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The next day.
It was the fourth day since they’d come into the world and people were already used to the discovery of bodies in the morning. When they saw the blood seeping out from under the door, they just lifted their legs and walked past it. It seemed they thought that even the effort of having to open the door to check if the person inside was living or dead was pointless.
Yuan XueMing, as the recognized leader, still went inside to check. Xu RenDong didn’t  want to see the death of Jiang Li so he just waited for Yuan XueMing to come out and asked: “Are they both dead?”
Yuan XueMing said, “Yes. Wang Yuan was really a man.”
Xu RenDong asked: “What?”
Yuan XueMing: “He held Jiang Li in his arms all the way until he died. All the flesh on his body was gnawed, there wasn’t a shred of clean meat left, but he didn’t let go.”
This little couple really loved each other deeply. Xu RenDong recalled that Jiang Li had also killed him for Wang Yuan and felt complicated. He didn’t speak again.
The two men came downstairs and before they even reached the kitchen, they heard a violent quarrel.
“Are you trying to burn me?” The short man that Xu Hong had quarreled with yesterday slapped the milk onto the ground, the expression on his face both ferocious and proud. “Is it because I guessed correctly and won yesterday, so you resent me?”
Xu Hong was handing out milk to everyone. She turned to look at the stains on the floor and said coldly, “Then don’t drink it. Clean the floor too in case a dirty floor is also a death condition. You just got the doll, then it would really be a waste.”
Xu RenDong realized that the two of them had an argument just because the milk was too hot. Yesterday after that quarrel, the two of them still had anger in their hearts, plus the small-hearted man had won the doll and felt immediately smug as though he’d won a battle over Xu Hong. As for Xu Hong, she didn’t make any more drastic moves, but was unwilling to let go of him with her mouth.
The two people argued and looked like they were about to get into another physical fight. Yuan XueMing came forward and advised: “Hey, why are you fighting again? Aren’t there more important things to worry about?
Xu Hong, holding her glass of milk, sat down coldly in the farthest place from the man.
Xu RenDong went to Lian Qiao’s  side. Lian Qiao had helped him get breakfast and handed it to him, whispering, “The milk is a little hot, you be careful.”
Xu RenDong nodded.
Lian Qiao muttered, “That man is a bit crazy. Does he really think Xu Hong wants to burn him to death so that she can inherit his doll?” This statement made Xu RenDong want to laugh a little. But because Xu Hong was sitting opposite him, he could only raise his mouth very restrainedly.
Yuan XueMing: “Today I want to go south to explore, are there any objections?”
Yuan XueMing, as a veteran, was also the oldest of these groups. In the past when he made a decision no one objected. But this time, someone quickly raised their hand. It was the little man who said, “I’m not feeling well, I don’t want to go today.”
People looked askance at each other and their faces had changed.  Two others said the same thing: “Me too!”
All three happen to have dolls in their possession and their meaning is obvious: now that they already have a doll, it is safer for the time being to stay in the house. As for exploration, it was better to let other people go.
Xu Hong coldly said: “Oh, you guys are very good at self-protection. Very admirable!”
The little man was very proud: “I admire you too. You’re going to die soon and are still so calm.”
Others who also didn’t have a doll heard these words and showed anger on their faces. A hot-tempered, tall man even slapped the table and stood straight up: “What the hell are you saying!”
The little man saw this man was in shape and knew that he would lose in a fight so he hurriedly apologized: “I’m sorry, big brother, I don’t mean you. I just can’t get used to that woman, there’s no other meaning.”
The strong man’s face twisted. Xu Hong sneered: “Leave him alone. If we can’t find the complete set of dolls, everyone will die.”
Seeing the team fall apart, Yuan XueMing didn’t look anxious. He had already anticipated the situation and ate breakfast on his own. Xu Hong suddenly turned her head and looked at him and said, “Brother Yuan.”
This way of speaking surprised Yuan XueMing.
Since she came to the world, Xu Hong had been loath to deal with anyone. Today she was actually so polite to him, it was clear that she wanted something.
Xu Hong said, “Today I’m not going with you. I want to go north. Let’s split up, maybe the probability of finding a set is a little higher. You are the backbone of the team and also a veteran, so everyone would want to go with you. So can you lend me the compass today so that I can also get a bit of backing for my team?”
Yuan XueMing was surprised and even Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao began to look at Xu
Hong differently. They thought Xu Hong was a sharp and small-minded woman with a bad temper, but they didn’t expect that when she needed to be calm she was also capable of doing it. She had thought about the situation calmly and didn’t panic, and her request was not excessive and could even be considered reasonable.
The team began to appreciate this woman more.
By contrast, the three men who wanted to stay home to keep their lives just because they already had a doll were too small-minded.
So, with the exception of the three men, the crowd was divided into two teams. One team went south, one team went north, looking for more dolls.
In the evening however both teams returned without success. It had been a futile day and they had neither found new dolls nor new buildings. They walked a dozen kilometers in two different directions, only to see the snow and more snow, as if only snow remained in this world. The day was wasted.
At night, everyone was so depressed that they didn’t even have much fun eating dinner. Only Xu Hong is still swallowing dry bread mouthful by mouthful. She even found a pen and paper and hand drew a map of the explored area in a rough picture.
Two more people were killed by rabbits that night. This time, almost everyone heard the screams of the two men before they died. Then a girl broke down and didn’t even put on her coat before running out of the hut crying. Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao stood in the window, watching the girl run farther and farther, no one spoke. By the next morning, the girl still hadn’t returned.
The crowd gathered in the dining room, knowing that time was running out for them. However, yesterday’s futility made everyone’s morale extremely low so when Yuan XueMing and Xu Hong discussed the next step to explore, someone laughed bitterly: “Still want go out? What’s the point! If I have to die, I’d rather die in a warm house than freeze to death outside!”
No one answered but it was clear that everyone was affected by the negativity. There were too few people willing to go out to explore, not enough to form two teams. So on this day, there were only six people willing to go out including Xu RenDong. They marched toward the unexplored west side and looked very carefully the whole way. They even flipped the snow with branches in the hopes that they would come across a doll by chance just like last time.
Unfortunately, this time they still didn’t find anything. As they dejectedly returned to the hut, the last light of hope in the eyes of the remaining companions was extinguished. This time, even Yuan XueMing has lost his appeal, because of the people who didn’t have a doll, all had died except Xu Hong.
Yuan XueMing asked Xu Hong: “Do you want to go again?”
Xu Hong said: “Of course, we still have time.”
Yuan XueMing smiled bitterly: “But we’ve already been to all the places we can go.”
Xu Hong was silent. At dawn, they found that Xu Hong had disappeared. Even until evening she didn’t return, so no one knew where she had gone. No one knew if she had been killed by a rabbit or died in a trap. But there wasn’t any time to worry about that, because one more night would be the end of the rabbit’s seven day period. That night everyone had insomnia, most people hadn’t been able to eat for two or three days. They were all like straw men, completely numb with no sense of life.
Only the three of them: Xu RenDong, Yuan XueMing and Lian Qiao were still eating and drinking. It was only that they were kept up at night by the howls and wails of their teammates. Xu RenDong was not afraid because he was used to it. Yuan XueMing was someone who in the real world had one foot in the coffin, so he was ambivalent about being in a situation of life and death.
Liam Qiao was also calm which made Xu RenDong surprised.
He asked Lian Qiao: “Aren’t you afraid?”
Lian Qiao hugged the crowbar and said with child-like ferocity, “I think we can still put up a fight!”
Finally, it was the day of the final judgment.
In the morning, the crowd went downstairs in silence, standing like dark shadows. Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao were in good spirits. Lian Qiao even ate more than usual, filling up his strength in preparation for a fight.
“I’ve been eating Leba for seven days, I feel like I’m going to throw up!” Lian Qiao said this while viciously gnawing bread and chugging milk.”When I go out, first I’m going to eat hot pot, then a barbeque and at night I’m going to eat a family feast!”
Xu RenDong nodded silently. After so many reincarnations, he couldn’t remember how many days he had eaten bread. Now when he sees Leba he wants to vomit and his desire to get out was definitely stronger than everyone else present.
When the other people looked at the two of them who still had the ability to joke around, there was a hint of envy in their lifeless eyes.
Just as Lian Qiao was worrying whether or not he was going to get constipation due to the lack of eating vegetables, the door suddenly sounded. There were three sharp knocks and all of a sudden everyone’s body tightened up.
Everyone’s eyes focused on Yuan XueMing and Yuan XueMing also did not shirk his duties. He got up and said: “I will open the door.”
The crowd nodded in despair. Yuan XueMing opened the door and they saw the rabbit in the gold tuxedo. He was even wearing a top hat today and really looked dressed up and ready to celebrate the holiday. Standing on both hind legs and excitedly holding his front paws, the rabbit asked, “Have you gathered all the gifts together?”
The people in the room took out their doll sets and put them on the table one by one. The rabbit opened his mouth: “Very good, very good! You’re all obedient!”
It has a very pleasant and lively tone. Had it not been for a few drops of dark red blood on the rabbit’s lips, he would have looked like a true-blue, friendly celebration mascot.
But all of us have seen the tragedy of their companions being broken to pieces and naturally will not be confused by this illusion. Everyone bowed their heads and dared not look at the rabbit. They only felt chilled.
Sure enough, when the rabbit counted only six dolls on the table, his furry face instantly twisted.
“Why are there only these?”
Its voice became sharp and shrill and the gray rabbit’s hair stood up, looking like an angry cat with its tail in the air. Although its body was like a cat, the two long rabbit ears stood upright on its head like tombstones. At this point it becomes like a mutated evil experiment, both deformed and strange, with a strong feeling of malice all over it.
The faces of the people have become extremely ugly but in the tense atmosphere, they didn’t dare to speak, for fear that the rabbit would pounce on them in the next second and tear them to pieces.
At this point Lian Qiao suddenly spoke, “You calm down. The rest of the set, it’s all here on me.”
The author has something to say: “High danger warning ahead, non-combatants immediately withdraw!”