Chapter 187: New Moon Legend: A Festive Frenzy

New Moon Legend boasts a top-notch director, loads of laughs, and a universal appeal. The theater experience is even better!

New Moon Legend is absolutely brilliant—so funny it’ll have you in tears!

From start to finish, New Moon Legend never loses its momentum, offering a feast for the eyes.

Qi Haoyong opened the reviews for New Moon Legend and, as usual, skipped over these obvious paid-for fluff posts from the fifty-cent army.

He scrolled on until, after a few pages, he finally came across some genuine reviews.

“Honestly, New Moon Legend is watchable, but it doesn’t live up to all the hype.”

“You can clearly see Wan’s comedy style at work.”

“It’s odd! You laugh during the movie, yet once it’s over nothing really sticks—no standout moments! Unlike Longmen Inn, which delivered unforgettable scenes. Cao Duzhu and Jin Xiangyu were truly classic.”

“Exactly—while there aren’t many dull moments, there aren’t many memorable highlights either.”

“At its core, it’s just a family movie. When there’s nothing else to do, the whole family can enjoy it together.”

“This Spring Festival, with only one family comedy on offer, it’s still worth a watch.”

A few minutes later, Qi Haoyong, his thoughts conflicted, tucked his phone away.

Overall,

His own version of New Moon Legend didn’t garner too many bad reviews, but it lacked the overwhelming praise of the preview screenings. Compared to the rave reviews for Longmen Inn, the gap was clear.

What bothered Qi Haoyong more was that every credible review focused on the movie, without a single viewer mentioning the actors or Ning An Cultural Tourism’s lavishly built New Moon Tower and New Moon Hall.

Meanwhile, Haofang Culture simply set a prop on fire, prompting many concerned questions about whether the original set was incinerated—and jokes flew about locals possibly being turned into meat buns if they stayed at Longmen Inn. Such were the sky-high expectations for Longmen Inn.

Sure enough, after the holidays, Longmen Inn was poised to become a fresh IP hotspot for Mingsha Tourism.

“As long as the box office stays high, if New Moon Tower and New Moon Hall don’t catch on, we’ll figure out how to develop them later.”

He sighed.

Only then did Qi Haoyong turn off the light and drift into a deep sleep. As the old saying goes, on New Year’s Day you go out, and the next day you visit the elders!

But those days of strict tradition are gone—by New Year’s Day, people were already busy with greetings, travel, and spending! By noon, Mingsha Tourism had welcomed the first wave of post-Spring Festival tourists.

Most visitors were in Wei City or Mingsha County for New Year reunions, making a quick round-trip to the guesthouses.

Local hosts couldn’t hide a subtle air of pride on their faces.

There was a time when

After the holidays, locals would always leave town, but this year was different. Many relatives had called ahead, saying they would come over to celebrate and swing by the Mingsha guesthouses.

That pride is much like how residents in scenic spots casually remark to tourists, “Honestly, there isn’t much to see.”

Before long, the locals naturally took on the role of tour guides.

“Hmm?”

But barely out of the car, many locals noticed that the Mingsha Tourism staff were already back at work—taxis and carriages lined up at the parking lot exit just as usual.

And that’s not all; even the tourism route sign outside had been updated.

However, the rides at the parking lot exit were all standard models. Luo Peng’s bizarre contraptions were nowhere to be seen—not even the ostrich squad was on duty.

“Qixia Town, Wudi City, Langya Pavilion, Longmen Inn”

A few minutes later, after scrutinizing the updated sign, many locals were dumbfounded. They remembered that during previous visits Langya Pavilion and Longmen Inn weren’t even there. How did they update these on New Year’s Day? Could it be new attractions? If they’re open, a visit is a must.

Although they were well acquainted with Qixia Town and Wudi City, the new additions from Mingsha Tourism still held great appeal.

Especially Langya Pavilion!

As for Longmen Inn, many hadn’t had the chance to see it in theaters yet, so its allure was slightly diminished.

“Excuse me, I noticed the updated tourism sign. Are Langya Pavilion and Longmen Inn officially open now?”

Bringing himself back to reality,

a local immediately headed to the tourist service center by the parking lot and found a staff member.

“Sir, we have posted an announcement on the Mingsha Tourism website stating that on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year—February 24 on the Gregorian calendar—we will officially welcome visitors. The updated signs were just a preview.”

Seeing this, the staff member quickly explained.

“Fourth day of the Lunar New Year?”

The local glanced at his relative; by the time they finished touring, he’d probably be heading home and miss the opening.

“Second Uncle, should I stay a couple more days?”

Before the local could finish asking, his relative excitedly interjected as if he’d hit upon a pleasant surprise.

“Really?”

“Second Uncle, I’ve long wanted to check out the secret chamber below Langya Pavilion, but online updates said it hasn’t opened yet.”

The relative quickly added,

“Alright, let’s first visit Qixia Town and Wudi City today, catch a movie tomorrow or the day after, and then head to Longmen Inn.”

“Okay!”

This scene at the tourist service center was hardly unique; many out-of-town visitors opted to wait until the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Since they were already in Mingsha County, they wanted to see everything at once to avoid later regrets.

In truth, Mingsha Tourism had already opened its doors. Xu Hao, Zhu Qiang, and others resumed intense preparations after a day off on New Year’s Eve.

Online, aside from chatter about the Spring Festival films, many netizens had also taken notice of Mingsha Tourism’s announcement.

“Is Langya Pavilion really set to open on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year?”

“Yes! Mingsha Tourism has gone all out this time by opening two IP attractions simultaneously!”

“I’m definitely going!”

“I mean, the last time I visited, Langya Pavilion had already started showing Legend of Langya, but the roads weren’t ready. It nearly drove me crazy.”

“Book your lodgings! Book your lodgings!”

“What a pity! Why does it have to open on the fourth day? Couldn’t it have been a couple of days earlier?”

“Is there really a problem with the fourth day? It seems fine! Longmen Inn only hit theaters in the early hours today. Although its box office and reviews are climbing, the buzz hasn’t peaked yet—so it needs a couple of days to build momentum! That’s the only way to secure Longmen Inn’s status as the fourth must-visit IP for Mingsha Tourism.”

“I know—it’s my schedule. I only have three free days, and that’s just not enough time for a round trip!”

“Three days aren’t enough? Spend one day here, one day there—one full day of fun is plenty!”

“I’ve never been to the Mingsha guesthouses before. Is one day really enough? I intend to start at Tengwang Pavilion and Desert Pavilion for a quick check-in, then have lunch at Tongfu Inn in Qixia Town, and in the afternoon visit Wudi City and Tingchao Pavilion. If time permits, I might even swing by Langya Pavilion again. So when do we visit Longmen Inn?”

An audience member expressed regret in another comment.

“This…”

That one wasn’t too bad, but soon many netizens realized that it seemed impossible to fully explore the Mingsha guesthouses in just one day—especially now that two IP attractions had opened simultaneously.

Just for that reason, Mingsha guesthouses had inadvertently surged ahead of all other scenic spots in Long Kingdom.

There was a time when the guesthouses only featured Tengwang Pavilion and Desert Pavilion, which you could see in one or two hours. Now, with the city wall still closed to the public! If the wall and the city gate ever open, two days might not even suffice.

“Looks like planning a trip to Mingsha guesthouses will require careful scheduling—don’t want to leave halfway and feel totally frustrated.”

“That’s right.”

In the end, many netizens concluded that

After the third day of the Lunar New Year, the guesthouses in Mingsha would be snapped up in no time—even the hotels on Zhuque Avenue would sell out.

In fact, because hotel prices were lower, they were even more in demand than the guesthouses.

As the sun set in the west,

the day quickly came to an end.

In Ning’an, in a villa, Qi Haoyong sat in his study, gazing at the box office numbers on his computer and reading posts on forums, before leaning back and lighting up a cigarette.

His analysis from last night had proven right. Throughout the day, both films’ box office numbers remained neck and neck. Longmen Inn held the advantage in reviews, while New Moon Legend capitalized on its theme and family-friendly appeal.

By the end of the day, including pre-sales, both films had crossed 250 million. If this trend continues, after the Spring Festival each film could easily pull in over 1.5 billion.

For New Moon Legend, 1.5 billion is a hefty sum, yet for some reason, Qi Haoyong just couldn’t share the excitement.

Simply put,

New Moon Legend didn’t achieve a landslide, and today Mingsha Tourism’s announcement stirred up major debate! The overall buzz had far outshined that of Ning An Cultural Tourism.

It even led to a noticeable drop in discussions about New Moon Legend.

“Four major IP attractions, plus an xianxia drama—Mingsha Tourism really knows how to make waves! If this trend continues, Mingsha guesthouses will eventually overtake not just Ning An Film City, but every film city in Long Kingdom!”

After a long moment,

Qi Haoyong sat up, stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, and reached for his phone to make a call.

Beep beep beep! The call connected quickly.

“President Ran, Happy New Year!” Qi Haoyong exclaimed.

The call was for Ran Xiangfei.

“Mr. Qi, Happy New Year!” came Ran Xiangfei’s reply.

“President Ran, Mingsha Tourism just announced that on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year they will officially open Legend of Langya and Longmen Inn. It’s sparking a lot of debate online! So, do you think we should officially announce our film festival?”

Qi Haoyong asked hurriedly.

“Announce the film festival?”

“Yes, but I’m worried that if this continues, all the hype will be monopolized by Mingsha Tourism. With the Gregorian calendar already at the end of February and March just around the corner…”

“In my view, we need to wait a couple more days!”

After a brief pause, Ran Xiangfei finally responded in a measured tone,

“Wait a couple more days? Why?”

Qi Haoyong hesitated.

In his view, it was now or never—time to seize the trending momentum by any means necessary.