So, a few days after Mo Tunâs debut, Xiao Zhao the Roamer, having gathered enough clips of Mo Tun, showed off her skills and once again pushed a mixed-cut video with Brother Xiao on the thumbnail onto the trending listââ
The video thumbnail showed a young man with somewhat long hair that looked messy from neglect. He held a blood-stained small knife aloft, looking down at the camera with a cocky, contemptuous stare. He wore nothing more than an ordinary set of beachwear and shorts, but he carried an intimidating aura as if he were a two-meter-tall boss. Under the knifeâs sliced arc in the image was a line of red brush-stroked characters that looked torn by a bladeââSeal lips, speak not;
let the gods pass byâ!
When people passing by saw such a tension-filled, dangerous thumbnail, many of them swallowed instinctively. Those who had watched the drama felt it even deeperâthe cover made you feel as if the man were cutting your mouth, that your life was at risk at any momentâso why in the world did their cursed hand still click in without thinking?
Then, to the beat of dangerous, fast-paced music, Mo Tun appeared.
His decisiveness, cruelty, and cunning;
his violence, caution, and treachery⊠as the music climbed to its climax, the man on screen casually brushed aside the messy fringe pressed against his temple, looking at the camera with a mocking glint, as if deliberately hinting at his appetite for othersâ lives. He laughed lightly, tilted his head, spat the betel nut heâd been chewing into the seawater beside him, and raised the gun in his handââ
In the next instant, a gunshot rang out. The leader who had been about to swing his machete at Mo Tun collapsed with a thud, falling into the sea as a vast patch of red blood floated up.
Mo Tunâs muzzle swung toward the group charging at him.
They were close to him, and he was alone;
his gun couldnât possibly fire quickly enough to stop everyone. If they used sheer numbers to swarm, one knife per person could kill him.
Yet, against expectation, Mo Tunâs personal aura intimidated every one of them. The knife-wielders hesitated, frozen in place.
At that moment, even the once-pumping music had somehow quieted. Suddenly the edited video only retained the original sceneâs white noise.
It was the sound of the sea, the fearful gasps of the peopleâandâ
The sound of Mo Tun tearing open another wrapper with his teeth and continuing to chew.
âTraitors, you sons of bitches! Eating the black with the black, youâre not human!â
One thugâs voice suddenly rose, then the paused BGM resumed. Mo Tun shot the speaker clean in the head, then kicked the clustered knife-wielders away, picked up the leaderâs dropped machete from the ground, and brought it down across a manâs faceââ
The blade wasnât as sharp as one might imagine;
it jammed into the manâs mouth. Mo Tun didnât flinch. He released the machete, fired again, killing the nearest thug and ripping the blade from his hand.
What followed were sequences of knives and guns used together: stabbing, slicing, shooting, bodies piling up until the blood ran like a river. The camera cut smoothly to other scenesânot for plot development, but to serve pure, exquisite slaughter and unbridled brutality.
Even viewers following Mo Tunâs rampage felt their adrenaline surge;
they watched with skin-prickling terror and trembling limbs.
Finally, the camera returned to the drifting boat.
The little gang that had once gathered was now largely down.
Horrifyingly, someone still crawled on the deck. Though the upper half of his face was smeared with blood and the lower half was gone, he was still alive.
As he tried to pull himself to the edge to climb over, the man behind him grabbed his collar and forced the half-ruined face close: âTrying to run?â
The man on the deck stared at Mo Tun in panic, shaking his head frantically, pleading with his eyes.
âOhâalmost forgot, you canât talk anymore.â
Mo Tun, suddenly bored, dropped him back to the deck and stood up.
âTskââ
âSorry, brother, I have to make sure youâre quiet foreverââ
With that, he lifted his foot as if resigned and stepped on the manâs neck.
Accompanied by the musicâs slowing finale and the dying whimpers of a person in pain, the video finally reached its end.
The last shot was Mo Tun sitting with swagger on the speedboat, returning under the setting sun.
Behind him, a small yacht burned fiercer beneath the crimson sky. Black smoke curled upward, gradually shrouding the scarlet horizonâŠ
âHoly crap! I give up! How can someone step into the same river twice? Unless itâs Xiao He!â
âOh my god! As expected, Roamer! I was wondering why there was nothing after Xiao Heâs Mo Tun came out days agoâturns out she was saving the big one!â
âSame formula, same silky-smooth Dove chocolate feelingâjust hit the one-click triple action, itâs all yours!â
âAhhh, canât take it, Mo Tun is truly evil, but Xiao He looks so damn handsomeâthis rascal charm!â
âWho wouldâve thought this was shot in two days!â
âWhat? Two days shooting? No way. This guyâs popularity is deadly! The acting and the setâtwo days pull that off?â
âYou can check some behind-the-scenes of Sea Fog Pursuit. They said the original actor for Mo Tun suddenly couldnât make it. Director Wang was frantic, and it was the assistant director who saw news about Fearless Journey and thought of Brother Xiao, and they rushed to ask him.â
âI really admire Brother Xiaoâhis portrayal of a villain basically rules the district.â
Under the video, fans enthusiastically debated, and the clipâs massive heat pushed it precisely onto many peopleâs home feeds;
for the past few days, almost anyone opening the platform would see the thumbnail first.
When Xiao He learned about it, he immediately opened the app on his phone and saw his own video cover.
Xiao Chen exclaimed at his side, âWow, Brother Xiao, this editor is seriously amazing! Her videos about you almost always hit a million viewsâsheâs insane!â
Maybe Xiao Zhao the Roamer just excelled at edits with a bit of gore, violence, and the aesthetic of murderous beauty, so her Xiao He mixes were especially tension-filled and feral;
every time they landed his related videos on the trending list. She was slightly less impressive when editing othersâ clips.
âI actually followed her with a side account too.â
Xiao He said a bit shyly, but his hand was honestâhe had already long-pressed like and done the one-click triple action.
Liu Rulan walked in from the doorway carrying a stack of files. âThis editor really does have talent, and sheâs low-keyâbasically a technical fan of yours.â
She set the stack down and said, âThese are some business offers that came in after Mo Tun. I picked out ones worth taking and ones you could accept. See if any interest you.â
Xiao He casually grabbed one, glanced at it, and was a little surprised. âCoconut milk beverage?â
It was still a national-level old brand. He hadnât expected an ad offer.
âRight. Since Sea Fog Pursuit is set in Haishi, and Mo Tunâs overall style fits that vibe, they want to leverage this heat and use your image for promotion.â
âI think thatâs fine.â
âAll right, Iâll connect you later.â Liu Rulan sighed helplessly. âBesides that, thereâs one more troublesome thing you need to knowââ