Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

But Tang Mo felt something was different. Although she currently had no way to control her body or consciousness.

But she vaguely sensed that a trace of her spiritual power remained within her consciousness, connected to her shattered sea of consciousness.

Tang Mo knew that the spiritual power within her consciousness desperately wanted to return to her body. But alas, its vessel was broken, and it could not return.

If her sea of consciousness could truly be repaired, she could still go back.

Just as the Sect Leader and Lin Yu had said, if her sea of consciousness could be repaired, she should be able to wake up.

But when she heard the price they mentioned for mending her sea of consciousness…

Tang Mo felt it wasn’t necessary at all.

She had already lived two lifetimes; she had lived long enough. She had experienced everything she was meant to, and everything she wasn’t. It was worth it.

In truth, the days before the apocalypse felt like a distant memory to Tang Mo, so distant that she could hardly recall having lived through such wonderful times.

Tang Mo had no great attachment to this world; the only things she longed for were her family, friends, and loved one.

Living, in itself, wasn’t important. What was important was that the people she cared for could be well. This had been Tang Mo’s goal for herself ever since she was reborn into this life.

All this time, her struggles had been for one purpose alone: so the people she cared for could have a slightly better life.

And now, if waking her up to live again meant sealing off the path to hope for every survivor in the world, that was simply too cruel. More importantly, it was not the outcome Tang Mo wanted.

‘Don’t save me.’

Tang Mo thought, but she could not make a sound or show any reaction. She could only wait for others to make the decision.

Meanwhile, Wen Jianshu, the Sect Leader, and Lin Yu returned, their minds in turmoil.

Wen Jianshu, for his part, was extremely fond of his stepdaughter, Tang Mo. He felt in his heart that the girl’s strong will was a bit like his own.

He greatly admired a child like Tang Mo and hoped that Yangyang would one day be as diligent as his sister, fighting for his own achievements through his own efforts.

In fact, in his heart, Wen Jianshu had always regarded Tang Mo just as he did Yangyang—as his own child.

From a purely personal standpoint, Wen Jianshu desperately wanted to save Tang Mo and see her wake up.

But…

Wen Jianshu had grown up in a large family, and the education he’d received demanded that he have a broader vision and a greater sense of perspective.

If saving Tang Mo’s life meant sacrificing the hope of all humanity, Wen Jianshu found himself unable to make a choice.

It wasn’t because Tang Mo wasn’t important, but because it wouldn’t matter who was on the other side of the scale from all of humanity.

Even if it were Lin Yi or Yangyang, Wen Jianshu would still be the same—unable to easily and immediately follow his heart and make a choice.

That night, Wen Jianshu lay beside Lin Yi, unable to fall asleep. He tossed and turned, his mind replaying a thousand thoughts.

Yangyang must have been frightened by the day’s events; he was whimpering even in his sleep.

Clearly, Wen Jianshu wasn’t the only one awake. Lin Yi reached out to hold her son, coaxing him softly.

Lin Yi’s voice was exceptionally clear in the dead of night, not sounding at all like someone who had just been woken up.

Wen Jianshu knew then that Lin Yi hadn’t slept at all.

“I heard everything.”

Lin Yi spoke after she had soothed Yangyang back to sleep.

“Mm.”

Wen Jianshu acknowledged. He knew the wife beside him had been awake the whole time.

When he had come out of the other tent, Lin Yi hadn’t asked a thing, so he knew she must have been outside and heard it all.

“I don’t care what any of you think, I am saving my daughter. When Qin Ling returns, I’ll go talk to him. I’ll get on my knees, I’ll beg him, but I will make sure Momo wakes up—wakes up alive and kicking.”

Unlike Wen Jianshu, Lin Yi showed not a shred of hesitation on this matter.

After hearing their conversation from outside the tent, Lin Yi had immediately made up her mind. If there was any way at all, she would save her daughter.

Wen Jianshu was taken aback by Lin Yi’s resolute stance.

He had expected Lin Yi would make her choice without hesitation, but he never imagined she would be this adamant.

“If we save Momo, the world will never be able to return to the way it was before. Are you okay with that?”

Wen Jianshu sighed. The weight of this choice was just too heavy.

“What does the rest of the world have to do with me?”

In the darkness, Lin Yi’s voice didn’t waver in the slightest.

She was only Momo’s mother; she wasn’t that noble.

“Then what about Yangyang? It’s one thing for us to continue living like this, but Yangyang hasn’t had a single good day since he was born. Can you bear that?”

Wen Jianshu pressed on.

Lin Yi, whose voice had been perfectly calm, suddenly shot bolt upright, her emotions erupting.

“Wen Jianshu, are you even speaking like a human being? Momo and Yangyang are both my children; I love them both dearly. But I want you to search your conscience and tell me, if it weren’t for Momo, would Yangyang even have the life he has now? Don’t talk to me about ‘good days.’ If it weren’t for Momo, you, me, and Yangyang would all be dead and gone to see King Yan!”

Lin Yi’s voice was so loud that if their tent hadn’t been isolated, she likely would have woken everyone nearby.

“Don’t you dare try to guilt-trip my daughter with your so-called righteousness and morality! So now you’re all concerned about humanity and the whole world? When Momo didn’t have those stupid beads, why weren’t any of you thinking about this? Why didn’t you go find those stupid beads yourselves? Now that my daughter has found them, you want her to make a sacrifice? You start preaching about the greater good of all humanity? In my eyes, you’re all just a bunch of ungrateful bastards!”

Lin Yi’s emotions had completely erupted. With her daughter lying in a coma, her only thought was to make Tang Mo wake up.

As for the state of the world, that was the world’s problem. It wasn’t Momo who had made the world this way.

Why should she be the one to bear such a burden now?

Wen Jianshu had never seen Lin Yi like this before. He had always known that she was resilient to the core, a trait Tang Mo had inherited from her mother, but he had never witnessed an explosive, hysterical Lin Yi.

If every person has a line that cannot be crossed, then for Lin Yi, that line was her children.

“I know, I know,” he said. “I never said Momo wasn’t important. I was just asking.”

Lin Yi’s words gave Wen Jianshu a sudden epiphany. She was right. The world was already this terrible; it wasn’t Tang Mo who had made it that way.

On the contrary, Tang Mo was the one who had given the most to this world. If it weren’t for her—without the current Protective Shield, without so much food—so many people would never have survived.

If they were to sacrifice her now in exchange for peace in this world, then they would be, just as Lin Yi said, nothing more than ungrateful turncoats. It would be the ultimate betrayal.