Chapter 349: Chapter 339: Uninvited Guest

The crowd quickly quieted down. They spontaneously formed a line and went in one by one to move the stones.

The stones in the cave varied in size. The stronger boys carried more, while the girls, who were weaker, took smaller ones. Tang Mo didn’t comment on any of this.

The principal watched Tang Mo with a profound look in his eyes. He was the one who had drawn the location of this cave for Qiao Jin, and it hadn’t been long ago. ’How on earth did this girl manage to open up the cave to this extent all by herself?’

’It’s simply impossible. And then there’s all that food that suddenly appeared...’

’Just how many more secrets is this girl hiding?’

It wasn’t just the principal. The way Director Yan and Teacher Chen looked at Tang Mo had changed as well.

But Tang Mo had so many important things to do right now. Why would she care what others thought of her?

If she hadn’t found the thought of explaining things to be a hassle, she wouldn’t have even minded using her spiritual power right in front of them.

After all, with mutant beasts already appearing, it was only a matter of time before superpower users showed up too.

With all this free labor, Tang Mo’s tunnel-digging project progressed much more smoothly.

Every night, she used a Spiritual Power Air Bomb to blast the tunnel forward by another ten-plus meters. Then, the next day at noon, she would give everyone a full meal before leading them over to move the stones. Everything was working out perfectly, saving her a lot of trouble.

It took the hundred or so people less than an hour to clear several dozen meters of rubble. They finished quickly, treating it like a post-meal walk to aid digestion. Naturally, no one complained. Some even felt it was a good form of exercise.

After all, they were tired of lying around all day. It was nice to be able to move a bit.

In their remaining time, everyone was still preparing their paintings for the competition. After all, the top finishers would receive prizes—food that would be entirely their own, unlike the rations that were distributed evenly. How could they not be tempted?

While Tang Mo’s tunnel blasting was going smoothly, she hadn’t fallen behind on her painting either.

After carefully studying the painting of Qiao Jin’s that had been plagiarized, she had found her inspiration. She spent several hours painting every day.

Mixing colors, applying paint, layering, and outlining—every stroke felt like it was guided by muscle memory, allowing Tang Mo to flawlessly transfer the image in her mind onto the canvas.

She was very confident in her work. Fulfilling Qiao Jin’s wish with this piece would not be difficult at all.

While things were going smoothly for Tang Mo, Zhang Siyang was having a much harder time.

Because the last prize-winning painting hadn’t been her own work, she couldn’t bring herself to start painting for this competition, even with the same theme.

’It can’t be any worse than that piece.’ But in the end, she had to admit that she really didn’t seem capable of creating a work of that caliber.

This conclusion made Zhang Siyang fly into a rage born of shame. ’Qiao Jin is just a commoner girl. What right does she have to compete with me? How could I possibly be worse than her?’

’No, I absolutely cannot lose to her.’

One evening, after the sky had turned completely dark, a few more male teachers joined Teacher Chen on night watch outside.

Everyone had read the letter written by Qiao Jin’s father, and they were all still terrified of the man-eating monsters outside.

Although they didn’t know why they hadn’t seen any of those monsters deep in the mountains yet, they knew it was better to be on guard.

There was no electricity deep in the mountains. The school’s portable power generator had long since run out of fuel, and flashlights were too precious to be used casually.

So, as soon as night fell, everyone except the night watch could only return obediently to their rooms and wait for another repetitive day to begin.

Of course, this did not include Tang Mo.

Tang Mo had an important mission at night. She still had to go blast the tunnel. Seeing that it was about to be completely cleared, she couldn’t afford to slack off.

The lack of light at night had no effect whatsoever on Tang Mo’s eyes, which, enhanced by her spiritual power, were equivalent to night-vision goggles.

Just as she got up, dressed, and was preparing to sneak out the door, a knock sounded from outside.

’Who would be visiting at this hour?’

Tang Mo went to open the door. Standing outside was none other than Qiao Jin’s former "best friend," Zhang Siyang.

’A fox in the henhouse is never a good sign.’

"What is it?"

Tang Mo wasn’t Qiao Jin. She naturally wouldn’t put on a pleasant face for someone who had already shown their true colors.

Zhang Siyang had thought long and hard about her opening line, but she never expected that Qiao Jin—who had always been as timid as a mouse and didn’t even dare to speak loudly—would greet her with such an expression.

For a moment, she was so angry that she even forgot the opening line she had prepared.

"If there’s nothing, I’m closing the door."

As she spoke, Tang Mo started to shut the door. Her time was precious, and she had none to waste on someone who was just standing there spacing out.

"Hey, wait."

Seeing the door about to close, Zhang Siyang finally snapped out of it and quickly stuck her hand out to stop it.

When Tang Mo saw Zhang Siyang’s hand, she didn’t lessen the force she was using. The door slammed heavily onto Zhang Siyang’s hand, making her cry out in pain reflexively.

"You..."

"What about me?" Tang Mo raised an eyebrow.

"Hurts to get it slammed, doesn’t it? Why don’t you go back and rest?"

Tang Mo could tell that Zhang Siyang was definitely up to no good this time. She was no longer in a hurry to close the door; she was rather curious to see what else the girl was planning.

"I... I’ll take you somewhere."

Zhang Siyang suppressed the rage in her heart. For the sake of her goal, she stuck to her original plan and continued the act.

"Why should I go with you?"

Tang Mo crossed her arms. ’This Zhang Siyang girl really wears her intentions all over her face. I originally thought she was some kind of master manipulator.’

Tang Mo found it a bit pathetic that Qiao Jin could have been deceived by someone like this.

But she couldn’t really blame Qiao Jin. After all, the girl had grown up with no friends, barely interacted with anyone, and had never had someone proactively approach her before.

In Qiao Jin’s world, she couldn’t even distinguish between good people and bad people.

"Didn’t you ask me why I pretended to be your friend to steal your painting? If you come with me to that place, I’ll tell you. There are too many people here; it’s not convenient."

This was the excuse Zhang Siyang had spent so long thinking up. Tang Mo was annoyed just hearing it.

’Could you be a little more professional? If you’re going to set a trap, at least try to act the part. Don’t treat others like complete idiots.’

However, to play along so the show could go on, Tang Mo pretended to be brainless and compliant.

"Okay, I’ll go with you."

’Let’s see what else Zhang Siyang has up her sleeve.’

Hearing Qiao Jin agree so readily, Zhang Siyang was secretly delighted. ’It worked!’

"Follow me."

Zhang Siyang led Tang Mo out the door. Tang Mo played her part, obediently following behind Zhang Siyang as they walked slowly into the depths of the forest.

The night was pitch-black. Zhang Siyang kept tripping over things on the ground. Tang Mo thoughtfully kept some distance from her, just in case she fell and bumped into her.

And behind Zhang Siyang and Tang Mo, a boy began to follow them secretly.

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