Being illuminated by blinding headlights should have been irritating, yet not a single person was angry.

People were overjoyed, running forward saying: “You’re back?!”

“The scouting party has returned!”

“That’s great! They’re back!”

The atmosphere immediately livened up, the earlier hostility swept away as if nothing had ever happened.

The young man who’d whistled laughed: “What, what? Did you all think we died?!”

“Everyone was worried about you! Huh? How come you changed vehicles?”

“The car broke down halfway. This one we found on the road—otherwise we’d have been back earlier! What’s going on with you all? Why are you all outside?”

“The service area lost power!”

“Then light some candles. There are quite a few flashlights in the supermarket.”

Everyone became busy, each face brimming with cheer. It seemed that just having hope made them full of energy—power and water outages were merely small bumps, nothing to fear.

In no time, the service area restaurant was lit again.

People gathered together, surrounding the returned young men in the center, eagerly waiting for them to share news from outside.

Most conspicuous among them was the one who’d whistled upon getting out of the car. Everyone called him “Xiao Ge.”

This “Xiao Ge” wore a graffiti t-shirt and ripped jeans, with illegible English tattoos on his arms. His messy short hair was dyed “granny gray,” and his right ear sported a glittering earring.

Calling him most conspicuous wasn’t because his outfit was jarring—in fact, the other young men were all cut from the same cloth: tattoos more exaggerated than the next, holes in their jeans more numerous than the next.

Bai Youwei’s deep impression of this person was really because of his smile—too dazzling!

She smiled when talking with Shen Mo, others in the service area also smiled when talking, but everyone’s smiles were reserved, restrained, perfunctory. After all, the current backdrop was the apocalypse! Who would grin showing two rows of teeth like an idiot?!

Even encountering the happiest occasion, thinking of one’s uncertain future, there should be some melancholy, right?

This “Xiao Ge” was probably a toothpaste brand spokesperson. He smiled broadly, passionately narrating his heroic deeds while scouting—

“…As soon as I saw the dolls on the road, I knew something was wrong! This is the last route! If this road won’t work either, should we return empty-handed?! Just as they say, heaven never bars one’s way! In a flash, I suddenly had a brilliant idea! I discovered something off about these dolls!”

“What was off?” someone chimed in, like the straight man in a comedy routine.

“Xiao Ge” held up two fingers, pointing seriously at his own eyes: “These eagle eyes discovered something unusual!”

The accompanying young men all laughed, munching sunflower seeds while watching him like a monkey. “Tan Xiao, that’s about enough. You’re really getting carried away, aren’t you?”

“Xiao Ge” ignored them, asking everyone: “Does anyone know why we avoid places with dolls?”

“Need you ask? Because we’ll turn into dolls!” someone immediately answered.

“Xiao Ge” mysteriously shook his head, putting on an air of not continuing unless the answer was right.

Everyone booed, making long and short hissing sounds.

The bespectacled man also smiled, saying unhurriedly: “Isolated single dolls appearing sporadically usually pose no threat, but if a large area shows many dolls, we must be alert. Currently, experts from the National Research Institute explain this as abnormal magnetic field fluctuations in that area, which can have unknown effects on the human body. This is why everyone avoids dolls. Alright, Tan Xiao, hurry up and tell us. Stop being mysterious.”

The leader’s words carried some weight after all. Tan Xiao raised his hand and slapped his thigh, like a storyteller striking the gavel—

“Fine! I’ll tell you!”

Amid the hall’s eager gazes, only Bai Youwei couldn’t bear it and rolled her eyes.