I watched Old Li, and Old Li watched me, neither daring to step forward. Just then, Risik from above, the German, shouted down to us in Mandarin: "Luo Lian, Li Zeng, are you two alright?"

Their faces all craned up towards the opening in the ceiling. Old Li replied with a voice more cheerful than any I had ever heard, "We're fine! Hurry down!" With that, he pulled me aside and whispered urgently, "Technician Luo, be careful of that guy Mayartis; he's no good. When they get down, if we get a chance, we grab the map back."

I knew this without him needing to remind me. However, as Old Li and I retreated backward, I clearly saw Mark jump down. The moment he landed, he vanished completely in front of us, though we could hear the sporadic sound of him shouting loudly in German. His voice sounded completely normal, utterly unremarkable. Then, the other three followed, dropping down with dull thuds.

But Old Li and I couldn't see them at all. They should have been nearby, yet there wasn't a single trace of them. Then, the four of them started calling out to each other, seemingly unable to see one another either.

Startled, I asked Old Li, "What's going on?"

Old Li looked equally bewildered. "I don't know..."

"They can't see each other... I think." I struggled to make sense of the scene before me. "Mayartis also disappeared right before our eyes... but when we were above, we clearly saw him talking right here, perfectly fine."

In this short span of time, all sound from the Germans ceased completely. It seemed as if only Old Li and I existed in this entire space. A cold dread seeped into my heart. I urged Old Li to leave quickly; staying here was terrifying beyond measure.

Old Li was equally at a loss, asking me where to go and how to proceed. Returning to the second level was impossible; we had no climbing gear, and the entire third level appeared to be hollow, seemingly without end. The entrance was like a sudden skylight punched into the ceiling, offering no foothold to climb back up. Moreover, even if we did climb up, we would have no path forward; we couldn't return.

"Should we just keep going down? All the way to the legendary seventh level?" I suggested.

Old Li sighed helplessly. "That might be the only way... but... but this level is so bizarre, I'm afraid... afraid..." He didn't finish the sentence, but I understood his meaning: he feared we wouldn't even make it across this level alive. Five living Germans had jumped down and completely vanished before our eyes without a sound. Were they suffocated by the cocoons above? Or was a monster's bite instantly snapped their necks? Or had they mutated after encountering something? We had no idea.

The unknown is always the most frightening. Old Li and I were steeped in the most terrifying circumstances imaginable.

Old Li hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a compass from his pocket, intending to use it as a guide to find some direction. He asked me with a touch of uncertainty, "Technician Luo, up above, all directions were reversed. Here, should we view it the same way?"

His question stumped me. We had no reference points now. Who knew if the magnetic field here was chaotic, or if everything was normal. "This... this..." I stammered for a long time without offering any real answer.

Old Li pondered for a moment. "How about this: we'll follow the direction indicated by the 'Gate of Life' first. If anything feels wrong, we run immediately..."

There was no other option. I braced myself, every pore on my body on high alert, drawing my dagger and gripping it tight, ready to strike at anything—person or ghost—that attacked from any angle.

Old Li, following our usual custom, used the Bagua orientation to find the Gate of Life. In the gloom, I couldn't discern any direction. He pointed to the left and said, "Shall we try this way first?" His tone betrayed a complete lack of conviction.

I nodded and followed close behind him. Old Li also drew his dagger, taking a tentative step, pausing to survey the surroundings, then moving again. Everything around us was still pitch black. The light cast a considerable distance, but there was still no sign of those five Germans. I wasn't worried about their life or death; I was concerned about what kind of monster or situation could instantly wipe out heavily armed Germans, and whether that threat would now turn toward us.

"Old Li..." After walking a few paces, I felt smothered by the bottomless blackness. I walked tentatively, wanting to walk alongside him, but fearing an attack from behind, and hesitant to walk back-to-back for mutual support lest he mock me for being timid. I called out, but he didn't respond. I called again: "Old Li." Still no reply; he must have been completely engrossed in his own thoughts. I didn't dare call out again, so I walked a few steps, turned to check my rear, and only continued forward when I saw nothing amiss.

But after a while, Old Li suddenly turned around and asked me, "Technician Luo, did you call me?"

I felt a surge of irritation. Had he only just heard me calling him? "Yes... I called you just now, quite a while ago," I said, feeling rather dissatisfied; he was putting on quite an act.

To my surprise, Old Li looked genuinely astonished. "What? I called you just now? How could that be? The moment you finished speaking, I answered..."

I insisted that I had called him earlier, and I was about to suggest we walk back-to-back, watching each other's backs, but seeing his wide-eyed, utterly confused expression, I let the idea drop—it seemed he wouldn't have been receptive anyway.

This time it happened again! After a long pause, Old Li finally replied, "Technician Luo, how is it that I clearly saw your mouth moving and speaking, but I'm only hearing your voice now?" Old Li's tone had shifted.

His expression didn't suggest he was lying, and I froze. "Could there be something invisible obstructing the sound waves?" That was my first thought, but when I reached out, I felt nothing but air.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind like lightning: Could we be in different dimensions, causing this? No, no! I quickly dismissed that terrifying thought, telling myself it couldn't be so. Old Li and I could see each other; how could we be in different spaces?

Despite my denial, I quickly moved two steps forward to walk perfectly side-by-side with Old Li, as if lining up. Old Li looked at me in confusion. "Technician Luo?"

This time, as soon as his mouth opened, I heard his voice immediately. "I think it might be a matter of position," I replied. As the words left my mouth, Old Li immediately picked up the conversation. "A matter of position?" But as soon as he spoke, his face grew even more bewildered. "Technician Luo, how can I hear you speak so promptly now?"

I felt a surge of certainty; perhaps it truly was about position. When we walked abreast, the sound transmitted unimpeded, reaching the other instantly.

And so, Old Li and I continued forward, walking cautiously, side-by-side like soldiers in formation.

After walking an indeterminate distance, we suddenly heard someone call out our names: "Luo Lian! Luo Lian! Li Zeng!" It was Risik’s voice, followed by Mayartis calling us, though his voice was laced with sheer terror.

Old Li waved a hand, signaling not to answer. But then, stranger sounds followed—gunshots, and human screams. It felt as if we were inside a building, and those sounds were coming from outside.

My scalp began to prickle. I didn't know whether to keep moving forward. Old Li was the same, hesitating over where to place his next step.

But after a brief flurry of noise, those sounds suddenly vanished, leaving behind not a whisper. This turn of events left me even more flustered, completely losing my bearings.

"Tech... Technician Luo... with your knowledge... what... what is happening here?" Old Li asked, his face drained of color.

I took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and said, "It might be a 'ghost wall'..." I had intended to say something nonsensical just to comfort Old Li, but as the words left my mouth, I realized it sounded almost plausible. The scientific explanation for a ghost wall is that magnetic field anomalies affect the brain, causing hallucinations. Didn't we establish there were magnetic field issues on the level above? "Yes... that's right, it must be that. Otherwise, how could we not see Mayartis and the others?" I added.

Hearing this, Old Li let out a breath of relief. "Then... that’s good..."

But I suddenly couldn't reconcile it myself. Even if it was a magnetic field anomaly, would my words take half a minute to reach Old Li? And those shouts from Mayartis and the others, along with the gunshots we heard—did those also reach our ears after a significant delay?

The more I thought, the more confused my mind became; I couldn't untangle the threads. So, I relayed my renewed doubts to Old Li.

Old Li stopped walking, afraid to move forward. "Technician Luo... you mean... either our hearing and sight are malfunctioning, which is why we can't see Mayartis and the others, and why it took so long to hear their voices; or, perhaps, this place has completely jumbled human perception?" After a brief bout of fear, he slowly regained composure, his face less pale.

Old Li's final statement was like a sudden awakening for me; I finally grasped it. Yes, it had to be that. No other reason could explain it. "Correct, it must be so. There must be something here that affects vision and hearing, which is why it took you so long to hear me speak, and why we couldn't see Mayartis and the others."

Old Li looked at me with a mixture of comprehension and doubt. "Technician Luo... that can be said... but... even if that's true? Why can we see each other, but the Mayartis group cannot see us, and we also cannot see them?"

"...This..." I was stumped again. What Old Li said was true. Surely this place couldn't automatically differentiate nationalities, see the two of us as Chinese, and therefore possess some mystical power that shielded us from the effect? And then the Germans could see each other, but simply couldn't see us?

No, the moment this idea surfaced, I found it ridiculous. How could that be possible! No matter how magical the place, it couldn't possess such fantastical, selective capabilities!