INHA Chapter 52

It was his first time using hair spray. He didn’t know how much to use, so he simply sprayed twice. He pressed down on his unruly hair and waited for a while. Sure enough, the hair stopped sticking up.

However, due to Xu Dongyou pressing down on it earlier, his hair became flat. He looked at it seriously for a while, feeling a gnawing discomfort. He could only use his hands to comb it out, finally feeling less awkward.

Wearing the same hooded jacket as before and casual pants, Xu Dongyou also deliberately took his headphones and connected them to his phone, preparing to listen to music while walking to the Bureau. He needed to study some other knowledge over the next few days and take a trip to the sealing array to visit Zhulong.

As Xu Dongyou was about to step out, his roommate curiously asked, “Where are you going?”

Xu Dongyou casually lied that he was going for a walk. His roommate was stunned for a moment and then joked, “I thought you had a girlfriend and suddenly wanted to dress up nicely.”

He didn’t think Xu Dongyou would lie about such things since there was no need.

Xu Dongyou was also stunned, then shook his head, “If I had that time, I’d rather focus on studying.”

This way, he could draw more talismans to sell and eventually buy a house for his family in full.

He could also prevent his parents from being so tired, allowing them to rest well.

Moreover, practicing drawing talismans could improve his proficiency, which would be a significant help in advancing his skills in the future, allowing him to help more people in need.

This kind of win-win situation made Xu Dongyou feel particularly motivated. He quickened his pace towards the Bureau.

The music app he downloaded was the largest and most authoritative music platform in the country. Many singers and independent artists chose to upload their songs there. It also had a daily sales chart to determine a song’s popularity.

Many fans downloaded songs to support their favorite singers, striving to get them to the top of the monthly download chart.

Therefore, as a music school student, even if Xu Dongyou didn’t pay much attention to entertainment news, he would often go on the music app to listen to the top ten songs of the month. Conveniently, this app had a feature to automatically play the top ten songs.

And now, it happened to switch to the next song.

【Tomorrow, I will die.】

【And a new me will be born.】

【It crawls out from under the bed, smiling. While outside the window, Christmas is being celebrated, and someone is crying la la la~】

A completely illogical and strangely tuned song, the singing seemed to be in a low whisper, like muttering to oneself. Xu Dongyou was utterly confused and quickly opened his phone to glance at the song.

Song title: Birth Song

Singer: Tian Haomiao

Xu Dongyou paused for a moment. He remembered that this male singer, Tian Haomiao, had been creating inspirational and uplifting songs since his debut two years ago.

Although he had experienced a creative block and went silent for half a year, he still firmly held his position as a second-tier singer.

After all, he had several hit songs as a foundation, so he wouldn’t fall to the third tier so quickly. But unexpectedly, this month, after half a year of silence, Tian Haomiao released a new song.

But… the style was completely different from his previous works.

If it weren’t for the name Tian Haomiao listed, Xu Dongyou would have thought it was sung by another artist.

And the download count of this song was astonishing. It was uploaded and published half a month ago. Within just half a month, it had already become the fifth most downloaded song of the month. It was likely to move up another rank in a few days.

Xu Dongyou curiously clicked on the comments section of the song and saw many heartfelt praises.

【So good it made me cry. I’ve never heard a song that resonated so deeply in my life.】

【At first, I just thought it sounded nice. After a few more listens, I was in tears. It feels like this song expresses A Miao’s inner world. My heart aches for A Miao; the half-year of silence must have been tough. I’m glad he made it through.】

【A Miao is the best. We’ll always support you. We, the Hemi community, will always have your back.】

【I’m not a fan of this singer, just a passerby who used the random top ten play function and happened to hear this song. I was astonished, yes, astonished is the only word I can use. The mood, the melody, and the lyrics all seem dark but actually reflect the subconscious pain and struggle within everyone. I strongly recommend everyone to listen to it; you won’t regret it.】

Xu Dongyou was even more confused.

Is this song… really that good?

He felt a bit uneasy and replayed the song seriously. His expression gradually became serious.

Something felt strange.

The first time he listened, he didn’t find it good at all. But on the second listen, it seemed to have an inexplicable feel to it.

Xu Dongyou decided to put the song on repeat as he headed to the Bureau. After listening several times, he started feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

This discomfort felt particularly familiar.

Xu Dongyou immediately became alert and checked the mission area on his spiritual energy watch but didn’t find any abnormal information related to the song or the singer.

It was the first time Xu Dongyou encountered such a situation and was unsure what to do, so he quickly contacted Tian Ze to explain.

Tian Ze took the matter very seriously and immediately said he would come to the Bureau.

During this time, Xu Dongyou went to the practice room to watch tutorial videos, quickly brushing up on the types of level-one talismans he could use.

Most handlers preferred using immobilization talismans, strength talismans, attack talismans, and concealment talismans.

A few liked using thunder talismans. However, since they made too much noise and easily frightened ordinary people, they were rarely used in urban areas.

Besides that, there was another talisman Xu Dongyou found to be quite good: the Spirit Energy Talisman.

This talisman could effectively weaken or resist the powers of resentful spirits and evil ghosts. However, using this talisman consumed nearly fifty percent more spiritual energy than other talismans, which very few handlers could manage.

As a result, the Spirit Energy Talisman was rarely used, but it had to be said that its effect was actually a bit better than that of the Immobilization Talisman.

Especially when used in the early stages of a not-so-dangerous situation, it might prevent many upcoming accidents. However, the excessive consumption of spiritual energy made it impractical.

Many handlers feared that using the Spirit Energy Talisman would leave them with insufficient spiritual energy to activate other talismans.

If something really went wrong, they would be left helpless.

But Xu Dongyou was different.

His spiritual energy was significantly higher than that of some handlers who had been with the Bureau for over two years. Moreover, besides spiritual energy, he also had demon power at his disposal.

Although he had only learned “Water Evasion” so far, it was still a powerful attack method when used correctly. The only drawback was that it required water.

However, this was easily solved; he could carry a bottle of mineral water on his next mission, perfectly addressing the issue of not having water.

Additionally, he had a small piece of stone from the sealing array. Though it was only the size of a soybean, it was imbued with the ancient Zhulong’s aura, and Zhulong might have even slept on it.

He wondered how the Bureau’s research on the stone he submitted was going. He couldn’t wait to have a weapon of his own.

Xu Dongyou worked hard to rein in his wandering thoughts, carefully watching the tutorial for the Spirit Energy Talisman twice and memorizing the key points.

After about five minutes, Tian Ze sent a message saying he had arrived at the Bureau and asked where Xu Dongyou was.

Xu Dongyou quickly replied that he was in the practice room.

When Tian Ze reached the practice room door, Xu Dongyou hurried out. Before he could speak, Tian Ze urgently asked, “Let me hear that strange song you mentioned.”

Xu Dongyou and Tian Ze found a secluded corridor, handed the earphones to Tian Ze, and played the song.

As Tian Ze listened to the beginning of the song, his face immediately showed an expression of disbelief at how terrible the song was. He continued listening, holding back his urge to complain.

After the song ended, Tian Ze finally spoke, “This is really terrible…”

Xu Dongyou, having listened again, had a serious expression on his face. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who found the song…

Xu Dongyou handed his phone over and said, “Captain, take a look at the comments.”

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