"From an ordinary person's perspective, I probably count as a lunatic—at least that old mutt keeps saying so, and he even threatened to kill me." Ying Hong let out a contemptuous laugh. She didn't continue, as though going any further would drag out yet another secret.
"I think I get it. The reason you appeared is that Ying Bai was trapped in prolonged fear with no one to depend on, so it triggered the emergence of a personality completely opposite to her own." Chen Ge tried to find something he had in common with Ying Hong and Ying Bai, but after thinking for a long while, he couldn't spot a single similarity.
He'd had a happy, comfortable childhood—food and drink were never an issue. Apart from his parents' somewhat unconventional style of parenting, there was nothing that set him apart from any other child.
"My childhood was perfectly ordinary. There was no abuse or anything like that." Chen Ge looked back at Ying Hong. "Have the two of you become completely separate individuals now? Is there any possibility of merging back into one?"
"No idea. Never tried. Probably impossible. She's always been running away, and I doubt she'd want to be with me anyway." A hint of jealousy flickered in Ying Hong's gaze as she looked at the old principal. "I was the one who helped her when she was at her lowest, but now she's afraid of me—even chummy with some outsider."
Ying Hong harbored deep resentment toward the old principal. Negative emotions churned inside her—in her eyes, the old principal bore inescapable responsibility for what Ying Bai had gone through.
She blamed everything around her. She loathed everything. The only person she was kind to was Ying Bai, and even that kindness came with a price. Perhaps the day Ying Hong spiraled completely into the extreme, she would do something outrageous to Ying Bai—something that would let her truly claim her as her own.
"You woke up one night, suddenly, without any warning…" Chen Ge was considering another possibility. "Could it be that you were so terrified in that moment—terrified beyond your psychological limit—that it caused something like this to happen?"
That explanation actually fit his own situation remarkably well. People always said children could see things invisible to ordinary adults. The memories from that time were hazy now, but it was very likely that he had witnessed something beyond what his young mind could endure, and that was what triggered the anomaly—the forced separation of the Dark Fetus.
"Just one glance was enough to cause a total breakdown? What could possibly be that terrifying?" The previous question still had no answer, and a new one had already surfaced.
"Are you done asking? Can I have the bag now?" Ying Hong's tone and facial expression had changed dramatically from before. If Chen Ge hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to imagine that the same person—with an almost identical face—could harbor such diametrically opposite personalities.
"Sure." Chen Ge handed the bag to Ying Hong. "We've been lingering here too long. The Ghost School is in chaos—we need to move quickly."
Having obtained the information he wanted, Chen Ge led the old principal and the others out of the classroom. He turned back to look at Muyang Middle School behind the door, a vague, nameless feeling stirring in his chest.
Every coincidence that seemed accidental might conceivably have a dark hand manipulating fate behind the scenes.
"That feeling isn't pleasant. But there are things about me that no one else can control either." Chen Ge's gaze drifted to his own shadow. Something entirely unforeseen had already manifested within him—Zhang Ya.
In Liwan Town, Chen Ge had learned from Xiao Bu that his parents had originally planned to make Xiao Bu his shadow, and they had even struck an agreement with her on that account. What none of them anticipated was that Chen Ge would stand atop the tallest building in the town and invite Zhang Ya to dwell inside his shadow.
"The future keeps changing. No one can fully control it. What I've lost, I'll reclaim on my own."
"The Spiritual Medium's Ghost School is connected to Muyang Middle School and the Third Ward. But no matter how many secrets this place hides, how many unknowns lurk here, how many hints are scattered about, there is one thing that cannot be changed." Chen Ge's composure returned. "The one who devoured the original Gatekeeper of the Spiritual Medium's Ghost School was Zhang Ya. She is the one most entitled to possess this place now."
Whenever Chen Ge fell into thought, a peculiar sort of aura leaked out of him involuntarily. The haunted house staff had long grown accustomed to it, but the old principal and Ying Hong were seeing it for the first time. The two reacted very differently.
A trace of surprise showed in the old principal's eyes, as though he were witnessing something achingly familiar.
Ying Hong's expression was one of inner conflict, as if she had just abandoned a dangerous idea.
"Principal, let's go check the well in the back courtyard first—make sure our escape route is safe." Chen Ge wouldn't rest easy until he'd seen it for himself.
"Very well." The old principal took Ying Hong's hand and walked ahead. The group reached the end of the corridor, where the passageway had been sealed shut with wooden planks. There was no way forward.
"Some other monsters may slip in soon—be prepared. And work quickly, or the School Will will notice and summon a wave of teachers and staff." The old principal crouched down and deftly pried several planks away from the wall.
The moment the planks loosened, thick blood mist seeped through every crack.
"Move!"
To save time, Chen Ge didn't bring everyone along. He took only Xu Yin.
Once the planks were removed, the old principal, Chen Ge, and Xu Yin squeezed through the gap. After they were out, the old principal hurriedly shoved the planks back into place.
"They need to be nailed down again, or the School Will will notice." The old principal held the planks steady while searching for the nails that had fallen to the ground. "Those nails aren't ordinary—they can wound and deter things from outside the school, and they carry a curse…"
"Like these?" Chen Ge produced a handful of nails from his pocket. He'd been cursed the moment he entered the Spiritual Medium's Ghost School—nails were continually driven into his body from the inside. He had accumulated quite a few.
"Yes." The old principal stared at Chen Ge with a peculiar expression. "How did you get so many? Where did they come from?"
"Long story." Chen Ge didn't want to waste time on this. He opened his pack again. "Do you need a hammer?"
After the planks were secured, Chen Ge finally had the composure to take in his surroundings. Thick blood mist hung in the air, carrying a reeking, coppery stench. Visibility was abysmal.
"I don't know if it was arranged deliberately by the School Will, but Muyang Middle School sits right at the outermost edge of the abandoned school." The old principal led Chen Ge forward through the blood mist. "This is still technically within the Ghost School's boundaries. Step any farther, and you'll see a blood-red wall—it separates the Ghost School from the blood-red world outside."
"Then couldn't we just climb over the wall and leave the Ghost School directly? Why go through all the trouble of finding the well?" Chen Ge was confused.
"The moment you get close to the blood-red wall, the School Will will detect you. Countless desperate children's souls will swarm you and devour you until not even crumbs remain." The old principal's voice carried a lingering fear. "If you want to leave the Ghost School undetected, the well is the only way."