"What's missing?"
"A threat?"
The message had no signature and the sender was unknown, but based on Chen Ge's various speculations, the black phone was most likely in Chang Wenyu's hands now. After all, his backpack had been handed to him by Chang Gu, and the only thing missing from the bag was the black phone.
"She wants me to help her? But why was this message sent to Lin Sisi's phone? Lin Sisi is working together with the Painter and even helping him guard the dormitory buildings on the eastern and western campuses."
Chen Ge couldn't figure it out. "Maybe Chang Wenyu has come into contact with Lin Sisi before too."
The pressing issue wasn't figuring out who sent the message — it was escaping their current predicament.
Being watched by three top-tier Red-clothed ghosts gave Chen Ge a strange sense of déjà vu. Something similar had happened back in Liwan Town, so he didn't appear panicked at all. Even the students around him found this incredible.
"Calm down, I have to stay calm!"
"The black phone is extremely important to me, but it's my secret alone. Neither the Painter nor Chang Wenyu knows about it."
"If I act agitated, it will only expose how important the black phone is."
"So the best approach right now is to act completely indifferent."
That was what Chen Ge decided, and that was exactly what he did.
After seeing the text on Lin Sisi's phone, his expression didn't change at all. He casually stuffed Lin Sisi's phone back into his pocket, then decisively turned around and faced all the students around him.
"The well is in the western courtyard. The wooden board at the end of the corridor can be opened. Everyone, move out now!"
He had stayed in the Ghost School because he wanted to pick up some easy gains, but now that three top-tier Red-clothed ghosts had their eyes on him, the most rational thing to do was leave.
After seeing the text on Lin Sisi's phone, Chen Ge not only refused to stay — he chose to leave immediately.
Having witnessed all of this, Chang Wenyu's smile faded slightly, though her gaze grew even more manic. Her body was being absorbed by strange characters, and the three-headed evil spirit on the door looked like a red-hot brand seared into the wood.
The Ghost School's gate wailed continuously, and every student in the school felt a pain seeping out from the depths of their hearts.
"The movable gate has already broken the rules. Desperate people can push open the gate, but the gate has no right to lure desperate people. Whether or not to enter what lies beyond the gate is the door-pusher's choice. That is the last and most humble choice of their lives!" Chang Wenyu's single eye blazed red as she looked down at the Ghost School's students with a smile. "No one can take that right away from them."
After saying those words, she completely abandoned her defenses, letting attacks land on her body freely. Her crazed laughter echoed throughout the entire Ghost School.
The three-headed evil spirit pattern had almost fully materialized. Its eyebards rolled around like a living thing, devouring the already cracked gate.
The Ghost School's gate was about to collapse. The man in the blood-colored storm was cursing furiously, thrusting his other arm into the bloody mist storm.
His attacks were essentially self-harm. All of his abilities were based on his own flesh and blood, and the longer the fight dragged on, the worse it would be for him.
The Painter watched the crazed Chang Wenyu and once again produced the skin hidden within the threads of blood. The blood at his fingertips was about to drip onto the human skin, but at that moment, he glanced with his peripheral vision at what stood behind Chen Ge.
He had been wary of something all along. After a moment of hesitation, he put the human skin away, stopped letting himself be distracted, and mobilized whatever Ghost School willpower he could command in an attempt to interrupt Chang Wenyu.
Chang Wenyu was burning everything she had to drive the three-headed evil spirit pattern in an attempt to destroy the Ghost School's gate. The Painter and the patient-gowned man in the blood storm were attacking with everything they had to stop her. What made things even worse was that strange sounds were now emanating from the blood-red city not far away — more and more monsters that existed only in nightmares were slowly awakening.
The battle between the three top-tier Red-clothed ghosts had reached its most critical moment. Far removed from the fighting, Chen Ge now found himself in trouble as well.
On the westernmost courtyard of the Ghost School, a gaunt boy and a man with bound eyes stood on opposite sides of a dry well. Crouched on the well's rim was a humanoid monster on all fours.
Beyond them, countless black thorns were also surging toward the western side of the Ghost School. The monsters that had poured out of the blood-red city seemed to have received some kind of order and were converging on the western courtyard.
Neither the Painter nor the patient-gowned man in the blood storm intended to let Chen Ge go. The reason was simple — at the final moment, Chang Wenyu had fixed her gaze on Chen Ge. In their eyes, Chen Ge might be carrying something of hers, and it was even possible that he was another one of her trump cards.
Originally, Chen Ge had been hiding in the shadows, and no one paid him any attention. But because of Chang Wenyu, he had been forced into the spotlight.
Fortunately, the top-tier Red-clothed ghosts' focus was still on Chang Wenyu. The situation before him was still something Chen Ge could handle.
"Don't block my way. I don't want any trouble with you," Chen Ge said aloud, though secretly he was hoping the two sides would start fighting. Looking at the numbers, his side clearly had the advantage in Red-clothed ghosts. Taking down even one more of their Red-clothed ghosts would be a win for him.
"This well leads to the Painter's heart. The other side isn't an exit." The frail boy spoke to Chen Ge, and his attitude was surprisingly friendly, which was rather odd. "Turn back. I don't want to conflict with you either."
"You seem to know me quite well?" Chen Ge stared at the frail boy and signaled everyone to be ready to fight at any moment.
"My name is Lin Sisi. The identity you used at the eastern campus was mine." The frail boy coughed twice. "We've had the same kind of experience. Honestly, I'd love to have lived the way you did, but unfortunately, none of it can be undone."
"It's never too late to make a choice at any point — unless you've run out of choices entirely." Chen Ge pointed to the students behind him. "I can choose not to leave, but could you bear to see these innocent children get dragged into this? Step aside. Let me get these kids somewhere safe first."
Rather than place himself in danger, he refused to let a single student of the Ghost School be harmed. In the eyes of many, Chen Ge's image grew larger than life.
"We can't let a single student leave. They are part of the Ghost School's willpower. The fewer students here, the weaker that willpower becomes. Right now is when the Painter needs strength more than ever, so you'd all best stay put." The man with bound eyes spoke in a cold, sinister tone. "Chang Wenyu wants to destroy the gate. She has completely lost the qualification to become a door-pusher. Once we drive away the monsters from that city, the Painter will undoubtedly become this school's new gate-pusher. And when that happens, he will gain power beyond the Red-clothed."