“Dolls appearing in large numbers generally have fixed poses—like driving, dining together, or standing still. But the dolls we encountered on the road—”

Tan Xiao narrowed his eyes, letting out two sinister chuckles, deliberately creating an eerie atmosphere.

“The dolls we encountered… had no unified pose, but were scattered haphazardly on the ground… as if someone had deliberately thrown them on the road!”

Everyone stared wide-eyed, looking at each other.

“What does that mean?”

Someone couldn’t figure it out: “Why would anyone deliberately throw away dolls?”

Normal people would avoid them—why would they specifically gather dolls in one place? Besides, this could easily mislead later travelers.

“Because they don’t want people passing through that road,” the bespectacled man said flatly.

People were jolted to realization.

“Who would do such a thing?!”

“Why not let people through?! What vicious thinking!”

“Don’t let me run into those people, or I’ll make them pay!”

“Xiao Ge, did you find the people who threw the dolls?”

Tan Xiao raised his thumb, sweeping it smartly beneath his nose, grinning roguishly.

“Of course! Not only did we find them, we taught them a lesson! Guess what? Turns out there’s a group occupying a food processing plant with enough stuff inside to last several years! They were afraid others would come steal resources, so they deliberately threw their home dolls on the road to scare passing vehicles! But Xiao Ye here has eagle eyes!—Ha! My left fist was a descending tiger! My right foot a flying dragon tail whip! I beat those people till they were searching the ground for their teeth! See all that stuff on the vehicle outside? All of it Xiao Ge and Hui Ge and the others hauled back from the processing plant!”

“Well done!!!”

Everyone cheered and applauded!

In the corner, Teacher Cheng sighed deeply: “Alas, those people were also just trying to survive…”

Someone heard and snapped irritably: “Teacher Cheng, there you go again, right? Those people nearly prevented us from getting out! They want to survive—don’t we? “

Teacher Cheng lowered his head without defending himself, only continuing to sigh heavily, seemingly deeply affected by the current survival-of-the-fittest reality.

This small disagreement quickly drowned in universal celebration.

The bespectacled man assigned people to unload items from the vehicle—there were smoked meats, sausages, preserved duck, and mountains of vacuum-packed cooked foods. The atmosphere grew even more fervent, everyone as excited as peasants dividing up a landlord’s property.

Shen Mo and Bai Youwei also received some food.

Perhaps out of sympathy for Bai Youwei’s disability, she received one extra braised pig trotter.

After distributing food, the bespectacled man told everyone to rest early—they’d leave at first light tomorrow.

Finally leaving the long-trapped service area, everyone was extremely excited.

They pushed together the restaurant tables and chairs into a large communal sleeping area, using the restaurant’s thick, wide European-style curtains as bedsheets. Men, women, old and young lay side by side.

Meanwhile, Bai Youwei and Shen Mo made beds in the adjacent supermarket.

Toppled shelving became makeshift bed frames. Layering folded cardboard boxes and soft blankets, though makeshift, was more comfortable than sleeping in the car.

…

Moonlight poured down silently, the night immersed in tranquility.

Outside, branches rustled. Inside, people tossed and turned, the friction of clothing rustling particularly clear.

Bai Youwei lay quietly. Tilting her head slightly, she could see the restaurant scene. Someone took out their phone to look at photos of family. Others discussed plans after leaving in low voices. Private whispers spread through the darkness, making the night seem even quieter…

Shen Mo sat at the other end of the shelving, holding a map from who-knows-where, examining it carefully by moonlight.