"Help"

At that moment, Feibo and various websites were buzzing with discussion:

[This episode is even better than the last two.]

[Holy shit, he actually dared to eat it. Even if someone told me it was a cookie, I wouldn't dare take a bite.]

[Li Bao is so smart!!]

[If this isn't staged, I'll eat shit!]

[There goes the commenter above, scamming free food and drinks again.]

[What's Su Li's deal? He's absolutely ruthless.]

After leaving the café, Su Li felt the emotional energy increasing and his strength slowly growing, and he couldn't help narrowing his eyes.

The staff had already taken Meng Chichi to the lobby to rest.

"Yuan, have the others come out yet?"

"Master, not yet."

Su Li looked thoughtful.

He told the Shadow Servant to carry the Under-Table Ghost to his room first and wait outside until he returned.

Then he headed downstairs to the lobby, saying he had something to do and asking the cameraman not to follow him for now.

Su Li found the director and looked very tentative. "Director Wang, may I make a request?"

Wang Xiang frowned, unsure what this minor celebrity wanted. "What request?"

"Our team's finished our task, but I noticed An Hui and Zhao Yuhao still haven't come down. Could I go help them? I can go alone." Su Li's foxlike eyes were full of sincerity.

Wang Xiang felt a twinge of guilt. In his plans, Su Li's team would be the last to come out today. After all, their setting was the scariest, so he had intended to send the other guests who finished first to help them, creating a perfect contrast. Fans of popular guests loved that sort of thing.

He hadn't expected their roles to reverse, with Su Li coming out first and even volunteering to help.

Wang Xiang thought he wanted to ride An Hui's and Zhao Yuhao's popularity, so he said, "The rules already specify teams of two. Wouldn't you be breaking the rules if you helped them?"

Su Li seemed to know what he was thinking. "Director Wang, I'm not trying to get screen time. I can go without a cameraman, and I'll stay out of An Hui's and Zhao Yuhao's cameras too. I just think that since fate brought us together on this show, we should help each other."

At that moment, he looked like a warmhearted young man simply worried about his companions.

Wang Xiang felt that he meant it. Besides, Su Li actually had some fans now, and one more person could generate more topics and discussion.

"All right, take the cameraman up with you."

Su Li immediately broke into an extremely happy smile. "Thank you, Director Wang." He headed to the second floor with light steps, bringing the cameraman along.

When he reached the storage room, Su Li discovered that it was enormous. Paint completely covered the windows, leaving the interior dimly lit and reeking of mildew. All kinds of unused boxes, cabinets, furniture, and miscellaneous objects filled the room, along with many hanging mirrors. These things turned the storage room into a complicated maze, with a pile of children's toys stacked in a corner.

He found Zhao Yuhao in front of a cabinet, searching inside for something. Su Li approached silently and suddenly tapped his shoulder. "Zhao Yuhao, what are you doing?"

Zhao Yuhao jumped. When he turned and discovered Su Li's detestable face, he was furious, but he still put on a fake smile and asked, "What brings you here?"

He had to maintain his perfect image on camera.

[Why is Su Li here?]

[Did he scare our Yuhao on purpose?]

[He's so annoying.]

"We found our key fragment already. I asked the director if I could come help you, and he agreed."

Zhao Yuhao's fans voiced their displeasure:

[Here to steal screen time??]

[Trying to ride our Yuhao's popularity because he's famous?]

[Is this the only trick this nobody knows?]

But Su Li now had fans and casual viewers speaking up for him too:

[Are Zhao Yuhao's fans all rabid dogs? Su Li came to help you, and you bite him for it?]

[Li Bao found it faster than your idol. Mad about it?]

[Zhao Yuhao's smile is so fake.]

[His fans think everyone's trying to bask in his heat. Anyone who didn't know better would think their idol was a radiator.]

[Li Bao's kindness was wasted on dogs.]

Just then, An Hui came over and spotted Su Li. He asked in surprise, "Su Li? What brings you here?"

"Zhao Yuhao, I came to help you!" His smile was very sincere.

"Your team found yours already?"

"Yes."

"Great, you can help us. This place is huge, and there's so much stuff. We've been searching for half an hour without finding it." An Hui indicated that he could finally see some hope.

An Hui's fans also said in the livestream chat that it was good Su Li had come; another person meant another helping hand.

[I'm dying. Is this the difference between their fans?]

[No wonder An Hui is well-liked and has a good reputation in the industry. Even his fans are so polite.]

[Fans reflect their idols, you know.]

"Okay, Brother An!" Su Li nodded emphatically.

Zhao Yuhao was furious by now. He felt that Su Li's team must have found the key so quickly because the production team had given him the easiest setting, and now he had come here to ride their popularity and play the nice guy.

With that thought, he asked as though casually, "You found it that fast? Your task must have been really easy."

"Yes, Zhao Yuhao. The production team really looked after us. There was food and drink, and even the conditions for finding the key were really simple!"

[What kind of backing does Su Li have? Getting onto this variety show is one thing, but the production team is going this easy on him too??]

[That's why he's just a pretty face. He'll never compare to our idol!]

[He only gets to ride their popularity here because the director looks after him. Otherwise, he'd have fainted from fright ages ago.]

[Please, anyone who's watched Su Li's livestream knows it wasn't easy at all. It was way scarier than this place. Some people think having a mouth gives them free rein to smear others.]

Hearing this made Zhao Yuhao feel even more stifled. He had to find the thing to show just how useless Su Li was.

Su Li surveyed the storage room. Excluding the box ghost, this team's task should have been the easiest and most relaxed.

The key was inside a teddy bear's clothes; all they had to do was find it. There were even hints in certain places: for instance, a child's bear-shaped doodle on the wall, children's clothes filling the cabinets, bear-patterned cushions on the sofa, and plenty of objects related to children.

As for the other creepy-looking objects and mirrors, they were merely distractions meant to play on people's minds. If they still couldn't find it, the production team would probably tell them in secret.

What a perfect display of preferential treatment, Su Li mocked inwardly.

But now that he was here, things wouldn't be so simple.

Su Li began searching alongside An Hui and the others. He glanced around. "Brother An, there are so many mirrors here."

"Yeah, when we first came in, we occasionally startled ourselves with our own reflections."

With a seemingly innocent air, Su Li said, "I think I heard somewhere that mirrors connect to the spirit world. If you stare into a mirror in a dim place for too long, you'll see another version of yourself. Rooms with lots of mirrors also tend to attract ghosts."

[Is that true?]

[I think I've heard that before too.]

[My elders say mirrors shouldn't face the head of the bed.]

[Don't listen to his nonsense. All Su Li does is act spooky to scare people on purpose!]

[This nobody is such a coward. As if Yuhao would be scared of that stuff.]

[Yuhao, don't believe him!]

There was a hint of disdain in Zhao Yuhao's voice. "What century are we living in? Those folk tales are all meant to fool children. You actually believe them?"

An Hui was more tactful. "I've heard that too, but some say it's because if you look at a mirror in the dark for too long, the lighting causes optical illusions."

If he couldn't see the faint cyan emotion surrounding them, Su Li might really have thought they weren't afraid.

He nodded obediently. "Okay, Brother An, I understand."

Su Li turned to rummage through a drawer, continually muttering, "Where's the key?" He looked very focused.

[Li Bao looks so sweet nodding like that!]

[Aww, our Li Bao is so cute.]

[Li Bao is really taking this seriously, hahahaha.]

[Who needs his help? He's just forcing himself on them for attention.]

[What a nobody. He's shamelessly latching onto Yuhao because he's popular.]

[Reporting in: our Brother An needs him!]

[Making a forty-something old man like Brother An search for things is just cruel.]

[Are the two above actually haters? Hahahahahaha.]

Just then, Su Li called out to An Hui and Zhao Yuhao, "Brother An, Brother Zhao, there's something here!"