Realizing that Ming Po had also disappeared, Ai Shiping felt a sudden chill run through his body.

"No way..."

His voice trembled, and his breathing grew heavy. "Dad, don't scare me like this!"

But no matter how much he pleaded, Ming Po did not reappear from around the corner.

Now, he truly was left all alone.

No, that wasn't entirely accurate.

After all, he could still see the audience's comments scrolling across his phone screen.

This was an absolute lifesaver.

Playing the exact same horror game alone versus on a livestream brought completely different levels of fear.

If you were playing alone, you could never be certain if the noises and movements you heard were real or just auditory hallucinations.

But on a livestream, even if he wondered,Have I been here before? orWas this painting on the wall earlier?, he would be ruthlessly judged by the audience: "You haven't been here, you're misremembering," or, "It was there, you're just blind."

Ai Shiping tightened his grip on his phone, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as he watched the barrage of comments scroll by.

[When did that happen?]

[Holy crap, seamless editing!]

[??? How did they do that?]

[Is this pre-recorded?]

[Amazing, the two camera angles split up!]

Contrary to Ai Shiping's expectations, the audience didn't seem to care about the snake slithering out of the toilet.

Or rather, they had already been scared by it once. That was old news.

What they were focusing on now was...

"Two different camera angles?"

Ai Shiping repeated the comments, his eyes lighting up with realization.

His brain was actually quite sharp; in an instant, he figured it out.

Ming Po had not gone missing, nor had he met with an accident.

But one of them might have accidentally stumbled into the Inner World. Perhaps that was how the Master had vanished earlier as well.

At the very least, Ming Po's camera was still recording normally, and Ai Shiping's viewers could see what was happening on his end.

It was just that Ming Po couldn't see the livestream comments, and Ai Shiping couldn't see what was happening to Ming Po. He could only gauge Ming Po's current situation based on the audience's reactions—though that was practically useless.

[He's moving, he's moving!]

[Wow, so handsome!]

[What a vicious kick!]

[Kick me, hubby!]

[Why isn't there any hair here?]

[Is the timeline earlier over there?]

[That side must be a pre-recording...]

From these fragmented comments, Ai Shiping roughly deduced what Ming Po was doing.

He had probably gone in to check on the situation when Ai Shiping didn't come out. Then, he likely kicked open the last stall door, only to find no hair inside.

"A one-way connection?"

Ai Shiping muttered. "If that's the case..."

Based on the tropes of horror games he had played, it was highly likely the game had separated them to solve different puzzles.

As long as everyone finished their respective puzzles, there was still a chance they would reunite.

Judging by the audience's reactions, the things they were seeing were completely different.

Therefore, it was highly probable that the puzzles each person needed to solve were different as well.

If he simply mirrored the actions of the 'Ming Po' the audience was watching, there was a chance they might reunite immediately during the next spatial shift. However, it could also lead to a direct Bad Ending or getting completely stuck because he hadn't solved his own required puzzle.

That definitely wouldn't do.

Ai Shiping's gaze turned resolute, growing significantly more serious.

He had always liked relying on others. He had many friends around him, and playing tough instead of relying on them would just make him seem distant.

As the saying went, if the sky fell, the tall guys would hold it up.

But if he himself was the tall guy, then it naturally fell to him to shoulder the burden.

He could sniff out hidden things, and Ming Po could find crucial clues.

If the two of them overlapped, it would actually be a waste of their investigative abilities.

"Brothers," Ai Shiping lowered his voice, "try to watch my bro's stream as much as you can. Pay attention to where he goes, what he sees, and what he encounters, and remember to come back and tell me. I'll go investigate the other areas to speed things up. The sooner we finish exploring, the sooner we can leave, alright?"

[He died.]

[Cremated.]

[Reincarnated.]

[Born again.]

[I gave birth to him.]

"Oh, quit messing around."

Ai Shiping didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Seriously, thank you, thanks brothers. Of course, don't all go over there. Leave a few people here to chat with me."

As he spoke, he felt a bit thirsty.

But that was to be expected. He had been talking non-stop for almost half an hour, so it was only natural his mouth was dry.

He turned the faucet, intending to drink some water.

However, he only heard a hollow, gurgling sound.

It sounded exactly like when the water supply was first restored after a shut-off, with the entire pipe vibrating from the pressure.

This was normal too.

After all, the water supply here hadn't been used in a long time. Or rather, without anyone paying the water bill, it might have been shut off entirely.

Ai Shiping sighed with regret and reached out to shut the faucet.

Unexpectedly, even after Ai Shiping securely closed it, the hollow gurgling and vibration didn't stop.

Instead, they grew even more violent, as if something inside had been enraged.

Ai Shiping instantly went on high alert, taking two steps back to distance himself from the sink.

The next moment, all the faucets on the washbasin simultaneously began to spin rapidly, as if invisible hands were twisting them.

Immediately after, a foul-smelling, dark yellow liquid spewed out from the spouts.

Accompanied by translucent slime, countless black snakes surged out explosively!

No... perhaps they weren't black snakes after all.

They could have been exceptionally thick worms, or perhaps slender tentacles.

It was like someone had dumped a massive basin of live loaches into the sink, and these pitch-black monsters were instantly roused.

The foul, dark yellow sewage splashed everywhere, splattering three or four meters away. It flung many of the black snakes a great distance, with one even landing on the wall opposite the sink.

And the faucets were still continuously spewing black snakes. Before they could even fill the sink, they were already raising their heads, violently slithering outward in all directions.

Most importantly—not only could they slither, they could even jump!

Ai Shiping watched helplessly as one of them coiled its sleek, slime-covered body, shot forward like a spring, and landed right beside him.

He instinctively shifted his camera over, capturing its gaping maw of sharp teeth with absolute clarity!

The bizarre creature seemingly had no eyes, but its circular, gaping head was lined with concentric rings of swirling teeth.

It opened its mouth toward Ai Shiping in a threatening display. Its head abruptly expanded several times over; a maw that previously could only accommodate a single finger could now swallow an entire hand!

"Holy shit!"

The curse slipped from his lips.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ai Shiping turned and ran!