Just as Cheng Shuang guessed, as long as they don't stop or provoke them, the dwarves will hunt down all the participants according to their hunting rules.
Because the four girls cooperated well with each other, their lives were temporarily safe, and they were able to catch their breath when things slowed down. However, their nerves remained tense, and no one dared to truly relax. Similarly, their fatigue only increased.
Fortunately, a glimmer of hope appeared ahead. The endless track underwent subtle changes, and the exhausted and sweating people began to quicken their pace with renewed hope. Suddenly, pink little doors appeared on each track, giving everyone a glimmer of hope that if they could pass through the doors, they might be able to escape the dwarves' pursuit and hunting.
The man on track four was incredibly fast; tall and long-legged, he reached the small gate first. Perhaps due to the intense suppression he had been under, the pent-up fear and resentment within him transformed into a raging fire. At the gate, he deliberately paused, then, with a ferocious expression, kicked a dwarf flying.
Watching the dwarf fly like a broken doll and crash into the invisible dividing line above the track, he laughed heartily a few times before turning around and crawling into the door.
However, something unexpected happened.
The pink door frame flickered, ruthlessly blocking him outside.
His eyes widened, and he angrily pounded on the door frame, but no matter how violently he tried to break it, the door, which seemed to have no obstacles, remained unshaken.
But the dwarf he kicked away was successfully enraged. Baring his teeth, he fiercely pounced over, grabbed his leg, and tore off a large chunk of flesh.
The man let out a hoarse scream of pain, and in a fit of rage, punched the dwarf in the head, his own knuckles snapping with a crisp cracking sound.
The dwarf grinned arrogantly, its haughty demeanor a perfect copy of the man's. Its teeth were filled with blood and chunks of flesh as it grabbed the man's leg and dragged him violently to the ground.
The man spent too much time struggling with the door, losing the initiative, and one after another, the dwarves rushed over and pounced on him.
When Cheng Shuang reached the gate, the other runners had also gathered there. No one could ignore the screams of the man from runway number four and the scene of him being refused entry.
Everyone hesitated slightly.
The dwarves seized the opportunity and pounced, baring their teeth in a frenzied state, clearly not wanting their prize to slip away again.
One of them grabbed Cheng Shuang's ankle, grinning smugly, and swung his knife to stab her calf.
"Kick them! Kick them!" a man roared.
The voice sounds like Ma Guoxu.
With life and death looming, no one dared to hesitate.
Cheng Shuang fiercely swung the teddy bear, sending the dwarf, who was as hard as stone yet as light as a feather, flying away. Then, the little girl closed her eyes tightly, revealing an expression of resignation, and plunged headfirst into the pink little door.
In that instant, something icy cold penetrated the skin, instantly dissolving layers of fatigue and giving one the illusion of feeling refreshed and fearless.
Sure enough... her teddy bear was the key to open the door!
Cheng Shuang hugged the teddy bear tightly and looked back coldly. The dwarves behind the door waved their arms and roared at her in a frantic and unwilling manner, but none of them could pass through the barrier of the door.
She breathed a sigh of relief and held the teddy bear up to her face to examine it carefully.
It was still the same teddy bear that had been with her for so many years, with brown fur, a bow tie, and naturally upturned lips under its black bean nose, looking adorable and unchanged.
"Cub Bear is so good!" The little girl looked around and, seeing that no one was around, first praised him in a sweet and soft voice, then solemnly instructed him, "Don't get lost again and make Shuangshuang worry!" Then she pouted and made a "mua" sound, affectionately kissing the teddy bear's black bean nose.
teddy bear: ...You're bullying me because I can't talk! I'm so upset!
As people gradually entered the door, Cheng Shuang immediately shut her mouth, her innocent and childlike expression vanished, and she tiptoed to search for familiar figures in the crowd.
Fortunately, familiar faces were scattered throughout the crowd; not a single one was missing.
The little girl felt relieved and began to carefully observe her new environment.
The world behind the door once again defied human imagination: a boundless white space, like an empty world where heaven and earth were indistinguishable, but miraculously, there was no glare to the eye.
Thirteen survivors stood in front of the door, some of them oblivious to the eeriness of their surroundings, unable to contain their joy and weeping.
"I'm here! I'm here!" A man holding a broom shouted excitedly, waving his arm as he released his pent-up emotions.
Liu Juan cried uncontrollably while clutching her thermos, not even caring about the bloodstains on the bottle.
"Are you injured?" Cheng Shuang asked her hurriedly.
“It was from when the dwarf’s tooth was knocked out by the thermos.” Liu Juan shook her head, crying, and choked out, “Number four… he asked me to save him… but I couldn’t save him at all!”
The little girl pursed her lips. When she squeezed through the small door, Uncle Number Four's legs had already been eaten...
With tears blurring her vision, Liu Juan was busy wiping away her tears and didn't even see who was in front of her. A sense of collapse still lingered in her expression, and she subconsciously blurted out her fear and anxiety, "It's so terrible! It's absolutely terrible! He only has one head and..." She stopped herself in time, clearly realizing that the person in front of her was Cheng Shuang after wiping away her tears. A child shouldn't have to bear the heavy emotions that belong to an adult.
But Cheng Shuang wasn't an ordinary child. A fragment of the post-apocalyptic girl remained in her soul, and many more cruel and realistic things had appeared within that fragment. So, without being explicitly told, the little girl still imagined that despairing scene.
She shivered and hugged the teddy bear even tighter.
Liu Juan forced a smile, intending to change the subject, but couldn't find anything else to say, so she asked about the child's health with concern.
The twelve-year-old girl was thin and looked to be under ten years old. Her pale yellow bear-print pajama pants revealed her slender ankles. Liu Juan secretly compared them and found that her thumb and forefinger could completely encircle her, not to mention her two stick-like little arms.
It's a miracle that she made it to this stage unscathed.
Liu Juan patted the little girl's head tenderly, receiving a sweet, innocent smile in return.
Soon, several new doors suddenly appeared opposite them, and seven men and one woman, eight people in total, walked out of the doors.
Their eyes met, and they both froze, then realized that there were other participants struggling in other competitions.
"Tian Yi? Tian Yi! I'm here!" a stylish woman with short hair called out in surprise.
The little girl looked over curiously and saw Wu Qian, the convenience store clerk, happily waving her arms at a young man across the street. Then, like a bird returning home, she ran over and hugged him tightly.
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