The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 26 Escaping Yaoxing

To lure Qin Yuan away as much as possible, Yao Dan quietly slipped out of the building and deliberately circled high above Yaoxing City. Seeing a large number of Qin Yuan approaching, he immediately flew towards Changtian as planned. The Qin Yuan who had been guarding the area all night followed in droves.

However, seeing that there was only one target, these beasts did not all follow.

A few minutes later, Daji followed the plan and dragged a group of Qinyuan towards Changtian.

However, Qin Yuan seemed very clever, and a group of them were still waiting for the third target to appear before they would act. At this point, there was no turning back, so Yu Qing had no choice but to temporarily change the plan, having Yan'er act like Daji, dragging the remaining Qin Yuan towards Changtian.

A few minutes later, Furong went out for a tentative flight and could no longer see much of Qinyuan. At this moment, Chang'e, carrying Yuqing on her back, rushed out of the building and flew straight towards Maluo. Furong followed closely behind.

As for the few Qin Yuan creatures that followed, Yu Qing and his group adopted a laissez-faire attitude to avoid forcing them to send out distress signals due to the killing.

They flew at breakneck speed, gradually leaving all of Qin Yuan behind. Yu Qing had Chang'e slow down a bit, constantly looking back, hoping that Yao Dan and the others could catch up as soon as possible.

Before long, Yu Qing and his group were more than a hundred miles away from Yaoxing City. This section of the road from Yaoxing to Maluo was not affected by the collapse, and since it had only been abandoned for about twenty years, the charging devices along the way were basically well preserved.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and Yu Qing was a little smug about his success, laughing as he said, "Wife, am I doing alright?"

"Of course, my lord. But there's something I want to tell you, and I'm afraid you'll blame me."

"We haven't said anything yet, so why should I blame you?"

"I forgot to bring my spare flight suit..."

"It's alright, there are charging stations along the way, so we don't need spare clothes. Besides, can't you reverse charge it?"

"Yes...that's how it is...but this one seems to have been damaged yesterday, and it won't charge now..."

Yu Qing shouted angrily, "Why didn't you check it yesterday! Look at the state of things now!"

"It can still fly for dozens of kilometers now, and I want to save the electricity for special circumstances..."

"So you mean we're going to land and walk to Malu right now, right?"

"Or we could exchange Furong's for hers, so she..."

"Just leave her on the street, right? No way, carry her on your back!"

"You've already carried Erlang on your back. If you add Furong on top of that, the zero-gravity backpack will explode!"

"Then we'll just have to wait for Yao Dan and the others to arrive on the ground! You're really something!"

After Chang'e landed, Furong followed. She hesitated for a moment and said, "How about I give you my flight suit? I'll wait here for Yaodan and the others. The sooner you get to Maluo, the safer you'll be!"

Yu Qing thought that given the current situation, even reaching Maluo might not be safe, so it was best not to split up. Therefore, he insisted on walking together and waiting for Yao Dan and the others to arrive.

However, after waiting for two or three hours, they still hadn't seen a trace of them.

It turned out that Yao Dan and Da Ji had already shaken off Qin Yuan's pursuit, but after flying back from the sea, they discovered that Yan'er had been trapped by Qin Yuan halfway, so they had no choice but to lend a helping hand.

And so they began fighting with Qin Yuan again. Wherever they went, Qin Yuan followed. In the end, they had no choice but to dive into the sea once more.

The Qin Yuan that had been lured away by them the first two times flew back. The three Qin Yuan reunited, filling the sky above the coastline and, more importantly, locking them in that area.

They had little advantage in swimming underwater, and it took them a long time to finally reach the shore from the beach, which was dozens of miles away. They then flew back to Yaoxing via a detour, before heading towards Maluo to catch up with Yu Qing and the others. By then, it was already evening.

Back to Yu Qing and his group, they waited and waited but there was no sign of Yao Dan and the others. It was getting dark, and they didn't know when they would reach Ma Luo. It was impossible to escape back to Yao Xing, so they had no choice but to risk lying on the road in the middle of nowhere.

Fortunately, Erlang looked around several times and didn't hear or smell anything unusual, which meant that there was probably no danger within a dozen miles.

Because the road is exposed to sunlight all day, the surface temperature is very high. Yu Qing's air-conditioned clothing can no longer lower the internal temperature to below 24℃, and the perceived temperature has reached above 38℃.

Having been in such heat for so long, Yu Qing had become somewhat dehydrated. Therefore, Chang'e had to carry him to a slightly cooler part of the forest. But this still didn't solve the problem.

Furong flew through the air, circling around, until she finally found a lake. She went into the water to investigate, but found no large monsters. Then she returned and, together with Chang'e, put Yuqing into the lake to soak. They also soaked in the lake on either side of him, keeping watch.

Yu Qing drank some water and gradually recovered. He said to himself with a self-deprecating laugh, "Can we humans still say we're not useless? Without you, I might not survive until tomorrow."

Suddenly, Furong pointed to the sky and said, "Stop thinking nonsense. Look at the moon in the sky, it's blood red! This is a rare sight."

Yu Qing said, "Ha, that's really true. Chang'e, do you know that in ancient legends there lived a fairy with the same name as you? She stole her man's elixir to become an immortal and fly to the moon. It's a pity I didn't give you anything to steal..."

Furong laughed and said, "Honey, she's already stolen your things!"

"What is that? I don't know anything about it."

“I saw her pull out several strands of your hair while you were asleep and hide them in her breast pocket.”

"Chang'e, is that really true? What do you need my hair for?"

Chang'e stammered, "It's just...it's just...I like it..."

"There's no need for that. If you really like it, when I die, just dismember my body into eight pieces, and each of you can take one piece."

Furong kept spitting and saying, "Nonsense! We only want the living treasure."

Chang'e glared at Yu Qing and said, "My lord, you're wicked! You're making us tomb guardians! If you dare to die, we'll curse you eight hundred times a day in front of your tomb."

Yu Qing laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'd rather be a thousand-year-old tortoise or a ten-thousand-year-old turtle than die. Getting back to the point, we can't just stay in the water arguing all the time. Someone has to go and wait for Yao Dan and the others on the road, so we don't miss them again."

Chang'e and Furong remained silent, clearly neither of them wanting to wait for someone on the road.

Yu Qing secretly hoped that Chang'e would stay and keep him company, but he was also afraid that Furong would be unhappy, so he had them play rock-paper-scissors to decide the winner, so as not to offend either of them.

Before they threw their punches, Yu Qing secretly grabbed Chang'e's hand underwater, signaling her to throw; he then grabbed Furong's hand, signaling her to throw.

Who knew that they were all afraid that Yu Qing would be biased, so they didn't listen to him. Furong didn't throw a punch but threw paper, and Chang'e didn't throw paper but threw scissors.

As a result, Furong lost and regretted not listening to Baobei's advice, otherwise she would have won. But she was also secretly pleased with her loss, feeling that Yuqing was favoring her.

Chang'e won and had no objections. If she had listened to her husband and played a piece of cloth, she wouldn't have lost. She thought he was just trying to help her out of desperation because he was afraid she would throw a punch.

However, Yu Qing felt increasingly wary of them. Judging from their actions today, their sense of autonomy was growing alarmingly. He couldn't imagine the terrible consequences he would face if he angered them one day. Therefore, after Furong left, he hugged Chang'e tightly from behind and said ingratiatingly, "My lady, you look so beautiful in the moonlight."

Chang'e responded immediately, saying softly, "I am not perfect yet. My lord, are you still feeling hot?"

"A little. But it's already very good."

"Not even a little bit! I'm going to use my skin to cool you down!"

Before Yu Qing could answer, she quickly stripped him naked, threw him onto the shore, and then took off one of her arms to hold him tightly in her embrace.

She was essentially sacrificing her own energy to cool Yu Qing down. Yu Qing hooked his arms around her neck, unsure what to say, and simply kissed her deeply.

He quietly enjoyed the coolness that Chang'e brought him, but before long, he felt a sharp, needle-like pain all over his body.

"Oh my, my wife, there seems to be something in the water!"

Upon hearing this, Chang'e panicked and pulled Yu Qing out of the water, then swam towards the shore.

After jumping ashore, they saw that Yu Qing was covered in dozens of large leeches. Chang'e hurriedly pulled the leeches out and threw them on the ground.

Yu Qing was in pain and itchy at the same time, and he ran around naked, covering his forearm with his hand.

Chang'e, like a little girl who had made a mistake, held his clothes, unsure of what to do.

Yu Qing gestured to Chang'e to give him the clothes, and he hurriedly put them on. According to the eldest sister Daji's arrangement, it was Furong's turn to "be on duty" today, and if Furong saw him like this, he wouldn't be able to explain it clearly in a few words.

Sure enough, as soon as Yu Qing finished dressing, Fu Rong heard the commotion and ran over. Seeing that they had all come out of the lake, she quickly asked, "What happened?"

Chang'e replied, "There are small things in the water."

"Let's get out of here quickly! It's a bit safer on the road."

Yu Qing said, "Then we don't need to stop here. Let's continue our journey. We can wait for Yao Dan and the others as we go. Besides, it's always cooler to move around than to stay still."

"I'll carry you on my back, my lord."

So Yu Qing and his group walked towards Maluo under the moonlight.

For safety reasons, Yu Qing had Erlang go ahead a few hundred meters ahead, so that if any emergencies occurred, Erlang could give them a warning in advance.

In the middle of the night, Yu Qing fell asleep on Chang'e's back.

The road was quiet all around. The section ahead was the best-preserved road they had ever seen. The semi-circular protective barrier was almost completely intact, making it feel like they had entered a transparent tunnel.

According to records, vehicles traveling at speeds of up to 3000 kilometers per hour once operated on such roads.

This excited them somewhat. It suggested that the place they were going to, Maluo, might not be too desolate. It would be best if there were humans there, so that their beloved wouldn't necessarily insist on going to the Second Paradise; the journey was indeed too dangerous.

To their even greater surprise, the transparent tunnel was incredibly cool, with a temperature of only 18°C. This is the standard temperature requirement for this type of transportation. They woke Yu Qing up, eager to share the good news with him.

Yu Qing was overjoyed to know it was only 18°C. He jumped to the ground and stripped naked, leaving only his shorts. He even tried to pull at Chang'e's clothes, demanding they both take them off too. Chang'e stubbornly refused, saying, "This violates the appropriateness of conduct regulations..."

Taking advantage of Furong's inattention, he suddenly tried to pull down her skirt forcefully, but to his surprise, he couldn't even pull it down a millimeter. He laughed and said, "Is it tied so tightly? Or is it because you have a big butt that's holding it in?"

Furong said, "My dear, our clothes are different from humans'; they only look similar. They're made of a special fiber—soft, luxurious, and never fade. They're 180 times stronger than ordinary steel..."

"Nonsense! Back then at that hotel, those kinds of women's clothes were all tattered and hanging on their bodies, and they were supposedly 180 times stronger than steel..."

Chang'e laughed and said, "That was intentional..."

"While we were on the road, Daji and the others' clothes seemed to tear very easily..."

Chang'e stood still and spun around, instantly tearing her skirt into shreds. Yu Qing, astonished, exclaimed, "Damn it, you all lied to me!"

"The main purpose is to make you feel that we are exactly the same as humans, to arouse your feelings of pity and chivalry..."

"You're all pathetic. But can you tell me how you did that? How did your skirt tear so easily with just a turn? Hibiscus, you turn around and your skirt tore into several pieces too..."

Furong lowered her head and said, "I can't... It's the outer layer that's torn, it's really torn..."

"When the outer garment was torn, why didn't I see any clothes underneath?"

Chang'e said, "My lord, the packaging inside was still the same color as their skin. The humanoids of their time were not as advanced as us."

Yu Qing grinned and said, "Then show me how to make my torn dress whole again!"

Chang'e pulled Yu Qing's hand to touch her skirt, and Yu Qing then realized that her skirt was perfectly fine; it was merely an optical illusion created by the changing stripes on the skirt.

Yu Qing slapped Chang'e hard on the butt and cursed, "You little liars!"

Then Chang'e spun around a few more times, and suddenly changed into a different style of dress. Yu Qing noticed the envious and jealous look on Furong's face and quickly said, "You looked better the way you were before. You're not allowed to change into dresses anymore!"

Chang'e said, "Why is that? Aren't humans all prone to getting tired of the old and wanting the new?"

Yu Qing winked and gestured towards Furong with his lips. Chang'e immediately understood his meaning and said, "My lord prefers the old ways, so I won't change. Actually, I most want to wear a dress with Furong's floral pattern, but I'm afraid of wearing the same thing as someone else..."

"Absolutely not! If you all wear the same dress, I might mistake one of you for another!"

Chatting and laughing all the way, time passed by remarkably quickly.

By then it was beginning to get light, and Yu Qing realized that he had walked for several hours without anyone carrying him. This proved that his legs hadn't degenerated into nothingness.

Just as he was confidently planning to walk to the horse's bottom on his own two feet, Erlang ran back and shouted. This immediately put them on edge.

"What's going on? Which of you should run over and check?"

Furong said, "I'll go instead. Chang'e will stay by the baby's side and not leave for even a moment."

(End of this chapter)