Xu Dongyou left the sealed array feeling downcast. Seeing his expression, Elder Chen couldn’t help but comfort him, “Don’t think too much about it.”
Xu Dongyou nodded. After bidding farewell to Elder Chen and Jiu Chao, he headed to the computer market. There, he bought a high-end laptop. Since it was still noon, Xu Dongyou called Xu Yangchen and told him not to go home.
Xu Yangchen, puzzled, followed the instructions and met Xu Dongyou. He still felt perplexed and asked, “Brother, is there something you need my help with?”
Xu Dongyou shook his head and revealed the laptop he had been hiding behind his back. “This is for you.”
Xu Yangchen was stunned for a while before shouting in disbelief, “Is it true?!!! Brother, tell me quickly.”
Xu Dongyou smiled and said, “Of course it’s true. But remember, don’t bring it home, and don’t tell our parents.”
This way, everything would be foolproof.
After the initial excitement, Xu Yangchen hesitated. He didn’t take the laptop immediately; instead, he cautiously asked, “Brother, this laptop looks expensive, and its configuration is so good. Where did you get the money?”
Although he really needed a computer, he didn’t want his brother to go into debt to buy it.
Xu Dongyou immediately put on a serious face, trying to maintain the authority an older brother should have, even though he actually looked much younger than his actual age. As a result, Xu Yangchen sometimes felt more like the older brother.
Xu Yangchen wasn’t sure why, but compared to his parents, he was more afraid of his brother getting angry or upset.
It was probably because, growing up, his brother had always given him the impression of being overly fragile. So over the years, he ended up protecting Xu Dongyou as if he were the older brother.
“It’s partly scholarship money and partly money I earned from part-time jobs,” Xu Dongyou lied.
Xu Yangchen felt choked with emotion and said, “Thank you, brother. When I earn that ten thousand, I’ll definitely buy you an even better gift.”
Thinking of the tens of thousands of yuan in his account, Xu Dongyou said softly, “Keep it for yourself. I have plenty of money I’ve earned; you can use it as living expenses.”
Xu Yangchen hesitated for a moment. He had been short on money recently and felt embarrassed asking their parents for more, so he had been saving on food and drinks to buy study materials.
“Thank you, brother,” Xu Yangchen nodded.
Xu Dongyou couldn’t help but remind him again, “Don’t tell our parents about this.”
First, he didn’t want to burden them mentally. Second, it would help them save money.
Xu Yangchen nodded earnestly, “Don’t worry, brother. I won’t say a word.”
Xu Dongyou patted his brother’s shoulder and asked, “Have you eaten yet?”
Xu Yangchen shook his head.
Then, Xu Dongyou took his brother to a nearby restaurant to have a good meal before letting him go.
It was already past two in the afternoon, so Xu Dongyou decided to call home and say he wouldn’t be coming back.
His parents understood.
After returning to school, Xu Dongyou continued as before: attending classes and spending his free time in a small inn drawing talismans and practicing the “Water Evasion” technique.
Two peaceful days passed like this.
At this time, online attention had shifted away from the mysterious fish attacking the boat and the so-called official live broadcast room. Many people began to believe that it was all fake and that the live streaming platform was manipulating everything to draw traffic to the broadcast room.
However, this led to more confusion and questions.
Nearly ten days had passed, and the broadcast room had yet to open. Could there be another plan?
It wasn’t just ordinary people; even some media and live streaming platform employees were deeply puzzled by this situation.
The intentions of the chairman and the board of directors were truly unfathomable.
Then, this afternoon, Tian Ze suddenly informed Xu Dongyou to come to the handling bureau, saying that they had developed a new version 2.0 of the camera equipment.
Xu Dongyou immediately took a taxi there and, along with Tian Ze and a few others, headed straight to the chief’s office. Many handlers glanced their way, secretly speculating about the reason.
Just like last time.
The chief invited everyone to sit down and, with a faint smile, said, “Let’s watch a short video first. It introduces the basic functions and usage of the new camera.”
The video was brief, only about a minute long, and it simply outlined the new features of the camera compared to version 1.0. The new camera had waterproof and impact-resistant features and could automatically switch to night mode without any manual operation—just flip the switch.
There was no need to worry about charging, as the camera could be powered by spiritual energy, electricity, or solar energy.
The camera would automatically follow its owner and was equipped with an invisibility function, making it impossible for ordinary people, mobile phones, or other cameras to capture it.
It was truly concealed.
Additionally, the camera was already bound to the owner’s spiritual energy watch. Unless the owner activated it, the camera would not function. If lost, it would be nothing more than a decoration.
After watching, Xu Dongyou was stunned for a while, but Tian Ze reacted with excitement, saying, “This is way more impressive than before!”
Xu Dongyou nodded slightly in agreement.
The chief chuckled a few times and handed a small black box to Xu Dongyou. “This is the 2.0 version of the camera equipment, and it’s already bound to your spiritual energy watch.”
Xu Dongyou accepted the box and politely thanked him.
The small box was almost the size of a ring box and could easily fit in a pocket. He opened it to take a look; the camera equipment was silver, with a tiny dot, presumably the camera lens.
Xu Dongyou closed the box and put it in his pocket as the chief began discussing the main topic, “Have you thought about when to start the live broadcast?”
After thinking for a moment, Xu Dongyou replied, “Probably in about a week.”
He had already stored up a lot of powerful talismans in the past few days. As for immobilizing talismans, he might need to buy some to be prepared for any situation.
He still hadn’t fully learned how to seal resentful spirits and evil ghosts with spells, but according to Tian Ze, these spells weren’t particularly difficult. The challenge lay in the precise use of spiritual energy and tools during the process.
As for combat skills, Xu Dongyou thought he might try enrolling in a class. Although a week’s time wouldn’t be enough to learn much, it could at least help during missions.
The chief nodded and said, “No rush. You can start when you’re ready, but the live stream must begin next month.”
Xu Dongyou nodded quickly and replied softly, “I understand.”
After leaving, Xu Dongyou went to the practice room to start studying. He soon discovered that to seal resentful spirits and evil ghosts, he also needed to learn a new spell, which had to be used in conjunction with sealing talismans.
Regarding the sealing talisman, Xu Dongyou had no plans to learn it for the time being. Even the basic level one sealing talisman seemed much more challenging than the strength talisman, judging by the complexity of the symbols alone—at least three times harder.
For now, he found it difficult to draw and would have to use points to buy them.
In addition to the sealing talisman, there was something called a sealing box. It had similar patterns as the sealing talisman but was more expensive. However, it didn’t require a spell and could be used multiple times, recharged with spiritual energy unless it broke.
It seemed more cost-effective.
However, the sealing box had two drawbacks. First, it was expensive. Second, although the box wasn’t large, it was difficult to carry in a pocket; it needed to be stored in a backpack.
Recalling his first encounter with Zhang Wu and Zhao Liu, neither of them had backpacks, so they probably used sealing talismans.
The level one sealing talisman wasn’t too expensive, similar in price to the strength talisman. After all, it was used to seal evil ghosts and resentful spirits, and the bureau didn’t want to set the price too high, making it unaffordable for many.
Xu Dongyou was torn between buying sealing talismans or a sealing box. The sealing box was very expensive, requiring fifteen points.
Even though he had several hundred points, the thought of 1 point being worth 100,000 yuan made it feel very expensive.
Xu Dongyou puffed his cheeks in frustration and contacted Zhang Wu using his spiritual energy watch to ask for advice.
Zhang Wu quickly replied.
【Zhang Wu (8th Squad)】: Since Zhang Liu and I go on missions frequently, I carry two sealing talismans just in case. Plus, now that I can draw sealing talismans myself, I haven’t considered buying a sealing box. However, the sealing box is actually much stronger than the sealing talisman.
Otherwise, why would it be so expensive?
Xu Dongyou had initially leaned towards the sealing talisman, but now he was wavering again. If the sealing box wasn’t so large, he might just bite the bullet and buy it.
He shared his dilemma with Zhang Wu.
【Zhang Wu (Team Eight)】: The level-two sealing box is smaller than the level-one, so you don’t need to carry it in a backpack. However, it’s more expensive. It depends on what you’re willing to spend.
After ending the conversation, Xu Dongyou thought carefully for half an hour before making his decision.
He decided to buy the level-two sealing box. First, it was smaller in size, and second, it could almost match the power of a level-three sealing talisman, making it capable of handling various types of evil ghosts and resentful spirits.
Moreover, as someone representing the handling bureau, the stronger he appeared, the more confidence the public would have in the bureau.
Therefore, spending nearly 25 points on a sealing box was worth it, especially since it could be used multiple times. If necessary, he could sell more strength talismans to make up for the cost.
With a heavy heart and feeling the sting of spending so much, Xu Dongyou purchased the sealing box at the front desk, earning a look of disdain for being a “pay-to-win player”. He also bought several immobilizing talismans.
Over the next half month, Xu Dongyou enrolled in a class to learn combat techniques, improving his agility and reaction time. Perhaps due to his original form being a bird known for agility and speed, although weak in strength, he previously couldn’t even match a regular man in a fight.
However, after awakening his demon bloodline, he could now hold his own against an average man, which was a significant improvement.
Considering that his original form couldn’t even beat a sparrow, this was quite a progress.
Xu Dongyou felt increasingly grateful for choosing the strength talisman, which compensated for his lack of strength and enhanced his agility. Now he had both strength and speed.
A week later, just as Xu Dongyou was about to head to the inn, he overheard someone mentioning something about a doll shop.
He paused, suddenly remembering a mission he had seen on his spiritual energy watch, which was related to a doll shop.
Intrigued, Xu Dongyou approached and asked, “Excuse me, could you tell me which doll shop you were just talking about?”
