The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 100 A Reunion Across Two Hundred Years

Yu Qing was also very curious about the two-story building and planned to go and take a look.

Just to be on the safe side, he sent Yao Dan over first to check if there was anything unusual.

Yao Dan went over and looked around, then came back and said, "Husband, nothing unusual. However, the gate there is tightly closed, and there is a blade of grass growing in the crack of the gate, so it must not have been opened for many years."

"In other words, this is an abandoned house. I wonder who lived here back then; it was truly a paradise. It's a pity that it has been ruined beyond recognition."

"Then shall we go in?"

"It doesn't seem to make much sense. There are countless abandoned cities on Earth now, so there's probably nothing to see in an abandoned house."

"But the couplet on that door is quite interesting. There are nine characters on the right and ten on the left. Don't you think that's strange?"

"What's so strange about it? There's a character missing on the right side. It's just been neglected for years."

"It's definitely not a missing character; it was engraved on, and the two sides are perfectly aligned, as if it were done on purpose."

"Oh? I'd like to see for myself that there's such a way to play with couplets."

Yu Qing followed Yao Dan closer to the gate and saw that, as she had said, there were nine characters carved on the right and ten on the left. The first and last characters on both sides were perfectly aligned, clearly not an omission, but intentional. The couplet read:

"The vines stretch for eighty thousand miles, but whose flowers are not my fruit? The old man, who has lived alone for two hundred years, plays this tune on another's flute."

To be honest, Yu Qing read it for a long time but still didn't understand its meaning. There are many mysteries in the world that people cannot solve immediately; you can't possibly understand everything.

However, he deduced from the word "孤叟" (gu sou, meaning "lonely old man") that the person who once lived here was probably an elderly person living alone. As for the other meanings, one would need to know his life story to figure them out.

Should he go in and investigate? Yu Qing was undecided. He didn't want to let a little curiosity delay his important business. Coming here was already an added hassle; wasting more time on this would only create more trouble.

Moreover, the door itself looked strange. Normally, doors are flat, but these two doors were actually two large, semi-circular pillars. The way they opened was likely by rotating the two pillars so that their diameters were perpendicular to the outside, creating a gap in the middle.

However, no mechanism to open the door was found. Yao Dan tried to push it, but it wouldn't budge. Yu Qing gave up. He was now quite annoyed by these kinds of pretentious tricks.

"Forget it, let's go," Yu Qing said.

As Yao Dan was leaving, she couldn't resist pulling out the weed. To her surprise, it wasn't a real weed. Just as she was wondering what was going on, all the lights in front of the door suddenly came on.

However, that was all; there was no further movement. Yao Dan pushed the two pillars of the door, but there was no response.

"Husband, what does this mean?"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "Maybe it's because the light is too dim, and it wants to turn on the light to see who's being so naughty."

But Yu Qing quickly realized that things weren't so simple. Its sudden switching on of the lights must have had a specific purpose. This piqued his curiosity again.

He gestured for Yao Dan to step aside and went over to observe, but found nothing unusual. He glanced at the bright red light, lost in thought, when suddenly a cheerful tune began to play. This startled him.

As the music played, water began spraying from the entrance, washing the two pillars. Then, the entire building was suddenly illuminated, appearing like vibrant flowers blooming in the thick fog.

Sweeping the doors and hanging lanterns and decorations—isn't this a ceremony to welcome distinguished guests? This made Yu Qing even more puzzled. He had only happened to pass by here; what did this all mean?
At this moment, the two gateposts turned, and the gate opened. A row of graceful, humanoid beauties emerged and stood on either side of Yu Qing. Then, another humanoid beauty walked over, holding a colorful flower in both hands, and presented it to Yu Qing with a smile.

Yu Qing was somewhat at a loss. Just then, that woman smiled and said, "Welcome home!"

"Go home?" Yu Qing asked. "Do I have a home here?"

"Yes, Master, you are the eighth successor here."

Yu Qing asked in surprise, "Is this the former residence of our ancestor Yu Yunshan?"

"Yes, Master. We have been dormant here for nearly two hundred years, waiting for your arrival. According to the late Master's will, the first descendant to arrive here will inherit all his property."

It seems his biometrics were identified when he looked at that bright red light. That old man really went to great lengths.

When Yu Qing stepped through the gate, he felt a little unsteady on his feet. This sudden change gave him a sense of unreality.

When he entered the magnificent hall, he couldn't help but marvel at its opulence. Then, an image of a white-haired old man wandering aimlessly flashed before his eyes; no wonder he called himself a lonely old man.

He clearly knew he had descendants, otherwise he wouldn't have orchestrated all of this. But why did he choose to remain an orphan and avoid contact with them during his lifetime?

At this moment, the humanoid beauty whispered in his ear, "Master, please come with me to the study. The master wishes to see you."

Yu Qing was astonished. If he was the former master, how could he possibly see him? Could it be that he, like the others who entered this place, had been given a new body... and achieved immortality?
Yu Qing followed the humanoid woman up to the second-floor study with trepidation. But the study was empty. The humanoid woman closed the door and quietly left.

He glanced briefly at the various strange and unusual collections in the room before walking over to the sofa opposite the desk and sitting down.

He squinted, pondering how he should deal with this ancestor when he entered. From a bloodline perspective, he should feel close to him, but to be honest, at this moment, besides feeling abrupt and unfamiliar, he only felt a bit of fear.

Suddenly encountering ancestors from one or two centuries ago would feel unsettling to anyone.

Yu Qing waited for several minutes, but the ancestor did not come in.

He somewhat regretted coming into this building. He had never considered becoming the heir of a living person. He didn't want anyone restricting his freedom. Besides, he didn't like the environment here; the thought of those organ processing factories made him uncomfortable.

He stood up and idly studied the ancient painting behind the sofa, which was just as boring as he was. Who knew what the painter was trying to express? It was just a sign of mental instability.

Suddenly, a deep baritone voice came from behind him, saying, "Does the child like this painting too? Of all the postmodernist works, this is my favorite. It expresses despair for this labyrinthine world."

Yu Qing hurriedly turned around. After all, he was still enjoying the blessings of his ancestors, which allowed him to afford the expenses of the journey, so he should pay his respects to them with utmost respect and humility.

However, to his surprise, there was no one behind him.

Just then, a globe on the desk spun, and a deep male voice came from it: "Kid, don't look anymore, I'm here. I've been watching your every move. You and that kid Yu Qian looked exactly alike back then."

Yu Qing stared at the globe in astonishment, stammering, "Ancestor, what is this...?"

Globe: "Don't be afraid. I am indeed no longer alive, but before I died, I uploaded my consciousness and memories into this globe."

"Can't it be copied into a new body?"

"Yes, but we've been researching for many years without success. Child, does the world already possess such technology?"

Yu Qing was secretly shocked. This meant that the ancestor was unaware of everything happening outside. During his lifetime, the body replacement technique had not yet been successful. But should he tell him everything now? Perhaps, he should wait.

Yu Qing replied, "I've heard that someone is researching such technology." "If it succeeds, you must come and tell me. I don't want to be stuck here anymore. I handed the company over to them, and they've stopped reporting to me altogether."

"Ancestor, is everything here your property?"

"Yes, this Lingyun Manor, and even the entire Changxi area, are almost all my properties. My properties are all over the world."

Yu Qing hesitated for a moment and said, "They've renamed this place Yunxian Pavilion. Changxi is no longer called Changxi; it's now called Qiongshan."

"Changing a few names won't take anything from me. I've established a mechanism so that only my descendants can inherit them. If my descendants don't come, I'll need to authorize them every ten years; otherwise, they'll be distributed equally among all of humanity."

"Ancestor, you're trapped inside a globe, how can you issue authorization..."

“Every ten years I will give them a special key to open an electronic safe or a physical safe, and the authorization letter is inside. I have prepared a hundred such safes.”

"But they can drain everything like termites. When I first left the First Paradise, I found a piece of your property, but there was hardly anything left..."

“They dare to steal my things! However, they can’t steal most of the things. I’ve set up a monitoring mechanism, and their profits are linked to the value of my assets. Stealing from me is equivalent to stealing from them.”

Yu Qing laughed and said, "Forgive my bluntness, but nothing in this world is foolproof. If they're colluding, this still won't stop them..."

“My descendants from Yunshan are truly clever! So I also hired an auditing firm. If they discover any dereliction of duty or fraud by the oversight body, then they can recover 50% of the oversight body's accumulated profits as a reward…”

"That sounds very thorough..."

“Now you can take over all of this. Child, come closer, I will tell you the ultimate key, and you will have full authorization.”

Yu Qing walked over, put his ear close to the globe, and listened to the greatest secret his ancestor had told him. But he was very worried that this would bring him disaster.

The old ancestor seemed to sense his concerns and said, "Don't worry, no one will dare to harm you. As long as you make a public appearance, this information will be communicated to the legal team. If you do not appear within a year, all stakeholders will immediately lose all rights and benefits..."

What if the legal team turns a deaf ear?

"No. They will get 10% of the rights after you successfully complete the inheritance. They're dreaming of you appearing."

Yu Qing wondered whether he should tell his ancestor that the world had changed. Everyone was acting independently, and there were no longer any unified laws to follow; it was a loosely organized society. Besides, who knew if that so-called legal team or heir from back then was even still alive!

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him: let the ancestors come back and handle it themselves. He had no interest in inheriting these things. He somewhat regretted not telling the whole truth earlier, and now changing his mind was a little awkward.

He tentatively asked, "Ancestor, if body replacement technology becomes mature, what should I do?"

Tell me quietly right away.

"Is it just telling you, or is it copying your consciousness and memories into a new body?"

"No. You can only tell me quietly. I don't have the body link parameters. If I forcibly copy it over, I'll just end up in a vegetative state."

"Where... are the parameters?"

"They said they took it for experiments, but they never brought it back."

Why not integrate them together?

"The technology at the time didn't allow it."

Suddenly, all the lights in the room dimmed. Looking out the window, all the lights outside were also out, only the thick fog remained. Yu Qing had no idea what had happened.

"Child, you must leave immediately. My place has long been under surveillance by various forces. They may not dare to harm you for the time being, but they can find a way to trap you and prevent you from ever going to headquarters, in order to permanently control my wealth."

There's a lighter in my desk drawer. From the outside, it looks like just a lighter, but inside there's a hidden compartment with a detailed inventory of my belongings. You can open it with a USB reader.

Yu Qing opened the drawer, found the lighter, and put it in his pocket.

At the same time, the study door opened, and the humanoid woman who had brought him in walked in.

"Eying, from today onwards you will follow your new master and protect him. Now, take him and leave immediately!"

"Ancestor..."

"Stop arguing and let's go!"

The humanoid woman named Eying hesitated for a moment, then pulled Yu Qing outside. The entire building was almost completely dark, and Yu Qing nearly tripped over something several times.

Once outside the gate, Yu Qing met up with Yao Dan and Erlang, who were waiting there, and they hurriedly left the building, heading towards where they had parked their car.

Halfway down, Eying stopped and said, "We've gone the wrong way. The way down the mountain should be over there."

Yu Qing asked, "How long has it been since you left that house?"

Eying replied, "One hundred and twenty-three years."

Yu Qing shook his head and said, "But the road down the mountain is no longer passable."

Eying said, "Then let's take the emergency exit."

"Can one car pass through?"

"I'm not quite sure..."

Yu Qing said, "Then you go and find out the truth first. We'll wait for you here."

After Eying left, Yu Qing told Yao Dan and himself to head to the parking lot immediately.

Yao Dan asked, "Who is this person? Why did you lie to her?"

"I had only been in that building for a short time when the news leaked out. Could it have been one of those humanoid beauties who did it? I'm suspicious of Eying's true identity."

"Should we go back the way we came?"

"Yes, let's leave now before we're discovered."

(End of this chapter)