Genius Club

In a world where heroes could lift mountains and spirits could soar above the highest peaks, there once lived a legendary king named Xiang Yu of Western Chu. However, he found himself trapped and surrounded at the Battle of Gaixia, not just by clashing armies, but by the overwhelming forces of Liu Bang. Facing certain defeat, Xiang Yu sang a poignant song, reflecting on his once formidable power and his current dire situation:

“With the strength to lift mountains and the spirit that surpasses the world,

The times are not favorable, and my horse Zhi cannot run.

If Zhi cannot run, what can I do?

Oh Yu, oh Yu, what will become of you?”

This lament wasn’t just about his immobilized horse, Zhi; it was a metaphor for his own predicament. Despite his legendary bravery, Xiang Yu felt completely powerless against the unrelenting force of fate. His primary concern in these final moments was the fate of his beloved, Yu Ji. What dreadful future awaited her in a world where he could no longer protect her?

In these ruthless times, the fate of a beauty like Yu Ji after his death seemed tragically predictable. She was protected while Xiang Yu lived, but vulnerable once he was gone. Would she fall into the hands of their enemies?

The historic epic “Farewell My Concubine” recounts this tragic scenario. Following Xiang Yu’s death, Yu Ji chose to end her life, hoping her sacrifice might alleviate his burden and possibly lead to his miraculous escape from the encirclement. However, overwhelmed by defeat and grief, Xiang Yu also took his life by the Wu River, marking a heroic yet heartbreaking end.

Some speculated that he could not bear the shame of returning to his homeland in Jiangdong as a defeated king. Others believed he could not live without Yu Ji, who had said, “My lord’s spirit is exhausted, how can your humble servant live on?”

Such is the ambiguity of history, often written by the victors, leaving the truth hidden in shadows.

Meanwhile, in a modern setting by the shallow sea near Copenhagen, another figure vanished—Yellow Finch.

Lin Xian stood there, looking out over the dark, turbulent waters, reflecting on Yellow Finch’s last plea, which felt almost like a prayer: “never leave Yu Ji.”

But who was Yu Ji, really?

For a long time, Lin Xian compared Yellow Finch to Yu Ji from “Farewell My Concubine.” However, when Chu An Qing bravely jumped from 20,000 meters to secure space-time particles for him, Lin Xian began to view her as the real-life embodiment of Yu Ji’s courage.

Then, in a sudden burst of light, another had disappeared—right from his arms. If this sea was his Wu River, the barrier he could not cross, then wasn’t Yellow Finch, the woman who sacrificed everything, the real Yu Ji?

Both were now gone.

“Never leave Yu Ji…”

What did it truly mean?

Yu Ji wasn’t just a name; it seemed to be a term of endearment, perhaps a final metaphor left by Yellow Finch, woven into the complexities of space-time dynamics.

Lin Xian pondered his relationships. Of the women in his life, only Zhao Ying Jun remained close. Yellow Finch’s clues had always been straightforward:

– She warned him the invitation was a trap;

– She initiated their cat and mouse game;

– She led him directly to Zheng Cheng He, which he had misunderstood;

– She urged him to look more in the mirror, unveiling the direct nature of her clues.

Lin Xian concluded that Yellow Finch’s final words, “don’t leave Yu Ji,” were likely quite literal. The expression on her face when she mentioned Yu Ji was filled with longing and despair.

For Yellow Finch, Yu Ji held deep significance.

As Lin Xian turned to gaze at a little mermaid statue in the distance, he clenched his fist, resolved.

Yellow Finch had entrusted him with a mission, and he was determined not to fail her. He would discover the true identity of Yu Ji and honor Yellow Finch’s plea:

“Absolutely never leave her.”

By doing so, he hoped to fulfill Yellow Finch’s last wish, allowing her journey through space and time to end without regrets.

Lin Xian found himself deep in thought, pondering over Yellow Finch’s disappearance.

“When someone like Yellow Finch vanishes into blue stardust… what state is she in, and where does she go?” Lin Xian wondered.

Optimistically, he mused, “Could it be that she has ended her lonely space-time journey and returned to her original world? Even if that world was terrible because they couldn’t capture this space-time particle, it was still her home, her destination.”

If that were the case, Lin Xian would truly be happy for Yellow Finch. She would finally be free from the constraints of space-time elasticity, the torment of space-time repulsion, and the chokehold of forced avoidance. She would be free to say and do whatever she wanted, just like an ordinary person.

But was it really that simple? Was there truly such a happy ending? Lin Xian wasn’t sure. He could only hope that the recent events had made him grow and become stronger. He hoped Yellow Finch’s disappearance would be the last time a friend left this world. He would do everything in his power to prevent it from happening again.

“So, what is the best way to repay Yellow Finch?” Lin Xian thought. “Apart from following her advice to find Yu Ji and never leaving her, I need to quickly understand the two crucial questions Yellow Finch left me:

How did Yellow Finch know that the time-space assassin, the girl killer, was hiding behind the little mermaid statue? And even when we went all the way to Copenhagen, how did that time-space assassin still accurately find Yellow Finch?

Why did the time-space assassin, after killing Yellow Finch, run away without even looking at me, showing no interest or killing intent towards me? Yellow Finch clearly stated that this was something she intentionally did in her last moments to make me understand the seventh time-space rule—forced avoidance.”

First, let’s consider the first question. This shouldn’t be hard to guess because Yellow Finch’s hints were quite obvious.

If it were just about the time-space assassin being able to find Yellow Finch accurately, it wouldn’t explain much. Maybe the enemy’s surveillance methods were really good, and even if Lin Xian and Yellow Finch ran to the ends of the earth, they could still be monitored.

VV could do it, and Lin Xian believed Kevin Walker could too if he wanted to. Even less capable hackers might be able to do it by hacking into Denmark’s road monitoring system or similar systems.

But now, they were in Denmark, standing in Copenhagen. Here, they were not protected by X Country’s Skynet system and the Great Wall of Network Security, so it wasn’t surprising to be monitored.

However, this was Yellow Finch’s brilliance. She knew this answer was wrong. The enemy did not find them in Copenhagen through surveillance and hacking methods. She knew what answers were wrong and what answers were correct, but because of space-time repulsion and forced avoidance, she couldn’t say it out loud. She could only hint and guide Lin Xian to think and understand the real answer.

The real answer was very simple. The key was not how the time-space assassin found Yellow Finch, but how Yellow Finch accurately knew the time-space assassin’s position.

In the past few days, Lin Xian and Yellow Finch were together all the time, traveling every day. Yellow Finch had no high-tech methods to lock onto someone like the Skynet system. This shows that she discovered the time-space assassin entirely by intuition and feeling.

This sounded mysterious, but some things linked these clues together for Lin Xian.

First, there was the matter of the strange space-time particle. The space-time particle was unaffected by external forces and gravity but could chase after Earth unerringly in space. The only reason was that something on Earth was attracting the space-time particle. Or, it could be said that something on Earth and the space-time particle were mutually attracting each other.

Mutual attraction! This was the real key! If Earth had another hidden space-time particle, then the one they just captured must be mutually attracting, approaching, and sensing each other.

In many fields of physics and chemistry, there are similar phenomena: like poles attract, similar things blend, indicating that similar things can attract, merge, and sense each other to a certain extent.

Understanding this principle, it wasn’t hard to explain Yellow Finch and the time-space assassin’s situation. After arriving at the shallow sea beach, Yellow Finch repeatedly told Lin Xian to take clear photos, to take more, and to take them clearly. Lin Xian didn’t understand at the time what Yellow Finch was waiting for. She was waiting for the time-space assassin hiding behind the reef to make a move.

Yellow Finch knew the little girl was hiding there. She knew the little girl came to kill her. She could sense it; she had sensed it long ago. Similarly, because both were time-space travelers with blue eyes, they were essentially the same. Naturally, the time-space assassin girl could also sense Yellow Finch’s position.

Thus, it wasn’t hard to deduce—

“Blue-eyed time-space travelers can sense each other’s presence, direction, and distance to a certain extent. This sensing seems quite accurate; otherwise, the time-space assassin wouldn’t have found Yellow Finch in Copenhagen in just two days.”

Though the exact mechanics of this sensing, its range, and accuracy were unclear, they could indeed sense each other. This was the first concept Yellow Finch wanted to teach him in her final lesson.

Lin Xian couldn’t yet fathom how this concept would help him. However, it seemed like valuable tactical information for future battles and useful for multiple analyses.

“Record this hypothesis first. Many times, Yellow Finch’s every word, everything she taught me, was useful,” Lin Xian reminded himself.

With the first question resolved, he turned his attention to the second.

Now, let’s consider the second question Yellow Finch left behind.

“Why did the time-space assassin kill Yellow Finch but not me? Yellow Finch herself said her time was running out and she was heavily restricted by space-time rules. In this case, killing her didn’t make much sense. Even if ignored, she wouldn’t change history or affect the future and, at most, she’d disappear naturally in a few days.”

Lin Xian mulled over these thoughts. “Why would the time-space assassin bother to kill Yellow Finch? This didn’t seem wise. If they just waited two days, Yellow Finch would die naturally. Why expose the assassin to me?”

He recalled Yellow Finch’s words, “If the enemy was really after me, the assassin would’ve killed me, solving the problem at its root. So why show no interest or intent to kill me? Everyone knows the consequences of half measures… killing Yellow Finch only angers me. What does the enemy gain?”

This thought, although outside Yellow Finch’s hints, still puzzled Lin Xian. She had said her time was short, and she couldn’t speak or write freely, often bound by space-time rules. Even if there was a necessity to kill her, waiting two more days for Yellow Finch to die naturally would have been a minor inconvenience. This was an unwise move. Behind this action seemed to be deeper secrets, plans, schemes, and purposes, beyond current understanding. But on the surface, as Yellow Finch hinted, Lin Xian could still grasp it.

Forced avoidance.

Yellow Finch explicitly stated before disappearing that the time-space assassin not killing him was due to the forced avoidance time-space rule. Connecting phenomena and rules, it was easy to deduce—

“The time-space assassin couldn’t kill me due to time-space rule restrictions. Whether it’s time-space elasticity, repulsion, or forced avoidance, they prevent time-space travelers from altering established history or locked history. Thus, the assassin couldn’t kill me, even if she wanted to!”

As Yellow Finch tried to explain, even a slight overstep made her transparent or nearly erased by time-space forces. In such restricted speech conditions… time-space travelers wanted to kill?

“Don’t even think about it, time-space rules wouldn’t allow it.”

Lin Xian immediately understood:

“The time-space assassin couldn’t kill me. As Yellow Finch said, she couldn’t… the assassin also couldn’t, under time-space rule restrictions.”

“No wonder Yellow Finch could take me on a relaxed tour, knowing I wasn’t in danger from time-space travelers.”

“If the time-space assassin tried to kill me, time-space rules would choke her, turn her transparent, or erase her.”

Lin Xian believed time-space rules had such power, fair and impartial, treating all equally. No wonder Yellow Finch said many secrets, almost all codes, were hidden in time-space rules…

Rules are the essence of time-space, the foundation of everything.

Through today’s events, Lin Xian finally grasped the seventh time-space rule: Forced Avoidance.

“Time-space travelers cannot forcibly change established history. If their actions deviate history from its original path, triggering time-space elasticity, they will be forcibly muted, stopped, erased, or made to disappear. This is called forced avoidance.”

“But… it seems incomplete.”

Lin Xian felt that the explanation of forced avoidance was missing something. Because…

Yellow Finch had once said something thought-provoking:

“This generally doesn’t happen. In normal time-space, it absolutely won’t happen.”

“Only when space-time repulsion and locked history coexist… does this phenomenon occur.”

This implied that space-time repulsion wasn’t necessary for forced avoidance; locked history was. Only locked history time-space can trigger forced avoidance.

To fully grasp forced avoidance, one must first understand locked history.

Ughh…

Lin Xian exhaled towards the dark sea. This time, he hadn’t let Yellow Finch down. The two questions Yellow Finch had left were half-solved… as far as it could be called.

Fully understanding forced avoidance and why the time-space assassin had killed Yellow Finch despite her limited time would require more clues and thought in the future.

However, this realization also clarified a long-standing mystery—

VV’s disappearance.

Previously, he couldn’t understand how VV had died or who could kill such an advanced AI. But now, he had some insight. Just like Yellow Finch and the time-space assassin…

If Yellow Finch could be killed by another future time-space traveler, why not VV? He hadn’t considered other time-space travelers before. Reflecting now, it was sheer arrogance. If he was a time-space traveler, why couldn’t others be?

Considering time-space travelers explains VV’s death. A future super hacker? A more advanced future AI? A future super virus? A future cyber attack? Something from the future must have killed VV. Like Yellow Finch, VV wasn’t of this era; killing these anomalies might be allowed by time-space rules.

Or maybe…

Non-native time-space entities, those from outside, aren’t protected by time-space rules.

“No, that’s not right.”

Lin Xian shook his head, sensing a flaw in his reasoning.

First, VV wasn’t strictly an external entity. One, it wasn’t repelled by time-space, nor did it turn blue. Two, he created VV letter by letter on his laptop, both he and the laptop were native to this time-space, making VV native. Three, VV didn’t die turning into blue stardust, proving it wasn’t an external entity.

“Then why, if VV was native, wasn’t it protected by time-space rules?”

“Because it’s not human? Lacking a true soul and individuality?”

“Or… some other reason, another time-space rule I haven’t grasped?”

Now, as Lin Xian understood more time-space rules, his insight grew. Knowledge is power, knowledge is a weapon. The more rules he grasped, the more mysteries unraveled, the clearer his thoughts became, and the better he could discern enemies’ schemes and unveil hidden truths.

He finally understood Yellow Finch’s earnest intentions. She had helped him in many ways, but the most important, what she saw as her true mission and task…

“Teach him to understand time-space rules.”

That was Yellow Finch’s true purpose in traveling back from that bleak future to this hopeful present. The importance of time-space rules surpasses everything.

Capturing the inactive time-space particle was a safeguard; the real guide in this space-time battle and salvation was the limitless power and potential of time-space rules!

Lin Xian withdrew his gaze from the sea and pulled out his phone from his pocket. He knew that the day’s events were meticulously planned by Yellow Finch, with no step being superfluous, including taking photos.

Yellow Finch may not have cared about a photo with the little mermaid statue. Her real purpose, as she mentioned when she was stabbed, was for Lin Xian to take clear photos—many of them—so he could capture the time-space assassin’s appearance, know the killer, and be wary. Or perhaps, one day, avenge her.

The phone made a crisp unlocking sound, and Lin Xian tapped the top left album icon to view the photos taken earlier. The initial photos were of Yellow Finch in a big coat, hands in pockets, confidently smiling in front of the little mermaid statue. These photos turned out well; Lin Xian had used his best skills, capturing various angles and details. Unexpectedly, these were Yellow Finch’s last traces in this world.

“I was here.” This was her final whisper.

After several normal tourist shots, the album shifted to dozens of frantic shots from when the time-space assassin drew the dagger until she disappeared into the night, capturing the whole scene like a slideshow. The girl’s speed was incredible—like a cheetah. Lin Xian couldn’t believe such a girl had Olympic-level explosiveness. But facts are facts. From the little mermaid statue to the other end of the beach, at least over a hundred meters, the girl covered it in seven or eight seconds. Though Lin Xian’s time perception might have been off, her physique could rival Usain Bolt.

Normally, a girl of her height and age, with an undeveloped body, shouldn’t have such strong physicality. But considering she was a future time-space traveler, anything was possible in centuries ahead. In the third dream, there were body and brain-enhancing vaccines; just small doses during infancy, with no side effects, could enhance brains and bodies—even make looks sculpturally handsome. From this perspective, the girl’s impressive physique wasn’t surprising.

Lin Xian swiped on the phone screen, zooming in on each photo, trying to see the girl’s face. Overall height estimate was accurate. The girl’s height was around 155-160, still growing. Her body proportions were good, slender, with visible workout marks on her exposed calves. Her upper body wore an oversized grey hoodie, with the hood covering her face, obscuring details; her lower body had loose track pants, revealing muscular legs when running.

Most photos were blurred due to her speed. Finally, Lin Xian found a relatively clear shot. Though it didn’t capture her full face, those bright blue eyes like bulbs shone from the hood’s darkness, staring at Lin Xian’s camera. Zooming in further, the beach was dimly lit, with only moonlight; the girl’s hood was tightly drawn, obscuring facial features. However…

“Hair is black,” Lin Xian noted the black hair peeking from the hood. Probably her sideburns? Many young girls now liked long sideburns; would this aesthetic persist in the future? Such trends are unsurprising. In middle school, his classmates favored thick bangs and long sideburns; trends do cycle.

Finally, he reviewed all the photos. Sadly, he learned little about the time-space assassin—

– Age fifteen or sixteen,

– Height 155-160,

– Eyes bright blue like bulbs,

– Hair black, length unknown,

“Too vague, these features,” Lin Xian shook his head. Identifying or finding this girl with these traits alone was unrealistic. Unless he spotted those eyes in a crowd, comparing height and hair color, recognizing her. But… would she reappear, giving him another chance?

According to his previous deductions, the time-space assassin couldn’t kill him, so theoretically, he wasn’t her target. “Anyway, better safe than sorry. Besides…” He looked down at Yellow Finch’s belongings on the ground: “This grudge must be avenged.”

Even if Yellow Finch had only two days left, killing her so arrogantly before him meant this blood debt could only be repaid in kind! Lin Xian crouched, picking up and folding Yellow Finch’s belongings: coat, heels, phone…

When folding the coat, he found a card-like object in an inner pocket. This size and thickness… probably Yellow Finch’s ID. Recalling their boarding at Pudong International Airport, he had sneaked a glance. The ID had Yellow Finch’s photo, with her name. He knew the ID was fake. Though structurally and genuinely valid, it had to be for passing checkpoints. But Lin Xian knew, as a time-space traveler, Yellow Finch couldn’t have a real ID. No birth certificate, no household registration… like emerging from thin air… how could she have an ID? So, the ID’s information must be fake; likely created by state authorities for her.

At the checkpoint, Lin Xian remarked, “Anyway, your ID’s age is fake like your name.” But Yellow Finch just smiled, saying, “That may not be.” Afterwards, Lin Xian didn’t care. The ID’s truth was irrelevant to him. Yellow Finch was Yellow Finch. No matter her era or time-space, she was Yellow Finch, unique in every world.

But now… Lin Xian couldn’t help but wonder about Yellow Finch’s “That may not be.”

Curious, Lin Xian took out Yellow Finch’s ID from the coat pocket, turning it over, holding it in his palm. The right side photo was Yellow Finch. The left side name read Yellow Finch, as seen at the airport. He directly looked at the bottom line, the ID number—

33012719990115…

Lin Xian closed his eyes, feeling his heart clench… not continuing the last four digits.

19990115

This was Zhao Ying Jun’s birthday. After the belated Disney fireworks, he would never forget Zhao Ying Jun’s birthday. Unexpectedly, today at Copenhagen’s shallow sea, this eternal memory deepened.

So, Yellow Finch’s “That may not be,” referred to this. The ID name was fake, but the birthdate was real. Of course, if only this, Lin Xian wouldn’t feel so mixed, breathless. For it was expected; he had long guessed Yellow Finch was Zhao Ying Jun from a future timeline.

What truly struck him was the first six digits of the ID number.

Zhao Ying Jun was born in the capital. Lin Xian knew capital IDs started with 110. Though the capital had many districts and counties, IDs had slight differences. But the capital ID numbers never started with 330127!

This, Lin Xian knew well.

330127.

This was the ID number for Chun’an County, under Hangzhou!

Lin Xian knew this better than anyone. Because…

Hangzhou, Chun’an County…

Was his hometown. Where he was born and raised.