"Are you an actor?" Peter Jackson looked at Martin with curiosity. "Wait a minute, you seem familiar. Where have I seen you before?"
"You'd better come down and talk. It's very uncomfortable to keep your neck raised like this," Martin laughed.
"Right, we should go down."
Richard Taylor pulled Peter down from the tree, reminding him not to be rude. The two slid down one after another.
After landing, Peter Jackson didn't bother to pick up the things he had smashed, instead focusing intently on Martin.
After a moment, he shouted, "I remember! You're Martin Meyers, that genius! I've seen your picture in the newspaper!"
"Yes, I'm Martin Meyers, nice to meet you," Martin replied, smiling.
"My name is Richard Taylor, a film special effects artist. His name is Peter Jackson, a film director."
"What's happening?" Martin raised the bow in his hand, the cheetah carcass hanging from it swaying slightly.
"This kid has so much strength!" Richard Taylor secretly exclaimed.
"It's a long story. Martin, can I invite you to sit at my farm for a while?" Peter Jackson asked suddenly, his face full of enthusiasm.
Martin felt uneasy, thinking that this chubby man was looking at him strangely. Does he like me or something?
"No, my bodyguard should be waiting impatiently. My farm is nearby, and I have to head back. By the way, can I take the carcasses of these two leopards?"
"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to ask the Auckland Zoo about that. These are their leopards! Damn it, I should make them pay for my mental distress," Richard Taylor said indignantly. But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his friend was still staring at Martin with eager eyes, almost like he was seeing a celebrity.
Speechless, Richard decided to explain to avoid his friend being criticized for acting like a weirdo.
"Martin, this friend of mine doesn't mean any harm. He probably just thinks you look like one of the characters in his script. He's been obsessed with writing lately, and I thought I'd take him out to relax. Unexpectedly…"
Richard Taylor pointed to the cheetah's carcass, showing an expression of shock.
"Oh, is that so?" Martin said, giving the scruffy fat man another look. Suddenly, he blinked and did a double take.
"Peter Jackson? That Peter Jackson? The director of The Lord of the Rings?" he asked.
"Damn, his beard and hair are so messy, I couldn't even recognize him properly!" Martin thought to himself. But the chance is high. He's from New Zealand, after all.
With a smile, Martin said, "How about you come to my farm for a shower, clean up, and then we can talk about the two cheetah carcasses and characters? How does that sound?"
"I'm okay with that!" Peter Jackson immediately raised both hands, agreeing.
"No problem for me either!" Richard Taylor added.
On the way back, Martin led the horse with the cheetah carcasses hanging from it, chatting with Peter and Richard as they walked.
On the way, they ran into someone driving an off-road vehicle. It was Gordon.
Seeing the two cheetah carcasses hanging from Martin's horse, Gordon was shocked. "Are you okay, Martin?" he asked quickly.
"I'm fine, Gordon. Could you call the farm and ask the servants to prepare hot water and two sets of clean clothes? One of them needs to be a large size—Old John should be about the right size. I'll ask him for it. We'll talk about the rest later."
"Okay," Gordon immediately picked up the phone.
After making the call, Martin asked Peter and Richard to get into Gordon's off-road vehicle, while Martin stayed on horseback.
The group's speed increased as they quickly returned to the farm.
"Oh my God, Martin, did you really kill two cheetahs by yourself?" Gordon gawked after listening to Peter and Richard's story, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground.
"Martin, where did you learn such skills?" he asked curiously.
"I'm just a bit accurate with archery. Do I really need to be talented for that?" Martin said innocently.
Peter started to regret again. "Oh, that scene should have been recorded."
"By the way, Martin, how old are you?" Peter asked.
"Less than fourteen years old. What's the problem?" Martin replied, though he had some suspicions in his mind. He tried not to show it.
"Well, he's fourteen, so he can still grow taller. Besides, we don't know when the movie will be approved yet... It doesn't matter if he's a bit shorter, they can always put boosters in his shoes," Peter muttered to himself.
"By the way, what's going on with the cheetah carcasses? Can't I just dispose of them myself? What does it have to do with the Auckland Zoo?" Martin asked.
"These two cheetahs came from the Auckland Zoo. They escaped during the zoo fire. You'll have to ask them how to dispose of the carcasses," Richard explained.
Gordon suddenly looked stunned. "Wait, what? How can there be wild cheetahs in New Zealand?" Then he added, "Anyway, only a few of us know about Martin killing the cheetahs. If we don't tell anyone, who will know? Martin, do you want the cheetah skins?"
"No, I want to eat their meat!" Martin replied.
"Well, okay then."
Martin's blunt answer left Gordon speechless.
At this point, Peter added sheepishly, "Actually, I wanted to use Martin's cheetah hunting as publicity. Martin, later, can we go back to where you killed the cheetahs? I want to take some photos!"
Richard immediately spoke up, "In that case, Martin's cheetah hunt won't remain a secret! Peter, it's better not to tell anyone!"
Peter rubbed his hands nervously, murmuring, "But it would be such a waste. No one will know about Martin's heroic deeds."
Then he added with excitement, "He's a born elf!"
Martin rolled his eyes secretly. What are elves? I'm a succubus! But his curiosity got the better of him. "I'm actually pretty interested in the movie Peter is making. Why don't you tell me more about it?"
Peter suddenly became even more excited. "Martin, have you read Tolkien's novels? The Lord of the Rings?"
In the end, Martin agreed to let Peter take the photos and also agreed that if the movie was approved, he would consider taking on the role of the Elf Prince Legolas.
The next day, six members of the Auckland Zoo and the Auckland City Emergency Committee arrived at the farm.
"What? You're saying these two cheetahs chased you, and this kid killed them both?" the official leading the emergency committee, a middle-aged man with a friendly but plump demeanor, pointed at Peter and Richard with a look of shock and disbelief. He had to fight the urge to curse. "Are you kidding me?"
Peter Jackson frowned, pointing at Richard and then himself. "We're not kidding. Richard and I can vouch for the truth of the story."
Both of them were well-known figures in New Zealand, so the official softened his stance slightly, but his disbelief was still evident.
At that moment, Martin suddenly whistled. A pure white horse galloped over.
"What's he doing?" the six members from the zoo and emergency committee asked, confused.
Martin ran toward the galloping horse. As the two sides neared, he jumped into the air and landed lightly on the horse's back.
"Wow! Beautiful riding!" one of the younger men from the committee couldn't help but exclaim.
Martin then took off the compound bow from the saddle and shouted, "Let go!"
With a loud bang, seven or eight Frisbees were launched into the sky.
Martin bent his bow and fired arrows in quick succession. Pah, pah, pah, pah...
The arrows shattered each Frisbee in mid-air, none escaping the net.
"Now, do you believe me? Can't such archery skills kill two cheetahs?" Martin asked proudly.
Peter Jackson beamed with pride. "I came up with this idea!"
[•———•——•———•]
𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧