Sakura Red had leaked a great deal of information to Chen Ge and confirmed some of his speculations: those thirteen forbidden grounds were most likely the final secrets of the Ghost School.
"A few scenes in the Spiritual Medium's Ghost School match the Xicheng Private Academy, which indirectly proves my earlier theory. The reason there are no violent ghosts in those forbidden grounds right now is because they've already left with Zhang Ya." Chen Ge's brain was whirring at full speed.
"Just now Sakura Red said that some room deep inside the boys' dormitory reeks of stench. That room should be where one of my Haunted House employees once lived. The room holds a father's corpse and a rancid true heart locked together — an interesting description. Could it be that the 'stench' beside me right now is still incomplete? He locked his own heart together with his father's corpse?"
Only Red-coats possessed a "heart" of their own. Sakura Red's words had caught Chen Ge's attention.
In Chen Ge's memory, the Xicheng Private Academy was a three-star scene, but the only reason it had been rated three stars was entirely because of Zhang Ya.
"Looks like I underestimated this scene." Chen Ge recalled his fight with those thugs from outside the school in the warehouse district. Those thugs had emitted a pungent, bloody stench that kept the other violent ghosts far away, while only the Stench had been perfectly happy. "No wonder he thrived in this ghost school. Back in the Living Coffin Village and Liwan Town, all the other violent ghosts had grown stronger through feeding — he was the only exception."
Chen Ge was hoping the Stench would bring him even more surprises. The boys' dormitory was a forbidden ground for everyone else, but for him, it felt like visiting an employee's home.
"The ghost school is changing constantly. The longer we wait, the more things could go wrong. If the Stench's heart really is locked somewhere deep in the dormitory, then I'll help him find it — but only on the condition that he's willing to take it back." The Stench had locked his heart together with his father's corpse, and Chen Ge didn't know what purpose that served. If the Stench wanted to forget the past and simply remain a happy, rotund boy, Chen Ge wouldn't force him.
Under Sakura Red's lead, Chen Ge ran toward the center of the school. The closer they got, the more students they encountered.
Most students had followed the broadcast's warning and were quietly staying inside their classrooms. The ones still running around outside were mostly troublemakers.
That wasn't necessarily a hundred percent accurate, but it was Chen Ge's working theory, and whenever he spotted a disobedient student, he'd rush over for a heart-to-heart chat.
Sometimes you just had to admit that Chen Ge had a genuine gift for persuasion and debate. After a round of "baring one's soul" conversation, many students shed tears of emotion and chose to join Chen Ge's team.
The minority who had urgent matters and couldn't travel with Chen Ge still verbally expressed their support, affirmed his ideas, and only then hurried off.
Having traveled from the western side of the ghost school all the way to the center, the number of people trailing behind Chen Ge had multiplied several times over. He had also successfully drawn the attention of the school's consciousness.
That blood-red sun had already broken through the blood fog and was now pressing down directly above the ghost school. As the distance closed, Chen Ge got his first real look at the blood sun's true face.
It was actually an enormous blood-red eyeball — a scarlet pupil with countless blood vessels interweaving and churning within it. Reflected in its iris were face after face of despair.
"Each face probably represents a lingering remnant of despair, but there are just too many of them." Chen Ge felt that Hanjiang City probably didn't have that many remnants of despair. This monster might have drawn obsessive thoughts from other places as well, much like that cursed hospital — situated at the boundary of two cities but counted by the Black Phone as being within Hanjiang's jurisdiction.
"A four-star scene is already affecting the surrounding area. How terrifying would a five-star scene be?" Chen Ge looked out the window. The eye hovering above the ghost school was immensely powerful, yet the faces reflected within it were constantly wailing and screaming, as if they feared something.
"The school's consciousness keeps staring in the direction of that blood-red city. What kind of monster is hiding in that city? And what is it afraid of?"
The distant blood-red city was drawing closer and closer, like a crimson tide threatening to swallow the ghost school whole.
"So strange — I keep feeling like that city is alive…"
"We're here. This is the place." While Chen Ge was deep in thought, Sakura Red had already led them to the vicinity of the student dormitory. She grabbed Chen Ge's sleeve and whispered, "All the buildings in the school are connected, forming one massive enclosed complex. The left side is the teaching area; the right side is the dormitories. If you look closely, you should notice the color of the walls on each side is slightly different."
"Well, since we're here, let's go in and have a look." Right now, aside from Chang Wenyu and the Painter, Chen Ge feared no one. He had already exceeded Chang Wenyu's assignment, having gathered a large entourage — he simply hadn't yet earned the recognition of the school's consciousness. "Let's head to the boys' dormitory first. That room you mentioned earlier — the one that reeks."
"Your requests really are bizarre. At first I thought you were just putting on a brave front, pretending you weren't afraid of anything. Now I realize I was dead wrong — you're genuinely enjoying this." Sakura Red's expression was peculiar, like a yandere who had just run into a complete psychopath.
"The adult world is complicated. I can't explain it in one or two sentences. Now lead the way." Chen Ge summoned the Stench — that enormous, perpetually reeking fat boy, who squinted his small eyes, clutched his belly, and struck an utterly harmless pose.
Ever since he had appeared at Chen Ge's Haunted House, he had been remarkably meek. Chen Ge himself knew that "meek" was hardly an appropriate word for a violent ghost, but that was genuinely how the Stench came across.
Hardworking without complaint, smiling even when bullied, always the first to rush into any task — though sometimes his good intentions backfired. He was constantly afraid of guest complaints, shrinking into corners where he wouldn't be seen, hiding far away whenever guests approached, terrified that his smell would drive them off.
Who could have imagined that such a considerate employee might actually be a hidden Red-coat who had locked his own true heart together with his father's corpse?
"The Stench doesn't have a physical form. Can a ghost like that even become a Red-coat? Forget it — I'll deal with that when we get there." Chen Ge and Sakura Red turned into the corridor where the boys' dormitory was located. Perhaps because classes were in session, not a single student could be seen. A faint blood-colored mist hung in the air — it seemed some window had been broken and not yet repaired.
They crossed the corridor, entered a stairwell, descended four floors, and finally stopped before a door that had been nailed shut with wooden planks.
"The school sealed this place up. No one has ever gone inside, and no one knows what's actually in there. If you recklessly open that door, you could very well release something truly terrifying." Even a ghost of Sakura Red's temperament was issuing a warning, which showed just how dangerous this place was considered by the school's students.
"It's fine. Trust me." Chen Ge glanced at the still-dazed "Stench" and signaled for everyone to come over and tear off the planks.