"Who’s there!"
The boy shouted and looked to his side, getting startled and falling onto the ground.
"Are you a human or a ghost? How did you appear?"
The boy’s facial expression twisted, the alley was a dead end, and at the end of it was this small courtyard, no more than twenty square meters in area. Other than the decrepit cabinet placed against the west wall, there was nothing else. That cabinet, with its size, couldn’t possibly hide a person; even the boy himself didn’t have the ability to fully hide inside it.
Therefore, the moment one foot entered this small courtyard, everything inside was plainly visible. Although the boy hadn’t looked carefully earlier, if there was someone inside, there was no way they could hide without being seen.
But how did this person appear?
The boy sat on the ground with his hands planted, scrutinizing the figure wearing a duckbill cap, whose face above the nose seemed to be shrouded in mist; from any angle, only his chin was visible.
About 1.7 meters tall, he had a strong scent of paint about him and also a vague odor unfamiliar to the boy; it was the Paint Man.
Without uttering a word, he stared at the boy, paralyzed with fear on the ground, silently picked up the human-skin doll, and extended his hand to pass it over.
"What the f*ck are you trying to do?"
The boy was hot-tempered and glared menacingly. He was completely unaware of how dangerous the person before him was.
The Paint Man didn’t speak, weighed the doll in his hand, clearly indicating his intention. The boy wasn’t stupid, and instantly realized what the man wanted to do, but something felt off. What’s the deal with a grown man giving a doll to a boy?
Especially such an ugly doll, with some parts even stained with blood?
"This is for me?"
The boy was somewhat unsure and asked, though his tone softened a bit.
The Paint Man nodded, still not saying a word.
"Why are you giving this to me? Are you crazy!"
The boy spat out a wad of spit, fiercely spitting on the ground, then picked up the nutrient supplements one by one, stuffing them into his clothes. When there was no more room in his clothes, he stuffed them into his pants. Once finished, he turned and walked out of the courtyard.
However, he moved slowly, as if observing whether the man behind him was following. The person who suddenly appeared beside him was truly bizarre, like a ghost, making him unavoidably anxious.
Once he noticed the other party wasn’t following, the boy quickly quickened his pace, leaving the alley and returning to the busier street.
Seeing the residents coming and going, the boy breathed a sigh of relief but couldn’t help looking back toward the end of the alley where the small courtyard was.
"Strange..."
The boy muttered to himself. The strange man from the small courtyard was gone, but the doll that had been in his hands earlier was now lying on the ground, silent and still.
"Could it actually be a ghost?"
Seeing people around him, some of the boy’s fear was dispelled, and since the odd man was no longer there, there probably wouldn’t be any trouble.
With that thought, he walked back, picked up the doll, and ran back quickly.
During the process, none of the horrific scenarios the boy had imagined occurred.
"Can’t be, he really left a doll for me. He must be some kind of nutcase."
He shook his head and looked again at the small courtyard, where the sunlight shone as if it were a place in a fairyland.
The boy stroked the cloth doll with his hand, finding it very smooth, as if it were the hand of a loved one. Even though the doll was ugly, touching it gave this kind of feeling.
If the boy knew what the cloth doll was made of, he would throw it away without the slightest hesitation!
It was a strange day, and the boy wrote the following words in his diary: "Today, I received a gift from someone else for the first time, although I don’t know why he gave me a cloth doll."
...
Meanwhile, after Ting Ye had parted ways with Paint Man, he quickly ran with Song Muyuan towards the place where the sounds of conversation echoed. He didn’t need to ask where it happened. After finding the owner of the voice engaged in conversation, Tang Ye, with the astonishing hearing of a zombie, soon made out where members of the Peace Party had been ambushed.
"It’s the Marshal! He’s arrived!"
"Marshal, the people from the Peace Party are being attacked over there, there, over there, go take a look."
As soon as Tang Ye arrived, several survivors recognized him and hurriedly pointed to a spot. Tang Ye nodded.
"Follow me!" he shouted to Song Mu, then leaped up and flew towards the building rooftop, unobstructed, rushing towards the scene of the incident.
After a few seconds, Tang Ye saw more than forty Peace Party soldiers grouped together on the street, and among them was a Level 4 New Human member of the Peace Party engaged in fight with another masked Level 4 New Human.
The people around had already retreated over a hundred meters away, and the several lifeless bodies on the battlefield undeniably illustrated what fate awaited those who approached too closely. No one would risk their life just to get a closer view of the fight.
"I’ve finally caught you in the act, bastard!"
Killing intent flashed in Tang Ye’s eyes; he made no move, but suddenly dust rose around him.
"Useless fools, get lost. This Level 4 is mine!"
Just then, a Level 5 New Human appeared, shouting at the person fighting with the Level 4 New Human member of the Peace Party, then picked up his weapon and strode forward, his aura bloodthirsty.
The Level 4 New Human’s eyes flickered with struggle, but he was helpless. The Peace Party member before him was no weaker than himself, and taking him down would definitely take a long time. Their mission was already urgent, and if they delayed too long, the Peace Party reinforcements would arrive, and they would get nothing.
With this thought, the Level 4 attacker quickly retreated, and the Level 5 New Human charged towards him, radiating a murderous aura!
"Damn it!"
The color drained from the face of the Peace Party’s Level 4 New Human. He might hold out against someone of the same level, but with a Level 5 New Human approaching, he had no confidence he could withstand the assault.
Almost at the exact moment his face paled, an inexplicable change also came over the face of the Level 5 New Human. He seemed to sense something, and in the blink of an eye, he leaped into the air, flipped several times, and landed before hastily retreating!
"F*ck! What is that?"
His eyes bulged with disbelief, and he roared in anger, leaving his companions beside him completely confused.
"What’s wrong?"
"Don’t know, quick, retreat!" This Level 5 attacker couldn’t explain what he had just felt, something seemed to be beside him and then attacked him, yet when he looked, there was nothing there, which made him feel extremely uneasy.
"Why retreat?" The surrounding companions and the Peace Party member under attack were also baffled.
"For f*ck’s sake!"