For Advance/Early Chapters:
patreon.com/Shadownarch_
The flashback on the NBN broadcast took a harrowing turn.
The audience watched as a younger Timothy (Tian Jinzhong) was ambushed by a group of mysterious Outcasts. They weren't looking for a fight; they were looking for the secret of the Eight Origins. They tortured him, and when he refused to speak, they didn't kill him, they did something far worse. They destroyed his meridians and severed his limbs, leaving him a permanent cripple.
Upon seeing his grand-master's mutilated state in the present day, Asher Reed could no longer maintain his "Shameless" persona. He broke down, his forehead touching the floor.
"I'm sorry, Grand-Master... I didn't know that you would actually… for my grandfather…"
In that moment, Asher Reed officially acknowledged the High Priest's Mansion as his home. He wasn't just a drifter anymore; he had family. This heartwarming transition from the previous comedy moved millions of viewers to tears.
[Wuwuwu! Grand-Master Timothy is a literal saint!]
[Asher finally has a place to belong. This hits so hard.]
[Damn, I think someone threw a brick in my eye! How can an action show be this sentimental?]
[The acting of these veterans, Marcus Thorne and the young Timothy is incredible. It makes me want to call my own grandfather.]
Of course, this emotional peak only added layers to the overarching mystery. Who were the 36 Thieves? Did they really commit heinous crimes, or were they victims of a historical purge? And who was the mastermind who crippled Timothy?
The audience felt like they were watching a sprawling, gothic American painting slowly unfold. Leo Vance was unraveling a mystery box that kept them addicted.
The Scene Shifts: The Bonfire Party.
The tension of the flashback dissolved as the younger generation of Outcasts found Asher Reed near the tournament barracks. A short, red-haired young man nicknamed Doghead approached Asher with a face so serious it looked like he was about to declare war.
"I'm not joking, Asher. I'm asking you this with total sincerity," Doghead said, his voice grave.
"Yeah... speak," Asher swallowed, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword instinctively.
The audience leaned in, expecting a challenge to a duel or a deep philosophical question. Instead, Doghead adjusted his glasses and offered a small, unsettling smirk. "Show us your dick!"
Pffft!
At the hotpot restaurant where Leo and the girls were eating, several patrons actually spat their food out. A college student at a nearby table choked, his face turning purple from laughter.
[HAHAHA! I'm dying! 'Show us your dick'?!]
[Which screenwriter is this talented? Leo Vance, you are a god-tier troll!]
[666! If he shows his, I'm showing mine! Wait... NBN is going to censor this, right?]
[If I were Asher, I'd punch him into the next state! This is the most ridiculous request in TV history!]
[Asher won't agree. No protagonist has ever been this cheap! If he does it, I'll drink a gallon of hot sauce!]
The "Mountain Retreat" Living Room.
"Hahaha! This guy has no boundaries, right?!"
Ryan, the host, couldn't help but laugh-complain to the camera. He looked at the real Asher Reed, who was currently trying to merge with the sofa cushions.
"Indeed, this is too much!" Dakota Fanning added, though she was blushing and hiding her smile behind her hands. She felt genuinely indignant for her "brother" Asher.
Gordon Ramsey walked in from the kitchen with a plate of sliced watermelon. He caught the scene on the TV and shook his head with a smirk. "Asher, son... these people are a bad influence. You mustn't learn their 'improper' ways."
Gordon distributed the watermelon, but Asher's brow was furrowed like an iron knot. He was calculating the distance to the nearest bathroom. Should I 'pee escape' now? he thought frantically. It's about to happen!
On the big screen, the character Asher Reed exploded in fury.
"What the hell… do you mean?!" Asher roared, his eyes practically shooting flames. "Do you take me for a pervert? Do I look like a joke to you? Or do you think I'm easy to bully because I'm a student?!"
"I'm about to blow! Golden Light Shield!"
Asher's body erupted in a brilliant golden aura. Doghead immediately broke into a cold sweat, waving his hands. "Wait! No one here is actually interested in you! We just want to see the Cinnabar Seal on it! It's a lost Daoist relic!"
Asher became even more furious, his voice hitting a high-pitched, hysterical register.
"NOT INTERESTED IN MY REPUTATION?! ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN ON MY ASSETS?! YOU CAN INSULT ME, BUT I WILL NEVER ALLOW YOU TO INSULT MY REPUTATION! I'M REALLY GOING TO EXPLODE!!"
The national audience burst into a synchronized hurricane of laughter.
["You can insult me, but not my dick!" That is a hall-of-fame line!]
[Asher Reed's acting is too hilarious! The way his voice cracks!]
[He has a point! What decent hero agrees to this?! He's a man with a bottom line!]
"We didn't mean it like that," Luna rushed over, trying to de-escalate. "It's just that those types of ancient seals are almost extinct. There's no record of them in the modern archives! We just want to observe a piece of history!"
"Observation for science!" someone else chimed in. "It's absolutely not for perverted purposes!"
"Oh... so that's how it is!" Asher instantly calmed down, the golden light vanishing. "You should have told me clearly earlier! Knowledge is power!"
"Exactly! Please, Asher! Fulfill our academic wish!" the group pleaded.
"Hmph... a wish, huh?" Asher's expression darkened again. "GO... TO... HELL! Why don't you go look at the High Priest's? He probably has one too!"
The group laughed it off, and Luna invited Asher to a bonfire party to make amends. Asher, being the social butterfly he was, accepted.
As the bonfire party progressed on screen, Asher got more and more excited. He was drinking heavily, chatting, and finally letting his guard down. Some viewers seeing him like this started to feel a surge of genuine sympathy.
After all, the kid had spent his life hiding. He had no mother, his grandfather was dead, and he'd been alone for years. To this day, he hadn't even had a girlfriend. It was a tragic existence.
"He's been suppressed for too long," Sophie Vane's character, Scarlett, whispered from the shadows of the scene. "Just let the boy relax."
As she spoke, the camera shifted. A scene that stunned all viewers, and terrified the real Asher Reed appeared.
"Do you really want to see it that much?!" Asher shouted, standing atop a massive rock in the center of the bonfire. His face was flushed beet-red from the moonshine. "THEN TODAY… I'LL LET YOU OPEN YOUR EYES TO THE MAJESTY OF THE REED FAMILY!"
"GO FOR IT!" "DO IT! DO IT!"
The crowd of Outcasts below cheered like they were at a rock concert. It was as if Asher was a superstar ready to pull out a guitar and play a solo.
"Mountain Retreat" Set.
"No way? It shouldn't be, right?"
Dakota Fanning nervously hugged the puppy sitting next to her, her toes curling in her sneakers. She was afraid to look at the next frame.
"I believe in Asher," Gordon Ramsey said with conviction, though his eyes were fixed on the screen. "He wouldn't be that explicit. This is NBN 1. It's a national network. Asher Reed isn't playing an exhibitionist!"
Gordon shook his head, directly refuting Dakota's fear. But the real Asher Reed, sitting right there, was currently hyperventilating. He knew what was coming. He knew that Leo Vance had instructed the VFX team to make the "Moonlit Bird" glow with a holy radiance.
The "Social Death" of the century was exactly five seconds away.