her recent ghost encounters, and pointed to Gregory Xander,
"I really almost died last night, it’s not that I don’t want to work, but I really can’t, see, I’ve even called my senior brother here overnight."
When the director heard the word ’senior brother’, he seemed to recall something, and upon taking a closer look at Gregory Xander, wasn’t this the recent famous ’Inspiration’ variety show’s Gregory?
Right away, he fully believed Ariel’s words.
After all, he had watched several live broadcasts, witnessing the abilities of Scarlett Jennings and this Master Xander.
When the crew started filming, he even thought about asking Ariel to invite one of them to host the opening ceremony, because in the industry, burning incense and worshipping during the initiation are big deals.
Unfortunately, Ariel didn’t manage to invite either Scarlett Jennings or Gregory Xander.
At that time, he assumed Ariel had no connections with these masters and never expected she would call Gregory just after encountering a ghost.
The director now looked at Ariel differently.
Ariel noticed the director’s attitude shift but didn’t say much, only glancing at Gregory Xander,
"Master Xander, is the Shadow Ghost going to come for me again? Can you think of a way?"
Seeing that the director was also allowing her to prioritize this matter, Gregory Xander said,
"We don’t need to wait for it to come for you, we can go find it directly."
Eliminate the malicious Shadow Ghost straightforwardly.
Saying that, Gregory Xander took out a compass and began to trace the Shadow Ghost from the residual shadow energy at the door. Soon, he confirmed the position, ready to deal with it alone, yet his hem was gently tugged by Ariel,
"Can I come with you?"
Gregory Xander remained silent for a moment, meeting her hopeful gaze, and after a while, simply replied, "Mm."
The director also became interested, "Master Xander, can I follow along?"
Gregory Xander glanced at him, his expression indifferent, "As you wish."
The three of them followed the compass’s guidance and came to another room on another level of the hotel.
Seeing Gregory walking further in, the director’s expression turned a bit subtle.
As a director, he was still familiar with the arrangement of rooms for several important actors in the crew.
Walking along this corridor to the end on this level, that’s the second female lead Delaney Clark’s room...
Perhaps fearing elusive situations, they watched Gregory following the compass, finally stopping at the innermost room.
"Master Xander, here..."
Is there possibly a misunderstanding?
However, Gregory Xander paid no attention to what he said, having detected the familiar aura of Shadow energy hidden there, he simply took out a talisman, then sealed with one hand, swiftly chanting in low voice,
"Supreme Elder Lao, be my divine guide. Summon the Jade Maidens, dispel the ominous. Wear the celestial canopy, tread the formidable star, left supporting the six armor, right guarding the six militaries..."
With his chanting, the talisman in his hand slowly manifested spiritual light.
Ariel had only genuinely seen him use a talisman during the rainmaking scenario before, rarely afterwards.
Seeing it now, her eyes were full of expectation.
Then, her gaze gradually turned blank with a slight confusion following.
Master Xander’s spell seemed a bit long.
After all, she had followed and shot many episodes, witnessing Scarlett make a move firsthand several times.
Scarlett also chanted when using talismans, but her spells were always concise and powerful.
Every time she hadn’t even heard clearly, Scarlett had already made her move.
Ariel had assumed that masters acted like Scarlett.
Now, it seemed, maybe, perhaps, it was a bit different.
Thinking this way, Ariel didn’t show it outwardly.
Over there, Gregory Xander finally swiftly finished all chants, until the talisman in his hand was enveloped by spiritual light, he quickly deployed it, the talisman paper instantly flew into the room through the door crack.
The next moment, a familiar scream was heard from inside.
Simultaneously accompanied by Delaney Clark’s exclamation,
"Joseph! What’s happening to you?!"