Chapter 17: Heart of Embers Premieres

In the following days, Xiao He completely immersed himself in the film crew's work.The shooting schedule was extremely tight. The inn was just their first location, and with the limited budget, every scene had to be rushed.

Despite the time pressure, Lin Yipeng maintained strict standards, insisting on perfecting every shot. Even though Xiao He had mastered the Bone-Cleaving Knife Technique, the director's relentless demands gave him tendonitis from repeated takes.

Pu Rong had it even worse. As the actor with the most fight scenes, he spent nearly every day suspended on wires, becoming the crew's resident "flying man." Xiao He could only watch in awe.

Before they knew it, the premiere day for Heart of Embers arrived. At noon, Xiao He followed Xiao Song's earlier instructions by posting the promotional poster and tagline, unsurprisingly receiving zero likes and comments.

Glancing at his meager follower count that could be counted on both hands, Xiao He shrugged indifferently.

He'd done his part. Whether the show flopped or succeeded wasn't his concern anymore.

After receiving a thank-you text from Xiao Song, Xiao He refreshed his account to find the official Heart of Embers page had liked his post.

At least it wasn't completely embarrassing.

At 8 PM that evening, Heart of Embers officially premiered on Penguin Video.

Xiao He tuned in out of curiosity and was surprised to see a modest viewership. The comments revealed most viewers were fans of the male lead Zhao Shuyu, who'd brought his own small fanbase.

However, after just one episode, Xiao He lost interest.

The plot was standard fare - a by-the-numbers crime romance where every profession somehow involved dating. The rookie female cop and elite male detective slowly fell in love while solving cases together.

The mystery elements were predictable, lacking any real suspense. Both leads were decent-looking with passable acting—just competent enough to deliver emotional lines without being cringeworthy.

Xiao He considered it a perfectly average web drama—neither outstanding nor terrible, with no breakout potential. Unless the later episodes improved dramatically, it would likely enjoy only minor popularity.

Not that it mattered to him. The director, producers, and leads should worry about ratings—he was just a minor supporting actor.

Confident in his assessment, Xiao He stopped watching and turned his full attention to Thief Catcher's production.

Little did he know, midway through the drama's run, an edited clip would surface on Bilibili and spread like wildfire, becoming one of the platform's hottest videos!

Xiao Zhao the Roamer was a Bilibili content creator specializing in film edits.

Lately, she'd been stressed—the competition in her niche had become cutthroat. Despite working around the clock to source material and produce videos, she couldn't compete with professional studios. Her view counts kept dropping, fueling sleepless nights.

She couldn't beat rivals to trending shows, couldn't out-edit veterans on classics, and obscure dramas were viewership suicide. Staring at her dismal analytics, Xiao Zhao was losing hair by the handful—and the more she panicked, the worse her numbers became.

That day, while reviewing fan submissions for editing material, one recommendation caught her eye—

"Heart of Embers? Serial killer? Never heard of this drama..."

Xiao Zhao muttered as she opened the fan-provided screenshot—

A bloodied young man stood calmly in a pool of gore, his posture erect and composed. Even with droplets staining his gold-rimmed glasses, nothing could mask the cold cruelty in his eyes. The chainsaw dangling casually from one hand created a jarring contrast with his refined appearance.

Xiao Zhao swallowed hard.

Was this character even allowed in domestic entertainment?

That face and aura perfectly embodied her ideal "gentleman villain."

Why did Hannibal Lecter become so iconic? Even people who'd never seen the show could name the character instantly?

Partly because the original characterization gave him unique appeal, but equally important was the actor's embodiment of the role.

—Some people simply have the perfect look and temperament for certain characters.

It's why you'd hear things like "XX is the chosen young general" or "XX is the perfect male lead for this novel"—sometimes you had to admit certain faces were just born to play specific roles, needing no acting to achieve absolute lethality.

Without even knowing the character's backstory, Xiao Zhao's mind exploded with creative inspiration—she already envisioned the perfect soundtrack and editing angles for this footage.

With trembling excitement, Xiao Zhao rushed to Penguin Video, found Heart of Embers, and located this character.

The serial killer appeared sparingly, but each scene was a masterclass in elegant brutality.

—His chainsaw became a paintbrush, with innocent lives as his medium.

Due to the web drama's short format, the show never explored the killer's motives—he existed as pure, sudden evil, crafting deadly scenarios before perishing like a bloodstained epiphyllum under the male lead's gun, leaving the female lead permanently traumatized.

Xiao Zhao stared transfixed at the killer's gradually vacant yet still sinister eyes, suddenly shuddering.

—Now she understood why some people loved villains!

Though undeniably evil, she couldn't help being equally terrified and fascinated. Rewatching the scenes obsessively, she finally decided her next video would feature this killer.

That night at 9 PM, Xiao Zhao uploaded a video to Bilibili with a thumbnail showing Xiao He's killer holding a chainsaw in the woods, the words "Gentleman Villain" scrawled in blood-red calligraphy behind him. It proceeded to dominate the platform overnight, becoming many viewers' sleepless nightmare.

Without his knowledge, Xiao He had gone viral on Bilibili as the definitive "gentleman villain" serial killer actor.