Zhou Tu
Zhou Tu is an art student in the School of the Afterlife's false western campus. His recurring dream of thirteen people painting leads him into Chen Ge's improvised club, but recovering the truth reveals that his loyalties and supernatural identity remain tied to the Painter.
Biography
The art-club dream
Zhou Tu approaches Chen Ge, then posing as a teacher, because the school appears to have no art club despite Zhou Tu's persistent desire to paint. He joins the supernatural phenomenon observation club as a route to the answers he wants. Skeptical of ghost stories and irritated by Chen Ge's dangerous night investigation, he nonetheless stays with Zhu Long, Wang Yicheng, and the other members as their suppressed histories begin surfacing. (Chapters 792–800)
The clue Zhou Tu cannot dismiss is a recurring dream: he sits in a room of oil paintings with twelve other people, yet forgets almost everything upon waking. His muscles remember the motions of painting, and he can perceive the upside-down monsters stalking the group when he changes his angle of sight. After seeing the other students recover painful memories, he chooses truth over the school's comfortable repetition and asks to enter the eastern-campus art room. (Chapters 796, 803–805, 820–825)
Restored painter and divided loyalty
Inside the art room, Zhou Tu recognizes the paintings and is overwhelmed by blood mist as a fourteenth easel appears. His body shrinks to an unnaturally thin state, but his returning memory lets him explain the thirteen painter candidates, the Painter's control of the school's false paradise, and Chang Wenyu's rebellion. His damaged state initially resembles a fading remnant, yet he survives and later regains the fighting power of a Red Specter. (Chapters 825–830, 891–893)
Zhou Tu temporarily fights near Chen Ge's group, but he and Wang Yicheng finally reveal that they had been the Painter's friends and observers. When Chen Ge's deception is exposed, the pair return to the Painter's side rather than accepting Chen Ge's leadership. After the battle, they leave through the old well in pursuit of the departing Painter, making Zhou Tu's recovered identity—not his brief western-campus enrollment—the allegiance that determines his choice. (Chapters 900–901, 905)
Appearance and personality
Zhou Tu first presents as a young art student: practical, outspoken, skeptical, and impatient with claims he cannot verify. He is also observant enough to notice changes in Chen Ge's mood and stubborn enough to seek the truth behind his dreams. When his hidden self awakens, his body becomes unnaturally thin and weak-looking, while his speech turns informed and guarded. (Chapters 792–800, 825–830)
Skills and supernatural abilities
He has ingrained artistic skill and a supernatural connection to the paintings in the eastern-campus art room. Zhou Tu can detect the inverted monsters by looking from an upside-down angle, recognizes the thirteen candidates and their creations after recovering his memory, and ultimately fights as a Red Specter. The exact offensive mechanics of his painting-related power are not fully demonstrated. (Chapters 820–829, 891–893)
Power progression
| Stage / Realm / Ability | Chapter(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Suppressed western-campus student | 792–825 | Lives under altered memory while dreams and bodily habits preserve traces of his identity as a painter. |
| Awakened painter candidate | 826–830 | The art room restores his memories and spectral presentation; the fourteenth easel appears during the awakening. |
| Red Specter | 891–905 | Explicitly fights at Red Specter level, later returns to the Painter's side, and leaves through the old well. |
Relationships
Zhou Tu uses Chen Ge's club to reach the art room and receives genuine help in recovering himself, but he never transfers his final loyalty to Chen Ge. He shares the western-campus journey with Zhu Long and Wang Yicheng; Wang Yicheng ultimately follows him back to the Painter, while Zhu Long chooses Chen Ge instead. The Painter is both the force behind the false school and the leader Zhou Tu pursues after the battle. (Chapters 792–805, 825–830, 891–905)
Items
The paintings and easels of the eastern-campus art room define Zhou Tu's history, but no portable canvas or brush is established as his exclusive possession. The fourteenth easel appears during his awakening and depicts Zhang Ya rather than functioning as a personal weapon or item he carries away. (Chapters 825–827)