The sudden appearance of a figure tightened the atmosphere in the reading room. Chen Ge and his group stood where they were, and no one moved forward.
"Would you rather believe the ghosts behind the door than the living people outside it?" The figure slowly raised his head, revealing a pair of eerie eyes.
His right eye was like that of a normal person, but his left eye was bloodred, like a glass marble soaked in red paint.
"Chang Gu."
Chen Ge's lips moved as he spoke the name. He hadn't expected to run into him here.
"I know you have a lot of questions right now, but I don't have time to explain. You just need to know that I would never hurt you, no matter what." Chang Gu raised the backpack in his hand. "This is yours. I brought it here for you."
The backpack Chang Gu was holding was the one Chen Ge had brought out of the Haunted House. Someone had already unzipped it, but everything inside was still there.
"How did my backpack end up with you?" Chen Ge took a step forward.
"Don't go any closer!" Zhang Ju stopped Chen Ge. "There's no one like him in my memories. Something's changed."
Chang Gu had heard Zhang Ju too. He grinned. "You really are popular. You make friends wherever you go."
He stepped aside to clear a path, then glanced outside the reading room and spoke faster. "My sister gave me the backpack. She told me you'd definitely come here."
"Chang Wenyu?"
"Yeah. She'll help you leave the school, as long as you agree to work with her." Chang Gu set the backpack down. "That's also why you ended up here."
"Was Chang Wenyu the one who dragged me through the door? Did you two