Everyone in this Spiritualist Academy harbored their own hidden agendas, making different choices in pursuit of their own goals and interests.
With the catastrophe arriving, Chang Wenyu had disappeared without a trace. The painter and the ghosts within the blood-red city were locked in a fierce battle. The top-tier Red-clothed ghosts had no energy to concern themselves with anyone else, which gave Chen Ge an opportunity.
But along with the opportunity came danger.
Both Ying Hong and Xu Yin sensed something awakening within the blood-red city. If they couldn't leave within a short time, more monsters would emerge from the blood-red city, and the Spiritualist Ghost School would be sealed shut. Surrounded on all sides by monsters, the well would very likely be discovered as well.
"Hurry!"
Reaching the northern side of the Ghost School required passing through its center. Every teacher and administrator in the entire school had gathered there, including Director Lei, whom Chen Ge had briefly encountered before.
"Don't panic! Stay in your classrooms!" Director Lei and several other teachers were barely maintaining order. When they saw Chen Ge approaching, they were actually quite pleased—in times of chaos, the more powerful a person was, the more welcome they became. "You've come too! Leave the classrooms on the western side to you. If we all fight together, we can definitely hold out—"
The teacher hadn't finished speaking when he watched Chen Ge and several Red-clothed ghosts stride past him, heading straight for the northern side of the Ghost School.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Don't waste your energy blindly! The best approach is to use the school itself as a defensive position!" Director Lei's voice was stern. Though he looked down on Chen Ge deep in his heart, what he said now was genuinely for Chen Ge's sake.
"I'm going to save people!" Chen Ge's gaze swept across the children inside the classrooms. "My friends are to the north. I can't just stand here and watch them get swallowed by the blood mist!"
"Are you insane? Crossing the entire school right now—who knows how many monsters you'll encounter? Even if some of you are Red-clothed ghosts, they'll swarm and attack you all at once. Those things aren't afraid of Red-clothed ghosts at all!" Another teacher beside Director Lei tried desperately to dissuade him. They didn't want Chen Ge to leave. In their eyes, doing so carried enormous risk and was entirely unnecessary.
"I know it's dangerous." Chen Ge's gaze swept across the classroom, where the children were also watching him, all of them curious about what kind of person would rush out to save others in a situation like this. "But that's exactly what separates me from you."
After speaking, Chen Ge didn't linger. "Anyone willing to follow me, stay behind me. Anyone who doesn't want to come—I won't force you. Take shelter here for now, and we'll regroup at the center of the school later."
After leaving behind the weakest students, Chen Ge's group picked up speed considerably.
Watching their retreating figures, the teachers' expressions were complicated.
"What are you standing around for? Do you really have time to daze around right now?" Director Lei barked at the other teachers, then went back to reinforcing the classroom doors and windows.
When the blood tide struck, no one would be spared. They were all rudderless boats that could sink at any moment. Looking out for one's own survival was nothing to be ashamed of.
Crossing the school proved far more difficult than Chen Ge had anticipated. Visibility within the blood mist was extremely low, and for various reasons, the passages inside the Ghost School seemed to have shifted as well.
From the sports field, the Twilight Sun Middle School had looked quite close to the northern side of the Ghost School, but actually getting there required covering a very long distance.
All of the Red-clothed ghosts were drenched in blood, though the situation remained within an acceptable range. After being bathed in blood, several of the haunted house's employees had grown even more formidable in strength—especially Bai Qiulin and the Stench.
Bai Qiulin had devoured Xiong Qing's heart. Even after becoming a Red-clothed ghost, he had been weaker than someone like Xu Yin, who had found his own heart independently. But through relentless combat, he had now undergone a complete transformation.
From Liwan Town to the Spiritualist Ghost School, Chen Ge had given him ample opportunity to temper himself. Old Bai was no longer the gambler he had once been.