Chapter Seventeen: Perilous Rescue in the Skies

According to Chen Long’s original arrangement, there had been no intention to specifically highlight Xu Gui. The fact that this effect was eventually achieved was the result of his painstaking efforts over more than a month.

Liu Qingshan truly felt the other party’s sincerity and wanted to express his gratitude, but was stopped by Chen Long:
“Our real collaboration will be in the next project. This mythological drama is merely my first foray into period costume series. In fact, what I value more is another project, though the script isn’t ready yet. By the end of next year, there may be a modern urban drama that gets filmed first, and only after that will it be the one I have in mind. But you can collaborate with me in advance if you like!”

“Of course. Just let me know ahead of time so I can clear my schedule and be ready!”

“What, you’re not planning to stay on with the Chen Family Team? Is it because you can’t get a lead role in my films?”

“Don’t say that! I’d be more than happy to have your big name shielding me from the wind and rain. But my ambitions aren’t confined to martial arts films. I want to experience more varied roles. For instance, military-themed dramas here at home are a dream of mine—there’s no way I’d intentionally avoid working with you. What kind of person would that make me?”

“Haha, relax, I was only joking. No need to get so worked up! Actually, I might as well tell you—the urban drama next year will be a dual-lead project with you and me. It’ll lean toward comedy and the theme of human perseverance. To put it simply, it’s about three thieves who steal a child, but through their interactions with the baby, their deeply buried consciences are gradually awakened.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll leak this information?”

“Stop using so many honorifics with me. That’s not the way we do things in Hong Kong! You and I are both martial artists. True martial artists have sincere hearts, or they’d never achieve anything. I have great faith in your character, which is why I’m not worried about you.”

“Why three leads? This is a new direction for you!”

“Brother, I’m already fifty. I have to think about the future. You know, I’ve been trying to promote my son these past two years, but what’s the result? Both ‘The Twins Effect’ films were regarded as flops! Sigh, I can’t keep fighting alone, but I can’t bear to leave this field either, especially with so many brothers relying on me for their livelihood.”

“Don’t worry, big brother. In the future, whatever you need, I’ll drop everything—no matter how important—and rush to help you.”

The two of them had a lively and animated conversation that lasted all the way until the plane landed.

Liu Qingshan was tactful and did not let this make him arrogant. He kept his distance even from Jin Xi Shan and Cui Mingxiu.

Jackie Chan’s schedule has always been a media focal point, but Liu Qingshan did not deliberately draw attention to himself despite the constant presence of reporters.

He concealed himself within the Chen Family Team, by now quite familiar with everyone, especially those whom he had personally trained—who happened to be the most influential in the group.

In an environment dominated by Cantonese, not only was he not excluded, but he was highly valued.

This was because some of the martial arts moves he designed often gave Chan’s action scenes a distinctive flair, instantly changing their feel.

No matter how broad the audience for Jackie Chan films, if they never offered anything new, his reputation was bound to suffer.

During filming at the Yellow River Stone Forest, everyone had already witnessed Jackie Chan’s lavish praise for the moves Liu Qingshan had created.

However, it wasn’t until the group’s trip to the cliffside waterfall at Mount Li that everyone truly witnessed Liu Qingshan’s formidable abilities.

It happened on the fifth afternoon of shooting, at Shiweng Valley Waterfall—a beautiful, secluded canyon between East and West Xiuling at Mount Li, marked by treacherous cliffs and deep ravines.

In fact, the Qinling Mountains are home to countless waterfalls, but most are neither grand nor famous.

This waterfall was no exception, but director Tang Jieli had scouted famous mountains and rivers across the country and was drawn here by the perilous terrain.

A scene involving wirework required Jin Xi Shan to descend from a great height. The mountainside rocks were so sharp that they instantly severed one end of the steel wire.

Jin Xi Shan, her body tilting, was about to crash into the rocky cliff—seven meters above the ground. The others could only watch helplessly as the wire snapped and her body was yanked violently toward the rock face.

Precautions had been taken: all the stuntmen were in place, scattered on the cliff walls on either side of the rig or behind the waterfall’s curtain, long bamboo poles in hand.

But the incident happened so suddenly, and Jin Xi Shan was suspended in midair, out of reach of them all.

Fortunately, Liu Qingshan, nearly ten meters from the ground, had already noticed the friction between the steel wire and the rocks and had dropped his own bamboo pole, leaping downward.

Sure enough, the thin wire, unable to withstand the violent swinging, snapped as expected. But Liu Qingshan had already hurled himself forward, catching the screaming Jin Xi Shan in his arms, and crashed into the opposite cliff wall.

The jagged rocks immediately tore into his body, and with Jin Xi Shan in his arms thrashing in panic, his back was slashed with countless bloody wounds.

But the danger was far from over. One arm holding Jin Xi Shan, his other hand gripped the wire, which offered no leverage and was now deeply embedded in his palm.

If he let his own weight bear down on Jin Xi Shan, the only outcome would be her harness breaking again and both of them plunging to the ground below.

This was where Liu Qingshan’s immense strength came into play.

In midair, he twisted his waist and flipped upside down, hooking his legs over the wire behind him.

At the same time, he wrapped his arms tightly around Jin Xi Shan, lifting her upward to lessen the stress on her harness and prevent it from snapping under their combined weight.

Still swinging in midair, he had resolved the danger of another wire break. He freed one leg, using the momentum of the wire’s swaying to repeatedly brake their swing with his foot.

After several attempts, their motion finally slowed, and only then did the rescue team arrive.

Liu Qingshan grabbed the bamboo pole extended to him, allowing himself and Jin Xi Shan to be pulled to safety at last.

The most difficult part of this rescue was in his split-second decision to leap down and, later, in the sheer waist strength required for that midair flip.

Either feat demanded courage beyond that of ordinary men, not to mention a deep foundation in martial arts.

Even during a normal workout on the horizontal bar, one could sense the difficulty of his maneuver. For most people, simply swinging up and over the bar is hard enough, let alone doing so on a wildly swinging, thread-thin wire.

What’s more, he did it while cradling a hundred-pound person, relying solely on his legs to lock onto the wire, and still managed to haul her up with brute force. The locking strength of his legs had to be truly astonishing to accomplish this.