Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 71: Chapter 65: Tang Mo’s Backer

In truth, Tang Mo had already anticipated that the village chief would ask her to stay and help. She had already made her decision: she would stay and fight.

A Mutant Beast Group of a dozen or so was one of the smallest kinds. Although it was led by an Intermediate Beast, it was nowhere near as terrifying as the swarms of hundreds, even thousands, of mutant beasts she had encountered in the past.

She roughly assessed her own strength and figured she could give it a try.

The odds of victory weren’t high, but if she couldn’t win, she could escape. She was confident of that.

But she never imagined that the village chief had such a treasure in his backyard, much less that he would offer it to her as a bargaining chip.

This truly put Tang Mo in an awkward position.

It was one thing to stay and help voluntarily, but to accept someone’s treasure only to fight a nearly-lost cause...

She could, of course, do just that, but it wouldn’t be honorable.

Tang Mo had one principle she lived by: repay kindness with kindness and always have a clear conscience.

This Spiritual Flower was irresistibly tempting; she couldn’t possibly refuse it. But to accept it and then stand by and watch Taoyuan Village be destroyed... her conscience would truly be tormented.

Tang Mo sat there without replying, pondering seriously for a moment.

Shen Qing knew that a matter this dangerous required careful thought, so he didn’t press her, waiting quietly instead.

After a long moment, Tang Mo finally came to a decision. She looked up at Shen Qing and said, word by word,

"I will accept this flower. In exchange, I will ensure Taoyuan Village’s safety."

Her words were firm and resonant, filled with confidence and determination.

Shen Qing was stunned speechless for a moment. But the determination in Tang Mo’s eyes told him she wasn’t joking.

’Just how powerful would someone have to be to fight a beast group all on their own?’ In his heart, Shen Qing was skeptical.

But Tang Mo’s words moved him. At the very least, she had the will to try. The abnormal treasure had not been given in vain.

"Of course, I can’t do it on my own."

Tang Mo smiled, then opened the video call function on her watch, found her most recent contact, and placed the call.

The call was answered in under three seconds.

"Momo, why are you calling me during the day? Did you miss me?"

A clear male voice came from the other end of the line, punctuated by the sound of gunshots in the background.

Qin Ling was at the shooting range practicing. The moment he saw his darling calling, he immediately put down his gun to answer.

"Stop fooling around, I have company."

Tang Mo blushed. ’How could I forget Qin Ling is never serious when he talks to me? I shouldn’t have called him in front of the village chief.’

Although she and Qin Ling couldn’t meet every day, they still made frequent video calls. On average, they called each other every three nights.

This was the compromise Tang Mo had negotiated. If it were up to Qin Ling, they’d be calling each other every day.

"I’ve run into a bit of trouble. Can you lend me some people?"

Tang Mo had to ensure Taoyuan Village’s safety. Claiming she could do it alone would be a boast, but borrowing people from Qin Ling was definitely not an issue.

As the sole direct heir of the Alliance’s number one family, Qin Ling had quickly assumed the position that could only be his after leaving school.

Although his position wasn’t entirely secure and he still faced many obstacles, he had already achieved a great deal.

Of course, this wasn’t something Qin Ling had told her himself; Tang Mo had read about it in the Alliance Daily.

Her boyfriend was already a celebrity, appearing in the news every other day. And each time he did, it caused a frenzy among his legion of fangirls.

Thankfully, Tang Mo wasn’t the jealous type, or her life would be much more difficult.

"Trouble? Where? I’m coming over right now."

The voice on Qin Ling’s end instantly grew cold, as if he had become a different person.

Whether he made a gesture or something else, the sounds of gunfire and chatter on his end stopped instantly, leaving only silence.

"It’s nothing major, really..."

Tang Mo briefly explained the situation and described the approximate strength of the mutant beast pack.

"Send me your location. Protect yourself first, no matter what. I’ll be there in about two hours."

He hung up before Tang Mo could even reply. Usually, it was Qin Ling who lingered on their calls, never wanting to hang up. This was the most decisive he’d ever been about ending one.

It was clear he was genuinely worried.

Tang Mo hung up, a helpless look on her face. "Well then, I’ll be taking this flower, shall I?" she said to Shen Qing.

This was the most important reason she had made the call in front of Shen Qing.

With Tang Mo’s personality, she couldn’t rest easy until the item was in her possession.

Although Shen Qing had already told her she could take the flower, she felt she had to show some good faith to put him at ease.

"That was..." Shen Qing was too stunned to speak.

"My boyfriend."

"Miss Tang, your boyfriend must be an incredible man."

In the current state of the world, everyone knew the only form of long-distance transportation was the helicopter.

And anyone who could get access to one was no ordinary person.

"Mm... he’s pretty capable. I guess you could call him a rich second-generation kid."

Tang Mo thought for a moment, mentally slapping a label on Qin Ling. ’Calling him a rich second-generation kid is accurate enough, right?’

’When the official rankings come out, if Qin Ling makes the list, I’ll give him a better title then.’

At that moment, Qin Ling had no idea his precious girlfriend had just labeled him a "rich second-generation kid." If he knew, he probably would have coughed up blood.

"No wonder Miss Tang travels through this post-apocalyptic world with such confidence. I have been blind."

Shen Qing had long sensed that Tang Mo was extraordinary. She didn’t carry a single trace of fear about this apocalyptic world.

Her fearlessness was different from the ignorant brand of courage found in Taoyuan Village. Hers was the fearlessness that came from the courage to face anything head-on.

’So, that’s it. Miss Tang has this kind of backing.’

"Actually, I’m pretty capable on my own, too."

Tang Mo blinked her big eyes, attempting to explain herself to the village chief.

She estimated that she was strong enough to take on about three Tiegens.

’In Taoyuan Village, a fighting prowess like that should count as ’pretty capable,’ right?’

Meanwhile, Shen Xiaotang had already summoned Tiegen and his group back to the village, while Shen Xiaodong had gathered representatives from every household in the open area in front of the chief’s house.

Tang Mo did a quick count. There were twenty-two people in total, mostly elders over sixty. There were very few people in their early forties, like Aunt Lin.

However, Aunt Lin was only there to care for her daughter-in-law, who had stayed in the village to have her baby. Otherwise, at their ages, both she and her daughter-in-law would likely have been working elsewhere.

Shen Qing stood before the crowd, his expression graver than ever. He carefully and thoroughly explained the crisis they were about to face. He instructed them to go home, lock their doors and windows securely, and under no circumstances come outside during the night, no matter what they heard.

When the village chief finished speaking, a dead silence fell over the crowd.

It wasn’t what Tang Mo had imagined. She thought that even though they knew about the dangers of the outside world, they would become hysterical when the threat became real—when the illusion of peace was finally shattered.

But they weren’t. Their faces were only masks of deathly stillness.

They had been mentally preparing for this day for far too long. Now that it was finally here, all that remained was a despairing calm.

Everyone wanted to live, but no one thought of fighting back.

Most of them were so old they could barely walk steadily. What could they possibly use to fight back?

They could only accept fate’s final arrangement.

"Does anyone have a little rice left? My grandson just turned a month old. He’s so small, he’s only been in this world for thirty-some days. I just want him to have one full meal... before he has to go."

A voice Tang Mo recognized, filled with tragic solemnity, rose from the crowd.