Chapter 58: Chapter 52: Life Energy Short Sleeve

"Who is this ’uncle’?"

If it had been any ordinary little girl, Tang Mo would have lost interest in asking further.

In this day and age, who wasn’t struggling desperately to survive? The men and women, young and old, sleeping on the lawns; the suggestive sounds from within the tents—life wasn’t easy for anyone.

Xiao Mo, at least, could live in an apartment. She could enjoy air conditioning and wear a dress even in the coldest winter, which was already far better than what most people had.

"The uncle is my mom’s boyfriend. Not long after we got to this base, my mom met him, and then she brought me to move in here." Xiao Mo’s voice remained devoid of emotion.

Tang Mo recalled the woman who had greeted her. Though she looked weathered by hardship, her features were genuinely beautiful. Beneath her plain clothes, it wasn’t hard to see her delicate figure.

Xiao Mo had inherited that from her mother.

Tang Mo felt a certain contempt for Xiao Mo’s mother. As a woman, her choices were her own, and others had no right to interfere.

But as a mother, bringing her child into the lion’s den like this... she was unfit to be one.

"Are you asking me to help you? I might not be able to do much."

Although Tang Mo’s heart ached for the girl, family matters were hard to resolve even in times of peace, let alone in the current apocalypse.

’Condemn Xiao Mo’s mother’s sordid actions from the moral high ground?’

’And then what? What’s the demand? For her to take Xiao Mo back to the lawns to live exposed to the elements, never having enough to eat?’

’What right did she have?’

"No, I just... I want to be friends with you."

To Tang Mo’s surprise, Xiao Mo didn’t burst into tears and beg to be saved. Instead, she wanted to be friends.

"Why?"

"I don’t know. Sister, I really envy you. Why is my life so hard? I don’t even want to say a single word every day I’m in that house. I thought if I pretended not to see or hear anything, time would pass faster, but it’s still so painful. Every minute, every second is unbearable."

Xiao Mo’s fingers dug tightly into the teddy bear’s body.

’She doesn’t have autism at all,’ Tang Mo realized. ’It’s just a way for her heart to escape.’

Tang Mo didn’t know why this girl she had just met was telling her all this, but she didn’t dislike it.

She could see that even while struggling in the mud, this girl hadn’t given up hope. She was protecting herself in her own way.

Tang Mo finally understood what it was about Xiao Mo that was so much like herself. It was her stubbornness—a stubbornness that refused to admit defeat.

"Xiao Mo, have you ever climbed a mountain?"

"Huh?" Xiao Mo looked at Tang Mo, confused.

"Only those who reach the summit have the right to talk about the hardships they endured along the way while they’re looking down at the beautiful scenery. People will see it as a badge of honor. But no one listens to the hardships of those who fail to reach the top. If they speak of them, it’s just a joke, like an excuse for their own failure."

It was rare for Tang Mo to be willing to say such things. The girl, Xiao Mo, had touched a nerve deep inside her. If she could, she wanted to give her a hand—in Tang Mo’s own unique way.

"So... I shouldn’t talk about my hardships?" Xiao Mo asked, only half-understanding.

"No. It means you have to reach the summit. Once you become strong, the things you’re experiencing won’t just be hardships anymore. You’ll be able to give them meaning."

Hearing Tang Mo’s words, Xiao Mo’s eyes suddenly lit up.

She thought for a long while, and it was as if something she couldn’t figure out before had suddenly clicked into place. The end of the darkness was no longer an endless void but a faint glimmer of light.

"Thank you. I understand now." Xiao Mo hopped off the stool to leave.

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She reached the door, then turned back. "So, Sister... are we friends now?"

"Yes." Tang Mo smiled and nodded.

After watching Xiao Mo leave, Tang Mo locked the door, then took out the white Intermediate Crystal Core and began to absorb it in the palm of her hand.

Feeling the abundant energy flowing continuously through her body, Tang Mo’s heart gradually calmed.

Those words weren’t just for Xiao Mo; they were for herself, too.

Only those who reach the summit have the right to speak of their hardships. Those who fail don’t even have the right to complain.

From the moment she had opened her eyes after her rebirth, Tang Mo had worked hard every single minute, pushing herself to the limit to improve and grow stronger, never daring to relax for even a second.

She only had her Space and a bit more experience from her past life than others.

Her natural talent and strength were still average. She couldn’t rely on overwhelming power to protect herself in the apocalypse.

She still remembered everything that happened on the bus. If the bald driver and Ah Lian hadn’t been there, or if there had been two more attackers, or if they had been stronger...

...her journey in the apocalypse might have ended right at the beginning.

Because she knew her own shortcomings and understood her own weakness, she was modest and cautious. And because of that, she worked even harder, pushing herself to the brink.

Training her spiritual power was tedious and boring, yet she would sit for five hours at a minimum.

The Sword Skill training was baffling to her, but she painstakingly studied every single move in the video—second by second, frame by frame—until she had brutally hammered the entire set into her mind.

When she first started practicing, the sword would fall to the ground again and again, often bruising her feet, but she never took a single day off. She just endured it.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t tired, and it wasn’t that it didn’t hurt.

But she always remembered: those who haven’t succeeded have no right to complain, no right to feel wronged.

After absorbing the Intermediate Crystal Core, Tang Mo clearly felt her body become a little lighter, and the impurities within it seemed to have lessened.

She checked her Space and, just as she expected, its area had increased by about one square meter.

Tang Mo excitedly placed the hat and sunglasses she had traded for at the market into her Space. But just as she was about to put the short-sleeved shirt in as well, her hand suddenly paused.

’This shirt’s material feels so nice. It would be more comfortable to wear it directly against my skin.’

The shirt was new, so Tang Mo didn’t mind that she had stepped on it. It was just dust; she could pat it clean.

In a flash, she pulled the shirt on, enjoying the soft feel of the fabric.

"Why do I feel... inexplicably more energetic?"

After putting on the shirt, Tang Mo suddenly felt a change in her body.

Because of her high spiritual power, Tang Mo was extremely sensitive to every little change in her body.

"My focus seems sharper, my thoughts are clearer, and my mind feels more agile... what’s going on?"

Tang Mo’s gaze fell upon the shirt she had just put on.

On a whim, she activated the appraisal function of her ID Watch and aimed it at the white short-sleeved shirt she was wearing.

Name: Life Energy Short Sleeve

Attribute Value: Life attribute value +10

Tang Mo stared at the text displayed on the screen before her, finding it hard to believe. ’So it’s true,’ she thought. ’Good deeds really are rewarded in this world.’

In that instant, Tang Mo solidified her resolve to do more good deeds in the future.

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