The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 84 Vanished
Chang'e calculated that at their current rate of travel, their vehicle would run out of energy before reaching Jinchengzi.

Yu Qingrang turned off all the car's auxiliary functions, such as air conditioning and smart interaction, in order to save energy consumption to the greatest extent.

At noon, Yu Qing simply parked the car in an open area to let it bask in the scorching sun in order to replenish its energy by absorbing solar energy.

However, he was afraid that someone from Jinchengzi might suddenly appear and take over the car, so apart from him, Danggui, Daji, and Yaodan leaving the car to escape the summer heat, everyone else stayed in the car, ready to move it immediately if anyone appeared.

With this stop-and-go approach, a journey that would normally take one or two hours is now estimated to take three days. If humanity weren't so fragmented, we might be able to cover this distance in ten minutes!

Slowing down isn't a big deal, since there are no pursuers behind us. But then another major problem arises.

Angelica sinensis couldn't withstand such a long period of high temperatures. Yu Qing offered her the thermostatic suit, but it was too big; once she put it on, her head was completely obscured, so he had to give up.

Yu Qing could only have the two cars take turns turning on their air conditioning to accommodate his precious daughter.

Finally, Chang'e and her companions simply got off the vehicle and walked behind it to reduce the load.

This didn't last long, and they found themselves in trouble again: one of their vehicles ran out of power halfway up the mountain. They either had to abandon the vehicle or spend the night there.

Yu Qing is not considering abandoning the car for the time being.

However, compared to the past, with the metal shell of the vehicle, their ability to resist wild animals has been greatly enhanced, and there should be no great danger in spending the night there.

However, in order to save energy, the air conditioner can no longer be turned on.

Fortunately, the mountain winds are strong here, which can alleviate the heat somewhat. In addition, the temperature drops at night, so Danggui should be able to withstand it.

I just hope tomorrow will be another sunny day so I can charge the car. Everyone except Dang Gui is now hoping for tomorrow's sun to provide energy.

Frankly, we had terrible luck today. Everyone was feeling a bit down at that moment.

This kind of atmosphere is not a good thing. Yu Qing needs to boost everyone's spirits and morale.

He laughed and said, "You all don't need to look so bitter and resentful. How about I tell you a joke?"

Yao Dan said, "Okay, but it has to be freshly made. You know those old jokes, we have hundreds of thousands stored in our brains."

"Then I won't tell you, you two tell two stories."

"No, we only want to hear what you make up."

Yu Qing said, "Do I even need to explain? I'm the biggest joke right now. You guys don't try to make me laugh, but I have to make you laugh. Who's really in charge here?"

"That's a joke, isn't it? That's such a perfunctory response."

"Let me tell you another one. Three hundred years ago, there was a tribe called Nitang. The people there considered large faces to be beautiful, and called them 'wide faces'."

So, as soon as a baby is born there, the family uses a special board to flatten and thin the baby's face, making it wider as the baby grows up. But sometimes, they might accidentally flatten the mouth and nose as well.

A couple had six daughters. The faces of the first five daughters weren't stretched out, but the wife's clumsy hands made their mouths and noses look like pancakes. After the sixth daughter was born, the man repeatedly told his wife that this time she couldn't make a mistake and that she had to raise a beautiful daughter with a big face and a high nose.

A man who had been away on business returned home late one night a year later. After a tender conversation with his wife, he asked, "How does our daughter look?" His wife replied proudly, "She's very pretty, with a big, round face..."

Upon hearing this, the man happily ran to the child's bedside, touched the child's face, and exclaimed, "Not bad! This is definitely the biggest face in our town!"

But as the man touched it, he suddenly burst into tears, crying out, "You old hag! I told you not to make a mistake, but you still managed to ruin the baby's nose!"

The wife, completely bewildered, quickly lit a lamp to see what was going on. She discovered the man was touching the child's bottom and yelled, "Are you blind? You're touching Furong's bottom! Her face is over there!"

Everyone looked at Furong and burst into laughter. Furong covered her mouth and said, "You're making fun of me again."

Yu Qing, fearing he might hurt Furong, quickly hugged her and said, "Baby, you're the cutest. Just fart a little in protest, so people won't get the wrong idea."

Everyone burst into laughter again, and the atmosphere immediately lightened.

Everyone was having a great time, joking and laughing with each other, but Dangui sat there alone, looking sullen and unhappy. She didn't understand what was so funny about being in this desolate wilderness.

Yan'er was originally waiting in the car in front that had run out of power, but when she heard the laughter and chatter over here, she couldn't stand the loneliness and insisted on squeezing in with Yao Dan and the others to join in the fun.

After an unknown amount of time, Yu Qing grew tired and let out a big yawn, at which point everyone quieted down. Yan'er returned to the front carriage to guard it, while Yao Dan went to patrol around the carriage.

But Yan'er and Yao Dan quickly ran back to Yu Qing in a panic and said, "It's over, the car in front of us is gone!"

Yu Qing was startled and said, "Didn't it run out of power? It won't move! And the luggage in the car is gone too?"

Yan'er said, "No, there was no such thing. There was only water and food on that cart. I thought we were going to abandon the cart, so I moved them to this one."

Yao Dan said, "Food is the most important thing for you, sir, and you actually lost it! How foolish!"

"You know food is the most important thing, so why don't you bring it yourself?"

"Alright, stop arguing. The most important thing is to figure out how the car disappeared without a trace. Let's hurry up and check ahead. Strange, this is an uphill road, it shouldn't have rolled away on its own. But we haven't seen anyone around! Has anything flown by in the sky?"

"No. Besides, how can it fly without power?"

Yu Qing said, "We originally didn't want to abandon the car, so we waited here for tomorrow's sun. But since the car is gone, let's hurry up and leave this strange place."

Yan'er and Yaodan ran ahead, leading the way, while Yu Qing's car followed blindly behind without its lights on. After traveling about ten miles, Yan'er ran back and said, "Baby...baby, the car is up ahead..."

"You mean that car is up ahead, right?"

"Yes, the car was moving by itself. Yao Dan quietly followed it."

"On this uphill road, do you see what's pulling it along?"

"No one is pulling it; it's just moving by itself!"

"This is impossible... These days, even cars can become sentient? Go tell Yaodan not to do anything reckless. Our car will quietly follow behind and see what's going on!"

(End of this chapter)