You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

[Game loading...]

[Friendly reminder: The roads are slippery in the rain, please watch your step.]

The familiar notification sound ended.

Before the eyes of the leader of the cult of science, darkness turned into gloom.

The pattering sound of rain immediately entered my ears.

"Waaaaah..."

The little girl's cries, sometimes faint and unpredictable, would ring out in the courtyard right on time.

Sometimes near, sometimes far, it seems to be right next to my ear, yet it also seems to be separated by a thick wall.

The voice was filled with helplessness and sorrow, which sounded particularly eerie in the quiet rainy night.

In the cult leader's live stream, the chat instantly became tense.

[The first dish in Brother Long's Nightmare Set Meal: The Crying of Ghosts!]

[That crying, even listening to it through the screen, sends chills down my spine.]

What will the cult leader do? Ignore him completely, or force his way in?

The cult leader simply stood quietly in place, tilting his ear and listening intently.

It felt like appreciating a unique piece of music.

After a few seconds, he suddenly spoke softly to the empty courtyard.

The voice was gentle, as if coaxing a tantrum-throwing child.

"Don't cry."

"Uncle is here."

This sentence caused a question mark to appear on the foreheads of all 30 million viewers in the live broadcast room.

【? 】

[Uncle? Master, you're quick to recognize seniority!]

[Uncle Susan is here! Is he talking to thin air?]

I get it! He's establishing communication! He never treated the other person like a monster from the beginning!

The crying seemed to pause for a moment.

Although it hasn't stopped, that elusive feeling seems to have lessened somewhat.

The source of the sound seemed to be locked in the dark mansion ahead.

The cult leader smiled slightly, took a step, and walked slowly toward the gate.

As I crossed the high threshold, the sound of crying came clearly from the depths of the dark corridor on my left.

"Waaah... my shoes... my shoes are gone..."

The cult leader followed the sound and walked into the long, dark corridor.

The ground beneath my feet was sticky, and each step felt slightly sluggish.

The tightly closed doors on both sides were like silent onlookers.

After walking about ten meters, his toe lightly kicked something.

The cult leader stopped and looked down.

A pair of small, red embroidered shoes lay quietly on the wet floor.

The mandarin ducks embroidered on the shoes appeared somewhat somber in the dim light.

[Mission Objective: Pick up the embroidered shoe and find its owner.]

The cult leader squatted down and carefully examined the shoes.

He stretched out his finger and gently touched the surface of the shoe.

Cold and stiff.

It doesn't feel like fabric at all; it's more like a piece of wood that's been soaked in water for a long time.

"The workmanship is quite good."

The cult leader even had the leisure to make a comment.

Then he picked up the shoes and stood up.

The moment he stood up.

"clatter."

A crisp sound of a shoe heel striking the ground rang out from behind him.

It's very light.

But it was enough to make the hearts of all the viewers in the live stream skip a beat.

[They're here! Footsteps! Brother Long's PTSD is about to flare up!]

[Look how the cult leader handles this! Don't turn back!]

Turning back means certain death; this is a truth that Brother Long has proven with his knees!

The cult leader, of course, did not turn back.

His body wasn't stiff at all.

He simply held the embroidered shoes in his hand and continued walking forward at a leisurely pace.

"Tap, tap."

The footsteps behind me turned into two.

The sound was closer, as if it were just a meter behind me.

The cult leader neither turned back nor quickened his pace.

He even spoke to those behind him in an almost casual tone as he walked.

"Don't worry, the shoes are right here, they can't run away."

"The road is slippery, walk slowly, don't fall."

In the live stream, 30 million viewers were completely stunned.

They've seen people swearing while playing horror games, they've seen people crying and screaming, and they've also seen people calmly analyzing things.

But they had never seen anyone treat the ghost chasing them like their own child, caring for and admonishing it!

I...I don't understand it, but I'm deeply moved!

What kind of tactic is this? Reverse PUA?

[Ghost: I fucking chased you the whole way, and you tell me to be careful not to fall?]

If Brother Long saw this scene, he'd probably kneel down again on the spot—not out of fear, but out of shame!

The cult leader completely ignored the commotion behind him.

He maintained a steady pace and walked forward step by step.

He took one step, and the sound of footsteps followed behind him.

"Tap, tap, tap, tap..."

The relentless drumbeats that once drove the raging Dragon Brother to a mental breakdown now resembled a docile follower, maintaining a respectful distance from the leader.

The corridor seemed to have no end.

The cult leader walked for about a minute, and the footsteps behind him followed for about a minute as well.

There was no attack, no sudden rush, only an eerie harmony.

Just then, the cult leader stopped in his tracks.

He did not go any further.

The viewers in the live stream felt a chill; were they at the end of the "ghost wall"?

The cult leader slowly turned around, and all the audience members instinctively held their breath.

There was nothing behind him.

Only that dark, water-shimmering blue stone corridor remained.

The footsteps stopped abruptly the moment he turned around.

"Okay, stop fooling around."

The cult leader's voice carried a hint of indulgent helplessness.

"You must be tired after playing hide-and-seek for so long."

As he spoke, he made a move that shocked the entire internet.

He slowly squatted down and gently placed the pair of red embroidered shoes on the floor in front of him.

The toes of the shoes pointed outwards, towards the dark depths of the corridor.

They were arranged neatly, as if welcoming a homeowner returning home.

"The shoes are here," the cult leader said, his voice softening further. "Put them on."

"Uncle will take you to find your mother."

In the live stream, the chat remained silent for five seconds.

Everyone was stunned by the leader's series of actions.

He didn't mistake the other person for a ghost.

He saw her as a mischievous little girl who had lost her shoes in the rain and was playing hide-and-seek with the adults.

He did not resist, nor did he try to escape.

He was playing along with her and keeping her company.

When you're tired of playing, it's time to go home.

In the quiet corridor, the pair of embroidered shoes placed on the floor moved.

Unlike when they chased Brother Long before, they didn't "walk" over step by step.

Instead, it was as if an invisible pair of feet had been placed over it, slightly adjusting its angle.

Then, a figure slowly emerged above the embroidered shoes, gradually becoming more prominent.

It was a little girl wearing a red bib.

His skin was pale and swollen, and his hair was wet and stuck to his face.

A pair of pure black eyes, devoid of any light.

It was that water ghost girl who terrified Brother Long.

But at this moment, she was not hanging upside down on the wall, nor was she making any terrifying poses involving reversed joints.

She just stood there quietly.

Head down, looking at the pair of shoes he had lost and found.

Several seconds later, she slowly raised her head and looked at the cult leader who was squatting on the ground.

There was no resentment or madness in those pure black eyes.

There was only a trace of sadness and confusion that seemed out of place for someone of his age.

She opened her mouth and made a clear, childlike sound.

"Mother……"

"Mom is at the wedding ceremony... I can't go back..."

This sentence struck like a lightning bolt, hitting all the viewers watching the live stream!

[Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! It's a collaboration! It really is a collaboration!]

[The mother is at the wedding ceremony! Her mother is the paper bride!]

So the story of "The Embroidered Shoes" is about a little girl who, after dying, wants to go back to find her mother, who is having a ghost marriage!

[You damn planner! You're amazing! You're fucking constructing a complete tragedy!]

The cult leader's face showed an expression of "I knew it".

He stood up and reached out his hand to the little girl.

"Come on, Uncle will take you home."

The little girl shook her head, her small body even shrinking back slightly.

For the first time, fear appeared on her face.

She stretched out her pale finger and pointed into the darkness deeper into the corridor.

"Home...is over there..."

Her voice began to tremble.

"But... there's something bad... it won't let me pass."

The cult leader looked in the direction she pointed.

Ahead lay only bottomless darkness, as if it could swallow up all light.

"Something bad?" The cult leader frowned. "What kind of bad thing?"

The little girl's body trembled even more violently, and her teeth chattered.

She used all her strength to squeeze out a few words from her throat.

"he……"

"He has no face..."