The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 67 The City of Revelry

Yu Qing was surprised that last night went so smoothly that he suspected it might be a trap. When they arrived at Jishui, he told Chang'e and the others to moor the raft two or three kilometers away and find out the situation before going ashore.

After securing the raft with ropes, Yao Dan stood on the raft to keep watch, while Chang'e led Yan'er up the embankment and headed towards the water source. Soon they discovered an abandoned ferry crossing ahead; although it appeared dilapidated, the facilities did not seem to have completely collapsed.

On the main road leading from the dock to the water collection point, some colorful paintings and inscriptions from that time, which welcomed guests from all directions, are still visible. The couplets on both sides of one of the welcoming gates are still clearly visible. The first line reads, "Jade hands and beautiful zithers dispel the long night," and the second line reads, "Golden goblets of fine wine soak the long sky." The horizontal inscription reads, "Isn't it delightful?"

However, looking out over the city from here, one sees a bustling scene. It's already seven or eight in the morning, but you can still see colorful neon lights faintly lit up.

The desolate and barren atmosphere seen along the way was swept away here, replaced by a vibrant and energetic atmosphere. Vehicles flew back and forth in the sky, and the faint sounds of metal and string instruments could be heard.

Chang'e quickly ran back to report. Yu Qing laughed and said, "It seems I was overthinking it. Jishui should still be an entertainment city that warmly welcomes guests from all directions."

The dilapidated state of the dock is easily explained; it means that no one uses such outdated means as boats to collect water anymore. We are probably the only people who have disembarked at the ferry crossing in the last hundred years or so.

So he had Chang'e untie the ropes and float the raft to the dock, where they landed.

Although the dock is now abandoned, its spacious berths and complete facilities are a testament to its former prosperity.

Yan'er was already waiting upstairs. She and Yao Dan escorted Yu Qing to the welcoming gate, with the others following closely behind carrying their luggage.

"Same as always, who will be the first to go?"

Yao Dan said, "Husband, let me and Fu Rong lead the way and arrange your meals and lodging first."

After saying that, Yao Dan took Fu Rong's hand and left first.

Yu Qing and his group hadn't gone far when they arrived at a vast sea of ​​flowers. The road leading to the city meandered forward through this floral paradise.

Yu Qing asked Chang'e if she knew the names of those exotic flowers and plants. Chang'e replied, "My lord, I think they are all new species created by humankind. I don't recognize a single one of them."

Not long after, Yao Dan sent word from ahead: "My lord, come quickly! It's so lively here! Jishui is a wonderful place!"

Seeing how good the road was, Yu Qing suddenly remembered that they still had automatic gliding boots, so he asked everyone to find them. Wearing them, they could quickly get to the water collection center to get some food.

These new boots can glide at 100 kilometers per hour. They put them on and reached the bustling streets of Jishui in just a few minutes, leaving Yaodan and the others behind.

The luxurious and wide street took Yu Qing by surprise. Flying vehicles frequently floated down from the sky and parked on both sides of the road, from which all sorts of people stepped out.

He was no longer surprised by people with bull's heads and horse's faces, but this time he saw some special people with heads that he had never seen before, one of which even looked like a large five-pointed die.

Human individual development and genetic freedom seem to have made groundbreaking progress, achieving an unbelievable lack of taboos. But what truly amazed Yu Qing was not this, but the myriad of flowers blooming on both sides of the street. What flowers a tree blooms and when it blooms are no longer determined by God, but by human needs and moods.

There was something even more surprising for Yu Qing on the branches of those flowering trees: they were covered with synthetic foods of various shapes, lined up on both sides of the street, for all guests to take for free.

The food was prepared in various colors and geometric shapes, including squares, spheres, triangles, and rhombuses. Of course, it would never resemble any specific animal, because the water collection area was meant to accommodate humans who resembled all sorts of different animals.

Yu Qing's stomach was growling with hunger, so he unceremoniously took several spherical synthetic foods. He felt as if he had returned to the happy days of the First Paradise, and the food tasted absolutely delicious.

Of course, he also sensed that their composition seemed to have changed considerably, with the addition of many materials to adapt to the ever-expanding scope of humankind.

At that moment, a group of incredibly beautiful humanoid women descended slowly from the sky, each carrying a round vat filled with wines of various colors, and invited him to taste them for free.

He felt as if he were still in a dream, thinking he had arrived in the celestial realm. He took the wine spoon handed to him by another humanoid beauty and used it one by one.

A humanoid woman bowed and gestured for him to enter. He looked in that direction and realized that none of the buildings on either side of the street had doors; they were all open-plan businesses.

Driven by curiosity and drawn by the melodious sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments, he found himself drawn into a large hall. He was truly awestruck at that moment.

This hall was at least eighty meters high and a full twenty thousand square meters in size. Tens of thousands of people danced and revelled there. You could call it a chaotic dance of demons, or you could see it as a festive masquerade ball.

The service here is quite humanized and intelligent. He noticed that the people who greeted the donkey-headed men were also humanoid beauties with donkey heads. However, he was greeted by six beautiful, pure humanoid beauties who spoke the same language even more fluently than he did.

Chang'e and her companions were treated like VIPs, which surprised Yu Qing, and they themselves were also a little taken aback. Yu Qing smiled and said, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Don't be shy. You should experience what it's like to be hosts."

Yu Qing thought to himself that he would eventually be presented with a jaw-dropping bill. But when the humanoid beauty's slender hands embraced him and began their three-dimensional dance, he felt that every penny was worthwhile.

Unlike typical stage dances, the dances here are like soaring through the clouds, with body language that roams freely between heaven and earth. Sometimes it's like a dragonfly skimming the water, sometimes it's like a bird spreading its wings and flying high. One moment it's like a thousand pounds falling from the sky, and the next it's like an arrow pointing to the heavens.

Most incredibly, just as Yu Qing was feeling thirsty and looking for a chance to stop and have a drink, the humanoid dancer who was leading the dance immediately sensed it. She then proceeded to present Yu Qing with a grand water-offering dance.

She held a long jade cup in her mouth, spinning it rapidly in the air, and under the lamplight, she flicked the water into a colorful ribbon. She gently supported Yu Qing's waist, letting him lie flat in the air, and slowly fed the colorful ribbon of water into his mouth.

After lying on the hard wooden raft all night, Yu Qing's body was still sore all over. But these women seemed to know him inside and out, subtly relaxing his muscles and tendons during the dance, each move precise and effective, quickly lulling him into a deep sleep.

But the dance did not stop. The humanoid woman's magical hands, like coiled dragons, gently welcomed and sent him away in the air, without waking him up. Instead, they immersed him in the carefree state of "dance-sleep".

At first, Yao Dan was terrified, thinking they had killed Yu Qing. Just as she was about to go and help, Chang'e grabbed her and said, "Look carefully, the husband has just fallen asleep peacefully. Let's not disturb him."

(End of this chapter)