"But if I don’t eat, am I just supposed to die?" Li Ying cried.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Tang Mo suddenly smiled, her tone as gentle as ever.

She didn’t even realize it herself, but she was acting just like Qin Ling. Or perhaps, deep down, they were the same kind of person.

They both treated insignificant people with the same cynical, nonchalant attitude. Their demeanor was perfectly pleasant, but their hearts were as cold as ancient glaciers, allowing no one to get close.

Li Ying stared at Tang Mo’s smile, momentarily stunned. She had expected Tang Mo to be cold or to argue with her. In that case, she was prepared to throw all dignity aside and refuse to leave their dorm room.

But Tang Mo’s actual attitude was completely inscrutable.

"All the food in our dorm was traded for me. How about you eat me instead?" Song Qing said with a perfectly straight face.

"If there’s nothing else, you should leave. And in the future, try not to walk around so much. It’ll just make you hungrier." Li Lanlan pushed the stunned Li Ying out, slammed the door shut, and even locked it.

She and Song Qing had no food or water of their own. The only reason they were still doing okay was thanks to Tang Mo’s charity. They had nothing to give anyone else.

And Tang Mo was another story entirely. ’Other than the people she cared about, what did anyone else have to do with her?’

They managed to tough it out in the dorm for another day. Finally, news came from the school.

To be more precise, the news was from An Yang.

An Yang (Social Science Academy): The campus is full of mutant beasts. I’ve led the squad that entered the mist with me to the second floor of the cafeteria. Our group has about 30 people. We’re asking any students who are willing to join us on the second floor of the cafeteria. Wenqing is with us.

The moment An Yang’s message appeared in the group chat, it erupted in chaos.

"How are we supposed to get out? The whole campus is crawling with mutant beasts!"

"Seriously! An Yang, can’t you guys come get us? I’m too scared to go outside."

"My dorm is the farthest from the cafeteria! You’re just sending me to my death!"

The campus was swarming with mutant beasts. Not everyone had the courage to step outside, let alone make their way to the cafeteria.

"Everyone is too spread out, and we’re short-staffed. We can’t possibly pick you all up individually. Please form your own groups and make your way here. Of course, if you’re too afraid, it’s better to stay in your dorms. Don’t push your luck."

An Yang’s words shut down all the complaints.

He was right. If you didn’t want to go, you didn’t have to. No one was forcing you.

But everyone knew that if they didn’t go, they would eventually starve or die of thirst in their dorms anyway.

If they made it to the cafeteria, Wenqing would be there. And with that walking pantry around, they could at least survive.

This was what made An Yang so clever. When he led the main group back onto campus, the very first thing he did was rescue Wenqing from her dorm and have her stay with them.

Without Wenqing, their "pantry," no one would survive. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.

As for the school administrators, An Yang couldn’t care less. His relationship with them had been completely severed ever since they made him take Tang Lianwei’s place leading the team.

From now on, his actions had nothing to do with the school. He, An Yang, would do as he saw fit.

Reading the messages in the group chat, the happiest person was Song Qing. Normally so composed, she now paced excitedly around the room a few times before she could stop.

A moment later, she got a video call from An Yang. "Qingqing, are you okay? Where are you? I’m coming to get you right now."

"I’m in my dorm. I’m fine." The video call was on speaker, and Song Qing’s face immediately turned red when she heard An Yang’s voice.

"Okay, wait for me. I’ll be there before dark, I promise." With that, An Yang hung up.

"What was that all about?!" Li Lanlan was dumbfounded.

’This isn’t just a simple acquaintance,’ she thought. ’There’s definitely a story there!’

"We’re not together yet. Just hurry up and pack," Song Qing mumbled, her face beet-red. She then ignored Li Lanlan and focused on packing her own things.

’An Yang said he was coming to get her, and she was definitely bringing her roommates. They had to pack quickly.’

Tang Mo wasn’t surprised in the slightest. A small smile played on her lips.

’An Yang is a capable guy. If he really gets together with Song Qing, they’ll be able to lean on his connections quite a bit in the future.’

’Who would have thought? In this new life, I’d get to be one of those people who gets by on connections. How delightful.’

An Yang was fast. By three in the afternoon, he and two other guys had arrived below Tang Mo’s dormitory.

"Qingqing, quickly! There’s only one mutant beast below your building right now. Meet us downstairs in three minutes!" An Yang and the two other guys were observing from their hiding spot behind some nearby bushes.

Song Qing and the others had already finished packing. They’d even stuffed all the leftover food from Tang Mo’s desk that she couldn’t fit into her own pack into Song Qing’s and Li Lanlan’s bags.

The girls slung their bags over their shoulders and crept downstairs. An Yang and the two guys were waiting behind the bushes, each with a bicycle. When they saw the girls emerge, they quickly waved them over.

Tang Mo and her friends saw the mutant beast less than 200 meters away and couldn’t help but shudder. Still, they bravely but quietly ran toward An Yang and the others.

The longer they took, the more dangerous it would become. Everyone understood that.

The girls were quiet enough, and since the mutant beast’s senses weren’t very sharp, it didn’t notice them.

Once the girls were on the back of the bicycles, the guys started pedaling furiously, taking off in a rush.

Tang Mo was riding with an old acquaintance, Shi Xuan, one of An Yang’s constant companions.

Cars were rare on campus, and even if you found one, you wouldn’t have keys or gas. Bicycles were the best tool they had.

"Look! The girls from Li Lanlan’s dorm are being rescued!"

A sharp-eyed girl spotted them, and a sudden cry of alarm rang out from one of the dorm’s upper floors.

"Faster! We need to go faster!" Tang Mo gripped Shi Xuan’s shirt, sensing trouble, and urged them on.

Hearing the shout, the guys pedaled like mad, as if they wished the bikes could fly.

"It’s really them! That’s An Yang! An Yang, save us too!"

A chorus of voices rose from the building. The nearby mutant beast heard the commotion, looked up, and scanned the area. Its gaze finally locked onto the frantically pedaling group, and it began to give chase.

Fortunately, An Yang’s group had already put some distance between them. That, combined with the fact that the mutant beast wasn’t very fast, meant it gave up the chase after a few hundred meters.

Tang Mo’s dorm wasn’t far from the cafeteria, only about a ten-minute bike ride. Maybe it was because they rode so fast and stayed quiet.

Aside from the one by Tang Mo’s building, no other mutant beasts seemed to notice them.

After stashing the bikes out of sight, An Yang and his friends breathed a long sigh of relief and led Tang Mo’s group into the cafeteria.

The cafeteria had glass doors, but a large cloth curtain had been hung on the inside to block the view from any mutant beasts. If they couldn’t see, hear, or smell anything, the beasts wouldn’t know people were inside.

As for the concept of a "door," that was beyond the comprehension of a mutant beast’s intellect.