Chapter 346: Chapter 336: Starting the Preparations

While some rejoiced, others despaired. With ample food and a competition with prizes to be won, most of the students were highly motivated. But there was one exception.

That person was Zhang Siyang. Last time, she had plagiarized Qiao Jin’s painting and won first place in the national art competition.

This time, although it was just a school-wide competition, the theme was exactly the same as before.

She couldn’t compete. She had to withdraw.

To be honest, Zhang Siyang’s art—whether it was her line work or her coloring—wasn’t even at an above-average level within the school.

But the last art competition had been far too important. The ranking could directly affect the overseas schools Zhang Siyang planned to apply to, which was why she had taken such a desperate risk.

Now, being asked to produce another painting of the same caliber on the same theme... she couldn’t do it.

Last time, her painting had ended up being identical to Qiao Jin’s. Since she finished hers first, everyone assumed Qiao Jin was the plagiarist, treating her with disdain, mockery, and even exclusion.

’I absolutely can’t let anyone find out the truth!’

But...

"Why can’t I withdraw from the competition!"

Zhang Siyang went to Director Yan, who was in charge of the competition, to express her desire to withdraw. However, the director didn’t immediately agree.

"It’s not that you can’t withdraw. Participating in the competition is your choice. But if you don’t participate, you’ll lose your eligibility to share in the food. You should think it over carefully."

Director Yan remembered the requirement Tang Mo had mentioned earlier. She was a very strict person and felt the rule was perfectly reasonable.

Since she had made a promise to the students and established a rule, she would stick to it no matter what.

"That’s not fair! I shared the package my dad sent me with everyone!"

Zhang Siyang felt it was deeply unfair and shouted loudly.

Director Yan shook her head. She remembered this girl—the student who had won first place in the previous competition.

She had admired that painting greatly. Her preconceived notion was that the artist must be a reserved child with great Talent. But it seemed the saying "the painting reflects the artist" didn’t apply to Zhang Siyang. At this moment, Director Yan just found the girl noisy.

"Yes, you shared your last package with many people, but don’t forget you also made a blacklist. Since only the students you’re on good terms with could share your food, it’s only fair that this time, only the students who participate in the competition can share this ownerless food."

Zhang Siyang’s blacklist last time had been truly absurd. There were over thirty people on it.

Even the teachers distributing the food were left speechless that someone could be on bad terms with so many people. But since it was her food, no one said anything. This time, however, was different.

On the way back to her room, Zhang Siyang grew angrier the more she thought about it, viciously kicking at the rocks on the path.

"AH!"

Her left foot was accidentally scraped by a sharp little rock on the part of her ankle showing above her sock.

"Even the rocks are against me!"

Zhang Siyang’s expression was as ugly as the evil stepmother from Snow White.

However, looking at the wound on her foot, an idea suddenly formed in her mind...

’She knew how to resolve this situation perfectly without losing face!’

For the next few days, Tang Mo was incredibly busy.

She had to work on digging a tunnel at the location the principal had marked out, and she also had to start preparing her entry for the competition.

One was physical labor, the other mental. Neither was easy.

The digging was a pure test of Tang Mo’s Strength and endurance. All her tools were in her Space and couldn’t be used, so Tang Mo could only use her spiritual power to help excavate the tunnel bit by bit.

Qiao Jin’s body was too weak; she would become exhausted and unable to stand after working for only a short time.

And digging this tunnel wasn’t as simple as a groundhog burrowing through the dirt. She had to break through the mountainside without making the tunnel so wide that it would cause a collapse. It was truly difficult.

After three days of work, Tang Mo had only managed to dig seven or eight meters deep. This was already her limit. At this rate, by the time she could get out, the apocalypse here might already be over...

With no tools and her physical condition pushed to its limits, Tang Mo could only try to use her spiritual power in various ways to drill the hole.

But whether she formed a shovel, an axe, or even a chisel and mallet, the speed was less than satisfactory.

Meanwhile, Tang Mo had also hit a bottleneck while preparing her competition entry.

Although she had inherited Qiao Jin’s artistic skills, her mind was still her own. Even with superb skills at her disposal, she simply couldn’t think of what to paint.

A painting isn’t just about technique; more importantly, it’s about the ideas it can convey to the viewer.

A good painting has Life Force; it’s by no means a simple two-dimensional image.

’Otherwise, that plagiarized painting of Xiao Jin’s wouldn’t have received so much praise...’

’That’s right! The award-winning painting!’

Tang Mo carefully searched through Qiao Jin’s memories for the image of that painting, trying to find a spark of inspiration from it.

’She had to win this competition.’

Only then could she fulfill Qiao Jin’s wish. If she lost even this hard-won second chance, not only would Xiao Jin’s wish go unfulfilled, but Tang Mo’s failure would probably make the poor girl unable to rest in peace.

The painting of Qiao Jin’s that Zhang Siyang had plagiarized had a name: *Black*.

The entire painting was dominated by a black color palette, with a small figure squatting in the bottom-left corner.

The figure was in a squatting position, with its arms wrapped around its knees.

Although the figure was painted very small, the visible half of its face still held an expression—a very intriguing one.

It wasn’t fear or terror in the darkness, nor was it a calm sense of ease. It was a kind of numbness.

The numbness was vividly depicted—the kind of numbness that comes after experiencing immense pain, a numbness from which one cannot recover, a numbness born of having lost all hope for the future.

That numb coldness seemed to penetrate to the bone, like a spirit fallen into Hell, with no one able to pull her back up.

Hidden within the black background, faint, dark-red veins surrounded the figure, and a huge silhouette enveloped the helpless person.

Tang Mo observed closely. It was the shape of a heart.

Not a heart symbol, but an anatomical heart, the organ from a human chest. Even the arteries, blood vessels, and the left and right atria were drawn.

The dark red, hidden in the black, gave the feeling that it was about to completely devour the person in the painting.

Even someone like Tang Mo, who understood nothing about art, felt a jolt upon seeing this painting. Within it, she could feel the emotion the artist wanted to express.

That emotion was pain.

Only after carefully examining the painting did Tang Mo truly understand why, even in the apocalypse, Qiao Jin was still so fixated on this matter.

’It turned out she never cared about the competition at all. From beginning to end, the only thing she cared about was this painting.’

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