Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 126: Chapter 118: Who Is the Thief?

During the year the Sect Leader was in power, not every sick person was fortunate enough to receive a Medicinal Insect from him.

Aside from the massive hauls brought back each evening, whether or not he gave one out depended entirely on his mood.

Due to the Sect Leader’s strict control ever since the Medicinal Insects appeared, medicine had completely vanished from Wuxi Village.

In other words, if you got sick and didn’t receive a Medicinal Insect, you would die.

And so, the Sect Leader held the power of life and death over everyone in Wuxi Village.

There were now far too many people in Wuxi Village who were sick and just trying to tough it out without any treatment.

Now that the Sect Leader was dead and the Medicinal Insects were gone, the last remaining jars naturally became treasures that everyone scrambled to claim.

Xiao Hu, however, had long known that the Sect Leader’s Medicinal Insects were useless for his sister. So he just took some Crystal Cores and a few large pieces of jerky home.

”Xiao Tao, I have a better understanding of how spiritual power healing works now. Just hold on a little longer. Eat well, and once I’ve figured it all out, I’ll cure you.”

Tang Mo’s spiritual power was much greater than the Sect Leader’s. It was possible she could cure what he could not.

In the few days she had been in Wuxi Village, Xiao Tao had helped her a great deal in many ways.

She had grown quite fond of this clear-headed, thoughtful, and mentally resilient girl.

”Really? Thank you, sister.” A spark of surprise, long since vanished, reappeared in Xiao Tao’s eyes.

”If you can, could you treat the other people in Wuxi Village, sister? I don’t want them to be trapped in that lie forever. Besides, that fraud threw away all of the village’s medicine. If they don’t get treatment, they’ll all die.”

Even though Xiao Tao was always lying at home, she was still very well-informed about the village’s situation.

After all, these were people she had lived with in Wuxi Village for twenty years. She truly wanted to ask for a chance at life on their behalf.

Before Tang Mo could answer, Xiao Hu knocked and opened the door.

”Tang Mo, someone’s outside looking for you.”

Xiao Hu said this with his head lowered, his voice lacking confidence as he stared at his feet.

The two women in the room knew at a glance that something was wrong. Unable to move, Xiao Tao could only watch the two of them leave, her eyes filled with worry.

Standing outside Xiao Hu’s house was the same group of people from before. It seemed they had already divided up the goods and taken them home.

”I wonder what you all want with me?”

Tang Mo wondered.

’The Sect Leader who could make the Medicinal Insects is dead. They can’t possibly want me to go catch bugs for them, can they?’

”Hand over the things you took from the Sect Leader’s room!”

”That’s right, hand them over! The Sect Leader’s storeroom was completely ransacked. You must have taken some kind of treasure from inside!”

”Those are our things! Hand them over now, or don’t force us to get rough!”

”Yeah, that’s right!”

...

One person spoke up, and the whole crowd chimed in.

Tang Mo never imagined they had come to demand things from her.

’Then again, it makes sense. I did just walk out of his house so openly. It’s only normal for them to be suspicious.’

”Many of us have guarded that storeroom before. We have a clear count of everything inside, so don’t even think about trying to pull a fast one!”

’This is just my luck,’ Tang Mo thought. ’I only took a few things and still got caught red-handed.’

’On second thought, the villagers probably put a lot of effort into gathering these things, and it’s not like I really need them anyway.’

She decided to just take the eight items out of her Space and give them back.

”It’s all here. Since you know what was inside, this should all check out, right?”

’Truth be told, I don’t really care about these items. I’ve already memorized the three mysterious symbols I was after.’

’This trip to Wuxi Village has been more fruitful than I could have ever imagined. I’m satisfied.’

Seeing Tang Mo pull out the items one by one as if from a magic trick, the onlookers’ eyes went wide.

She was a Space Ability User! And as everyone knew, Space Ability Users were the wealthiest, with countless good things stashed away.

”That’s not right! There’s a lot missing!”

”Yeah, a lot is missing! Take it all out, and don’t try to fool us.”

Voices like this began to rise from the crowd, growing louder and more insistent.

The crowd began to pressure Tang Mo into taking out more items.

”Don’t go too far! We’ve all peeked into the Sect Leader’s room before. This is everything, that’s right.”

Xiao Hu anxiously argued on Tang Mo’s behalf. He was an honest kid and couldn’t stand to see a lone girl being bullied by a crowd, even if he was one of the Wuxi Village people himself.

”Xiao Hu, shut your mouth!”

A slightly older man immediately rebuked Xiao Hu.

”Xiao Hu, has this woman seduced you? She’s a thief, you’d better stay away from her.”

Seeing that Tang Mo didn’t immediately cough up all her treasures when intimidated, the crowd started slinging mud at her.

”You’re talking nonsense!”

Xiao Hu’s face flushed red with anger, but the ones speaking were all his elders, so he couldn’t react too aggressively.

”Heh, what a joke.”

Tang Mo almost had to laugh at these people.

’I can’t believe myself,’ she thought, exasperated. ’I’ve lived two lives already, how can I still be such a bleeding-heart?’

’What does it matter to me whether these people live or die? Why on earth did I leave them those Crystal Cores and food?’

’And I was actually going to return these abnormal treasures?’

’I’m such a huge idiot.’

Tang Mo took the eight items she had just piled at her feet and put them back into her Space.

’It wasn’t their fault, and it wasn’t my fault. It was the world’s fault.’

’In a world like this, there’s simply no room for things like kindness and compassion.’

’Everyone is just struggling to survive. They can’t spare any kindness for others.’

’I can actually understand why they’re telling such barefaced lies.’

’If they can squeeze just a little more out of me, their lives will be a bit easier.’

’And me?’

’Since the Sect Leader could exploit these people, it’s only fair that I take what’s left over.’

’What an idiot I am. A moment ago, I almost agreed to Xiao Tao’s request to heal all these people before leaving.’

Reality had just delivered a swift, hard slap to her face.

”You know exactly how much was there, so I’m not going to argue the point. I’ll just say this: even if I did take more, I’m not giving it back today. What are you going to do about it?”

Tang Mo took out Wind Breaker. She aimed at a nearby tree as thick as a person’s waist and gave it a seemingly casual swing.

The tree trunk toppled over.

”If any of you want to end up like your ’savior’ Sect Leader, feel free to come closer.”

Tang Mo stood there, blade in hand, her face completely devoid of expression.