More than half a month had passed.
Tang Mo’s life remained a simple routine: fish no longer needed catching, rare treasures in hand, it was easier to go up the mountain like everyone else.
Then experiments, training, and occasionally, Tang Mo would use breadcrumbs to lure two fish and have Qinling share a little snack.
Sometimes she would coax Qinling into stealing a chicken so they could roast it together.
Even when staying in the dorm with her roommates, Tang Mo didn’t feel the apocalypse had much impact on her daily life.
She had always thought the first half-year of the apocalypse was just a transitional period.
If it weren’t for a strange smell coming from the neighboring dorm, life might have continued this calm routine.
One night, after training, Tang Mo followed her usual routine: a quick wash and then to bed.
But after a while, she, Song Qing, and Li Lanlan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
“I really can’t stand it. What is that smell? It’s disgusting!” Lanlan finally sat up, fed up after turning dozens of times.
It had been two months without proper water. Except for Wen Qing and Tang Mo—who had special treasures—most students hadn’t bathed in ages. The odor was, of course, unavoidable.
Usually, everyone was equally smelly, so no one minded.
But tonight, the smell from the neighboring dorm was excessive. Even through two doors and two walls, it was unbearable.
“I have to check it out. They didn’t eat some weird stuff, did they?”
Due to hunger, many students caught insects from the mountains to eat. The mountains were now barren, but insects were plentiful. No one knew what they lived on.
Cooking insects smelled like… cooked excrement. Anyone with a shred of shame wouldn’t eat them in the dorm.
“It’s too dark. I’ll go with you.” Song Qing tidied her bed.
Tang Mo grabbed a flashlight and followed. Past 11 p.m., the dorm was pitch black.
“Is anyone there?” To avoid angering Lanlan’s fiery temper, Song Qing—recognized as the gentlest in the dorm—took the role of the dorm’s diplomatic envoy.
Tang Mo, though smiling and seemingly friendly, was not to be underestimated. When serious, her combat ability was scarier than Lanlan’s fierce appearance.
“Is anyone there?” Song Qing knocked again.
The closer Tang Mo got to the door, the stronger the stench became.
It wasn’t just the smell of cooked insects; there was a familiar scent from her previous life…
“Bang!”
Almost instinctively, Tang Mo kicked the neighboring dorm door open.
The dorm doors were wooden. With her increased Strength, this was easy for her—already strong among girls.
“Tang Mo, you…”
Li Lanlan’s mouth formed an O-shape. Anyone calling her violent had clearly never met Tang Mo.
The door swung open, and the overwhelming stench hit everyone’s senses.
Tang Mo covered her mouth and nose with one hand while shining her flashlight into the room.
“Ah!!!”
Lanlan’s scream pierced the silent dorm.
“I was finally asleep from hunger… who is this?!”
Awakened girls cursed in fear but, scared, quickly grabbed clothes and rushed to the corridor to see what had happened.
Everyone crowded at the dorm door Tang Mo had entered. Those at the front, under the flashlight, saw the scene clearly.
Two highly decomposed corpses, writhing with maggots and unknown insects feasting on their flesh.
The cheeks of the bodies were hollowed, with dried vomit near the mouths.
Nearby lay an alcohol lamp and a small pot scattered on the floor. Inside was a mix of rotting insects—what should have been “soup” was now just a dry lump.
No blood stained the floor.
“They ate poisonous insects and died from poisoning,” Tang Mo quickly deduced.
The insects smelled terrible and were of many species. Ordinary people couldn’t tell which were toxic.
If not for hunger, no one would have eaten them.
Tang Mo found Anyang’s contact on her watch and called via video. Anyang now managed student affairs.
Several girls turned pale, barely able to stand from hunger. Seeing the scene, some even collapsed to the ground.
They had known the school had been losing students over the past months—last time, water poisoning killed over thirty—but they had never faced death so directly.
Back in the dorm, Tang Mo remained silent. She had been used to such scenes.
Perhaps life had been too easy recently, making her forget how hard ordinary people suffered in the apocalypse, one misstep away from death. She had been one of those struggling in her previous life.
“Doesn’t the school provide two meals a day?” Tang Mo asked.
No one could sleep after seeing the scene.
“They were on Wen Qing’s blacklist. There were lots of leftover supplies from the small store. Wen Qing didn’t like them,” Li Lanlan said quietly.
The mention of Wen Qing’s blacklist sent a chill through everyone.
It was like a death list, leaving a shadow over everyone’s mind. Being on it seemed a step away from the Reaper.
Over forty people were already on it. Those people were essentially doomed.
Except for a few like Tang Mo and Qinling who had real abilities, life for the rest was unimaginably harsh.
So, in a way, Wen Qing really was like God: if she disliked you, you would die.
Or perhaps she only saved those she wanted to save.
Tang Mo wouldn’t contribute her space to save everyone, so she felt no right to criticize Wen Qing.
She just felt a bit wistful. Everyone did what they wanted, and Wen Qing had achieved what she wanted—as God, at least inside the school cage.
“What about the supplies they had left?” Tang Mo asked.
With so many boxes, if they rationed carefully, it should have lasted months.
“One time, the short-haired girl’s boyfriend came to the dorm… turned out he brought friends and took all the supplies. They left the girls only two packs of instant noodles and two bottles of water.”
That incident had caused a commotion; many had witnessed it.
“No one stopped them?” Song Qing asked angrily.
“Can’t manage it,” Li Lanlan said softly. She had the most contact with outsiders and knew the most gossip. Such incidents were too common.
The school itself couldn’t manage it.
Recalling the girls’ final tragic state, Tang Mo closed her eyes and lay down.
These events happened everywhere. People lived like ants.
Life was never easy; everyone had to use all their strength just to survive.