The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 94 Long Creek Crater
Yu Qing stared in disbelief at the bottomless pit through the car window.

He criticized Chang'e, saying, "You have absolutely no information about such a large geological feature, yet you dare to claim that you have the data from several countries' libraries in your head."

Chang'e said innocently, "It's not a natural landform of Earth. You humans always leave wounds without reporting them to me."

Yu Qing laughed and said, "It seems we were in the wrong. I apologize to the immortal."

Chang'e laughed and said, "Is an apology all it takes? You come and bury it with me. I was planning to raise rabbits here tomorrow, but now I can only lend it to the Dragon King to raise fish."

"Speaking of the Dragon King raising fish, I'm reminded of a question. Why hasn't such a large pit become a lake? With this much rain, shouldn't the water level rise here?"

"Perhaps there's a large funnel underneath, and no matter how much water there is, it won't become a lake."

"That makes some sense. But what I want to know isn't the logic, but the reason."

After saying that, Yu Qing put on his glasses and looked in that direction. He was surprised to find that there wasn't a single drop of water in the seven or eight-kilometer-deep pit. With such a low water level, even if it were a funnel, seawater from two or three thousand kilometers away should have seeped in.

"My wife, do you think there might be any unpredictable risks if we drive down and see what's down there?"

"If the two of us drive down slowly, I don't think there should be any danger. If we find something wrong, we can fly back up immediately. But we have to wait for the rain to stop, so let's forget about it for now."

Daji said, "My dears, I want to go down and take a look with you too."

"No. You and Furong will have to stay up there and watch over Danggui. We'll only be taking a quick look. It's safer for you to wait up there. A lighter load will make it easier for us to maneuver."

Daji pouted and said, "My darling always makes me take care of Danggui..."

"Others don't understand what she's saying. You've been asked to teach her Mandarin, but there's been little progress. If you want to get rid of this burden, you have to teach her."

"So you want me to teach a blockhead to walk?"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "Even so, it's your fault that the wood won't walk."

Chang'e gazed at the cliff for a long time, then turned to Yu Qing and said, "My lord, this large pit is actually just a large crack in the granite; it was clearly violently torn apart."

Daji said, "How can plants grow on granite?"

“Plants don’t naturally grow on granite, but when the uneven parts of granite are covered with soil, they naturally grow.”

Yu Qing said, "What's there to argue about? We're not here to investigate why plants grow here. Instead of wasting time, we'd be better off looking around to see if any animals are lurking here."

Chang'e said, "I looked, but I didn't find any animal migration paths. Those rock walls are too steep."

"So, it's unlikely that any large animals will be lurking down there."

"You could say that, at least so far I've only seen a few small birds."

After the rainstorm stopped, Yu Qing couldn't wait to go and take a look at the deep pit.

He told Daji and Furong to get out of the car and wait there with Danggui, while he and Chang'e drove straight into the deep pit.

They arrived at an altitude of about two or three hundred meters above the bottom of the pit and flew slowly along the direction it extended for more than twenty minutes. Although the bottom also had some undulations, it was basically a small plain. It was lush with vegetation and had several trees that were twenty or thirty meters tall. This was truly incredible.

Although the pit is about 40 kilometers wide, it is still too deep. Both sides are steep rocks several kilometers high, so the sunshine hours should not be long, which is not conducive to plant growth.

Theoretically speaking, such a large crater indicates an incredibly powerful explosion; no animal or plant could survive, and this place should be completely barren.

Furthermore, the dust on the ground should have been swept away by the massive explosion, or even vaporized. So where did these thick layers of soil come from?
Perhaps they were all washed in by water from the outside over the past few decades.

Of course, what intrigued Yu Qing the most was why there was no water in such a deep place. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed, as Chang'e had said, a granite pit. The mud washed down from outside had settled here, but the water had flowed away.

Chang'e's words made sense; this place was indeed a funnel. But what lay beneath the funnel? They circled the bottom of the pit two or three times, but found no answer.

Are there caves underneath? Or is there an underground river that carries all the water away from here?
Suddenly, Chang'e grabbed Yu Qing's hand and whispered, "My lord, I think I hear a child crying!"

Yu Qing was startled and said, "Could there be a family living here? That's impossible, how did they get down here?"

Chang'e laughed and said, "My lord, have you lost your mind for a moment? If we can come down, why can't they?"

"That makes sense. But why didn't I hear the crying you mentioned?"

The carriage cautiously approached the spot where Chang'e had heard a child crying. She listened carefully several more times, and faintly heard a few more sounds. She said with certainty, "My lord, I am absolutely not mistaken."

However, Yu Qing couldn't hear the sound she described at all, and could only ask, "Could it be the sound of flowing water? This place doesn't look like it's inhabited."

"What you say makes sense, sir. There are no signs of habitation here. However, that sound just now definitely resembled a baby crying, though perhaps it was just like a baby's cry."

Yu Qing suddenly remembered seeing somewhere that something said, "I know of a type of fish that makes a sound similar to a baby crying. Do you think it could be this?"

Chang'e exclaimed, "That's right, there is indeed a kind of creature called a salamander that can make a cry like a baby!"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "So, it's not that there's no water here, it's just that we can't see it. Otherwise, how could there be fish?"

"Chinese giant salamanders live in dark environments, such as caves or places with undercurrents."

"Do you see any openings or gaps like holes anywhere?"

Chang'e laughed and said, "My husband, all I see is your wide-open mouth."

"Be serious, open your eyes wide and look around carefully, or I'll leave you here."

At this moment, Daji and the others were still repeatedly asking him when he would come up, saying that it looked like it was going to rain again.

Chang'e said, "My lord, Daji is right, it really looks like it's going to rain. For safety's sake, let's leave. After all, what does the situation here have to do with us?"

Yu Qing thought about it and agreed, so he ended the inspection and flew back.

They had just returned to the ground when the rain started again. They had no choice but to wait patiently for the weather to clear before continuing their mission.

(End of this chapter)