The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 55 Aunt
Seeing that Chang'e and the others hadn't returned yet, Yu Qing activated his "bedchair mode." He couldn't be online 24/7 like the people outside.

Now he's wavering. Is it really worth it to stick to his original genes and form?

If he were to try to improve himself, he would first want to replace his outdated digestive system. Because someone had predicted this, he had just had to awkwardly put his excrement into a bag.

In the future, he will also face the inescapable process of aging, which may lead to even more repulsive behaviors.

As long as he emulates the people of Tianqing City and abandons this fragile body, all problems will be solved.

The thought sent a chill down his spine. Wasn't this tantamount to killing himself? He asked Furong to hand him some flatbreads, desperately stuffing himself to mask his inner panic.

He couldn't even protect himself, so what was the point of pursuing the stars and the sea? He narrowed his eyes, trying to control his escalating thoughts. If this continued, he feared he would go insane.

Let's go for a walk. Time must be spent in leisure, otherwise it will hurt like a cluster of sharp thorns.

He wandered aimlessly down the street, with Furong close behind. People occasionally flew past a meter or two above his head.

Some hurried people rushed past him at high speed. Sometimes he was really afraid of being knocked into a pulp. At that moment, he could understand why he had to wear a cylindrical protective shield when entering the city.

They wandered aimlessly through the streets and soon got lost, circling around several times without finding their way back.

He tried to go into a shop, find a place to sit and rest, but was politely turned away again.

After dark, he and Furong huddled in a corner outside a seemingly deserted house, waiting for Chang'e and the others to come looking for them.

He suddenly felt like a complete fool in this place. The bright lights seemed to be showing his embarrassing situation to the world.

But they waited until dawn, and Chang'e and the others still hadn't come looking for them.

He finally had a moment of clarity and recalled the arrangement of the twenty-four sky lanterns he had seen when he looked up at the sky as he set off. At the time, he had wondered what the significance of such an arrangement was. Now, using these sky lanterns, he had made a preliminary way back to the street.

He passed by several shops on his way here. He finally knew how to get back.

However, he dared not enter any building rashly again, lest he be asked to leave by the people there. He only occasionally peeked inside through the windows.

He found his expression somewhat comical. The whole world was comical too: humanity strived so hard to develop itself, only to end up eliminating itself from this planet. He now seemed to be an outsider in this world.

He lingered a little longer outside a shop called "Pinmingju" (Tea Tasting House). He'd passed by here yesterday and felt something was off. Indeed, since the people here no longer had physical bodies, why would they be "tasting tea"?

He walked to a corner against the wall and tilted his head to look through the window. There, he saw two fairy-like figures hanging on a screen facing each other, talking animatedly. In front of them, on a small round table, were two cups.

He had been wanting to see how they drank that glass of water, but they seemed to have forgotten, engrossed in their conversation. To be honest, he was incredibly thirsty and wished he could run over and snatch it from them and drink it all down in one gulp.

Suddenly, a hand patted his cylindrical body. He turned around in a panic and saw a fairy-like figure from Tianqing City greeting him.

"Very fresh, this fleshy husk has just strolled through Tianqing City. Want to go in and hang out for a bit?"

Yu Qing's face flushed crimson. Just as he was about to answer her, the fairy suddenly took a half-step back and exclaimed in surprise, "A rare sight indeed! You still possess a completely natural appearance! Even more unbelievable is that you are also a descendant of Yu Yunshan!" Yu Qing stammered, "I... First... Paradise..."

The fairy smiled and said, "I can tell. Don't be nervous. I am also a descendant of Yu Yunshan. If we talk about biological genes from the past, I am your aunt. Of course, I am a new human now, so we don't talk about genes anymore."

Yu Qing wasn't happy at all about suddenly having an aunt; instead, she became even more reserved and uneasy, nodding and saying, "What a... coincidence... Aunt... hello..."

"Don't be nervous. How about this, I'll take you inside to chat, so you can relax before we talk."

Yu Qing asked, somewhat at a loss, "Is it okay?"

"I'll cover for you, of course that's fine."

Yu Qing followed his aunt into the tea house like a schoolboy. This time, no one stopped him.

The fairy aunt came to a booth, hung herself in a beautiful painting, and then pointed to the painting opposite her. Yu Qing leaned timidly against the painting.

My aunt smiled and said, "You can't hang it up, but you can take off the protective cover and put it aside. The reason we neither sit nor lie down is that hanging it up is more conducive to stretching the entire body structure."

Yu Qing removed the cylindrical protective shield and pasted it onto the image, mimicking its hanging appearance. At this moment, his mood had relaxed.

At that moment, a round platform slowly descended from above, upon which were placed two glasses of water. Yu Qing disregarded etiquette, picked up one glass of water, and drank it all in one gulp.

Before her aunt could stop her, she exclaimed, "Oh my god! I forgot to tell you, that's not for drinking! Luckily, it's only slightly toxic to the flesh, so it's not a big deal."

After saying that, she took a willow-twig-like object from the round table, dipped it in a cup of water, and swept it on her hands, saying, "It's used to remove any dust that might carry an electrical charge from your hands, and it's also a polite gesture that reflects a refined lifestyle."

"I...I embarrassed you."

"Not really. But if you need to relieve yourself, you must hold it in, or you'll really embarrass me."

Yu Qing blushed and said, "I understand."

"Let's get back to the point. How did you end up here? Forgive my bluntness, but it's going to be hard for you to survive like this. You absolutely cannot survive if you don't keep up with the times and cling to outdated ideas."

"I just came from the First Paradise, and I really don't understand this world anymore, so I didn't have time to react appropriately..."

"For the sake of our shared ancestor, I can sponsor your rebirth in Tianqing City to reclaim your consciousness and discard this weak and feeble physical body."

Yu Qing said in surprise, "Huh? I wasn't prepared for this... Let me think about it, let me think about it..."

"Whatever. Giving you a grant means I'll have to reduce two instances, which is a huge loss."

(End of this chapter)