Chapter 362: Each Person

"Ye Ge! Ye Ge! Look at the camera, look at the camera!"

Jing Yan excitedly struck a posing gesture, as if aiming a camera directly at Fang Yue.

Fang Yue didn't know whether Jing Yan's strength had improved, but judging by his professional posture, he'd clearly drilled hard on filming techniques.

Most importantly, several people resembling apprentices stood beside Jing Yan, carrying giant mirrors they'd somehow acquired, providing lighting.

If not for Fang Yue's status, he couldn't have commanded them—he'd probably have begged Fang Yue to make everyone re-enter the village just to reshoot.

"You've become a big director now, huh."

"A junior director isn't really a director—I'm just scraping by!" Jing Yan grinned.

Honestly, since Fang Yue's team had been away from the village so long, he'd nearly become an elder statesman among Gu Yue Cun players.

The studio was thriving too, having hired other regional players from the forum as temporary staff.

They filmed other famous players in different areas and gradually produced several more episodes of Jingse Studio's 【Biographies】, establishing their reputation and securing their footing.

Although later videos had decent audiences, the most popular and famous were still the interviews about Fang Yue.

So as soon as he heard Fang Yue had returned to the village, he rushed over for exclusive coverage.

The apprentices trailing Jing Yan were all new players who entered the game through the latest batch of Game Watches; he hired them after paying them wages.

No choice—spawn points in this game are random; if you don't conscript locals in Gu Yue Cun, you've got nowhere else to recruit.

"Remember to add some special effects in post-production."

Fang Yue struck a few poses for Jing Yan, dropped that line, and went off to catch up with other acquaintances.

Jing Yan had no objections—he immediately turned and led his lighting crew to interview Blood Eagle, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu, and the Deputy Captain.

When asked about their journey's smoothness and encounters, even Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu chattered endlessly.

Though the escort team's departure from Gu Yue Cun lasted only about ten days, they'd experienced plenty.

Blood Eagle rode atop a horse, cradling a pup of the Giant-Headed Blood Dog, drawing crowds of onlookers.

Many had never seen a Giant-Headed Blood Dog pup before and stared curiously.

"Is this the pup of a ghost hunter? Is its meat tasty?"

"Don't talk nonsense! That's Blood Eagle's precious treasure!"

"Woof woof woof—bark a few times for us?"

"By the way, where's Xue Dou? Where's the big Giant-Headed Blood Dog from before?"

Mention of Xue Dou darkened Blood Eagle's expression slightly.

The Giant-Headed Blood Dog pup, overwhelmed by the crowd, shivered and cowered in Blood Eagle's arms.

After calming it for a while, Blood Eagle briefly explained the situation to the villagers, then cast a thoughtful glance at Jing Yan.

"Jing Yan, come here."

"Huh? Master, what's up?"

"During my absence, did you properly complete the training I left you?"

Uh… Jing Yan froze.

Though he was Blood Eagle's apprentice, he'd never been a focus of attention.

He thought back—before leaving the village, Blood Eagle had only asked him to feed the Blood Eagles and go hunting daily; he'd never assigned any specific training.

Had I missed something?

Steeling himself, Jing Yan said, "Master, I've done everything you instructed, thoroughly."

"Good. Once I'm settled back in the village, I'll personally test your Hunter skills—if you pass, I'll give you my Blood Eagle."

Is this even real?!

Jing Yan felt like a pie had fallen from the sky—he nearly forgot his job as a cold, mechanical camera. Back when he first entered the game and hadn't started earning yet, he'd actually dreamed of mastering advanced hunting skills to become a great Hunter.

"Master, rest assured—I won't let you down!"

Jing Yan patted his chest enthusiastically, still snapping extra shots for the video—but then remembered Blood Eagle was a Native NPC who couldn't see forum videos, and he felt a pang of frustration; even flattering him felt pointless.

But this was strange—Blood Eagle had never even looked at me properly before…

As Jing Yan puzzled over this, he suddenly received a message from Fang Yue.

"Blood Eagle just asked me how you are as a person. What did you do?"

"Huh? Ye Ge, I didn't do anything! He just offered to give me a Blood Eagle! That's something only apprentices who graduate even get a shot at!"

"…Looks like Blood Eagle's looking for a successor. Work hard—you might become a Senior Hunter."

Fang Yue had once been taught hunting techniques by Blood Eagle, but he had no interest in them and didn't study seriously, so he never learned.

If Blood Eagle fully devoted himself to teaching Jing Yan—who already had some natural aptitude—he might produce a proper Hunter.

Fang Yue hadn't let anyone in the team spread the news that Blood Eagle was now useless, so no one in Gu Yue Cun knew he'd been broken.

But such a secret couldn't last long—so Blood Eagle must have another plan.

Jing Yan still didn't fully understand what was happening, but he vaguely sensed that his character was standing before a rare opportunity—he either seized it, trained diligently, and cultivated his role…

Or ignored it and focused entirely on developing Jingse Studio.

After a brief pause, Jing Yan made up his mind—he became even more enthusiastic toward Blood Eagle.

There were many apprentices of Blood Eagle in Gu Yue Cun; seeing this junior apprentice cling so closely to him, they all felt resentment.

But they all knew Jing Yan had ties to Fang Yue, so they dared not openly antagonize him—only glared at him with cold, hostile eyes.

"Ye Ge! You're finally back! This escort mission took way too long!"

Hong Dafu's top refugee apprentice, Zhanshu Huxi Hu, walked up beside Fang Yue.

"Well, I'm back now."

Fang Yue chuckled, then lowered his voice: "An Shenyi gave me a handwritten copy of her medical techniques—I'll show it to you later. This is An Shenyi's true transmission."

Zhanshu Huxi Hu's eyes instantly lit up.

He learned only common medical techniques beside Hong Dafu, and had to grind through thick medical texts filled entirely with basic knowledge, until his head spun.

Moreover, as an apprentice, he couldn't fully devote himself to study—he was often dragged over by Hong Dafu to assist with chores.

Although his medical skills improved steadily through practice, the pace of improvement was severely limited.

Now that he heard Fang Yue had such a valuable item, his anticipation was overwhelming.

"Ye Ge is number one in the world!!"

The slogan was shouted out right away.

Fang Yue patted his shoulder and told him to go fetch the luggage behind; the escort team then all entered the village.

At that moment, a man dressed in extremely formal uniform, as if attending a banquet, walked over.

"Oh? Still alive, then?"

The newcomer was none other than Lin Ling.

Fang Yue rolled his eyes—after all this time, couldn't this guy say something nice?

Ye Ge got up.

First, make up yesterday's five updates. Then write today's five updates. Ten updates total.

Same as always—anything written before sleep counts as today.

(End of chapter)