Chapter 65: Chapter 59: Taking Stock of the Spoils
Once inside the room, Tang Mo nearly choked and stumbled from all the dust.
The house had probably been unoccupied ever since it was built. It was originally constructed for a lonely old man, but he passed away before he could move in.
Inside the house was a wooden bed topped with a set of bedding, a wooden table, a wooden chair, and a small window. That was all.
It was impossible to stay with so much dust, so Tang Mo took cleaning supplies out of her Space, along with a bucket of water she had collected at Huacheng Base, and began a thorough cleaning.
The filtered water from Huacheng Base wasn’t drinkable, but it was fine for bathing and other daily uses.
Being the meticulous person she was, Tang Mo was naturally reluctant to waste her own mineral water on bathing. Thus, she had collected several large buckets of tap water and stored them in her Space.
After she finished cleaning the room, Tang Mo neatly folded the bedding that came with the bed, set it aside, and replaced it with her own.
Since she had the ability, she saw no reason not to make her surroundings as comfortable as possible.
Once everything was in order, Tang Mo sat down on the chair and began to regulate the spiritual power inside her.
The spiritual power, which had been rampaging chaotically, gradually calmed under her control. With her conscious guidance, it began to circulate at high speed with a clear direction, never resting for a moment.
Tang Mo conservatively estimated that the motes of spiritual power were now moving at least three times their normal speed.
Moreover, something from the outside world—whether it was the Spiritual Energy in the air or something else—was manifesting as tiny, white-glowing motes of light that drifted toward the spot between her eyebrows, continuously strengthening the spiritual power within her.
Tang Mo checked her attribute value on her ID Watch, and her face lit up with joy once more.
In just this short while, her Spirit Attribute had increased by two points! And this was while it was running completely passively.
’It seems those spiritual power geniuses from Taoyuan Village were no coincidence. The gains I can make here will be absolutely immense.’
Suppressing the joy in her heart, Tang Mo continued to circulate her spiritual power while she began sorting through the spoils from her journey.
She had already absorbed all the Crystal Cores she’d acquired at Huacheng Base. All that was left were the Poisonous Dagger and the armor.
She wore the armor at all times, layered over her spiritual power short-sleeved shirt and underneath her jacket.
The Poisonous Dagger also proved to be more useful than she’d imagined. It was especially effective for delivering the killing blow to dying mutant beasts after a fight, and it made cutting them open to search for Crystal Cores much faster and more convenient.
Along the way, Tang Mo had hunted dozens of Basic-level Mutant Beasts. Her luck had been quite good, as she hadn’t yet run into a swarm of them. She had also managed to collect over a dozen Crystal Cores of various colors.
Then there was the backpack she’d taken from Ah Lian. Only now did Tang Mo have the time to take it out and properly inspect its contents.
"A few packs of crackers, and a bottle of water." The first things Tang Mo pulled out of Ah Lian’s backpack were some food items.
"This is..."
Next, Tang Mo pulled a small pouch out of the backpack.
She opened the pouch and poured out its contents. It was filled to the brim with Crystal Cores—even more than the small pile Tang Mo had gathered herself.
’That Ah Lian was secretly loaded...’
The sheer number of Basic Crystal Cores startled Tang Mo, but on second thought, it made sense. Ah Lian had worked as a bus conductor and a pimp, all while taking on missions nonstop. It was only natural he’d have some savings.
In a way, Ah Lian had really gone all out to earn Crystal Cores.
But now, it was all Tang Mo’s gain.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Tang Mo gathered all the Crystal Cores. Then, regardless of their color, she began to absorb them one by one.
She didn’t care that these Crystal Cores were a form of currency or how much they could be traded for. Her only concern was raising her Comprehensive Attribute Value faster, and then even faster.
If she remembered correctly, the Comprehensive Attribute Value rankings were about to be released. She didn’t want to fall too far behind the people on that list.
After absorbing all the Crystal Cores, Tang Mo sat on the chair and began to train her spiritual power, pushing it to circulate at an even higher speed.
Cultivating spiritual power in Taoyuan Village yielded twice the results with half the effort. She couldn’t bear to waste a single second of her time here.
And so she trained for the entire night...
Perhaps the effects of cultivation were better at night, because Tang Mo didn’t stop at all, only resting when dawn broke. She collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep instantly.
By the time Tang Mo opened her eyes again, it was already 11:00 AM.
She wasn’t lacking for anything, but she would be staying in Taoyuan Village for a while, and she couldn’t just coop herself up in this little house the entire time.
After freshening up, Tang Mo opened her door.
Perhaps because the surrounding forests were denser, the air in Taoyuan Village was much better than elsewhere.
Feeling fully rested, Tang Mo took a few deep breaths, stretched languidly under the sun, and then knocked on her neighbor’s gate.
"Coming, coming! You are...?"
It was called a gate, but it was really just a small, self-made wooden fence. Tang Mo watched as a woman in her early forties emerged from the house.
"Hello, ma’am. I just arrived in Taoyuan Village for a temporary stay. My name is Tang Mo." Tang Mo offered her most pleasant smile.
"Oh, come in, come in and sit."
With the characteristic warmth of a country woman, she welcomed Tang Mo inside and found a small stool for her in the yard.
"Such a sweet girl. Don’t call me ma’am. You’re so young, and I’m already a grandmother! Just call me Aunt Chen."
Aunt Chen chatted warmly with Tang Mo. "You look to be about the same age as my daughter-in-law. She just gave birth, so she’s in her month of confinement and can’t come out in the wind. Otherwise, I’m sure you two would have a lot to talk about."
It was clear that Aunt Chen and her daughter-in-law had a good relationship.
After offering a few words of congratulations and chatting along about Aunt Chen’s adorable newborn grandson, Tang Mo finally got to the point.
"Aunt Chen, how does everyone here in the village get their water?"
This was the main reason for her visit. Although she had plenty of water in her Space, it pained her to use it for everyday tasks.
She had searched all over the house for a water pipe but found nothing, which was why she had come to ask her neighbor how the village managed its water supply.
"For water? Oh, you just go to the little house next to the village chief’s. That’s the only place with a running tap now. The water is all filtered. The chief said it’s just like the water from before, so you can drink it without any worries."
’It isn’t harmful to people?’
Tang Mo was doubtful. She wasn’t surprised that the village could get its hands on filtration equipment, but equipment that produced water completely harmless to the human body? Not even the Alliance’s central S Base had that yet. How could Taoyuan Village have it?
"What about food?"
"It’s these plants you see in the fields. They just look a bit different than they used to. Our lives now really aren’t that different from how they were before."
Aunt Chen’s words were completely relaxed, devoid of the panic and exhaustion that plagued those in the outside world, tormented by the apocalypse.
Tang Mo just listened without saying a word. She had a vague feeling that something about all this was not quite right.
