Eric Lewis actually hasn't officially started casting yet; the lead actors are still being approached. It was only after seeing Ashley Grant that he felt there was some alignment with a villain character in his new drama.

Ashley Grant's death scene piqued his interest. The villain's death scene he wrote also requires a nuanced and powerful performance. Although Ashley Grant came to audition for Wang Mao's role, Eric Lewis felt the vibe was somewhat close to what he wanted.

Ashley Grant doesn't have the look of a villain—in fact, his smile is rather cute—but the image in Eric Lewis's mind is precisely someone whose appearance doesn't match a villain at all. That contrast is exactly what satisfies him.

But Eric Lewis still wants to test further, to judge whether Ashley Grant can handle other aspects of the role, so he gave Ashley Grant a more representative scene to perform.

……

After once again politely declining Director Wang's request to see him wrap his legs around his neck, and saying goodbye to everyone, Ashley Grant took the subway home. He also sent a WeChat message to the company to update them on the situation. They took it very seriously and even asked if Ashley Grant wanted to urgently find a coach for guidance, which Ashley Grant also politely declined.

Old White stood next to him and sighed, "In the past, only we walked underground."

There were quite a few people in the subway. Ashley Grant leaned against a handrail, calmly staring straight ahead, as if he couldn't see Old White at all.

Old White once again witnessed his ability to play dumb. "Sigh, is this what it means to be an actor?"

Ashley Grant brought Old White to his apartment. In the elevator, they ran into the neighbor from next door—a man in his twenties or thirties, wearing a cross-collared Tang suit. He moved in later than Ashley Grant. The apartment had two units per floor, and the two had been neighbors for over half a year, usually just nodding in passing, not even knowing each other's names.

"Long time no see! I thought you had moved out," the neighbor recognized Ashley Grant and greeted him with a smile.

While pressing the elevator button, Ashley Grant replied, "I was on a business trip, just got back the day before yesterday."

As he raised his hand, a section of his wrist was exposed, and there was a conspicuous red mark on his fair skin.

The neighbor caught sight of the rather alarming mark. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"It's nothing, just got a bit of a mark," Ashley Grant replied vaguely. The red mark hadn't been there before, but after he wrapped the soul-calling cord he received around his wrist, he woke up to find the red mark. It wasn't swollen or painful, so it was fine.

As they neared their floor, the neighbor answered a phone call, responding a few times, "…Boss, sounds like a fierce ghost, and it's already targeted you, clearly looking for a substitute… Mm, that's troublesome, it'll cost extra."

Ashley Grant and Old White couldn't help but slowly turn their heads to look at the neighbor.

Seeing them look over, the neighbor put on a strange expression, quickly covering the phone and whispering, "Don't be scared, I'm a scam artist."

Ashley Grant: "…"

Old White: "…………"

After entering the apartment, Old White asked, "Is your neighbor an actor too?"

Ashley Grant: "…What makes you say that?"

Old White said, "He clearly has the scent of a Gu ghost on him, yet pretends he can't see me and claims he's a scam artist."

Ashley Grant is from Hunan Province, and his mother is Miao, though quite assimilated—he himself is registered as Han. In the past, witchcraft and Gu were prevalent there, and he often heard stories about Gu insects, so it wasn't surprising. He just hadn't noticed his neighbor was a Gu keeper. "He probably didn't want to scare me, or maybe he thought I'd think he was crazy."

He wasn't too concerned about what his neighbor did, and said to Old White, "You stand right here and don't move, I'll go get some money."

Old White was puzzled—why stand, not sit?

Ashley Grant took out the incense he made from folded ingot paper; all the materials were bought with David Miller's money.

Compared to the moldy, low-quality incense David Miller used before, the incense Ashley Grant made followed an old recipe from his grandfather. The incense powder was a mix of nanmu bark powder, sandalwood powder, and traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, stuck onto straight bamboo sticks and dried just right.

He piled the ingot paper and incense sticks into a basin and set them alight.

Old White sprawled on the sofa, enjoying the incense, looking utterly blissful—this was… hand-crafted, exquisitely formulated incense, making him feel like he was floating on air. After a long while, he murmured dreamily, "Fold some more oxen and horses for me, they're useful…"

"I can fold them for you, but you have to promise not to summon my soul at will in the future," Ashley Grant said.

Old White hadn't expected Ashley Grant to agree so easily. Folding oxen and horses was much more work than folding ingots, so he readily agreed, "Sure, sure!"

Once Old White gave a definite answer, Ashley Grant took some yellow paper and started folding.

Old White saw the size of the yellow paper and finally understood why Ashley Grant agreed so easily. Normally, when paper craftsmen make paper oxen and horses, they use bamboo strips for the frame and paste paper over them, which is very labor-intensive.

But the art of transformation lies in the spirit and the structure.

If the structure is right, even cut-out paper shapes can become oxen and horses; the size doesn't really matter.

Ashley Grant wasn't cutting paper into animals, but the sheets in his hands were only palm-sized, and as he folded, they gradually took shape—much easier than what ordinary craftsmen do.

—Ashley Grant's grandfather used to do it this way for convenience, but most of the time, even if it could be done simply, it was made bigger and more elaborate. Because besides serving the underworld, it was also about saving face for the living.