Xu Zhu, unable to bear their indiscriminate slaughter, intervened to save them, stuffing Tianshan Tong Lao into a cloth bag and carrying her away.
During their escape, Jiang Ling's voice emanated from the bag: "Coward, only knowing how to run for your life, how utterly shameful!"
Upon hearing this aged voice, the audience was instantly floored.
【Is this... really not dubbing?】
【Heavens, is there something wrong with my eyes? Why does she seem to be acting so well!】
【She's only spoken a few lines so far, how can you tell she's good? No matter how much blind adoration you have, you can't lie with your eyes open.】
【No, she's genuinely acting very well. I'm not a fan of Jiang Ling's looks, I've even cursed her before.】
【I'm also one of Jiang Ling's haters, no bias, she really embodies the spirit of the original work.】
【Don't speak so definitively, be careful of being proven wrong. This is just the beginning, the main event is yet to come. I'd like to see what she can pull off now.】
The audience continued to watch with curiosity, and the more they watched, the more pleasantly surprised they became.
Whether it was her appearance, demeanor, expressions, temperament, or bearing, Jiang Ling was identical to Tong Lao in the original novel.
This kind of delicate and vivid performance was a world away from the Jiang Ling they knew, who would stare blankly, use green screens carelessly, recite lines like "one, two, three, four," and whose crying scenes made people constipated.
If not for the constant negative publicity surrounding Jiang Ling, making her a pariah in the industry, they would have suspected someone had undergone plastic surgery to resemble her for the role.
As the plot progressed, the audience's surprise grew, and the criticisms of Jiang Ling in the bullet comments gradually diminished.
When Tong Lao, played by Jiang Ling, learned that her beloved second disciple, Wu Yazi, whom she had loved her entire life, had died, she was first stunned, then erupted in fury, accusing Xu Zhu of talking nonsense.
However, as she gleaned the truth from Xu Zhu's explanations and descriptions, confirming Wu Yazi's death, her rage slowly subsided, her eyes gradually turning red.
This was a mixture of grief for the loss of her beloved, and the sorrow of a hundred years of unrequited love, of remaining chaste, and of never receiving a response.
Both emotions erupted, and tears fell like pearls from a broken string, one by one.
Jiang Ling was not only adept at expressive eyes but also excelled at crying scenes.
In her previous life, she had acted alongside Liu Xuehua, known as the 'Queen of Tears,' and had learned the essence of her crying techniques.
People often used the phrase 'pear blossoms with rain' to describe someone crying beautifully.
But the true beauty of such a weeping countenance remained unknown.
It wasn't until witnessing Liu Xuehua's crying scenes that one truly understood the profound wisdom of the ancients' words.
Jiang Ling, having learned from teacher Liu Xuehua's crying techniques, not only made her tears fall like pearls from her face, imbued with the beauty of 'a branch of pear blossoms in the spring rain,' but could also control both eyes independently, with tears in one and none in the other.
However, this kind of crying required a sufficiently beautiful face to be truly moving and heart-wrenching.
Jiang Ling, made up as a child of eight or nine, crying in this manner, though lacking the 'pear blossoms with rain' aesthetic, was even more heart-shattering.
Each tear was like shattered crystal piercing flesh and blood, an unspeakable sorrow that, on the traditional screen, penetrated the hearts of every viewer.
The audience's eyes widened in disbelief.
The bullet comments exploded, with former haters, casual viewers, and devoted fans all exclaiming in shock.
【Oh my god, is this really Jiang Ling?】
【Holy crap, divine acting, divine crying scenes!】
【Her crying is truly magnificent, the tears falling one by one, like dewdrops rolling on lotus leaves in the early morning, it's just so beautiful.】