As they ventured deeper, a faint stench began to permeate the air—like garbage that had been piling up for ages with no one to deal with it.
The further they walked, the worse the smell became.
Xu Yin and Ying Hong walked at the front, while Chen Ge and the Stench walked side by side in the middle of the group.
The rotund Stench did his best to suppress his odor. It seemed he was worried that Chen Ge, walking right beside him, would be disgusted.
This child had always been like that in Chen Ge's eyes—he possessed a body that emitted a foul stench at every waking moment, yet his heart was so clean it was almost unimaginable.
"If you're feeling uncomfortable, we don't have to go any further," Chen Ge said softly. He made a point of communicating with the Stench; he rarely forced his employees to do things they didn't want to do.
His fleshy head shook from side to side, the fat on his cheeks trembling slightly. The Stench didn't refuse. The closer they got to the depths of the corridor, the more anxious the expression on his face became.
"Don't push yourself. More than uncovering the truth, I'd rather you be a happy child. If you never got to feel happiness in life, and then in death you're still tormented by your obsessions—well, that would be far too cruel."
After walking for several minutes, the group reached the end of the corridor. Many of the ghost school students were covering their noses and mouths. This place was unbearably foul.
The stench was hard to describe. It was no longer the kind of rot that came from decomposing garbage. It didn't seem to hang in the air so much as burrow directly into a person's body, filling them with visceral disgust and resistance.
All the "people" were struggling to bear it—everyone except the Stench. Not only did he feel no discomfort, but his once-ethereal body was gradually becoming more solid. This stench, as if it had always been a part of him, was flowing back to him.
He had once cast those odors away. Now they were converging on him once more.
The smell around the Stench was the strongest. Many students gave him a wide berth, just like back when he was alive and attending school. No one wanted to be his friend. Everyone kept their distance. He was nothing more than a target for mockery—a joke to help others liven up the atmosphere.
"Are you okay?" Chen Ge rested his hand gently on the Stench's shoulder. As his body gradually became more solid, Chen Ge's arm could no longer pass through him. For the first time, Chen Ge felt the Stench's body temperature—cold enough to bite, completely at odds with his simple, good-natured exterior.
No matter how far the others drifted away, Chen Ge chose to stay right beside the Stench. There was no deeper reason to it. This was his employee.
Chen Ge actually had many ghost employees, but he had never allowed the growing number of vengeful spirits to make him neglect their feelings.
Every single one of these ghost employees mattered deeply to him, because he understood all too well that regardless of the reason, these spirits had made the haunted house their home. It was the only home they had.
"Don't be afraid. Whatever we run into, I'll face it with you. You already have so many friends now. Everyone will stand by your side from now on. You'll never have to carry anything alone again. If something comes up, we'll shoulder it together." Chen Ge wanted to pat the Stench on the head, but he realized the Stench was far too tall—he simply couldn't reach.
Just as he was about to pull his hand back, the tall, massive Stench bent down with great effort. His small eyes, buried deep in his rolls of fat, blinked a few times.
"You guy." Chen Ge had only meant to comfort him. He gave the Stench's shoulder a light pat and stood by his side, not taking a single step away.
"It's no wonder this place was designated as a forbidden zone. If whatever's in there got out, we'd all be done for," one of the students who had joined later whispered. Many were murmuring among themselves, and the old principal also came over to urge Chen Ge to be cautious.
Everyone believed that Chen Ge was the core of their group, and that as long as they followed his judgment, things would be fine.
But what none of them expected was for Chen Ge to bring the Stench to a stop right in front of the dormitory door. He handed the choice over to the Stench: "Open the door, or leave. The decision is yours."
Many of the ghost school students were speculating about the relationship between the Stench and Chen Ge. Only Bai Qiulin and Xu Yin were different—they simply felt a quiet warmth in their hearts.