The Red-clothed behind the Door hovered constantly between life and death, making them extremely perceptive.
Though the Painter's three subordinates had been clashing with other Red-clothed from the Ghost School, most of their attention was fixed on
Everyone, including the Painter, was burning with curiosity — how had Chen Ge, a living human, gotten so many Red-clothed to obey his commands?
How had he done it? What was he relying on?
The unknown was always the most terrifying thing. The Painter and his subordinates hadn't made a move against Chen Ge precisely for this reason — they didn't know what cards he held. They could only watch as Chen Ge grew steadily stronger, more and more Red-clothed gathering at his side.
"So the reason you can command other Red-clothed is hidden in your shadow?" The blindfolded man tried to read something from the shifts in Chen Ge's expression.
But to his disappointment, Chen Ge showed no unusual reaction beyond quickening his hands. His face was frighteningly calm.
Candy after candy fell onto the shadow, dissolving slowly like ice and snow.
Not just the blindfolded man — every vengeful Red-clothed nearby sensed a faint aura emanating from Chen Ge's shadow.
The aura was growing gradually stronger, as if something were awakening from a deep sleep, though the process of waking was agonizingly slow.
"I remember Teacher Bai once said that something special was hidden inside his shadow."
"Yes, I heard Teacher Bai say that too." Wang Yicheng, another student Chen Ge had brought out from the East and West campuses, whispered in agreement. "We could sense it back when we hadn't left the West Campus, but after leaving, it became much harder to pick up."
Whether intentionally or not, their conversation carried just far enough for those around them to hear, and the blindfolded man caught every word.
"So your final card is hidden in your shadow?!"
The blindfolded man was now certain — the only reason Chen Ge dared to enter the Ghost School as a living human was that something in his shadow was protecting him. He could even speculate further: Chen Ge was merely a puppet, and the thing lurking in his shadow was the true mastermind behind everything.
No one in the Ghost School knew exactly what was hidden in Chen Ge's shadow. Both the blindfolded man and Lin Sisi felt a growing sense of dread.
As it happened, at that very moment, several teachers came rushing down the far end of the teaching building's corridor, led by Director Lei.
The Red-clothed surrounding Chen Ge initially felt relieved to see Director Lei and the others approaching. After all, they had dealt with each other before — they weren't exactly enemies.
But then a single sentence from Director Lei shattered the fantasies of the Red-clothed at Chen Ge's side.
"There's a top-tier Red-clothed hidden in his shadow! One who is no less powerful than the Painter or Chang Wenyu, and who shares a deep bond with this school! We have to stop him!" Director Lei and most of the Ghost School teachers were allied with the Painter — he had created Heaven, and they helped him manage the hell beyond it.
"Top-tier Red-clothed?"
Those four simple words carried an almost magical power, stunning everyone in their tracks. Even the three top-tier Red-clothed locked in combat overhead paused briefly.
"Hiding it until now — Chen Ge, you certainly haven't disappointed me!" Chang Wenyu, her back fused with the Door, her body covered in wounds and splits, laughed like a madwoman. Her single crimson eye brimmed with mockery. "Even if you kill me, you'll never get your hands on this Door! That Red-clothed who once destroyed this Door has returned — the ghost that even the 'Door' itself feared!"
The situation seemed to shift in an instant. Chang Wenyu screamed in her frenzy, the Painter's expression turned dark, and Hospital Gown, caught between them controlling the blood mist, wore a look of bewilderment and inner conflict.
"Stop him! We have to stop him!"
Once a fourth top-tier Red-clothed appeared, the balance would shatter. Every vengeful ghost and monster in the Ghost School aside from Chen Ge's followers began converging on him.
They ignored the ghosts at Chen Ge's side, focusing solely on him — they wanted to kill him before he could summon the vengeful ghost from his shadow.
"Hold them off!"
The Red-clothed and students who had been following Chen Ge had wavered, but once they heard from Chang Wenyu that Chen Ge harbored a top-tier Red-clothed, their confidence in him surged back instantly.
A top-tier Red-clothed like Chang Wenyu wouldn't lie. They felt they had placed the right bet and began risking everything to protect Chen Ge, buying him time.
Blood surged like a tide. Standing at its center, Chen Ge's expression was utterly blank, his hands simply tossing candy from his bag into the shadow, one piece after another.
His shadow resembled a deep pool — no one knew what lay beneath, only that a vague darkness could be glimpsed there.
Candy after candy vanished. The battle raging around Chen Ge reached its most desperate pitch.
Large clots of blood appeared in Lin Sisi's gray mist, and
The Red-clothed besieging the blindfolded man were all wounded, each looking more and more like they had at the moment of their death. The blindfolded man's power was taking effect on them, but no one cared. Everyone was willing to risk complete annihilation just to buy Chen Ge time.
The twisted, inverted creatures that had crawled from the Dry Well at Muyang Middle School and the monsters within the blood mist charged toward Chen Ge simultaneously. The Ghost School students threw themselves in front of Chen Ge of their own accord — he had won their recognition through his actions.
"Didn't expect that, did you, Painter? My final card isn't on me at all." Chang Wenyu kept needling the Painter, buying time of her own. The Ghost School's Door was nearly consumed by the three-headed evil ghost pattern, and the cracks on it had widened to the point of being almost irreparable.
The Painter wasn't swayed by Chang Wenyu's taunts, but a flicker of hesitation could be seen in his eyes as he stared at the shadow behind Chen Ge. The final "canvas," wrapped in threads of blood, appeared silently in his hand.
The monsters from the Dry Well and the blood mist broke through a path. Chen Ge was right in front of them, but every ghost and monster that reached him was knocked aside by the Ghost School's students.