Chapter 35: Chapter 29: Trapped in the Dormitory
"What is that..." Song Qing mumbled, unable to believe her eyes.
On the road below, massive beasts roamed. A few mangled human bodies lay on the groundâthey could no longer be called human, only... pieces.
The mutant beasts from the news stood over two meters tall. Their heads looked like enlarged crocodile heads, filled with sharp teeth. Drool dripped from the corners of their mouths onto the ground.
Their bodies resembled giant rhinoceroses, and they dragged long tails behind them.
They were covered from head to toe in a slimy fluid, a disgusting sight to behold.
Tang Mo scanned the area and counted two or three mutant beasts. And that was just below her dorm building. It was terrifying to imagine how many were now roaming the campus.
For now, due to the fogâs limitations, these were only Basic-level Mutant Beasts. Their movements were relatively slow, and their running speed was about the same as an average adult manâs. Their five senses werenât particularly sharp either.
Unlike her shocked roommates, Tang Mo carefully observed the mutant beastsâ movements for a moment and came to a conclusion: she could outrun them.
In a direct confrontation, it would take three adult menâall with decent Strength Valuesâto barely hold their own against one mutant beast.
But when it came to escaping, Tang Mo was absolutely confident she could do it alone. In terms of speed and agility, she far surpassed the mutant beasts.
Of course, in terms of Strength, a single swat from a mutant beast would probably kill her before she could even draw her knife.
âAs long as I donât let my mind slip, there are always more solutions than problems.â
Tang Mo quickly ran through various scenarios in her head, planning countermeasures for a potential encounter with a mutant beast.
Her attribute values were high, she had a knife, and she even had a gun for self-defense. She had long been prepared for a situation like this, so she wasnât panicking.
"How did the things from the fog get out?"
Song Qing pushed up the glasses on her nose. The news had said the mutant beasts were trapped in the fog and couldnât get out. So why were they suddenly running rampant?
She immediately checked her ID Watch. No new alerts!
âLooks like the mutant beasts have only appeared at our school. The outside world is still normal.â
"It must have been the people who went into the fog today! They led these things out!" Li Lanlanâs voice was choked with sobs.
Hate to say it, but sheâd hit the nail on the head again.
"This isnât a school, itâs basically Hell," Li Lanlan finally burst into tears, unable to hold back any longer.
Tang Mo silently watched the giant monsters roaming below. âI wonder if Hell is even this terrifying.â
Even though they knew the mutant beasts couldnât fly up to the third floor, the girls still slammed the windows shut and locked them tight.
They pushed their chairs together and sat huddled side by side. No one spoke.
Soon, students in the neighboring dorms saw the sight outside their own windows. A wave of commotion was followed by a swift, deadening silence that fell over the entire hallway.
"Iâm so scared..."
The usually carefree Li Lanlan was trembling. Sitting pressed against her, Tang Mo could feel her whole body shaking.
Tang Mo checked her watch. âNo message from Qin Ling. I wonder how heâs doing... if heâs run into danger.â
"Letâs get to bed," Tang Mo said, the first to take off her shoes and climb into her bunk. She kept her clothes on and placed her backpack at the head of the bed, within easy reach. Only then did she feel a sense of security.
âEmotions are useless. They do nothing but make you miserable.â
âItâs too dark outside now; no one would dare go out. The mutant beastsâ intelligence clearly hasnât reached the point where theyâd think to come upstairs. We have no choice but to stay in the dorm. Weâll have to wait and see what the school arranges tomorrow.â
By the next day, everyone had been waiting until noon, but the school still hadnât made any announcement.
The studentsâ panic intensified. Mutant beasts were roaming outside, they were trapped in their dorms without food or water, and there hadnât been a single announcement.
Many students had reached their breaking point. One girl, alone in her dorm, couldnât take the immense pressure and leaped from an upper floor.
Everyone heard the loud THUD, but they all seemed to collectively ignore it, pretending as if nothing had happened.
The nearby mutant beasts smelled the blood and quickly swarmed the location. They sniffed at the body, then slowly began to feed.
Tang Mo knew why the school hadnât acted yet. âItâs because An Yang isnât here.â
An Yang had always handled all student-related matters. Now, the only one left in charge was Tang Lianjie, and that useless figurehead didnât know how to do anything.
Besides, the schoolâs leadership was too busy saving their own skins to worry about the students.
Tang Mo sat in her chair, silently training her spiritual power. She wasnât sure if she was imagining it, but ever since the mutant beasts had charged out of the fog last night, her spiritual power had felt somewhat agitated.
As she trained her spiritual power today, she could clearly feel it growing much faster than before. She suspected the mutant beasts had brought some kind of special substance out of the fog with them.
So, she seized this opportunity to train even harder. It was obviously too dangerous to go out and practice with her knife at night, so she focused all her time on her spiritual power.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. "Lanlan, are you in there?" a voice called from outside.
Hearing the voice, Tang Mo quickly hid her backpack under the desk. In one swift motion, she swept the food and water on the table into a drawer.
Only after seeing Tang Mo hide everything did Li Lanlan get up to open the door.
"Oh, itâs you, Li Ying. Whatâs up?" Li Lanlan said, recognizing the visitor and letting her in.
Song Qing and Tang Mo knew Li Ying as well. They were all from the Life Science Institute, and her room was just two doors down. Though they didnât interact much, she was a familiar face.
However, neither Song Qing nor Tang Mo socialized much with their classmates; only Li Lanlan knew her a little better.
"Lanlan, Iâm desperate," Li Ying began. "The monsters outside are terrifying, the school isnât giving out food or water... I really canât take it anymore."
As she spoke, Li Ying burst into tears.
Unfortunately for her, none of themânot Tang Mo, not Song Qing, not even Li Lanlanâsaid a word.
What she said was true, but who on campus wasnât in the same situation? Who was in a position to pity anyone else?
Seeing that no one was responding, Li Ying wiped her tears away and continued, "I was hoping I could borrow a little food from you. Not much, just a bottle of water and a pack of instant noodles would be enough. Or... or some crackers would be fine too. Iâll eat anything, Iâm not picky!"
A bottle of water and a pack of instant noodlesâin the current situation, that was a four-day supply of food for one person.
Borrow? And what could she possibly use to repay it?
Li Lanlan was a straightforward person. She directly pulled open her own locker door.
"Itâs not that I donât want to help, but we really donât have anything either," she said. "No one has any food. Youâre not the only one."
"Then... then what about Tang Mo? I know you must have some!" Li Ying turned her gaze to Tang Mo.
She had seen how readily Tang Mo had brought out so much food to trade with Song Qing before. She refused to believe Tang Mo had been so generous as to give away her entire stash.
In fact, she had come here today specifically for Tang Mo.
Secretly pinching her own thigh, Li Ying managed to squeeze out more tears.
âIâm crying so pitifully. As a fellow student, she canât just watch me die without lifting a finger, right?â
"I donât have any either." Tang Mo shook her head and said nothing more.
âIâm not friends with Li Ying. Even if my locker were empty, I see no reason to open it for her.â
âJust because you can do something, doesnât mean you have to.â