Chapter 453

Maldives, Aya Da Island, evening.

Jiang Heng and Liu Yifei strolled along the beach, taking in the tropical atmosphere.

As for domestic affairs, he had basically forgotten about them.

Actually, there's not much going on; after the group was formed, the running of its many subsidiaries became more regular.

As for the film Black Myth: Wukong currently in theaters, he doesn't need to worry about promotion; he can simply wait calmly for the box‑office results.

Indeed, as he expected, after the film's hot release on the mainland it broke box‑office records again, sparking a viewing frenzy and widespread discussion.

Because the film's plot is highly controversial—especially the ending where Sun Wukong rebels against Heaven again—it sparked heated debate among many netizens.

The main point is that, in both the original Journey to the West and Black Myth: Wukong, the western side appears darker.

Regarding the Yellow Wind Ridge chapter, netizens agree that Lingji Bodhisattva is the mastermind behind the Sikhari Kingdom's miserable state, while the Yellow Wind Great Sage was originally good.

The Yellow Brow Great King in the film is even more evil than his counterpart in the original novel and TV drama.

By comparison, Heaven fares somewhat better. Take the ill‑fated Kang Jinlong Star Lord: nominally he was looking for the Mao Ri Star Official, but in reality he was investigating the Great Sage's Six Roots when the Yellow Brow captured him.

Furthermore, the fundamental reason Sun Wukong was so easily defeated and killed is the irremovable tight‑fillet spell.

Therefore, he should rebel against Ling Mountain rather than Heaven. This alone sparked discussion among many fans on Weibo, Douban, and Tieba, to the point that the phrase "Against Heaven and Against Ling Mountain" trended.

A netizen replied below, "Only children pick multiple‑choice answers; adults want it all! Sun Wukong attacks Heaven first simply because it's closer to him."

After taking on Heaven, it's Ling Mountain's turn; the film's limited runtime prevented the director from covering it.

I think it's impossible to film the sequel. If Heaven has the power to just watch, not coming out to stop Wukong is understandable. But the Tathagata Buddha on Ling Mountain could suppress Wukong; I can't imagine any reason Wukong could defeat the Buddha.

It's not easy for the Buddha to defeat Wukong; in the original novel, the Buddha lost a hand, returned to Ling Mountain and entered nirvana.

I believe the Buddha entered nirvana to avoid karma; although he had subdued Wukong, he had already entered nirvana, so the Buddha that Sun Wukong encounters afterward has no grudge left.

…… => "……"

The lively discussion among netizens amplified the film's publicity, and many fans eagerly acted as word‑of‑mouth promoters, recommending this subversive take on Journey to the West to friends and family, so its box office naturally grew "sesame opens flowers, step by step higher".

One billion, 1.5 billion, 2 billion… these box‑office milestones seen as unbreakable by other mainland filmmakers were easily surpassed by Black Myth: Wukong!

"Director Jiang, it's on fire—this box office will surely break the previous record again!" Yu Dong called, excited.

Jiang Heng was lounging under a shade umbrella by the vacation estate's pool, glancing at the "mermaid" in the water, and chuckled, "Is the discussion still that heated?"

"Yeah, it's still lively, but there's really no hot topic left; the film's characters have basically been fully interpreted."

Jiang Heng chuckled, "Then let's release the missing plot as originally planned in the promotion schedule."

"Sure, the fans will definitely be excited!"

Because of runtime constraints, the film omitted the Pan Si Ridge and Flaming Mountain chapters. Jiang Heng had no plans for a sequel, feeling it a shame to discard such good material.

Thus, before the premiere, he agreed with Yu Dong to release the plot of these two chapters online once the film's box‑office growth slows.

He believed that releasing these two chapters would spark another big fan discussion, boosting the film's buzz and stimulating box‑office sales.

Indeed, the situation turned out exactly as Jiang Heng and Yu Dong had anticipated.

That day, college student Shi Feng was casually chatting with netizens in the Black Myth: Wukong Tieba when he suddenly spotted a post.

He saw the title: "Risking life to leak the initial draft of the Black Myth script—turns out the original setting was even darker than the final version!"

Shi Feng was instantly drawn to the title and clicked on it.

The post first described how he found the script in the restroom of a certain star‑rated hotel. It was probably a screenwriter from Outstanding Rising Film who accidentally left it there; no one claimed it, so he now realizes he has a discarded script.

After that came the plot of the Pan Si Ridge and Flaming Mountain chapters.

The poster first included several photos of the script to show it wasn't fabricated, followed by large passages of plot.

Shi Feng stared unblinkingly, not wanting to see the end, his eyes welling up involuntarily.

"Holy shit, Heaven really isn't human—really isn't human!"

"What a moving love story—Director Jiang didn't even film it; what was he thinking?"

Shi Feng voiced a couple of complaints, then continued reading.

After reading it, he felt increasingly bitter; the Bull Demon King is far too tragic. Although he's still just a college student and doesn't fully grasp the struggles of middle‑aged people, the fact is that no matter what choices the Bull Demon King makes, his life ends in tragedy, which is sad. Having finished the post, Shi Feng lit a cigarette, gathered his thoughts, opened a document, and wrote: …I had thought Ling Mountain was more wicked than Heaven, but after seeing this so‑called script draft I realized that in the original conception Heaven was the most wicked and inhumane…

Shi Feng typed seven or eight hundred words with ease, far better than his middle‑school essays.

After writing, he gave it a quick look and posted it.

After refreshing the Tieba, he saw that in just a moment the "Risking to leak…" post had already garnered tens of thousands of views and over a thousand replies.

A quick glance showed that some praised the plot as awesome and regretted it wasn't filmed, while others mourned Zhu Bajie's love story and the Bull Demon King's tragic life.

An account probably belonging to a female user posted a string of crying emojis, saying she was moved to tears by Zhu Bajie and Zhu Zhu'er's story.

They felt the story was just as good as "Zhi Zun Bao" and Zixia Fairy, and regretted that Director Jiang cut it.

Many netizens chimed in agreement, with some saying: "Zhu Bajie's beloved wife died, yet he dared not go back or acknowledge his own daughter; the power of Heaven is terrifying."

"How could one not be afraid? What about the eldest senior brother Sun Wukong? Born a stone monkey with limitless power, he twice wreaked havoc in Heaven—first being imprisoned under Five Fingers Mountain for five hundred years; after the pilgrimage he wanted to retire having fulfilled his mission, but the higher‑ups remained uneasy, so he was ultimately killed. Look at the Bull Demon King—his family destroyed, his people dead, how miserable! To rebel is to lose one's head." (End of chapter)

"Rebellion, you'll be beheaded!" (End of chapter)