The Painter and
"What exactly did his last words mean? Secrets and memories buried in the well within one's heart—he was warning me to watch out for things at the bottom of my heart?"
Chen Ge had many questions he wanted to ask the Painter, but the Painter had been hesitant. In the end, all he'd given was a vague hint wrapped in ambiguity.
Perhaps it wasn't even a hint—just a very vague suggestion.
The Painter had left with remarkable decisiveness. Such a rational, composed opponent gave Chen Ge a headache.
If there had been even the slightest possibility, Chen Ge would have tried to keep the Painter behind. If his haunted house had the Painter stationed within it, then no matter what came next—whether the Cursed Hospital or the Nether Fetus—he would have had far more confidence.
But he knew that was impossible. Outsmarting the Painter was exceedingly difficult; he was the same kind of person as
"Doctor Gao entered the Blood City. Now the Painter and Lin Sisi and the others have fled in there as well. Perhaps we'll run into each other again somewhere down the road."
With the Painter gone,
"Chen Ge, what do we do now?" the old principal asked in a low voice. Every Red-clothed ghost and Ghost School student nearby turned to look at Chen Ge. They were grateful they hadn't done anything foolish earlier.
"The dry well at Twilight Sun Middle School is indeed a path out of the Ghost School, but it was a path the Painter had left for himself. The situation has reversed—we no longer need to leave. Everyone, head back to the teaching building." Supported by
"Students who are unwilling to leave?" Director Lei had been worried Chen Ge would come after him. After all, he had tipped off the Painter earlier and had also made things difficult for Chen Ge within the Ghost School.
"The reason Chang Wenyu wanted to destroy the Gate was simply because she saw so many students who had lost their freedom—once you enter the Gate, you can never leave. I've also seen the parents waiting desperately on the other side. So once everything has settled down, I will ask every student in the Ghost School. If they want to leave, they can come with me." Chen Ge had been rebellious himself at one point. He understood those children. Despair came in many forms, and some tragedies could have been entirely avoided. If not for the Gate guiding them, they never would have stepped behind it. "There may not be regret medicine in this world, but if it's possible, I'd like to give them one more chance to choose."
"Fine." After the Painter's departure, Director Lei seemed like an entirely different person—his temperament had improved considerably. "I'll cooperate with you in every way."
"Not cooperate with me. The person you need to cooperate with is him." Chen Ge pointed at the old principal. "From now on, he is the principal of the Medium-Sensitive Ghost School. Everything must go through him."
The fighting had not yet ended before Chen Ge was already working to sort out the aftermath. This wasn't arrogance—it was his absolute confidence in Zhang Ya.
"Half-body Red-clothed?" Director Lei and the surrounding teachers were baffled. The man before them had narrowly survived death and finally obtained the Gate, yet he was handing the Ghost School over to a half-body Red-clothed?
"If there really is someone in this world who could build a paradise behind the Gate, I believe that person would be him." Chen Ge pushed the old principal in front of Director Lei. Ying Hong and Han Song stood at the old principal's side, and Zhu Long and Zhang Ju, who had escaped from the Eastern and Western Ghost Schools, were not far behind.
As for
"I'm not questioning your judgment. To become the principal of the Ghost School, one must earn the recognition of the Ghost School's will. Do you really think the Ghost School's will would ever acknowledge a half-body Red-clothed?"
"You need to change the way you think." Chen Ge looked at Zhang Ya's profile. "The hospital gown is thrashing in its death throes—that teardrop hidden with memories will be found sooner or later. Chang Wenyu merged with the Gate with nothing but destruction on her mind, which poses little real threat to us. And now the Painter has left. The outcome is already decided. Whether or not you've earned the Ghost School's will's recognition doesn't matter. What matters is earning hers."