The Spirit Ghost School was wrapped in black hair — the scene could only be described as despair.
No one could escape. Even the gates of the ghost school were afraid.
However, what brought some relief to the ghost school students was that the black hair wasn't targeting them — instead, it kept stabbing toward the rain of blood that filled the sky.
Not a single drop of blood rain was innocent. Each one emanated a terrifying amount of resentment.
That patient in the blood mist was like a pathogen that spread curses. He seemed to have been created solely to spread malice and fear.
The entire ghost school had been submerged by black hair. Looking at the woman standing in the depths of the nightmare, Lin Sisi and the blindfolded man both gave up struggling.
A hoarse voice escaped blue-purple lips. The blindfolded man clutched his left eye — this time he was truly blind: "I only took one glance at her. So this is what lies above the Red-clothed?"
"Her aura fluctuates — it seems she has broken through some kind of boundary. I don't know how much suffering a person's obsession in life has to go through before they become like her. I can't imagine it, and I certainly can't achieve it." The Painter's hands hung limp at his sides: "She's injured, her state very unstable. It doesn't quite match the rumors I heard in the Blood-colored City. She seems unable to control herself yet."
His gaze swept toward
"The you outside the gates? So he had been plotting against the ghost school all along — first finding the you outside the gates, building a relationship, then using that to enter the ghost school and carry out his plan step by step! That bastard is too cunning. If we had killed him sooner, that female ghost probably wouldn't have appeared." The blindfolded man loathed Chen Ge — his left eye had gone blind because of him.
"Perhaps it was just a beautiful accident. The me outside the gates is a lock. If he had approached with ulterior motives, he would only have been rebuffed." The Painter shook his head, his hanging hand rising to cover his chest: "In the deepest despair, you can always encounter the most beautiful surprises. I won't kill him, but he won't survive much longer either. The woman hidden in his shadow still can't control herself. A being above the Red-clothed represents the ultimate resentment and evil — even the slightest leak of her aura could make him lose himself."
"You're not thinking of saving him, are you?" The blindfolded man had followed the Painter longer than anyone — he understood the Painter well.
"We should leave." The Painter didn't answer the blindfolded man's question. He walked directly toward Chen Ge.
"We still have a chance. To push open that door, we've made countless preparations. Painter, pull yourself together!" Lin Sisi grabbed the Painter's arm: "When you brought me behind the doors, you told me you would build your own paradise for the despairing with your own hands. We can't give up now."
Silently lifting his head, the Painter looked at the raindrops screaming in the sky. A faint smile pulled at his pale face: "I never said I was giving up. I just want to switch to a different canvas now."
He turned to look at the blood-red city in the distance: "Don't you think that city is more suited for us?"
"You're really going to leave?"
Both Lin Sisi and the blindfolded man were reluctant, but the Painter seemed to have already made up his mind: "I can only contend against that woman with the aid of half the ghost school's will. Unfortunately, the ghost school's will is afraid, and another part of it has acknowledged Chen Ge. Chang Wenyu sacrificed herself to merge with the door — she won't help me fight that woman. She'll only look for a chance to destroy the door. With just me and the monsters on the outskirts of the Blood-colored City, how can we win?"
Lin Sisi and the blindfolded man didn't know what to say. In their memory, the Painter had always been omnipotent.
"The patient, Chang Wenyu, and I are all gravely wounded. We've exhausted every trump card, while that woman remains a complete unknown to us. Now is indeed the best opportunity to kill her — I can sense she carries severe injuries as well. But there's no need for us to take that risk." The Painter's voice was perfectly calm: "We leave now while the patient holds her off. If we wait until she frees herself, all of us might be eaten alive. Look at the Red-clothed markings carved into her outer garment — falling into her hands, I can't think of a single other outcome."
Rational. Composed. The Painter wasn't foolish enough to fight
The most powerful being in the entire ghost school was Zhang Ya, but the one who understood the ghost school best was the Painter: "If we don't leave now, we won't be able to leave at all."
Without looking back, the Painter walked toward the sports field of Twilight Sun Middle School where Chen Ge was. Lin Sisi and the blindfolded man followed behind him.
Seeing the Painter approach, every Red-clothed around Chen Ge tensed up.
Still sitting on the ground, Chen Ge felt his body growing colder by the minute. Seeing the Painter coming toward him, his heart lurched. He pulled the comic book from his backpack and scooted backward.
The blood rain in the sky had diminished considerably. The Painter seemed not to notice the Red-clothed ghosts around Chen Ge. He walked to a spot very close to him.
Those pitch-black eyes stared at Chen Ge. The Painter gazed at him for a long time, then suddenly pointed at the comic book in Chen Ge's hand: "Relax. I won't kill him. But if you use that ability, not only you — everyone you've drawn will have their souls scattered."
The moment the Painter's voice fell, a middle-aged man with a nervous expression and disheveled hair appeared beside Chen Ge. He looked utterly surprised to find himself outside the comic book. Seeing the Painter, he shrank back in fear, retreating behind Chen Ge like a socially anxious middle-aged shut-in.
"
"He has an ability that can only be used once in a lifetime, and he was just about to use it on me." Because of Yan Danian's sudden appearance, the tension between the Painter and Chen Ge had eased somewhat: "An ability I've never seen before. Once he becomes a Red-clothed, he might be even more terrifying than me."
The Painter kept talking to Chen Ge, but Chen Ge didn't respond a single time. The Painter didn't seem to mind. He didn't bring up anything related to Chen Ge — he just chatted as if they were old friends catching up.
Monologuing, saying a great deal, the Painter finally gave Chen Ge one last deep look, then turned and walked toward the dry well.
Watching the Painter walk away, Chen Ge — still sitting on the ground — had countless questions swirling in his mind. Finally, he couldn't hold back and called out: "Painter!"
The Spirit Ghost School's top-tier Red-clothed stopped in his tracks. His back was turned to Chen Ge.
"Are you truly
"I am not Fan Yu. I am the Painter." His voice was flat. The Painter turned his head and looked into Chen Ge's eyes, as if trying to tell him something: "Everyone has a bottomless well inside their heart. Mine hides an inverted world. What about yours?"
The blood rain in the sky grew ever lighter. The Painter departed through the dry well, accompanied by Lin Sisi, the blindfolded man, and the inverted monsters that followed in his wake.
Chen Ge remained sitting on the ground, replaying the Painter's final words over and over in his mind.