All these dolls had been transformed into monsters by their owner's resentment.
They came in all shapes. Some had four arms, some had six legs, and others had an extra head...
The sight of the bizarre dolls filled all four of them with fear.
They had struggled to deal with a single doll before. Now that so many had appeared, they had no chance of winning.
As more and more dolls gathered, Cheng Xu gripped the Demon Blade and shouted to the others,
"It's time to give it everything we've got! Use whatever you've got, or we're all going to die here!"
Jiang Yue took an oil lamp from her inventory. It gave off a faint glow.
"This lamp can drive away evil spirits, but there are so many dolls here that it probably won't last long. We have to move fast."
When the oil lamp appeared, the dolls around them, which had been poised to attack, backed away a little.
Seeing that the lamp worked, Jiang Yue said, "Stay close to me!"
With that, Jiang Yue took the lamp and ran toward the school, with the other three close behind her.
The dolls seemed afraid of the lamp's power. They could only follow at a distance, not daring to get too close.
"That's a powerful lamp you've got," Zhang Zhiqiang said enviously.
Jiang Yue watched the oil burning away rapidly and frowned.
"There are too many dolls. The oil won't last long, and once it runs out, I'll have to wait a day before I can use it again."
The others saw how quickly the oil was burning away too, and hurried their pace.
They were already far stronger and faster than ordinary people, and the school wasn't far away. Soon, they could see their destination.
The school stood in a remote spot at the easternmost end of town, only two or three hundred meters away.
But just then, the oil lamp in Jiang Yue's hand suddenly went out, and a flicker of unease rose in all four of them.
Seeing the lamp go out, the dolls behind them abruptly sped up. In the blink of an eye, they were only five or six meters away.
All four of them tensed.
A doll with a chainsaw in place of one arm suddenly appeared beside them. It swung the chainsaw, trying to saw into Zhang Zhiqiang.
Zhang Zhiqiang had no supernatural items or weapons, so he could only dodge.
After he dodged several times, the chainsaw doll stopped attacking. Just as Zhang Zhiqiang breathed a sigh of relief, a doll behind him suddenly fired a metal drill bit attached to a rope.
The metal drill bit pierced Zhang Zhiqiang's lower leg in an instant, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Aah—"
Zhang Zhiqiang roared, the searing pain in his leg leaving him unable to move.
"Hey! Help me, save me!"
Zhang Zhiqiang roared in unwillingness, but the other three couldn't spare him any attention. They just fled for their lives, because their own situation wasn't much better.
The rope attached to the doll began to retract. Agony shot through Zhang Zhiqiang again as his body was dragged backward.
He desperately clawed at the ground until his fingertips bled and even a fingernail came off, but his struggles did nothing to get him out of his predicament.
He was soon pulled to within three or four meters of the doll.
Sweat kept beading on his forehead from the agony. His leg was completely ruined, and all he could do was let out meaningless roars.
At last, the doll dragged him to its feet. The pain had nearly knocked him unconscious, and the fear of death lingered in his heart.
The doll raised its foot and stomped on his forehead. Zhang Zhiqiang lost consciousness completely.
Meanwhile, the remaining dolls were still chasing the other three, and Cheng Xu swung the Demon Blade in his hand.
The dolls were wary of the weapon. Several times, when they were about to land a hit, they were forced back.
Suddenly, the short blade in Cheng Xu's hand struck a doll's arm.
The doll's arm was sliced in two as easily as a block of tofu. The cut was perfectly smooth, and black smoke rose from it.
The doll seemed to have suddenly lost its source of power. It collapsed to the ground and became a pile of ordinary wood and metal.
The short blade's power invigorated Cheng Xu. He kept swinging the weapon to drive the dolls back, and the three of them suddenly found themselves in a better position.
At last, they passed through the school gates.
Behind them, the dolls stopped outside the gates. They watched the three inside and loitered around, but never entered the school.
"Looks like that man was telling the truth. They really won't come into the school."
Cheng Xu looked at the dolls outside, panting heavily.
The other two were much the same. Too exhausted to walk, they sat down on the ground.
After resting for a while, Jiang Yue said, "Zhang Zhiqiang is dead. What a shame. If he'd just held on a little longer..."
"He can only blame his own bad luck," Zhao Yuqing said bluntly.
Cheng Xu sighed. "Now there are only three of us left. The mission has gotten even harder."
"What do we do now?" Jiang Yue asked.
"Since those dolls can't enter the school, we're safe for now.
Let's hurry and find the survivors here and ask them about the situation. We can only make a decision once we know what's going on."
"Okay." Zhao Yuqing looked around the school.
Although it was a town elementary school, it occupied a large area.
It was rather rudimentary, though. Most of the ground was bare earth, with bricks laid only on some of the paths. There were no proper landscaped areas, just a few trees.
There were no tall buildings in the school, only rows of single-story buildings.
They followed the main path through the middle of the school, going into each building they came across to search it. They had walked through more than half the school without seeing a single living person, and they began to feel uneasy.
"Could there be nobody here?" Jiang Yue asked worriedly after coming out of a classroom.
"There must still be people here," Cheng Xu said. "Let's keep looking."
When they reached the far end of the school, they saw a two-story building. It was the school's administration building.
As soon as they entered, they saw three or four people standing in the hallway. All of them looked shocked to see the newcomers.
"Who are you?"
"We came from outside," Cheng Xu said. "We entered this place by accident."
"Oh? How did you find this place?"
"A very thin man in his forties told us about it. He said it was the only safe place in town."
"Where is he?"
"He's dead. Those dolls killed him!"
"Dolls? You mean those monsters? But they only come out at night."
"No, they come out during the day now too. We ran into dozens of them. Luckily, we ran fast, or else by now..."
A hint of shock appeared on the residents' faces, and there was fear in their eyes. Clearly, they had only just learned about it too.
"Looks like his power has grown stronger."
"Who are you talking about?" Cheng Xu asked.
"It's nothing. Outsiders aren't welcome here, but you did bring us information.
Once the mayor is done with his work, I'll tell him about you. If he agrees to let you stay, you can stay."
Cheng Xu didn't mind. After all, it wasn't up to these residents whether they could stay at the school. Whoever had the bigger fist had the final say.
Even so, they couldn't offend these people yet. They still needed to get information from them.
"Could you tell us what happened here?"
"Let the mayor tell you later. Find somewhere to rest first."
"All right."
"When will the mayor be free?" Cheng Xu asked.
"I'm not sure. Normally, he's free all the time, but something happened today, something urgent. He's busy dealing with it."
"What is he dealing with? Maybe we can help."
"You can't help. Someone is dying, and the mayor and the doctor are dealing with it in the sickroom. They're hoping to save him."
"I'm a doctor. Maybe I could take a look at the patient," Cheng Xu said.
He wasn't a doctor. He just wanted to see the mayor as soon as possible so he could find out what had happened here.
"You can't help. Go and rest. If we really need you, we'll come find you."
Cheng Xu had no other choice. He certainly wouldn't be able to see the mayor for the time being.
Several residents took them to the school's dormitory area, where they picked a room to rest in for the time being.
The residents left, leaving the three of them alone in the room.
Cheng Xu said, "What do we do now? We can't see the mayor. Do we keep waiting here, or... think of something else?"
"Let's wait for now," Zhao Yuqing said. "If we really can't see the mayor, we'll think of something else."
Jiang Yue agreed. "Yeah. We don't know this place, after all. It wouldn't be good if we caused any trouble."
They didn't have to wait long. Soon, someone came to find them. The mayor had finished his work and could see them.