An inexplicable wave of terror swept through his entire body. Zhu Long felt himself slowly sinking, his strength drained away, as though he'd been thrown into a pitch-black prison cell where everyone had abandoned him.
"Stay calm!"
"No." Zhu Long was slowly getting used to it. His tone of voice was different from before — less of a student's innocence, replaced by an indescribable edge. The boy was changing little by little, though he hadn't realized it himself yet.
"Looks like the stimulus wasn't strong enough." Some things couldn't be forced. Given Zhu Long's condition, Chen Ge decided not to push further. "Take this pink phone. Your memories are hidden inside. Most of the content is real — you just forgot about them."
"I don't even know who the owner of this phone is…"
"Then why did a girl's name pop into your head the moment you saw its contents?"
That left Zhu Long speechless. For any normal person, this situation was absolutely terrifying.
Zhu Long clawed at his head. The sensation of trying to remember something that wouldn't come could drive a person insane. "Teacher, since we know the phone's owner is named Gao Jie, why don't you step in and we go straight to find the girl? We can ask her everything face to face!"
"Are you certain this girl named Gao Jie is even at this school?" Chen Ge looked at Zhu Long, a trace of pity in his eyes.
The world behind the gate was woven from the memories of the despairing. But the people who had given them that despair were not inside the gate.
That was the most bitter irony of all — the victims locked themselves behind the gate, while their tormentor might still be alive out in the world.
"If she's not a student here, how would her phone have ended up in the dissection room?" It was simple logic. Zhu Long couldn't understand why Chen Ge didn't see it.
"Even if you find her, what you hear from her mouth might not be the truth. The memories you've lost — you have to find them yourself." Chen Ge pressed the pink phone into Zhu Long's hands. "Hold on to it and let the memories come back to you. If you discover anything, tell me right away."
"Mr. Bai, Zhu Long's awake now. Where do we go next?" Zhang Ju held the picture frame he'd brought out of the experimental building, his eyes fixed on Chen Ge, burning with intensity.
"Today's activity is over, isn't it? It's getting really late. If we don't head back to the dorm, we'll be locked out!"
"If you go back to the dorm now, you'll probably forget everything that happened here tomorrow. That is, assuming you even see tomorrow's sunrise." The words coming out of Chen Ge's mouth didn't sound like something a school teacher would ever say. Zhou Tu was starting to feel genuinely afraid of him.
"What do you mean, forget everything?"
"Like how you can't remember what happened during the summer after graduation — the three of us, and everything we did tonight, will all vanish from your mind." Chen Ge looked at Zhou Tu with perfect calm. "Would you rather live this same day forever, or would you choose to trust me, and let us find out who we really are?"
"I think I'd rather just live this same day forever." Zhou Tu wasn't about to take any risks. The nightmare he kept replaying was terrifying enough, but it still paled in comparison to the strange man standing in front of him.
"Don't rush to answer. The world is changing little by little. Once Zhu Long has recovered his memories, you can make your decision then." Chen Ge's gaze shifted from Zhou Tu to Zhang Ju. "You're a new student, but you seem to know an awful lot."
"Maybe I've lost some of my memories too." Zhang Ju tried to force a smile. The muscles on his face pulled at his scars, producing a horrifying expression. "What a coincidence — this school is enormous, and somehow we're the ones who ended up together, the most unusual students of the bunch."
"It is quite a coincidence." Chen Ge couldn't detect any aura of danger from Zhang Ju. "You and Zhou Tu can come with me to the East Campus in a while. Your lost memories should be hidden there."
"The East Campus? That's not a good idea, is it? When we first enrolled, the counselor told us we were strictly forbidden from entering the East Campus, and especially not to make contact with any of its students." Zhang Ju touched the scars on his face. "He also said that students from the West Campus who had gone to the East Campus on their own were never allowed back."
"Same here. On my first day, a senior told me never to go to the East Campus. He said it's where the West Campus dumps all its trash. Stay there too long and the stink rubs off on you — you can never come back." Wang Yicheng spoke up timidly. He was the shortest of them all, looking the most frail. "The West Campus is a closed-off campus, but the East Campus is open to the outside world. Random outsiders come and go all the time — it's total chaos. Fights break out constantly, and there was even a serious criminal incident a while back."
"It seems you all have the wrong idea about the East Campus. Words aren't enough — I'll take you there in a bit and you can see for yourselves." The corner of Chen Ge's mouth curled upward. These kids really had misunderstood the East Campus. It wasn't just a place where people got into fights. It was a nightmare realm where vengeful ghosts and psychopaths roamed, cold and eerie, where one wrong step could cost you your life.
"I think the counselor was making a mountain out of a molehill. The students at the East Campus are probably just a little rowdy." Zhu Long's face was deathly pale. He clutched Gao Jie's pink phone, his eyes rimmed with moisture, and yet his pupils were still shot through with bloodshot veins.
"Dude, you look like that and you're still defending Mr. Bai?" Zhou Tu stared at Zhu Long the way you'd stare at a planted audience member at a magic show.
"You don't understand what it feels like — you lived through something but you can't remember it. Now Mr. Bai has opened a door for me to get my past back. Of course I'm grateful."
"I don't understand? If I didn't understand, I wouldn't have come along on this wild ride with you." Zhou Tu walked up to Chen Ge. "Mr. Bai, I…"
"You just want to go to the art club, don't you?" Chen Ge wore a smile on his face. "I can take you there."
"Really?" Zhou Tu's voice changed noticeably. "Thank you, teacher!"
"Don't thank me just yet. Do you know where the art club is?" Chen Ge leaned in close to Zhou Tu.
"Where?" Zhou Tu felt a very bad premonition setting in.
"The experimental building on the East Campus. The scene from your dream — it's all on the East Campus. Would you like to come with me?" Chen Ge's voice was like a demon whispering, sending goosebumps crawling all over Zhou Tu's skin.
"I can tell you with absolute certainty that your dream was real. Your memories must be different from the other children's — they contain something fundamental about this school. That's why your dreams turned out this way." Chen Ge leaned in even closer. "So? Want to come? The truth is just on the other side of that wall!"