"To get here, I gambled with my life more times than I can count, risked death nine times out of ten — and now, all I need to do to go back is push open a door." Chen Ge felt a sense of unreality wash over him.
"The real world is in your hands now. Make sure you protect the tourists. They bring a trace of life to this desolate place, and they can make the fierce ghosts feel a long-forgotten happiness." The child in the mirror seemed uncertain whether he was thinking of the tourists or the ghosts — his kindness was, in a sense, equal toward everything.
"The real world is fine with me. The key is making sure the ghosts in Blood City don't affect the real world. Besides, there's still that Evil God called 'Eat' who escaped from the Cursed Hospital. He has many family members who share the surname 'Eat.' If we don't kill him, those people will probably live under curses and unease forever."
"The Fog Sea is vast, and it's difficult to track down an Evil God. But you have a top-tier Red Robe by your side who specializes in curses. Once she becomes an Evil God herself, she might be able to use the curse connections among the Eat family to deduce 'Eat's' approximate location." The child in the mirror noticed that Chen Ge was still standing at the stall door, refusing to enter, and a helpless smile appeared on his face. "Is there something else?"
"Deep inside the Cursed Hospital, I saw a blood door. If every door was pushed open by you, and all doors ultimately lead to Blood City, then how do you explain that door at the very bottom of the hospital?" Chen Ge thought for a moment. "That blood door could block all aura and presence. Before we entered the hospital, we had no idea the Director's evil thoughts were hidden behind that door."
"Before we split into good thoughts and evil thoughts, the Director once came to Hanjiang to find us. By then, he had already been exploring the Black Mist and Blood City for a long time, conducting many experiments. Actually, the original concept of doors was his idea. If you've looked through his memories, you'd know — the Director wanted to use Blood City and the Fog Sea to destroy the real world. He planned to connect the two worlds and release all the ghosts from the Fog Sea and Blood City back into reality, turning the real world into a nightmare." The child in the mirror recalled those terrible memories. "Once the Director learned of my abilities, he used me as a test subject. He did it for his own sake, but without my knowledge, I also absorbed over a decade of experience he'd accumulated."
"I still don't understand what you're trying to say."
"That door at the bottom of the hospital was the first prototype. I pushed it over and over again in the Fog Sea, experimenting. That door couldn't connect the Fog Sea to reality, but it could block outside detection and perception." The child in the mirror hadn't expected so many questions from Chen Ge, and his voice gradually softened. "I need to keep Blood City running. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
"Wait! I have one last question. This time it really is the last one."
"Go ahead." The child in the mirror looked at Chen Ge with a helpless expression, but the gentle smile remained on his face.
"Are you truly unable to leave Blood City ever again? I think Mom and Dad want to see you too. If there's ever a chance, I hope all of us can be happy." Chen Ge spoke from the heart.
"That doesn't sound like something evil thoughts would say." The child in the mirror shook his head. "There's a roulette wheel on the Black Phone. There's still one ghost in it you haven't drawn."
Chen Ge's current title was Favored by the Red Robes. Once he drew one more fierce ghost, his title would upgrade. "Why are you bringing this up now?"
"That last ghost is me. Once you draw away all the pain, despair, and unease from the roulette, I'll be the last ghost to leave Blood City." The child in the mirror finished speaking, then slowly faded away.
Chen Ge understood what he meant. When every soul in Blood City had been redeemed, the good thoughts would also be reborn.
"What a kind-hearted soul." Chen Ge stared blankly at the mirror. "Your ability to freely move between Blood City and the real world — perhaps that isn't a coincidence. Rather than you merging with Blood City, it's more like the countless desperate souls within it chose you of their own free will."
After the boy in the mirror departed, Chen Ge didn't immediately push open the door to return to reality. Instead, he found the old principal of the Psychic Ghost School, expressed his gratitude, and personally helped the Evil God escort the Red Robes back to the school.
Chen Ge had assumed the Painter would return with the old principal, but the Painter seemed to have other matters to attend to. He took the incomplete oil painting, asked Chen Ge to look after
According to the Painter, he apparently wanted to build a true "Paradise" inside the Black Mist.
After seeing off the Painter and the old principal, Chen Ge returned to the ruins of the Cursed Hospital.
Xiao Sun had become the new Director. He was discussing plans to rebuild the hospital with the remaining members of the Eat family and several ghosts willing to stay.
As for the living who wanted to leave behind the door, Chen Ge would take them out.
With the help of the Evil God and Blood City, Chen Ge used his Living Doll ability to repair most of the injuries on the living people — Left Han's eyes, for example.
Once everything behind the door had been taken care of, Chen Ge brought the living back to the center of Blood City.
The good thoughts in the mirror had already left. The haunted house at the heart of Blood City stood empty, indistinguishable from its counterpart in the real world.
"Time to go."
His palm pressed against the stall door. As Chen Ge pushed steadily, countless blood-red threads writhed across the wooden surface.
This was the first time he'd pushed open the door of his own haunted house — he just hadn't expected to be pushing it from the inside.
Sunlight streamed through the glass windows and fell upon him. The crimson faded, and with one step, Chen Ge returned to the human world.
A faint scent of air freshener drifted past his nose. The curtains swayed in the breeze, and a girl clutching a cloth doll appeared before him —
She couldn't leave the haunted house, but she knew something dangerous had happened the night before. She seemed to have been waiting outside the bathroom stall door the entire time, waiting for Chen Ge to come back.
He gently patted Luo Ruoyu's head. She felt like his own little sister.
"I brought Mom and Dad back. Everything's fine now."
Chen Ge had the employees and Luo Ruoyu escort his parents to the staff break room.
He set down the white cat and his backpack, glanced back at the living people filing out of the bathroom stalls one by one, and summoned Zhang Yi.
After erasing the living people's memories, Chen Ge efficiently loaded them onto the corpse cart and wheeled them out of the haunted house.
In truth, he didn't need to handle it personally — he and his employees had developed an unspoken understanding. A single glance was enough for everyone to know what to do.