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

"Qinqin, the pavilion is here, come quickly!"

Just when the three people in the lakeside pavilion were about to despair, Tan Moli's voice suddenly came from the fog, her voice trembling with tears, urgent and panicked.

Fu Qinqin and Tan Moli are back!

The water ghost didn't stop, as if it couldn't even hear Tan Moli's voice.

"It's the candle! It's the candle's light. As long as we're in the light, that thing can't see us!"

Zhao Weilai immediately understood, and with a sob in her voice, pulled Deng Ziwen closer to the candlelight:

So that's what the task prompt meant!

The water ghost blocked the only entrance to the pavilion, and the three people who were almost supporting each other and squatting on the stone table and chairs shouted at the same time:

"Hurry! That thing is coming in!"

"Watch out, it's right at the door!"

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

Two stumbling figures emerged from the fog; they were Fu Qinqin and Tan Moli.

They looked even more disheveled than Liu Guilan.

Tan Moli's coat was torn, her hair was covered in seaweed and mud, and her face was as white as a ghost.

Fu Qinqin wasn't in much better shape; she had bumped her forehead, and the candle she was protecting in her hand had burned down to just a small stub.

That tiny, green flame was now their only way to survive.

The moment the green light swept down, Tan Moli and Fu Qinqin naturally saw the huge water ghost blocking the entrance to the lake pavilion, as well as the densely packed floating corpses under the bridge, resembling a school of fish.

"!"

Tan Moli was so frightened that her legs went weak and she almost sat down on the ground.

Fu Qinqin's face was also pale. She gripped the candle tightly and took two steps back.

The water ghost was blocking the middle of the pavilion, its enormous body completely obstructing the entrance.

They couldn't get in at all.

"What do we do? Qinqin, we can't get in..." Tan Moli cried, desperately closing her eyes to avoid looking at the face floating in the water.

Fu Qinqin bit her lip, her mind racing.

If you can't get in, you can't complete the task.

The ever-burning candle went out; the two of them had no way to escape.

"We have to rush in," Fu Qinqin said through gritted teeth. "Only by putting the candle in can we survive."

"But...that thing is blocking the way...I'm afraid..."

"I'll distract it, and you can rush in and light the candles," Fu Qinqin said quickly. "You hold the candles, it will chase me, and then you can rush into the pavilion and quickly light the ever-burning candles!"

"No, no, I can't do it." Tan Moli grabbed her arm. "Let's go together!"

"The candle's about to go out." Fu Qinqin pushed her hand away. "If we keep going like this, we'll all die!"

After she finished speaking, she shoved the candle into Tan Moli's hand without saying another word and decisively walked out of the area shrouded in green light.

Almost instantly, Fu Qinqin felt a bone-chilling cold descend upon her.

Countless gazes fell upon her, fixed intently on her.

The lake water churned, and more bubbles rose to the surface with a "glug-glug" sound, causing the long, flowing black hair to sway back and forth.

"Did so many people really drown at our school?"

Fu Qinqin's legs went weak, and she barely managed to grab the moss-covered railing to steady herself, forcing herself to pound on it forcefully:

"Hey! You over there—"

The largest water ghost was indeed attracted to their attention.

It looked at Fu Qinqin, let out a low growl, and then turned and disappeared into the candlelight.

"Plop, plop..."

The next second, wet footprints suddenly appeared on the dry wooden bridge. The footprints moved very fast, and in just a few breaths, they appeared in front of Fu Qinqin!

"Quick! Jasmine, hurry, now!" Fu Qinqin's face showed fear. The next second, the damp steam enveloped her, and an overwhelming feeling of suffocation washed over her.

"Ugh... Ugh... Ugh..."

Her mouth was agape, like a fish out of water, she knelt on the ground, struggling desperately, even sticking her fingers into her mouth and scratching frantically—

Fu Qinqin started vomiting, but what came out wasn't blood, but clumps of hair and foul-smelling mud.

"Hurry up, come here!"

Ding Feifan shouted at Tan Moli, who, upon seeing Fu Qinqin's appearance, instinctively took a few steps back.

Fortunately, her will to survive overcame her fear, and she managed to protect the candle and rush headlong toward the pavilion.

But Tan Moli had only taken two steps when suddenly more than a dozen hands reached out from the gaps in the wooden planks and firmly grabbed her ankles—

She fell heavily to the ground, and the candle in her hand rolled several steps away, getting stuck in a gap in the wooden bridge.

The pitiful candlelight flickered incessantly, as if it would go out at any moment.

"Go away! Go away! Waaaaaah, Mommy! Help me, help me!"

Almost the instant she was out of the light, Tan Moli was completely submerged by a tidal wave of hands.

Inside the pavilion in the middle of the lake, the despair on Deng Ziwen and Ding Feifan's faces was almost palpable.

At this critical moment—

Zhao Weilai didn't know where he got the courage, but he darted out like a rabbit!

Player "Zhao Weilai" awakens the class "Butcher (Gray)"

[Basic Skill: Butcher's Skill.]

[Skill Effect: When attacking spirit/corpse-like targets, there is a 20% chance to trigger a weakness detection, dealing massive damage.]

[Weakness detection in progress... Detection failed.]

[Weakness detection in progress... Detection failed.]

[Judgment failed]

[Weakness detection in progress... Detection successful!]

The moment the cold words echoed in his mind, Zhao Weilai's eyes almost reddened—

His previously limp limbs instantly regained their strength, and the scene before him became incredibly clear:

On the water ghost's swollen, bubbly face, there was a spot that was faintly glowing.

That's its left eye socket.

She could even see the murky eye fluid sloshing around beneath that thin layer of skin.

"Get out of here, you ugly thing!"

Zhao Weilai roared, leaped forward, picked up the candle, gripped the mop handle like a knife, jumped up, and plunged it straight in!

—Almost simultaneously, Song Mo outside the instance exclaimed in delight.

"Pfft!!"

The sharp wooden stick pierced the swollen skin, and blackish-green pus mixed with rotten flesh gushed out with a "whoosh," splattering all over Zhao Weilai's body and face.

"Aww!"

The water ghost let out a howl, seemingly enraged, and the entire pavilion in the middle of the lake began to shake, with black waves rising on the water's surface.

Zhao Weilai quickly stepped back and staggered as he helped Tan Moli up.

Deng Ziwen and Ding Feifan, who were almost scared out of their wits, also trembled as they approached and forcibly dragged Fu Qinqin, who was still spitting out muddy water, back inside.

The candle in Zhao Weilai's hand finally lit the ever-burning candle on the table before it went out.

The moment the green candlelight expanded again, the white mist dissipated, and the surroundings returned to calm.

The churning waves on the lake gradually subsided.

The pale faces that had been floating on the surface of the water slowly sank and disappeared into the dark lake.

Everything returned to calm, except for puddles of black mud on the ground.

Everyone was still in shock from what had just happened.

Tan Moli plunged headfirst into the ground.

Fu Qinqin could barely stand.

Deng Ziwen and Ding Feifan also stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief.

Where did Zhao Weilai get such great strength?

Zhao Weilai himself was also confused.

She sat on the ground, looking at her hands, then at the broken mop handle in her hand.

The end of the stick was still covered in dark green pus.

This was... done by her?

But the stench that filled the air, along with the rotting flesh, black water, and wet footprints on the ground, proved that what had just happened was not an illusion.

[Player Tan Jasmine completes the "Lake Ghost" supernatural tale challenge.]

[Player Fu Qinqin has completed the "Strange Tales: The Lake Ghost" challenge.]

Players Fu Qinqin and Tan Moli have left the instance "High School Ghost Stories".

The text prompts appear sequentially.

Tan Moli and Fu Qinqin sat and knelt beside the stone table, their bodies and faces splattered with corpse fluid and rotten flesh.

The next second, the two figures slowly disappeared.

The white mist around the pavilion in the middle of the lake gradually dissipated, revealing the wooden bridge leading to the shore.

Zhao Weilai and the other two breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Despite having many questions, they decided to leave the area around the artificial lake before making any further plans.

……

……

Meanwhile, outside the instance.

Jiangcheng University.