The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 83 Clearing the Obstacles
Yao Dan got excited when Yu Qing boasted that he could make the donkey-headed wolf in front of him make way for the road, and urged him to tell the story quickly.

"Go and get Erlang out and wake him up. He'll be very useful tonight."

"You want to use a mechanical dog to drive away thousands of real wolves? That's too unrealistic, isn't it?"

"Of course it can't, but the donkey-headed wolves can drive themselves away!"

"That's even more unbelievable. I don't believe it."

Chang'e interjected, "My husband always likes to keep us in suspense and tease us. Just stop asking and do as he says."

"My wife is so understanding; she can't be happy without teasing me. When you're eager for an answer, you're more motivated to get things done."

"Husband, tell me quickly, what should I do now?"

Yu Qing pointed to a small cave on the hillside and said, "You all need to get some dry branches and leaves into the cave immediately, the more the better, and find a way to seal the entrance, leaving only a small opening for people to enter and exit."

"Then let me wake Erlang up...?"

"Leave Erlang to me, and you all go and do what I've assigned. You must finish these things before 8 p.m., because there are more important things for you to do after 8 p.m."

Only Daji stayed in the car with Danggui; the others went with Yaodan to the cave to handle some business.

Yu Qing was playing with Erlang while explaining things to it after 8 p.m.

Although Yao Dan and the others did not yet know what Yu Qing was planning, they were full of enthusiasm and just wanted to finish the task as soon as possible so that the answer could be revealed.

Following Yu Qing's instructions, they spent four or five hours finally getting the job done.

When Yao Dan returned to Yu Qing, it was already dark. He and Dan Gui were having dinner in the car.

Seeing Yao Dan and the others covered in dust and dirt, Yu Qing laughed and said, "You've all become a bunch of beggars fleeing from disaster. But it's alright, no need to wash up. What we have to do tonight is even dirtier, so let's just bear with it and get through this."

Around 7 p.m., Yu Qing patted Erlang on the head, signaling it to move. Erlang licked him and trotted towards the area where the donkey-headed wolves were gathered.

Yu Qing then instructed Yao Dan and the others, "You all go ahead and lie in ambush. When Erlang lures a few donkey-headed wolves over, kill them all silently. But be careful not to scratch their skin; it's best to suffocate them."

"My lord, wouldn't it be more satisfying to take them down one by one with a dagger? Why go through all this trouble?"

"No, that would mean all our work would be for nothing."

About ten minutes later, Erlang was running back, attracting six donkey-headed wolves that chased after him. After the donkeys entered Yaodan and the others' ambush, Chang'e, Yaodan, Furong, and Yan'er leaped up and killed them all with a few punches.

After they carried the donkey-headed wolf's carcass to Yu Qing's side, Yao Dan asked, "Husband, shall we roast it and eat it? You can't eat this much."

"Eat your head! Take them to the other side of the cave, peel off their skin completely, dry them, and make six sealed air bags."

However, you can't fill it with air. You need to burn a cave full of smoke using the dry branches and leaves in the cave, then inhale it puff by puff and blow it into the wolfskin bags until they float, understand?

Yao Dan stamped his foot and said, "I understand. You want to use these inflatable donkey-headed wolves to scare them, right?"

Chang'e added, "When the time comes, let Erlang carry the rope and run into the middle of the wolf pack to release it. The donkey-headed wolf will be scared half to death, and it will run away for its life!"

Yu Qing said, "It also serves two purposes: it can test how effective Jin Chengzi's no-fly zone enforcement really is."

Yan'er said, "Our baby is so smart!"

"Alright, I don't need your flattery. Now that you all understand, get to work. You can boast all you want, but don't let your boasting backfire!" Furong asked timidly, "There seemed to be some very light fluff in the spot where we were lying in ambush. Could we use it to fill in the gaps?"

"Of course. As long as it's lighter than air, fill it as much as possible, and if that's not enough, blow in some smoke. The point is to make sure it can float in the air."

After explaining everything, Yu Qing went back to his car to sleep. These humanoid beauties were more reliable than humans, and unlikely to be cunning or deceitful. Glancing at Dang Gui's utterly useless appearance, he couldn't help but feel a little disgusted and sighed.

Daji thought he had encountered some problem again, and hurriedly asked, "My dear, what's wrong now?"

"It's okay. Go to sleep. She... isn't making a fuss anymore, is she?"

"It's alright, but he keeps saying he wants to go back to Jishui."

“You need to teach her more Mandarin.”

Daji verbally agreed to teach Danggui properly, but her reasoning algorithm told her that the dumber and less articulate Danggui was, the more advantageous it would be for her. So, avoiding Yuqing, she refused to teach Danggui a single word and even let Danggui run wild.

Danggui was still resentful that Yuqing hadn't spent time with her last night. During dinner today, she secretly spat into Yuqing's food. Daji just smiled and replaced the food, without saying a word of reproach.

Meanwhile, Yao Dan and the others had been busy all night, and it was almost dawn when they finally got everything sorted out. After washing themselves clean in a mountain spring, they returned to the parking spot with the six inflatable wolf skins.

The next day, Yu Qing woke up and saw them standing outside. He asked, "Are you done?"

Yao Dan pointed to the roof of the car. Yu Qing got out of the car and saw six wolves floating on it.

Yu Qing said, "Now is the perfect time! While the donkey-headed wolf is still confused, let Erlang take the rope to where they are clustered and then loosen it."

Yao Dan stuffed one end of each of the six ropes tied to the middle of the donkey skin into Erlang's mouth. Yu Qing tugged at them to check if they were secure, then patted Erlang's head and said, "Go!"

Upon receiving the order, Erlang immediately galloped towards the area where the donkey-headed wolves had gathered in the distance. The inflatable wolf skin rattled in the wind.

Before long, just as Erlang approached the wolf pack, they became restless. When Erlang reached them, he released the inflatable wolf skin, and six wolves floated haphazardly in the air, scaring the other wolves into running for their lives.

Erlang also launched a flurry of bites, quickly killing several wolves. A few bolder wolves attacked it, but found it to be impervious to blades and spears, and could only be bitten. They were quickly defeated and fled for their lives.

Erlang charged straight at the alpha wolf and snapped its neck in a single bite. The remaining wolves, not daring to linger, fled the scene in a flash.

In just a short while, not a single live wolf remained. Yu Qing and the others had been focusing their attention on Erlang, but now they discovered that the inflatable wolf skins were also gone.

Yu Qing looked around with his glasses and found that they were all charred on the ground. He handed the glasses to Yao Dan and said, "Am I right? Look, this wolf that flew into the sky was actually shot down."

"My lord, how do you think they shot them down?"

"That's not important. It just shows that their no-fly zone isn't just talk. We can't rely on others' leniency in anything we do."

Yan'er said, "Yao Dan, are you convinced now? If we had listened to you and flown up to the sky yesterday, we would have crashed badly, and might even have all died."

Chang'e said, "Stop talking nonsense, let's get going."

"Wait a few more minutes, Erlang will be back. If there's nothing else going on, I can quickly get through that section of road."

In reality, it wasn't even a road; Yu Qing and his group could only fly low, close to the ground. Even at such a low altitude, they dared not go fast, fearing that Jin Chengzi might have a space-based reconnaissance system that mistook them for an aircraft.

(End of this chapter)