I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

"What? A dungeon? A game? Do you think I'm easily scared?!"

Zhang Chao was the first to jump out of the car, shouting, "Who's up to this? Come out now! Stop playing tricks!"

Wang Lei looked around in fear, trembling as he said, "Someone must be playing a prank! Where are the cameras? Come out now! I don't want to play anymore! I want to go home!"

They preferred to believe it was a prank rather than that they had actually entered some kind of bizarre instance.

A supernatural instance?

A death game?

That's something you only see in novels and anime.

No matter how much they shouted, no one responded.

The cold wind rustled through the wild grass, echoing through the empty mass grave like the whispers of countless people.

"Or, or we could just do as it says, do exactly what that thing says—"

Su Ya also got off the bus, pointing with a mournful face at the bus that had disappeared behind her at some point:

"I've been to Taiping Cemetery with my family. This isn't Taiping Cemetery at all. And look, there's no cell phone signal."

The group then snapped out of their daze and frantically checked their phones, only to find that they couldn't even dial "110".

The air was filled with a foul, fishy stench, like the smell of dead rats, perhaps mixed with a hint of burnt paper money.

Suya instinctively hugged her arms, goosebumps spreading from the back of her hands all the way down her neck.

The countdown numbers still hovered in the upper right corner of everyone's field of vision.

"What the hell is this?!" Zhang Chao suddenly clutched his head, his face turning pale. "Did you see that? Who's talking in my head? Come out! Stop playing tricks!"

He frantically spun around in circles, trying to find the person hiding in the shadows, but there was nothing around him except for desolate graves and withered trees.

"My mom's right, if someone isn't home by 2:30 in the morning, it's definitely not a good sign—"

Wang Lei collapsed to the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face, looking somewhat comical: "It's over...it's over...we really've entered a ghost town...I don't want to die...I've never even been in a relationship..."

"Damn it, why did that car leave? Old Hei is still in the car."

"Old Black, we're so sorry... Don't come looking for us if you die... We didn't mean to..."

The only two adults, Lao Zhang and Lao Zheng, also felt their legs go weak and their bodies trembled uncontrollably.

They had lived for over forty years and had never encountered anything so bizarre.

The words appeared directly in their minds, along with a death countdown, which was completely beyond their comprehension.

Only Su Ya and Lin Hao were able to barely maintain their composure.

……

"I think that since they've dumped us here, they definitely won't kill us all at once."

Su Ya's face turned a little pale, but she still whispered her suggestion:

"The rules are clearly written: only by finding your own tombstone and cleaning it can you live on. I think, I want to find my tombstone..."

"Looking for a tombstone?"

Lin Hao pointed to the countless graves covering the hillside: "There are so many graves, at least several thousand, right? We only have less than four hours, how are we supposed to find them?"

"How about... we search separately?"

Suya cautiously reminded us, "With so many of us, let's put everyone's names together. If we find each other's names, let's notify each other. That's the most efficient way."

"Why should I? I don't even know those two old guys. They're slow and will only hold us back. Besides, haven't you seen horror movies? The first ones to die are always the lone idiots."

Zhang Chao immediately retorted loudly, spitting on the ground: "Lei Zi, let's go together."

"Okay, okay!" Wang Lei couldn't wait to leave this awful place, so he immediately followed. "Let's search together."

So only four of the six people remained.

"Little girl, my name is Zhang Dong. Zhang is the bow shape, and Dong is the east of the four cardinal directions. This is my friend, I'm going to the east. This is my friend Zheng Zhi, the first two characters of the singer's name who sang 'Sailor'..."

Perhaps out of fear, Zhang Dong became a bit long-winded. He also realized that among this group, only Su Ya was somewhat intelligent.

"I'll go to the east, Zheng Zhi will go to the south. Write your names on my phone. I'll come and let you know when I see them. If you see our names, you must come and call us. You must! My daughter is about your age... I can't die here."

"Okay, I understand. I'll go north then."

Su Ya glanced at the two names and nodded. Lin Hao also came over to write down the names, picked up a stone, and walked west.

Soon, the four of them went in different directions and disappeared into the vast, desolate graveyard.

……

……

In the cemetery to the southeast, most of the grave mounds have collapsed, many of the tombstones are broken, and the weeds have grown taller than a person, almost covering the road.

"Damn it, what a terrible road! It's killing me with all the cutting."

Zhang Chao walked ahead, waving a wooden stick haphazardly. The grass rustled, startling several snakes that quickly slithered away.

"Brother Chao, Brother Chao, wait for me!"

Wang Lei followed behind, taking each step carefully: "Don't walk too fast, we still need to find our tombstones."

"You actually believe that? What ghosts? Even if there were ghosts, my deadbeat dad didn't bless me to win the lottery."

Zhang Chao spat and said, "Get out of here."

He still couldn't believe it was some kind of bullshit game instance.

It's possible that some TV production team put together a prank show just to film them making fools of themselves and then post it online to grab attention.

"If you ask me, I shouldn't have gotten on that beat-up bus. When I get out, I'll sue them until they're bankrupt!"

Zhang Chao cursed, "You owe me at least a million yuan in compensation for emotional distress. Hurry up, are you going to break your leg?"

Just then, his foot seemed to kick something hard.

"What is it?"

Zhang Chao looked down and saw a tombstone half-buried in the soil.

The tombstone was very short, only thirty centimeters high, and covered with moss, making the inscription illegible.

"Damn it, what bad luck!"

Zhang Chao was seething with anger, and instinctively raised his foot to kick.

"Snap... Splash..."

The already decaying tombstone was kicked over by him, shattering into pieces on the ground. Wang Lei peeked over and his face turned as white as paper.

"Brother, brother, why, why does this tombstone have Hao-ge's name on it?"

—The broken tombstone clearly reads: "[Tomb of Lin Hao, born in 2001, died in... year.]"

"I'm already short-tempered, and now you're doing this?! Weren't you supposed to be cleaning the tombstone?"

Zhang Chao paused for a moment, then gave a strange smile: "A tombstone, huh? A death game, huh? I'll just touch this rotten tombstone, so what? What can you do to me—"

He raised his foot again and kicked the shattered tombstone hard.

"Bang!"

Just as the tombstone shattered, Zhang Chao suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right foot.

He noticed that Wang Lei's expression had become extremely terrified, as if he had seen something horrifying:

"Brother, the words... the words have changed, they've changed!!"

On the tombstone, the two characters "Lin Hao" seemed to have been erased by someone, and the next moment, they became "Zhang Chao".

The year of death on the tombstone suddenly became clear, and blood slowly seeped from the stone, eventually forming a bright red "[Died in 2026]".

Zhang Chao lowered his head.

His right foot, starting from the ankle, developed a series of dense cracks.

His entire foot cracked open, like a stone.

There was no blood in the crack, only white, stone-like powder.

"Wha...what happened?"

Zhang Chao's voice began to tremble. He tried to lift his right foot, but found he couldn't move it at all: "Lei Zi, Lei Zi, help, help me—"

The cracks spread upwards at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ankles, calves, knees, thighs...

Wherever it passed, flesh, bones, and blood vessels all turned into a stone-like texture, then cracked open with a "whoosh," eventually falling to the ground in tiny fragments.

"ah--!!!"

"No...no...I don't want to die...Lei Zi, go find Su Ya, go find Lin Hao! I was wrong, I was wrong!"

Zhang Chao's upper body fell to the ground, and he desperately tried to gather his own tombstone with his hands. His face was filled with fear and despair, and tears mixed with snot streamed down his face.

"Go ahead, you son of a bitch, go ahead, or I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"

"It wasn't me who hurt you, it wasn't me who hurt you!"

Wang Lei fell to the ground, and now, disregarding the mess, he kicked his legs wildly and kept backing away, shouting, "Don't come any closer, don't come any closer, don't come any closer—"

Zhang Chao reached out, trying to grab something, but cracks began to appear on his arm.

It was all in vain.

"Click...click..."

The sound of shattering continued.

Arms, shoulders, neck, and then head.

With a cracking sound, Zhang Chao's entire body turned into a pile of white rubble, scattered among the weeds.

The expression on the stone figure's face was frozen in a moment that was a mixture of fear and anger.

Wang Lei's mind went blank, and then he let out a solid scream:

"Aaaaaahh ...

……

……

Lin Hao suddenly turned around.

"...Why do I feel like I can hear that kid Wang Lei yelling?"

His heart was pounding, and he felt that everything around him was too quiet.

It was so quiet that you could only hear his heartbeat and footsteps.

Occasionally, a cold wind would blow by, carrying away flakes of white paper money, and the weeds would rustle, as if someone were walking alongside him on his back.

Lin Hao always felt that something was following him.

But there was nothing there, only rows of cold tombstones, graves from ancient times to the present, standing silently in the grass.

"This place is too eerie."

He shivered, quickly turned his head, and quickened his pace in the search.

Fortunately, Lady Luck was on his side.

Lin Hao searched for almost an hour before finally finding a small tombstone in an inconspicuous corner.

The tombstone was very short, and the mound behind it was pitifully small. The tombstone was new, and there was a line of words pasted on it:

[The tomb of Lin Hao, born in 2001, died in... year.]

That's his tombstone!

Lin Hao breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the tombstone was smaller than he had imagined, it also meant he could save a lot of effort.

Lin Hao looked around but couldn't find suitable tools, so he took off his short-sleeved shirt, crumpled it up, and wiped the tombstone.

As he wiped, he noticed something was wrong.

On the back of the tombstone is a series of handprints that cannot be wiped away. The five fingers seem not to have fully developed, like the paw prints of a small animal, or the footprints left by a baby's small feet.

Hehe...hehehe...

Suddenly, laughter rang out behind him, so close it sounded almost like it was coming right up to his ear.

Lin Hao froze instantly.

A chill ran down his spine, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

"Who...who is laughing?" he asked in a trembling voice, slowly turning around.

There was nothing around.

There were no children, and not even a shadow.

"I must have misheard... I must have misheard..." Lin Hao swallowed, trying to reassure himself.

He lowered his head and continued wiping the tombstone with his short-sleeved shirt, working extra hard with each stroke.

But after wiping it twice, the laughter suddenly rang out again.

This time it's even closer.

He could even feel the tiny claws of some unknown creature gently stroking his forehead.

Hehe... Uncle... what are you wiping...?

A cold breath brushed against Lin Hao's ear.

He shuddered and stopped what he was doing.

Something small and cold was clinging to his back.

Then, a pair of cold, small hands covered his eyes.

Uncle... guess who I am...

A child's innocent voice, tinged with a strange smile, echoed in his mind.

Lin Hao's mind went completely blank for a moment.

Clean the tombstone!

Once the tombstone is cleaned, the task is complete.

Driven by his survival instinct, Lin Hao mustered his last strength and groped his way to the tombstone, then vigorously wiped it clean—

"It's fake, it's all fake. Just wipe it clean and it'll be fine."

"It's okay, just wipe it clean and it'll be fine!"

The next second, he froze on the spot.

Beneath my palm, the cold, hard tombstone seemed to have acquired a certain curve, and sticky, foul-smelling liquid dripped onto the back of my hand, making a "drip, drip" sound.

Lin Hao slowly raised his head.

An unformed baby, still wrapped in the placenta, with its dark eyes wide open, floated above his head.

The umbilical cord from the baby's belly was connected to Lin Hao's wrist.

"Dad, don't you recognize me?"

……

……