"Let's try the drone first," Lǚ Liu suggested. "But the magnetic field here's weird. I'm worried it might lose control."
She piloted the drone down into the canyon. At first, everything went smoothly, but the moment it flew into the churning waves below, the signal vanished. The drone dropped like a rock and was crushed with a loud boom.
They could hear people shouting down below, but the words were lost in the rumbling noise.
Jing Shu's eyes darted around before landing on Xiao Dou. She was getting anxious. They'd finally found the seeds, but couldn't get down there. And Xiao Dou was her most trusted companion.
The hen shivered under her gaze. "Why's the owner always looking at me like that? She's gonna make me do something dangerous again!" Instinctively, Xiao Dou took a few nervous steps back.
"Let my chicken deliver the message," Jing Shu said. "If we send Xiao Hong, they'll probably be scared to death. I heard they've got guns down there. What if they shoot her, thinking she's some kind of monster? They don't even know she's with us."
Everyone's eyes shifted between the gastropod and the chicken.
Yang Yang nodded seriously. "Yeah, if they see a monster, they'll kill it. But if they see a chicken... they'll probably think it's food they haven't seen in years. At least they'll let it land safely."
He paused, then added dryly, "And after that, they'll kill it and cook it."
Jun Bao sighed. "It's a good chicken. But that area looks dangerous. If it gets smashed by those waves, it'll be a waste."
Xiao Dou nodded frantically, teary-eyed. "Yes! Very dangerous! You're all sending me to my death!"
"It won't," Jing Shu said proudly. "My chicken can fly."
"???"
"Fly? Fly your ass!" Xiao Dou wanted to scream. "Those were just happy flaps! It's so far down, I'll be chicken paste by the time I hit the ground. Then no one'll ever get to eat my eggs again! Grandma will cry her heart out!"
In the end, they strapped a big loudspeaker onto her back and recorded a message. Jing Shu even attached the collapsible bone umbrella frame that Grandpa Jing had invented last year. He made it to help people glide short distances during earthquakes when the ground collapsed. It had never been used—until now.
They also tied on some compressed biscuits. That was part of why Jing Shu was so anxious. The sooner they sent food down there, the fewer of her precious seeds the survivors would eat. And if Xiao Dou ended up stuck below, at least she'd have something to eat... or worst case, they could eat her eggs. Anything but her seeds—those were irreplaceable!
Yang Yang sighed in regret and turned back to discuss rescue options with Lǚ Liu. "We might have to cancel the flight plan. The magnetic field here's too unstable."
"Maybe we can use a zipline to transport supplies. It's about a kilometer on a slope. If we move one of those tourist slides nearby, it'll be safer, just slower. But we'll have to give up on that cargo ship."
While they talked, Xiao Dou—heavily "equipped" and trembling—was shoved off the cliff.
Her terrified scream echoed through the valley. Even the people below probably heard it. Jing Shu stared intently, her god view keeping track of every move. She'd dared to send Xiao Dou only because the target area didn't need to be exact. As long as the hen landed near the village, she'd be fine.
Xiao Dou flapped like mad, but she'd gained weight lately. The load on her back didn't help. At first, she managed to stay in the air, but soon gravity took over, and she started dropping straight down. Just before she hit the ground, she opened the bone umbrella and glided the rest of the way, landing right near the massive ship.
Jing Shu exhaled in relief, though she frowned again right after. There were still people down there—lots of them. Some were coming out of the houses now, though they were too far away for her to see clearly.
"Look! Something just fell down!"
"It's from the rescue team! We're saved! The people up there sent us food!"
"Back off! Everyone, step back!"
The crowd erupted in chaos.
Xiao Dou, dizzy and bruised, hadn't even recovered when she noticed dozens of hungry eyes staring at her. Then the mob lunged.
"Help! Cluck cluck cluck!" She flapped her wings like mad and bolted, her entire load clattering behind her.
"It's a chicken! That's a chicken! They sent us a chicken to eat! Catch it!"
The moment she heard that, she ran even faster.
Then—bang!—a gunshot split the air.
Li Dayou, his face grim and hollow-cheeked, lowered his trembling, skeletal hand. His voice came out weak but firm. "Everyone, step back. Until we know exactly what the people up there sent, nobody touches a thing. Wang Dan, go bring it here."
Some villagers protested angrily. "That's our food! I saw the chicken's got stuff tied to it. Why can't we have it? If it's not for us to eat, then what's it for? You just wanna keep it for yourselves?"
Wang Dan spat. "Captain, I told you we shouldn't have saved these bastards! They don't even know what's going on! If it weren't for our distress signal, would the rescue team even be here? They came for us! Who knows what kind of mountain village trash these people are? Even if supplies are coming, they're ours!"
Another gunshot rang out. The crowd scattered, some running into houses, others shouting from behind walls.
"You should've saved us too!" someone yelled. "You're supposed to serve the people!"
Wang Dan was furious. "We didn't save you? We gave you food, didn't we? We're eating dirt every day and still broke orders to share our mission's seeds with you! Do you know how precious those seeds are? They might be the last complete batch left in the world! Do you even know what you've been eating?"
"That's your job, isn't it?" someone retorted.
Li Dayou waved weakly. "Enough. Don't argue with them. Just bring whatever was dropped."
Something strange happened then. The same fat, juicy chicken that none of them had managed to catch earlier suddenly strutted toward them.
Wang Dan's jaw dropped. "It... it came back on its own."
It came, it really came. It marched in proudly, carrying the food it had brought.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, the chicken stopped right in front of Li Dayou, dropped the loudspeaker, and the recording began to play:
"Buying scrap! TVs, fridges, washing machines! Books, newspapers, and beer bottles!"
Everyone blinked, dumbfounded—just before the recording finally switched to the real message.