Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 437 The Yellow River is Roaring

Fanyu Film and Television City, Mingguang Hotel.

It was already past nine o'clock in the evening, after a busy day of shooting.

Lin Yuan did not go back to his room to rest, but sat down with director Nolan and Meng Tao to discuss the shooting of the next scene.

The three of them each held a shooting plan in their hands. Director Nolan looked solemn, Meng Tao had a worried look in his eyes, but Lin Yuan seemed quite relaxed.

The plot of this scene is roughly as follows: Lin Yuan and Meng Tao return to Yunzhou from Chang'an with the soldiers' families.

On the way back, they were ambushed by enemies who appeared out of nowhere.

In order to protect the safety of the families of his soldiers, Lin Yuan led a team of ten people to cover the rear and lure away the enemy.

Faced with a large number of enemies, Lin Yuan was outnumbered. After a bloody battle, he was the only one left and was forced to the bank of the Yellow River.

Faced with the enemy's advance, he gritted his teeth and jumped into the surging Yellow River.

This scene of jumping into the Yellow River and crossing the rapids with one's body is one of the two most dangerous and most interesting scenes in Lin Yuan's "The Heroes of Tang Dynasty".

Lin Yuan's action scenes must be extremely exciting and challenging, which is the inherent expectation of the audience.

If he wants to gain unanimous recognition from the audience, he has to challenge himself and bring more thrilling visual performances to the audience.

This time, Lin Yuan chose to cross the Yellow River in his physical body.

The Yellow River is one of China's mother rivers and has special significance to the Chinese nation.

In 1997, the "Flying Man of Asia" Ke Shouliang chose to drive over the Yellow River as a tribute to the return of Hong Kong Island.

Today, Lin Yuan also wants to use a scene of "intimate" interaction with the Yellow River to show this most thrilling scene.

Meng Tao was responsible for formulating the shooting plan for this scene.

The first thing to decide is the shooting location.

Two conditions need to be met:
First, the filming location is famous enough and has historical background, which can play a role in publicity and enhancement.

Second, the water flow rate must be fast, and the more complex the hydrological conditions, the better, so that it can be seen.

At the beginning, Meng Tao chose Sanmenxia.

According to legend, when Dayu was controlling floods, he wielded his magic axe to split the mountains into three gorges: "Human Gate," "God Gate," and "Ghost Gate." These gorges channeled the Yellow River eastward, hence the name "Sanmenxia."

The Yellow River from Sanmenxia to Mengjin is about 150 kilometers long and passes through the mountains. The river channel is narrow, the water flows rapidly, and the drop reaches more than 200 meters. This is the last canyon of the Yellow River and also the most dangerous section.

This would have been a great location for filming.

But when Meng Tao went to investigate on the spot, he found that he had thought too simply.

Due to the construction of the Sanmenxia Hydropower Station, Sanmenxia is no longer the dangerous place full of rapids and dangerous shoals that is difficult for even gods and ghosts to cross as recorded in historical documents.

Next, Meng Tao wanted to visit the equally famous Longyangxia and Qingtongxia, but before leaving, he checked and found that these two places, like Sanmenxia, ​​had also built hydropower stations.

For a moment, Meng Tao could only praise the country's infrastructure capabilities, but was troubled by the lack of a suitable filming location.

In fact, it’s not that there are no suitable filming locations, but Meng Tao has been avoiding that place because it is too dangerous.

That is the Hukou Waterfall, which is known as the "Wonder of the Yellow River".

If you ask where the most magnificent scenery of the Yellow River is, it is undoubtedly the Hukou Waterfall.

Hukou Waterfall is located at the junction of Shaanxi Province and Shanxi Province. Here, the river, which was originally 300 meters wide, is suddenly compressed to a width of 500 to 20 meters in a short length of less than 30 meters.

1000 cubic meters of river water per second pours down from a steep cliff more than 20 meters high, creating a scene of "the thousand-mile Yellow River is collected in a pot".

The momentum is majestic enough and the scenery is unique, but how can you jump from here and cross it in your body?

Meng Tao was strongly opposed to Lin Yuan doing this.

Among extreme sports, there is one that is extremely dangerous and has a high mortality rate, called whitewater rafting.

It is very dangerous for people to paddle a kayak.

But you are planning to jump in directly with your physical body?

Moreover, the hydrological conditions below Hukou Waterfall are extremely complex and harsh, far beyond the reach of ordinary rapids.

Take the Niagara Falls that Lin Yuan had jumped over before as an example. Below the waterfall is a deep pool of water, and the water flow is not fast. Therefore, Meng Tao can sit on a speedboat with professional rescue personnel to support Lin Yuan at any time.

But below the Hukou Waterfall is a turbulent river with a flow rate of an astonishing 20 meters per second!
Under normal circumstances, the average flow rate of the entire Yellow River basin is about 1.5 meters per second, and the flow rate of the Yangtze River is slightly faster, reaching between 2 meters and 2.5 meters per second.

When the sudden and devastating mountain torrents occur, the flow rate is often only between 10 and 17 meters per second.

It can be seen how turbulent the river is below Hukou Waterfall.

But the real danger is not just the fast flow rate. What is more terrifying is that Hukou Waterfall is like the nozzle of a high-pressure water gun, spraying the river water violently into the river channel below.

But the river channel below is composed of two towering rock walls, which firmly clamp the rushing river water.

The river water that hit the rock wall rolled violently, forming a very complex water flow stirring, horizontally and vertically, with various forces pulling in all directions. People in it felt like they had fallen into a huge washing machine.

This is already very despairing, but what is even more terrifying is that there are a large number of whirlpools in the rapids that are difficult to detect with the naked eye. They are like a devil's claw, ready to drag people into the abyss of no return at any time.

After reading Meng Tao's introduction, Director Nolan asked in disbelief, "Faced with these conditions, are you prepared to jump into the river, be swept down by the waterfall from above, and then be thrown hard into the turbulent river below, and then struggle to climb up the opposite rock wall?"

Lin Yuan nodded. "Yes, I think the effect will be fantastic. The visual impact will surpass my performance in The King of Spy."

"Is this a question of whether the effect is good or bad? We are questioning whether it is possible for humans to complete such action scenes," said director Nolan.

"Lin Yuan, did you know there are no fish in the river below Hukou Waterfall?" Meng Tao said, "Under those water flow conditions, fish can't survive."

Meng Tao was still trying his best to persuade Lin Yuan: "If you shoot as planned, you'll most likely fall off the waterfall and pass out. Even if you don't get dizzy, you'll be buffeted by the rapids in all directions, and there's no way you can guarantee you won't choke. Also, the river is full of unpredictable undercurrents and whirlpools that could swallow you up at any moment."

"The rapids could also slam you against the rock wall, causing you to break bones, bleed from the head, and even pass out."

"Faced with all these dangers, you have no protection. For the sake of filming effect, you can't even wear a life jacket."

"Do you still insist on doing this?"

After expressing all his concerns, Meng Tao stared at Lin Yuan silently, waiting for his final confirmation.

Lin Yuan nodded immediately: "I know what I am doing, and I stick to it."

After hearing Lin Yuan's reply, Director Nolan asked helplessly, "This is my first time working with Lin Yuan. Have previous directors ever agreed to let him shoot such a dangerous action scene?"

Meng Tao shook his head: "It's never been this dangerous before. This time it's even more dangerous than skydiving."

"Would previous directors insist on not agreeing with him doing this?" asked Director Nolan.

Meng Tao shrugged and said, "This guy is a dictator during filming. The director has no right to question the action scenes. If the director firmly disagrees, I guess he will choose to change the director."

Director Nolan slapped his forehead and said, "So we can only choose to trust him and believe that he can complete this challenge that only a superman can succeed?"

"Who says it's not? I'm used to it." Meng Tao added, "But he succeeds every time. I've completely surrendered to him. So I only warn him of the risks. If he insists on doing it, then I trust him."

"It's crazy!" said director Nolan.

During their conversation, Director Nolan gradually compromised and accepted the reality that he had to face Lin Yuan's adventure.

At this time, Lin Yuan finally spoke: "Believe me, I am not committing suicide in vain. I am quite confident that I can succeed."

On Lin Yuan's retina, a line of golden text appeared that only he could see:

[This action scene is dangerous level A, host challenge success rate: 35%]

Seeing the evaluation given by the system, Lin Yuan knew that this was indeed an A-level dangerous action scene.

This means that the danger level of this scene is indeed greater than all his previous action scenes.

He has challenged many B-grade action scenes, many of which are extremely dangerous for ordinary people.

This was his first time challenging an A-level dangerous action scene, and the danger level suddenly increased by several levels.

Even if Chen Long in his prime were to challenge this scene, the success rate would only be 0%. No matter how many times he challenged, he would not be able to succeed. This is beyond the scope of what a normal human can challenge.

Even though his attributes today are already incredible and he possesses such a series of master-level skills, the system still only gives him a 35% success rate.

Lin Yuan called up his own property panel:
【Name: Lin Yuan】

[Age: 22 years old]

【Strength: 23】

[Agility: 25]

[Physique: 21]

[Assignable attributes: 5]

【Legendary Talent: Life is a Drama】

[Skills: Master-level Swordsmanship, Master-level Parkour, Master-level Knife Throwing, Master-level Boxing and Kicks, Master-level Gunsmanship, Master-level Swordsmanship, Master-level Japanese, Master-level Gymnastics, Master-level Driving, Master-level Aquatics, Master-level Massage, Master-level Axemanship, Master-level Running and Jumping, Master-level Time Management]

He still has 5 attribute points that have not been allocated.

This was the reward he received after forming an intimate relationship with Betty last time in Delhi.

Originally, he wanted to stockpile attributes, prioritizing increasing agility to 30 points.

But it is not appropriate to keep it now. Faced with the extremely low success rate of A-level action scenes, it would be good to even increase the success rate a little bit.

This time he chose to add points to: Constitution.

To complete this action scene, physical fitness can play a role even greater than agility.

Therefore, Lin Yuan allocated attribute points to Constitution. [Available attributes: 5 → 0]

[Physique: 21→22]

A warm current surged through his body, and the first thing he felt was his bones being strengthened. In the past, it was the density of his bones that was strengthened, making his bones stronger and able to withstand more force.

However, the focus of this strengthening is on the toughness of bones.

Many people have a feeling that people’s bones are softer when they are young, and become harder as they grow older.

Only those who keep training all year round can maintain this bone flexibility.

But at this time, Lin Yuan achieved the perfect combination of bone strength and toughness.

Such a skeleton is the greatest guarantee for Lin Yuan to perform various extreme actions.

After the bones, Lin Yuan immediately felt the strengthening of the ligaments and cartilage tissue throughout his body.

This complements his bone strengthening, making his body more flexible, able to withstand greater external impacts, and reducing the damage he suffers.

At this moment, Lin Yuan was hit on the arm by an iron rod.

Ordinary people might have broken bones immediately, but Lin Yuan would at most suffer some pain but would not be seriously injured.

If an ordinary person jumped from the third floor, he would most likely suffer a broken leg, torn ligaments, cartilage bruises, etc., but Lin Yuan could already withstand such injuries.

Lin Yuan felt quite satisfied with this physical enhancement.

But that’s not all. What surprised him the most was that his cardiopulmonary function was also further strengthened.

For Lin Yuan, who was about to shoot an underwater scene, this was a timely help.

At this moment, Lin Yuan felt that his heart was like a water pump with several engines added to it, which pumped more blood to various organs in the body under its strong contraction.

The efficiency of blood oxygen utilization in the lungs was further improved. Combined with the replacement of the heart's blood transfusion capacity, Lin Yuan felt that his cardiopulmonary function had improved by at least 20% compared to before the increase!

The effect of this improvement is not limited to this. His muscle lactic acid tolerance has also increased by about 20%.

This makes it less likely that Lin Yuan will feel muscle soreness and weakness during strenuous exercise.

Thinking that he would be pulled by the rapids next, and would have to hold his breath to prevent choking on water, and would also need to desperately squeeze his muscles in an anaerobic state, the effect of this physical improvement would be of great help to Lin Yuan in the next scene!
After adding points, Lin Yuan’s confidence increased a lot.

"Judge the success rate of this action scene again." Lin Yuan muttered to himself.

[This action scene is dangerous level A, host challenge success rate: 44%]

Just a little bit of physical fitness increased the success rate by 9%. The effect was indeed quite good, and Lin Yuan felt very satisfied.

But the current success rate is obviously not enough, it is less than half the success rate.

If there are no other trump cards, it would be too risky to challenge with such a success rate.

When Lin Yuan was just starting out in his career, he might still be willing to give it a try with such a high success rate, but now he no longer has the capital to be so willful.

He has many female confidantes and many employees who depend on him for their livelihood, and he owes a lot of gambling agreements that have not yet been fulfilled.

If he continued to be so willful and gamble his life casually, it would be irresponsible to all the allies who believed in him, helped him, and bet on him.

Therefore, Lin Yuan would not rashly risk his life like this.

He knew that he still had a trump card, and he had to confirm whether this card was useful before finally deciding on the shooting plan.

So Lin Yuan said, "Meng Tao, accompany me to Hukou Waterfall first. I want to do a test to confirm something."

"Huh?" Meng Tao was quite surprised.

What is testing?
When Lin Yuan was filming action scenes before, he only did some targeted adaptation training. Is this a test?

"Let's set off now and make the most of our time. We can talk as we walk along the way," said Lin Yuan.

"Huh? It's almost ten o'clock in the evening!" Meng Tao felt that he was being exploited by the unscrupulous capitalists.

"I feel relieved when the shooting schedule is confirmed as soon as possible. If it really doesn't work out, I can change the shooting schedule earlier.

I checked, and there's one last flight at 12:00, so we still have time to leave." Lin Yuan had already pulled Meng Tao out the door.

Only Director Nolan was left standing there in a daze.

……

……

When director Nolan led the film crew to Hukou Waterfall, it was three days after they discussed the filming plan that night.

Three days ago, Lin Yuan and Meng Tao went to Hukou Waterfall to conduct the so-called "test".

Last night, Director Nolan received a call from Lin Yuan. After confirming that there was no problem shooting this scene, he immediately took the crew to Hukou Waterfall.

Hukou Waterfall is shared by Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, so both provinces have corresponding places to view the waterfall.

The viewing point in Shaanxi Province is a little far from the waterfall because of a low terrace that is difficult to approach, and the viewing area is relatively concentrated.

The viewing point in western Shanxi Province is right in front of the waterfall, with a larger viewing area, which is a long strip-shaped viewing area.

But it is difficult to say which side has a better viewing effect, because different angles have completely different feelings.

Considering the convenience of filming, Director Nolan could only choose the Jinxi Province side because it was more convenient to shoot Lin Yuan's performance at close range.

At this time, Lin Yuan and Meng Tao were also on the Jinxi Province side, doing "testing" and adaptive training.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The bus that the crew of "The Legend of Tang Dynasty" was riding on had not yet reached Hukou Waterfall when they heard a thunder-like sound a few kilometers away.

"Is this the sound of Hukou Waterfall? It sounds scary." Gao Yuanyuan said.

She didn't have a role in this scene, but she volunteered to come along.

"It should be. After all, Hukou Waterfall is the most spectacular sight of the Yellow River." Liu Yufei nodded. As the official girlfriend, she must be more worried and will definitely go to the shooting site.

At this moment, a song rang involuntarily in the ears of both of them:

"The wind is howling, the horses are neighing, the Yellow River is roaring! The Yellow River is roaring!"

Before they saw the Hukou Waterfall, they had already felt the tremendous power of the Yellow River. In the face of this great force of nature, human power seemed so insignificant.

This also made the two of them even more worried about the action scene that Lin Yuan was going to shoot next.

"Won't you try to persuade Lin Yuan? Aren't you worried that he is taking such a big risk?" Gao Yuanyuan asked.

"I'm worried, but I can only choose to believe him." Liu Yufei replied calmly.

Gao Yuanyuan didn't understand. She couldn't understand why Lin Yuan, who had already reached such a high position today, still had to risk his life to film a movie.

It is also incomprehensible why Liu Yufei, as Lin Yuan's girlfriend, did not try to persuade him.

In fact, compared with Liu Yufei's absolute trust, Gao Yuanyuan's thoughts are actually the reaction of a normal person.

But Lin Yuan is not a normal person after all. If you want to become his confidante, you naturally have to get along with him in an abnormal way.

This may be the reason why Gao Yuanyuan has always been separated from Lin Yuan and has been unable to overcome this hurdle.

The bus finally stopped by the roadside, and the crew members needed to get off here and walk to the Hukou Waterfall below the road.

"Look! Hukou Waterfall!" Gao Yuanyuan pointed to a place not far away.

Liu Yufei looked in the direction her finger pointed.

I saw the water of the Yellow River coming from the sky, flowing eastward, and sloping down at Hukou.

The water falls from a great height, stirring up a vast cloud of mist and a roaring sound, as if a mighty army were charging in. The mist fills the air, and the water droplets sparkle in the sunlight, creating a brilliant rainbow that leaps into the sky, like a dream.

"It's so beautiful! It's so spectacular!" Liu Yufei exclaimed.

She went to Niagara Falls when she was filming "Lin Yuan and His Wife".

Although Hukou Waterfall cannot compare with Niagara Falls in terms of height, width and water flow, it is far more stunning than Niagara Falls.

On the one hand, it is because the Hukou Waterfall has the "squeezing" effect of the river's rapid contraction, making the water flow more turbulent and the momentum more powerful.

Another reason is that this waterfall is yellow!

Compared to the clear water of Niagara Falls, the Yellow River is slightly turbid. The dark yellow water brings a stronger texture, giving people a feeling of heavy gaze, as if it carries a tremendous force.

Looking at the Yellow River water rushing in the river, it is impossible to tell its depth.

The unknown is often the most frightening.

Liu Yufei became even more worried. Did Lin Yuan really want to challenge such a powerful force of nature?

Liu Yufei and Gao Yuanyuan got out of the car, and director Nolan brought two umbrellas.

"What is this?" Gao Yuanyuan asked.

"Lin Yuan told me that the water splashes a lot near the waterfall and if you don't hold an umbrella you'll get wet in no time. The weather is cold now, so be careful of catching a cold," explained director Nolan.

"Knowing that he will catch a cold if it's cold, he still plans to jump in?" Gao Yuanyuan didn't say this out loud, but couldn't help thinking it in her heart.

"Let's go! He's already waiting for us."

The crew walked towards Hukou Falls, and the first thing they saw was a huge crane right next to the shore...

(End of this chapter)