Sequence awakening!

Whenever it had sat down on his neck, this was absolutely not the time to think about it.

Luo Fan's body went rigid with terror. He could barely move his fingers.

Once the Creepy Doll realized it had been discovered, it opened its mouth full of serrated teeth and bit viciously at Luo Fan.

At that life-or-death moment, his body reacted before his thoughts did. Luo Fan immediately threw himself into a roll across the floor.

There was a crunch. Although the lighter had gone out, Luo Fan could hear the Creepy Doll he had thrown off bite into the floor, tearing a chunk out of a tile.

If that had bitten into my head, wouldn't my head have burst like a watermelon?

There was no time to worry about anything else. Terror and the will to survive sent adrenaline surging through him.

Luo Fan sprang to his feet with speed he never had under normal circumstances, then raced madly toward the shop's exit.

Aah!!!

The shrill, piercing scream sounded like a steel needle scraping across sheet metal, making his skin crawl.

But the more it screamed, the faster Luo Fan ran.

The shop was only sixty or seventy square meters, and the exit was just over ten meters away, but those ten-odd meters felt as long as a whole minute to Luo Fan.

Just as he reached the shop's entrance, Luo Fan suddenly felt his neck tighten.

The Creepy Doll had pounced onto his back. Its little arms clamped around his neck like iron bands, dragging him backward with all their strength.

Despite looking like a three-year-old child, the Creepy Doll was immensely strong. Luo Fan felt his body being dragged backward against his will.

He was already standing in the doorway, yet the sunlight within arm's reach seemed impossibly far away.

Standing in the doorway, Luo Fan could even see survivors fleeing out of town. Masses of dense fog surged out from deep within the town, spreading swiftly through the air and blocking the sunlight.

Where the fog filled the streets, Creepy Dolls could be seen running on all fours like hunting dogs.

A woman was too slow. The shadow of the fog caught up with her, and a Creepy Doll immediately pounced on her.

Then a second and a third Creepy Doll pounced...

I'm done for! Watching the shadows outside spread rapidly, Luo Fan's heart sank completely. These Creepy Dolls could actually run through the shadows and hunt humans.

He wanted to call for help, but everyone was too busy saving themselves. Even if he called out, no one could save him.

Rumble!

In the sunlight, the engine of the convoy's bus roared as it sped forward.

Suddenly, dazzling sunlight struck Luo Fan, blinding him.

The bus's windows had happened to reflect the sunlight onto Luo Fan.

Aah!!!

The Creepy Doll screamed.

Unlike its earlier shrill, piercing scream, this one sounded painful.

At the same time, the arms that had been clamped tightly around Luo Fan's head, dragging him backward, suddenly lost their strength.

Luo Fan reacted very quickly. Rather than trying to break free of the creature's hands, he seized the hands at his neck, preventing the Creepy Doll hanging behind his neck from getting away.

At the same time, he pushed off hard with both legs and leaped out through the doorway.

The sunlight had never felt so warm. As Luo Fan escaped through the doorway and sunlight fell over him, the Creepy Doll on his back let out half a brief, agonized scream, then vanished like cream touching a red-hot branding iron.

What luck. If that roaring bus hadn't happened to reflect the sunlight just now, I really would have died.

But this was still no time to relax.

The fog overhead spread rapidly, squeezing away the sunlight on the street. It was less than ten meters from him now.

Luo Fan broke into a run, fleeing as desperately as the bus.

Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...

At that life-or-death moment, Luo Fan could feel his heart pounding powerfully as he drew closer and closer to the edge of town.

Finally, without any further mishaps, Luo Fan charged straight out of town.

Looking back, he saw six or seven Creepy Dolls in the shadows, baring their teeth unwillingly at the people outside town.

Luo Fan took a look. The fog hanging over the town showed no sign of spreading beyond it either, which finally put him completely at ease.

As his taut nerves relaxed, immense exhaustion followed, making Luo Fan collapse into a sitting position.

Boom, boom, boom...

Meanwhile, Luo Fan could still see a burly man on the shadowed street, holding a long, thick iron rod. Blood drenched his shoulder as he charged outward like a maddened bull.

His iron rod swept across, sending the Creepy Dolls blocking his path flying. They were utterly no match for him.

Luo Fan recognized him. He was Niu Dagang, the Hope Convoy's other Sequence User besides its leader, Zhao Chunfeng.

The Creepy Dolls that looked like three-year-old children were incredibly strong.

Yet before Niu Dagang, they were no different from actual three-year-olds.

After Niu Dagang charged out, he boarded the bus immediately. Without Zhao Chunfeng needing to say anything, once he started his off-road vehicle, the Hope Convoy left the town.

Only after traveling another four or five kilometers at a forced-march pace did the convoy stop.

The survivors on foot slumped to the ground, feeling utterly weak and limp. After a brief rest, there were murmured conversations, sobs, and laughter.

The Hope Convoy had originally numbered sixty or seventy people. Now, at a glance, it seemed only forty-odd remained.

Around twenty of the survivors who had gone scavenging for supplies had been lost.

Still, those who escaped had all gathered some supplies, more or less.

As always, Niu Dagang's bus stood out among them. Presumably, he had gathered the most supplies, staying behind to cover the retreat and buy time for the bus to escape.

Meanwhile, Luo Fan learned roughly what had happened from the survivors around him.

There was a Weird Mother in the town's supermarket, and no one knew how many Creepy Dolls it had given birth to.

Niu Dagang had nearly fallen victim to the Weird Mother just now.

That made things clear to Luo Fan. Presumably, with so many Creepy Dolls around, the Fierce Beasts that had originally lived in the town had all been eaten too?

"Ah, what a shame. I didn't get those dozen or so blocks of instant noodles." Luo Fan carefully sorted through his haul and sighed quietly.

He had discovered the Creepy Doll while gathering the noodle blocks, so naturally, there had been no time to take them.

Still, escaping at all had been incredibly lucky. If he hadn't gotten the noodle blocks, so be it. At least he had taken dozens of bottles of assorted drinks and half a bag of glass noodles.

If he rationed them, they would last him quite a while!

But just as Luo Fan was silently calculating exactly how much he had gained, his mind suddenly rang, as though someone had struck it hard with a hammer.

Countless mysterious runes flashed rapidly through Luo Fan's consciousness.

Sequence, awaken!