The life of god-like worship that Wenqing enjoyed didn't last long.
Soon, the food in her Space could no longer sustain the entire school's needs. She hadn't lied about the size of her Space or the maturation times, but she never expected the school's consumption to be so high.
Vegetables ripened in half a month, and wheat in a month. The area of land wasn't small, either.
In Wenqing's eyes, there had been no specific numbers attached to this; she only knew it was an inexhaustible supply.
But what she failed to understand was that while it might have been more than enough for her to live on for the rest of her life, it wasn't nearly enough for an entire school.
There were still over 500 people left at the school. Everyone ate two meals a day, which meant preparing 1,000 single-serving meals every single day.
After just one month, Wenqing could no longer sustain this level of output. When even the next harvest proved insufficient, she chose to pick the next batch of vegetables before they were fully ripe.
But the consequences were enormous. She discovered that ever since she had picked the unripe vegetables, the maturation time for the crops in her farm seemed to have slowed. Based on her observations, she estimated that the vegetables now took a month to ripen, and the wheat took a month and a half.
This terrified Wenqing. Finally unable to bear the pressure, she told An Yang everything in a single rush.
Wenqing's problem was the food problem, and the food problem was the biggest problem of all.
The school quickly convened an emergency meeting. After half a day of discussion and planning, they finally made a decision: to go back to one meal a day.
This sent the students into an uproar. They all knew by now that Wenqing had a farm-like Space and had grown accustomed to two meals a day. Dropping back to one was unacceptable to them.
Everyone thought Wenqing was just unwilling to provide for them anymore. So, while they didn't show it on the surface for fear of offending her, they cursed her endlessly in private.
They called her a hypocrite, selfish, a liar.
Although Tang Mo didn't like Wenqing, she truly didn't understand why the others hated her so much. Before, and even now, not a single one of them hadn't eaten the food she provided.
'To eat someone's food and then curse their mother.'
She wondered how Wenqing would feel if she heard what they were saying behind her back. 'It's hard to be a good person these days.'
Four and a half months after the age of famine began, the authorities made an official announcement. Based on their continuous explorations, the danger within the mist had been identified as an unknown, dangerous life-form.
These creatures existed only within the mist's confines. They would actively attack any human who entered, making them extremely dangerous.
The authorities named these dangerous creatures: mutant beasts!
In addition to this bad news, there was also some good news.
Research had revealed that some mutant beasts contained Crystal Cores. Different colored Crystal Cores corresponded to different attribute points, and consuming them could increase a person's attribute values.
Each Crystal Core could directly raise the corresponding attribute value by one point.
'A single attribute value point!' Only Tang Mo knew how incredibly difficult it was to raise an attribute value by even one point.
It was something earned through sweat and time, something that couldn't be faked in the slightest.
The authorities added a final reminder: they did not encourage people to enter the mist to hunt mutant beasts, and that everyone should act within their own capabilities.
But to any smart person, this was just empty words. If they truly didn't encourage it, why would they announce such information in the first place?
Did those leaders really not know that when the temptation was great enough, people would brave any danger?
Crystal Cores were so precious. Even if you didn't use them yourself, you could sell them to the rich in exchange for food and other supplies. How could anyone not be tempted?
Not long after this announcement, Wenqing's Space could no longer even provide one meal a day for the 500-plus people.
Everyone was barely surviving on the meager supplies the school had stored up previously. After months of hunger, their bodies had long since burned through any reserves.
Cases of people starving to death began to occur in the school, but no one made a fuss anymore.
The school held meeting after meeting to discuss how to ensure the survival of the majority of the students, but they could never reach a conclusion.
Their food supply was completely dependent on Wenqing, but it was clear that over-harvesting had made the situation in her farm increasingly grim.
They had no idea how long the school would remain trapped in the future. They couldn't just let the situation continue to deteriorate.
Finally, they made a bold decision: to organize a team of students to enter the mist.
However, their goal wasn't to hunt mutant beasts for Crystal Cores, but to escape the mist and break through their current predicament.
A helicopter could clearly see the extent of the mist from above. The leaders had each used their own connections to get a helicopter to survey the mist, which wasn't a difficult task.
According to the feedback from the helicopter, the thinnest part of the mist around the school was at the main gate. From entering the mist there to walking out of it, one would only need to travel 500 meters, provided they walked in a straight line without getting lost.
In other words, if they were lucky and didn't run into any danger, they could walk out in just five minutes.
Although no one who had tried to leave before had ever succeeded, this time was different. They could form a team to fight the mutant beasts together. Plus, with everyone having acquired attribute values and greatly improved their physical fitness, they were somewhat confident about their chances of making it out.
The school's reasoning was not without merit. Staying behind meant eventual death anyway, so they might as well take a bold gamble. They would organize those who wanted to leave; there was strength in numbers.
Even if they failed, it wouldn't matter much.
People dying in the mist would, in a way, save a portion of food for those who remained in the school.
This was a calculation everyone understood in their hearts, but no one said it out loud.
Once the decision was made, it was quickly announced to everyone.
"Momo, you're not going to go, are you...?"
The image of Tang Mo kicking open the adjacent dorm room's door was still fresh in Li Lanlan's mind. She remembered that Tang Mo was the only girl who had been willing to get into the water to catch fish; there was truly nothing she wouldn't do.
Song Qing also looked at Tang Mo, waiting for her answer.
"Why are you looking at me?" Tang Mo didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Although her Life and Strength attribute values had increased, her base stats were very poor. Even with the increase, she was only considered strong for a girl—about on par with an average boy in terms of physical fitness. 'What am I supposed to use to kill mutant beasts?'
Even though the current mutant beasts were all only Level 1, no one had any decent weapons, and their combat experience was nil. It took three strong young men just to struggle against a single mutant beast, let alone fight the ones in the mist.
Others might not understand the mist, but she did. The mutant beasts inside moved in packs. Surviving those 500 meters to successfully escape was nowhere near as easy as everyone imagined.
Thinking of her past life, of the great crisis brought about by this very decision, of the rivers of blood, made Tang Mo's heart sink.
The decision to enter the mist was wrong. Tang Mo knew this very well.
But in this situation, any choice was the wrong choice. What the school had done was the optimal solution after weighing the pros and cons. 'All I can do is adapt to the environment and survive,' she thought. 'There's nothing else I can do.'