"Assuming the person who pushed open the door in the sickroom was Chang Gu, where did he go after entering the school?"
Chen Ge knew nothing about the world behind this door. The experience he'd gained from the three-star scenes was completely useless here. But Chang Gu was different — the man had spent years researching and investigating this door, and he possessed the left eye that Chang Wenyu had brought out of the haunted school.
That eyeball could see things invisible to ordinary people. Having it was practically like cheating.
"Chang Wenyu is Chang Gu's younger sister. Her body became the vessel for the substitute ghost, but her soul should still be within the school. She wouldn't sit by and watch her brother be put in danger."
If the difficulty of this mission was classified as Hard, Extreme, or Hell-level, then Chang Gu was playing on Extreme difficulty, while Chen Ge himself was stuck on Hell-level.
Starting with absolutely nothing, opening his eyes in a daze and immediately facing a killing scenario — no assistance, no one around he could trust. Even so, Chen Ge had managed to carve out a foothold for himself through sheer force of will.
"If only I could link up with Chang Gu. That way, his resources would essentially become mine, and having another ally means we can watch each other's backs."
Chang Gu's eyesight wasn't great, but the man was clever and skilled at hiding his true capabilities. He was definitely more formidable than he appeared.
"Once the shadow wakes up, I'll go find the victim list. I'll observe Chang Gu from the shadows first, see what his situation looks like."
Chen Ge never put all his eggs in one basket. His plan was to find Chang Gu and then coordinate with him — one operating in the open, the other in the shadows.
"If that killer really is Chang Gu, then I can conveniently pin everything on him and clear myself. Then, when the critical moment comes, I can step in to help him. The school authorities would never suspect that there are two killers in this school." Deep down, Chen Ge harbored another plan: "To throw the school off balance, two killers won't be enough. I need to awaken more of the vengeful ghosts' instincts. Once the killings multiply and the school's rules are broken, I'll have a chance to fish in troubled waters."
For now, this was just Chen Ge mulling things over — implementing the plan would be extremely difficult. There might exist something beyond red spirits in this school, and the terror of such a monster was beyond even Chen Ge's imagination. "When awakening the other ghosts, I absolutely cannot get directly involved. I need to provoke them indirectly."
His mind worked step by step, refining his plan, and before he knew it, Chen Ge had run to the end of the path. A wall loomed before him.
The plaster was peeling off, and ivy had spread across its entire surface. The night breeze blew through, making every leaf on the wall sway gently — it looked like hundreds of little hands waving.
"This wall is probably three meters tall. With no foothold, there's no way to climb over it. What did the shadow bring me here for?"
The wall was right next to a thicket of trees, so Chen Ge wasn't worried about being exposed for the moment. But past experience had taught him that staying in one place too long always led to trouble.
Chen Ge reached his hand toward the wall. The ivy leaves scraped across the back of his hand, creating a strange sensation — almost as though a child were gnawing on his hand with its teeth.
"The wall looks ordinary enough. Seems like there's nothing particularly wrong with it." Chen Ge didn't dare stay put. He kept glancing back at his shadow.
The shadow's body was changing every minute, every second. It was still in the midst of its transformation, with no signs of awakening whatsoever.
"I'm a substitute ghost, and yet I've started worrying about the original ghost. How ironic."
The shadow had only told Chen Ge to come to the wall, but once he got here, it had said nothing about what to do next.
"No bloodstains, no sensation of cold or yin energy. This place is just like the wall of any ordinary school at night."