It's late at night.

"Help! Help! I'm still useful!"

Chen Qi struggled, but the more he struggled, the further he drifted from his boat.

But Liu Lili, who was closest to the scene, just watched indifferently and made no attempt to lend a helping hand.

She must have had her reasons; this little girl clearly didn't fall into the water in a normal way.

Then there must be something underwater, a ghost, a ghost lying in wait for its prey!

"Help! What are you standing there for?!"

Lu Qifa was still somewhat enthusiastic, but he didn't go into the water; instead, he paddled closer with his oar.

While observing the water's surface, he stretched out his oar, trying to pull Chen Qi up.

Xia Yao also wanted to help. It was her first time here, and she couldn't bear to see life struggling before her eyes.

He had only gotten a little closer when he started thinking about how he could help.

An invisible force pushed him from behind, catching him off guard and causing him to fall into the lake.

There was clearly nothing behind him.

It's a ghost!

The ghost pushed him into the lake!

The icy lake water went over his head and rushed into his nostrils, almost suffocating him.

Xia Yao's mind went blank, but she reacted quickly, holding her breath and coordinating her movements to keep herself steady.

For someone who can swim, floating should be an easy thing.

But at this moment, Xia Yao seemed to have her head held down, unable to surface no matter what she did.

What's going on? Chen Qi wasn't like that, was she?

Is the ghost targeting him again?

It doesn't make sense for someone to be this unlucky, does it?

However, now is not the time to let her mind wander. Xia Yao needs to find a way to float to the surface, or she will suffocate.

The lake was in chaos, but Chen Qi had already grabbed the oar and steadied himself so he wouldn't drown.

But Xia Yao disappeared after falling down, as if she sank directly to the bottom.

"Get out of here quickly! Otherwise, the ghosts will drag us down one by one."

Seeing this, Liu Lili stopped talking about looking for lanterns and started paddling, intending to turn around and leave.

Zhou Zean stared at the water, his eyes filled with conflict.

This newcomer is quite good; if he survives, he will definitely be of great help later on.

However, he sank, and the underwater situation is unknown.

The ghost is clearly among them, and it's obviously not worth taking such a risk for a teammate who is like a complete stranger.

However, the camera, which was hanging around Xia Yao's neck, also fell into the water.

What will happen to them if they don't bring back a single lamp?

"No, we can't leave. We have to take the lamp back with us."

Zhou Ze'an had seen someone in the game who was targeted by a ghost after failing to complete a task.

The reporter's identity hasn't been verified yet, the substitution scheme hasn't been found, and the method to end the game is still unknown. He doesn't want to die halfway through.

Lu Qi sent people to rescue them, but they couldn't very well fight back again, could they?

So they had to use the other oar to push the water toward Chen Qi's small boat, so that she could climb back onto the boat by herself first.

As for lending a hand? That's impossible. Extending a paddle is already an act of extraordinary kindness. What if lending a hand pulls him down too?

And at this moment, underwater.

As Xia Yao struggled to swim to the surface, he saw a dark figure approaching him.

The lake was pitch black underneath, but inexplicably, there seemed to be light, allowing him to see what was approaching.

The corpse was a swollen, rotting body.

He could even see the rotting flesh scattered in the water, like bait spreading out in the water.

That shouldn't be the case! It's so dark around here; you shouldn't be able to see anything underwater.

Why could he see so clearly? Even the rotting wounds seemed magnified.

An illusion! He must have entered a ghost's illusion!

While Xia Yao was still racking his brains, the corpse floated towards him.

A strong wave of nausea washed over him, making him want to vomit, and he almost opened his mouth in the water.

It was that reporter who fell into the water!

He is getting closer and closer to me!

Xia Yao struggled and swam desperately, trying to avoid the oncoming corpses.

No matter how hard he swam, he couldn't get any closer to the corpse.

He could only watch helplessly as that horribly rotten thing touched him.

On her hand, there was a sticky, disgusting sensation that made Xia Yao feel as if she had been electrocuted.

Xia Yao's mind went completely blank for a moment. When he came to his senses again, he found himself already out of the water!

Land! I'm actually on the ground!

His face turned bluish-purple from holding his breath for so long.

Unable to suppress their instincts any longer, they had no time to consider whether it was still an illusion.

He felt alive again when he breathed in large gulps of fresh air.

Where is this place?

After catching her breath, Xia Yao finally looked around at the scene and assessed her situation.

At this moment, he was wearing an old blue raincoat and had a black long-handled umbrella in his hand.

Large raindrops drifted down from the sky, making a pattering sound as they landed on the umbrella.

It seemed as if I was in the middle of nowhere, with tall weeds all around me that almost covered me.

Not far away, there is a lake.

Raindrops fell on the lake, creating ripples.

I clearly fell to the bottom of the lake, so how did I suddenly appear on the lakeshore?

Is this a timeline from before the scenic area was built?

Is this the lake where they searched for the lanterns?

Xia Yao looked around and quickly determined the answer.

No, I need to find a direction and run quickly.

Last time I was drawn into a ghostly illusion, I almost got left in that shabby little house.

However, before he could react, he heard rustling sounds coming from the bushes.

When he looked over, a burly man emerged from the bushes and punched him squarely in the face.

Her face stung, and Xia Yao stumbled and fell to the ground. The black umbrella in her hand was also blown far away by the wind.

"Damn it, aren't you supposed to be a fast runner and a good hider? Keep running!"

Several more men emerged from the bushes; they were all burly men wearing plastic raincoats. They immediately pinned Xia Yao down, pressing his face against the muddy ground, rendering him unable to move.

"Hey, what are you doing? I don't know you at all. Is there some misunderstanding?"

The man ignored his words and struggles and began to search him.

Xia Yao then noticed that these people were wrapped up quite tightly.

Wearing raincoats, rubber boots, and even gloves, this was clearly an organized and premeditated crime!

"Brother, no! I don't know where this young reporter hid it."

After rummaging around aimlessly, the younger brother found nothing.

Xia Yao suddenly realized that she had been dragged into the reporter's conversation!

What is happening now is exactly what that journalist went through.

"Hey, where did you hide it? Are you going to tell me or not?"

The man in the lead gently patted Xia Yao's face through his gloves, trying to get some information out of her.

Xia Yao wanted to speak again, to explain that she didn't know anything about it and that she was just making things up.

But for some reason, he couldn't utter a single word; his throat had lost its voice.

"You've got guts, huh? Why don't you come hang out with me?"

"Since you're unwilling to confess, throw you into the lake."