In her past life, she had met Qin Ling in the mist, which meant he would also be joining the Mist Team this time.

She had to stop him. She couldn’t let him go!

Tang Mo shivered at the thought of the terrifying things she had seen in the mist.

She immediately opened her contacts and sent Qin Ling a message.

"The usual spot tonight. Don’t leave till I get there."

This was too important. She would only feel at ease once she told him in person.

Tang Mo’s plan for the evening was to follow her usual training regimen and talk to Qin Ling about it when he arrived.

She was an extremely self-disciplined person. Her long-standing success wasn’t just due to her intelligence; her personality was a major factor as well.

But before she could even finish her warm-up and take out Wind Breaker, she saw Qin Ling approaching.

Wind Breaker was the name she had given her beloved blade.

Qin Ling leaned against a nearby streetlamp with his hands in his pockets. The faint yellow light cast shadows across his jawline.

"In such a hurry to see me? I’ll have you know, I’ve already stolen all the chickens on the mountain. There aren’t any left."

Tang Mo pulled a towel from her bag, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and plopped down on the ground.

"The school is organizing a team to go into the mist. Are you going?"

Tang Mo cut straight to the chase. She knew if she played along with his jokes, they’d never get to the point.

"Of course. What’s wrong, are you going too? Don’t. You have plenty of food and drink every day. Why would you look for trouble?"

Qin Ling frowned.

"Me looking for trouble? Then why are *you*?"

Hearing Qin Ling say he was going, Tang Mo felt a sudden, inexplicable panic in her heart.

"I have my reasons. You’re different." Qin Ling walked over and sat down beside her.

"You’re a girl. That place... it’s very dangerous," Qin Ling hesitated for a moment before speaking.

Tang Mo remained silent.

’He knew about the dangers in the mist. Of course. With his family’s background, he probably knew even more about it than she did.’

"Do you really have to go?" Tang Mo asked after a moment’s thought.

"I have to." The playful look in his eyes was gone, replaced by a rare seriousness on his face.

The serious look on his face reminded Tang Mo of their time together. Back then, he had been just as serious—serious about protecting her so she could survive, serious about wanting to take her away with him, serious about planning their future together.

’Perhaps this was his true self.’

"Alright then. Go, but be safe. Contact me anytime if something happens." Tang Mo gestured toward her ID Watch.

’If Qin Ling was this insistent, he must have his reasons.’ Tang Mo swallowed all the words she wanted to say to convince him otherwise.

’If it were her, once she made a decision about something she had to do, she wouldn’t change her mind either.’

"But you can’t go, okay?" Qin Ling looked up at Tang Mo.

It might have been the dim yellow light making it hard to see, but there seemed to be a hint of a plea in his eyes.

"I’m not going. The news said there are mutant beasts inside, and I’m terrible at fighting." Tang Mo shrugged.

"Good." Qin Ling breathed a silent sigh of relief, his usual carefree expression returning to his face.

"Here, this is for you." He casually tossed something to her.

After fumbling to catch it, Tang Mo took a closer look. The object in her hands was a gun! And a small bag of bullets.

"Know how to use it?" Seeing her fumbling, Qin Ling felt his spirits lift. He had specifically asked his family to send over two guns, just so he could give one to her.

’He didn’t know why, but he just really wanted to protect her.’

At this thought, Qin Ling scratched his head. ’Did he trade his brains for his high attribute values after the apocalypse? Why couldn’t he ever figure out what he was thinking?’

"I don’t want it. You’re the one going into the mist, you should keep it," Tang Mo said, trying to push it back without a second thought.

"Just take it. I got it specially for you, and I have another one." Qin Ling quickly stood up, dusted off his pants, and made to leave.

"Figure it out on your own. Call me if you can’t." And with that, he was gone.

Tang Mo stroked the gun, weighing the bag of bullets in her hand.

’This must be the first gift Qin Ling’s ever given me. It’s... certainly unique.’

’He really has a lot of faith in me, telling me to teach myself how to use a gun. Unbelievable.’

Tang Mo skillfully took the bullets out of the bag, loaded them into the gun, and chambered a round. She raised the gun in her right hand.

In her past life, her Spiritual Attribute had been quite high, which gave her excellent aim. Besides her knack for escaping, her greatest skill had been her marksmanship.

After placing the loaded gun and the bag of bullets into her Space, Tang Mo drew her blade and began her daily training.

Tang Mo’s blade work was getting better and better. Although her Strength hadn’t increased much, her agility had risen by ten points thanks to the abnormal treasure. As a result, her technique and evasion were several notches above what they used to be.

She was now confident that with her blade, she could hold her own even against two able-bodied men.

Not to mention, she could use her spiritual power to reinforce key areas at critical moments, effectively doubling her Combat Power.

And if all else failed, with her spiritual power, she could always escape if she couldn’t win a fight.

Tang Mo was very satisfied with her recent training progress, but she was also keenly aware that with her current Combat Power, she was still too weak.

So she resolved to avoid combat until she was strong enough, unless it was absolutely critical.

After all, her ultimate goal was to feign weakness to get the upper hand, obtain what she wanted, and simply survive until the very end.

And now, with the things in the mist about to emerge, she really had to train even harder.

...

The second Sunday of the fifth month of the school’s lockdown was the day designated for the student expedition into the mist.

The day before, Tang Mo began stuffing the remaining water and food from her dorm into her Space Jade Pendant.

But there wasn’t much Space inside the Jade Pendant to begin with. After stuffing Qin Ling’s gifts inside, there was very little room left.

She struggled to rearrange things, cramming items in for a long time, but still had half a case of water and more than half a box of instant noodles left over.

Tang Mo took out the backpack she always carried and packed three bottles of water, five packets of instant noodles, and some daily necessities.

She then placed the backpack on her desk where it would be easy to grab. The last few bottles of water and packets of noodles were left on the desk for her to live on for the next couple of days.

She had long been prepared. If she ever needed to evacuate the dorm, she could just grab her backpack and leave immediately. There was nothing superfluous left in her room.

When Sunday arrived, everyone going into the mist gathered at the school gate. Led by An Yang, the team was assembled and ready to depart.

Whether they had volunteered or been forced, at this point, everyone’s face held a glimmer of hope.

Maybe? With so many people, maybe they could actually make it out?

A spark of life finally ignited on faces that had been listless for months.

......

[Author’s Note]

I have to do something very important tomorrow, so today’s update is a little late. Sorry about that.

If all goes well, I’ll release an extra Chapter tomorrow.

Good night.