The blood-colored eyeball suspended above the Ghost School split down the middle, transforming into an enormous mirror that shrouded the entire school.
The mirror's surface was blood-red. On this side of the mirror lay the blood-colored world beyond the door; on the other side lay the East and West Campuses that the Painter had fabricated.
"The East and West Campuses were constructed using the students' lingering memories. When the School's Will was critically damaged, the East and West Campuses he had poured so much effort into building naturally suffered as well."
Chen Ge tilted his head up to gaze at the mirror in the sky. On the other side of the mirror, the girl sitting atop the laboratory building was performing the same action.
"Chang Wenyu?"
A name flashed through Chen Ge's mind. The girl looked nothing at all like what he had imagined.
In the movie Chang Gu had filmed, Chang Wenyu possessed many different personality traits, but was generally a quiet, lovable girl.
That should have been the image of Chang Wenyu in her brother's mind. The truth was that this brother didn't truly understand his own sister, and under various circumstances, Chen Ge had been led astray.
The real Chang Wenyu was the kind of girl you wouldn't want to approach after a single glance. Her left eye had been gouged out, leaving only a pitch-black socket. Her right eye seemed to burn with flames, concealing a madness suppressed to its absolute limit. A "person" like that was capable of anything whatsoever—nothing in the world could restrain them, not even themselves.
By comparison, the Painter was the polar opposite. He sat without a word, silent as a dead sea.
Even with his canvas shattered, even as the East and West Campuses he had painstakingly built crumbled around him, even as the School's Will suffered devastating blows, his expression never changed from beginning to end.
The Painter and Chang Wenyu were two extremes. When the Ghost School's Will fell into serious trouble and the entire Ghost School was exposed before the Blood-colored City, these two—one with his head bowed over his canvas, as if reminiscing about the paintings he had once created on it, the other perched on the edge of a building gazing up at the sky on the other side of the mirror, as though savoring this rare spectacle of chaos.
"Two madmen." Chen Ge's gaze shifted from the girl to the boy. He could now confirm with certainty that there was definitely some connection between the Painter and Fan Yu.
They had identical faces, though their bodies differed slightly. Fan Yu, perhaps because of his low self-esteem, always kept his head down and was slightly hunched, while the Painter looked a bit more ordinary.
"I've met the Fan Yu from outside the door with my own eyes. I even took him out to eat and paint with him. I never imagined something like this would happen." Chen Ge's eyes could not leave the Painter. He simply couldn't wrap his head around it—the Fan Yu outside the door was clearly still alive, so why did the world beyond the door also contain a "Fan Yu"? And these two were completely different in temperament, their abilities worlds apart.
"It really is that child." The old principal had also recognized Fan Yu. Beyond the shock on his face, there was a trace of guilt.
"Principal, you're certain that what happened to Fan Yu at the school—being bullied—had nothing to do with you?" Chen Ge pulled the principal over to his side.
"I am the principal of Muyang Middle School. Anything that happens at the school is my responsibility. How could I not bear any blame for him being bullied?" The old principal hadn't understood what Chen Ge was really asking.
"What I mean is—did you do anything, directly or indirectly, that harmed him? For instance, if he had come to you for help, and you were too busy to pay attention…"
"If he had come to me for help, this tragedy would never have happened." The old principal was also looking at Fan Yu. "He's a good child."
"Since Fan Yu's bullying has nothing to do with you, then our plan won't be affected." Chen Ge's gaze was resolute. "I will do everything in my power to make you the principal of the Ghost School and have you take command of the School's Will. You've seen the situation here—none of them can bring these children salvation and release. Only you can."
"I can't do that either. Every child has their own obsessions. Bringing them release is far too difficult."
"At the very least, you won't lead them down the wrong path or let them suffer any more harm." Chen Ge said with great earnestness. "There is no one more suitable than you, Principal. You can think of this place as a second Muyang Middle School."
"Fine. I'll do my best." A bitter smile hung on the old principal's face. He was only a half-body Red Coat, and all his competitors were peak Red Coats.
"There are thirteen paintings in the studio, representing thirteen people who qualify to become the Door-Openers. Most of them we don't need to worry about. We only need to focus on the Painter and Chang Wenyu." Chen Ge had been planning this ever since he entered the Ghost School, and now his plan had reached its most critical juncture.
"What do we do next?" The old principal was somewhat nervous.
"First, let's find a safe place to stay. Chang Wenyu dared to scheme against the School's Will—she's very likely struck some kind of deal with a monster in the Blood-colored City. This Ghost School is about to descend into chaos, and we need to preserve our strength." Chen Ge instructed the students who had been following him to stay together, and they moved along the corridor in search of a safe haven.
The blood-colored fog surged through the Ghost School unchecked. The mirror overhead covered the campus, barely preventing the monsters of the Blood-colored City from entering.
But this blood-colored mirror was composed of the wills of countless students. When those wills were shattered, total collapse would come in a single instant.
On the other side of the mirror, in the East and West Campuses, more and more students were recalling the memories they had lost. All manner of negative emotions began to flood in. On the walls between the East and West Campuses, bloody handprints appeared one after another, and all kinds of terrifying, bizarre, and grotesque events began to unfold.
"This is what they really look like. Behind every beautiful memory lies countless wounds and despair. Destiny is just that fair—and that cruel." Chang Wenyu swung her legs back and forth, watching everything with delight.
"Destiny?" The Painter slowly raised his head. His lips moved slightly as he spoke a few words: "Do you know what color destiny is?"
"No idea. Probably red. I like red." Chang Wenyu turned to look at the Painter. From the tone of their conversation alone, anyone who didn't know better might have assumed they were close friends.
"Destiny is white. Whatever color you paint on it, that's the color it becomes." The Painter's voice had a way of soothing people.
"So that's why you used the School's Will to secretly alter their memories? Just to preserve only the beautiful moments for them? How do you know that's what they wanted? And what gives you the right to tamper with the most precious thing people have?" Chang Wenyu's own memories seemed to have been tampered with by the Painter as well—this was likely one of the reasons for their conflict. "Don't think that just because the School's Will recognizes you above all others, you can play God for this school!"
In the face of Chang Wenyu's accusations, the Painter did not argue back. He simply bowed his head and picked up the shattered canvas: "What God is there in the world beyond the door? Even if there were, it would be nothing more than the Devil showing a rare act of mercy."
The moment he finished the last word, a pungent stench of blood wafted from somewhere within the canvas.