I and Dianna first went to the electronics market and bought a discreet Bluetooth earpiece. We tested it, and it could be hidden in the ear, though the sound was a bit low. But it didn't matter; the environment during a chess match would certainly be quiet.
I tested it by calling Zheng Bingbing, and it worked well.
What I bought for Dianna was a miniature wide-angle camera, placed on her hairpin. The camera's direction was aligned with her line of sight. This way, through her, we could monitor the chess game. Bingbing could see the chessboard and, using chess software, deduce the corresponding moves. She would then tell me how to play via the Bluetooth earpiece.
Although Wu Zhao and the others didn't have advanced equipment like Bluetooth earpieces, they could complete this process with the cooperation of their subordinates in the gambling dens, achieving the same effect.
I refused to believe that even the strongest chess player among the Shan Hai Demon Race couldn't be beaten by a computer.
After buying the equipment, it was almost dark. Dianna and I then drove to the seaside, searching for a suitable location along the coastal road.
After much searching, we settled on a Chinese-style hotel by the sea. Half of the hotel's structure was built on a seaside boardwalk, with the sea directly below, making for an easy escape.
The private dining rooms were all on the boardwalk. However, this Chinese-style hotel did not serve outside guests, only providing dining services for those staying at the hotel. I had to pay six thousand eight hundred yuan for a standard sea-view king room. Upon inspection, this room, though on the second floor, had a massive, semi-enclosed balcony that extended outward, with the sea directly below. The environment on the balcony was even better than a private dining room.
"How about we play here?" I suggested. This way, we wouldn't need to smash through the floor to jump into the sea. We could simply climb over the protective wooden fence and dive straight into the water.
"It's good," Dianna said, touching the square table in the center of the balcony. The table was just the right size to place a chessboard and a few drinks.
It was just about dinner time, so Dianna and I ordered dinner, asking them to deliver it to our room. I lay back on the soft king-sized bed and called Chen Ke. They had also been comfortably settled by Cheng Xiaojuan, given an entire floor of an apartment building, with each person having their own room – quite luxurious.
I could roughly sense their auras, as they weren't too far away, about six or seven kilometers. However, I had thoroughly searched for the aura of that blue-robed great demon but hadn't found it within my sight range for aura-sensing. I wondered where it had gone.
After finishing our 1888 yuan dinner with Dianna, I suddenly realized something was missing! We didn't have a chess set. What would we play with!
The two of us hurried out again, asking around. However, there were few stationery shops nearby. The only one we found had already closed for the day.
An idea struck me, and I decided to try our luck at the antique market, hoping to find an agate chess set. The price wouldn't be too high.
Even if it were expensive, it wouldn't matter.
We actually found one. There was an agate chess set for over eight hundred yuan. But I had my eye on a set made of xiuyan jade, which looked much better in quality. It was priced at eighty-eight thousand yuan, but I managed to negotiate it down to thirty thousand, and we made the deal.
That's how the antique market is. The cheaper the items, the bigger the sales pitch. For thirty thousand, I might have even overpaid.
We returned to the hotel with the chess set. The hotel was generous enough to give us a sandalwood chessboard, or so they claimed. After setting up the red and black pieces on the balcony, I contacted Zheng Bingbing to test it out.
Zheng Bingbing said she couldn't see clearly because Dianna's head was constantly moving. The camera was too small, its functions were limited, and the image often blurred. I thought for a moment, then looked up and noticed a swallow's nest on the balcony ceiling. I picked up Dianna and carried her over to fix the camera next to the swallow's nest, pointing towards the chessboard.
Bingbing said that this way was fine. Although the distance was greater, she could see the pieces clearly.
With everything prepared, it was already past nine in the evening. Once I was sure everything was in order, I sent the location to Sima Xingkong, waiting for this chess player of the Shan Hai Demon Race to arrive for the appointment.
A moment later, Sima Xingkong replied: "Telling me the location so early, aren't you afraid I'll ambush you?"