When the plot of "the thief catcher 2" ended, many people in the audience were still left wanting more.
At the very end, a mysterious corner of the Boss Lady's identity was finally revealed; it turned out that the gravely ill General Feng was actually her grandfather.
And her biological mother was merely a top courtesan on a Jiangnan boat, who had only a single fleeting affair with Old General Feng's son, not even qualifying as a concubine.
Unfortunately, that general later died on the battlefield and her mother also passed away early, so even though Feng Juan knew her origins, she never intended to go back and claim her family.
If it hadn't been for the messenger from the Border Fortress passing through their inn this time and dying from severe injuries, she might never have been drawn into this conspiracy or set foot in the Border Fortress for the rest of her life.
However, in her heart, there was still more or less a sliver of longing.
Even though the Border Fortress had stabilized, Old General Feng was indeed terminally ill and had no other children left; the Boss Lady truly couldn't bear to leave at this time.
So she ultimately chose to stay, while Jiang Rushuai and Shen Jue decided to return to the ruins of Penglai Inn to rebuild it.
Watching this final scene, He Miao's heart, which had been hanging in suspense the whole way, finally settled down.
Although it was a bit regrettable that the Boss Lady chose Old General Feng and didn't leave with Shen Jue, she knew they would meet again one day.
Meeting again in the future would likely be the story of the third installment.
When that time comes, she'll be able to see their wonderful fight scenes again, yay!
She just didn't know when the third part would appear; they had waited so long for this second part...
He Miao felt a bit of regret again.
But in the next moment, she was smacked hard on the back of the head.
"You little brat, why did you lie to me just now and say Shen Jue would die?"
Father He's gaze was resentful, his palms burning with fire; fatherly love was as heavy as a mountain, and at this moment, he only wanted to teach this little brat who had suddenly spoiled the movie a lesson. She had kept his heart dangling in suspense, fearing that Shen Jue would die in the great battle—it was simply too much!
He Miao shrank her neck, knowing she was in the wrong, and could only giggle foolishly before quickly finding an excuse for herself: "Oh, it's not like I said it! I heard it all from the internet!"
"You spend every day learning bad things on the internet, why do you believe whatever others say?"
Father He immediately found a point of attack and prepared to start his lecture.
He Miao sensed disaster and was just about to slide into a kneeling apology when the screen in front of them lit up again.
She immediately held up a finger, signaling her dad to be quiet: "Shh, shh, look at the post-credits scene, don't miss it!"
Father He could only shut his mouth again and glared at her.
—
Jiang Rushuai and Shen Jue returned to Penglai Inn.
This place had been burned to a pile of ruins, but the general shape was still there.
Shen Jue walked directly toward the back of the inn according to the location in his memory, while Jiang Rushuai picked through the debris and managed to find a relatively clean stone table and stool in the backyard.
Unfortunately, there had originally been an old tree here, but now it was withered and many of its leaves had fallen off. It was uncertain how much longer it could live, much like the current state of the crumbling Imperial Court.
Footsteps came from behind, and Shen Jue, carrying a jar of wine, tossed it toward Jiang Rushuai.
Jiang Rushuai caught it immediately and casually opened the jar to take a sniff.
Then his eyes lit up: "Is this the Peach Blossom Brew I asked about last time?"
"Yes," Shen Jue nodded. "Thank you."
In fact, from the very beginning, Shen Jue knew the Boss Lady was going to step into this mess, and he also knew about the past identity she had always been thinking of.
The messenger from the Border Fortress had been chased all the way to deliver the message; by the time he reached their location, the last young messenger to explain everything had completely breathed his last.
When the Boss Lady heard the news from over there, her originally calm eyes finally showed a few ripples.
So she wrote to Jiang Rushuai, hoping he could come and help.
Because the matter was too significant and there was a risk of leakage, she couldn't speak plainly; she was also worried that Jiang Rushuai wouldn't dare to step into this mess, so in the end, she simply lured him back on purpose.
But what she didn't know was that after her letter was sent, Shen Jue had quietly added a copper coin to it.
He believed that Jiang Rushuai would surely understand when he saw it.
And sure enough, when Jiang Rushuai saw that copper coin, he instantly understood that this was Shen Jue's tacit approval.
The only person who could make Shen Jue remain silent was the Boss Lady.
He just hadn't expected that Shen Jue had done all of this silently without ever telling the Boss Lady.
Even when the Boss Lady finally chose to stay, Shen Jue acted very composed and did not choose to stay with her.
Jiang Rushuai sighed, thinking that Shen Jue really was a man of few words sometimes. He leaned back lazily, raised the wine jar in his hand, and tilted his head back to drink, not caring if the excess wine spilled onto him.
"Penglai Inn needs to be rebuilt."
Shen Jue didn't explain, only saying, "I will wait for her here."
To Shen Jue, the Boss Lady was the savior who had saved his life, and also a family member he had long since accepted.
And to Shen Jue, Penglai Inn was a place of stability, the only paradise he was willing to stay in during these chaotic times.
Even though it was now destroyed, Shen Jue would risk his life to return and then restore everything to its original state.
It seemed that only in this way could his heart obtain lasting peace.
After hearing this, Jiang Rushuai put down the wine jar, wiped his mouth, and said with a bit of amusement and a bit of melancholy: "You really haven't changed a bit—remember back then..."
The young man's voice grew more and more distant, as if separated by a hazy wall, making it impossible to hear clearly the things Jiang Rushuai was saying, and the camera also gradually pulled away.
The final scene of the footage used the branches of the nearly dead old tree in front of the inn as a blurred foreground; in front of the ruins in the background were two silhouettes, one standing and one sitting. One tossed a wine jar, and the other picked it up to drink freely again.
Further away was the gradually rising sun.
The sunlight fell on the withered tree, seemingly bringing it a final trace of vitality.
But was it ultimately a final 'terminal lucidity' or a 'rejuvenation of a withered tree'?
No one could predict.
Finally, for some reason, the screen suddenly dimmed, and the sky looked as if a storm was coming, with dark clouds sweeping across the horizon.
A flash of lightning illuminated the features of a young swordsman.
In an instant, the entire cinema hall lit up, and his eyes filled the screen together—
But that gaze was exceptionally strange, colder and more full of wildness than the current Shen Jue, as if he were just a wolf that couldn't understand human speech.
Someone chuckled lightly off-screen, but that voice sounded even younger and more flamboyant than now:
"Which path are you on, brother? To have so many thief catchers hunting you?"
"I am the thief catcher, Jiang Rushuai, please enlighten me!"
Unfortunately, the owner of those eyes did not answer, and the story footage completely ended. Accompanied by the sound of a sharp blade being unsheathed, a concept poster for "the thief catcher 3" appeared on the big screen.
This poster featured no real people but was an ink wash painting composed of red and black. The figure of the swordsman in the middle was vividly outlined in red ink, and the three black brush-written characters for "the thief catcher 3" were even more impressive.
Immediately, everyone understood that this final post-credits scene was actually to lead into the content of the third part.
And this third part would actually be a recollection of Jiang Rushuai and Shen Jue's past story!
Wouldn't this be equivalent to a prequel to "the thief catcher" series!
The audience members who finished watching all the post-credits scenes were immediately delighted.
"Oh no, it's really become a 'once-in-a-lifetime' series!"
"Director Lin, you're the worst! Why haven't you filmed it already?!"
