Genius Club

Lin Xian couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that enveloped him as he stared into the girl’s bright blue eyes. They reminded him starkly of a time-space assassin. It was an unmistakable marker: she, too, was a time traveler.

She swiftly turned her attention back to the road, gripping the handles of her motorcycle. After a brief introduction, she revved the engine, accelerating down the deserted street. With no helmet on, her hair tied back into a small ponytail that fluttered like a hamster’s tail in the night breeze, she seemed carefree yet focused. As Lin Xian sat behind her, the tips of her hair occasionally tickled his nose.

“You’re a time traveler too,” Lin Xian stated, breaking the silence.

“Exactly,” she shouted back over the roar of the Harley, leaning forward as if to chase the wind itself.

“The brightness of our eyes, it’s a tell. You must have traveled from around the same time as the girl who was chasing you,” she explained, her voice slicing through the noise.

Lin Xian mulled over this new information. “So, the blue in your eyes marks the time displacement, and its intensity varies with how far you’ve traveled? If someone came from just a few decades ahead, the glow would be faint, barely noticeable. But from several centuries? It’d be as bright as a blue bulb… I always thought it related to energy levels,” Lin Xian pondered aloud.

The girl nodded, affirming his deduction.

Previously, Lin Xian had discussed with Liu Feng about the luminosity of a time traveler’s blue eyes, hypothesizing that it indicated their energy or power levels, dimming as the traveler weakened. Liu Feng had believed it signaled the intensity of time displacement, with the more dangerous or powerful travelers displaying brighter hues. Both had been off the mark. The girl clarified that it simply correlated with the span of time traveled.

“What era do you and the time-space assassin hail from?” Lin Xian inquired, steadying himself by holding onto her shoulder.

“I can’t disclose that,” she replied, her tone both expected and frustrating. “You must understand, time laws bind us. While we might name them differently, the essence remains consistent.”

“Probing into which era I’m from or who sent me pushes the boundaries set by those laws. I can’t answer such questions. But I am here to save you, and finding you in this vast world wasn’t easy. If you weren’t specifically in Donghai, it would have been nearly impossible.”

“If it hadn’t been for sensing the time assassin’s presence—which she likely sensed about me too—I wouldn’t have located you. Her recent activities indicated she’d found her target.”

“To track you down, I followed her through a time-space resonance, which led me here to Princeton. I’ve been tracing her movements ever since,” she explained, her youthful voice clear and composed, portraying a narrative akin to the movie Terminator 2—where a time assassin and a protector converge on a single young target.

These two young women, about the same age yet distinctly different in skills—one here to kill him, the other to protect—remained secretive in their intentions. The assassin was slightly taller, more muscular, showcasing visible signs of rigorous training. She sported short, black hair, an intense demeanor, and a nearly emotionless expression that was chilling to the core.

In contrast, the protector was petite, with a less intimidating stature and softer training marks. Her hair was also black and short but styled into a charming ponytail, lending her an endearing appearance.

Both likely kept their hair short for practicality—long hair could be a liability in combat. Their physical traits suggested they had undergone similar enhancements, typical of individuals from a future several centuries ahead.

What intrigued Lin Xian most was the girl’s name—Yu Xi. Hearing this name in such an unexpected context threw him off. He had pondered over Yellow Finch’s references to Yu Xi, never quite solving the puzzle. Yellow Finch’s cryptic messages were usually straightforward; the answers lay in the questions themselves.

Yu Xi was not a metaphor or a code but a real person, the girl sitting before him.

“Do you know someone named Yellow Finch?” Lin Xian asked, gazing at her fluttering ponytail.

“No,” Yu Xi responded.

“What about Zhao Ying Jun?”

“Of course,” she replied as she swerved onto a side road, her movements fluid and unhesitant. “Zhao Ying Jun is your friend here in Donghai, right? She was your boss before you ventured out on your own. Though you’ve separated professionally, your businesses remain closely linked.”

“I don’t mean the Zhao Ying Jun from this era,” Lin Xian clarified. “Do you know her from your time?”

“No, I’ve never heard of her,” Yu Xi stated, her ponytail bobbing with the motion.

Lin Xian was puzzled. Yellow Finch, or Zhao Ying Jun—whatever her real name—seemed to know Yu Xi, having predicted that she would come to protect him. Yet, Yu Xi denied any knowledge of her.

The timeline complexities deepened. Yellow Finch hailed from decades ahead, while Yu Xi and the assassin were from centuries beyond. Their lack of mutual recognition was logical yet mystifying.

With no immediate answers from Yu Xi and Yellow Finch absent, the mystery deepened. What did Yu Xi know about the assassin?

“Today was my first encounter with her. Before this, I had no knowledge of her appearance, gender, age, or origin. You might know more about her than I do,” Yu Xi admitted, shaking her head.

“I sensed both of us were in X Country, near Donghai. She then moved to Europe, where I detected another time traveler’s faint signal.”

“I planned to follow, but before I could, her location shifted back to Donghai. The European signal vanished, likely neutralized. Then, she headed to the USA. Her movements were swift and targeted,” Yu Xi explained.

Lin Xian reflected on his recent encounters: “The sensing between time travelers is precise. I was in Copenhagen recently when the assassin murdered a friend in front of me. Then she pursued me to Donghai, and when I fled to the USA for safety, she followed and attacked me again.”

“I’m sorry,” Yu Xi said, her voice soft yet sincere, “If I had found you sooner, perhaps your friend would have been safe. The assassin had a more accurate method to track you, likely with local assistance… I’m on my own, so it took longer.”

“It’s not your fault,” Lin Xian reassured her, appreciating her concern despite the grim situation.

“I have a question,” he continued, “You mentioned time laws restrict what you can say and do. Can you harm me or kill me?”

“Absolutely not,” Yu Xi replied immediately, shaking her head. “Any attempt would trigger an immediate prohibition by the time laws. What do you call this law?”

“Forced Evasion,” Lin Xian answered.

“That’s an apt name,” Yu Xi agreed, her ponytail bouncing as she nodded. “Time travelers can’t interfere with history beyond set limits. Any breach triggers severe repercussions, shortening our time here or even erasing our existence.”

“But here’s the problem!” Lin Xian’s expression grew concerned. “The time assassin can harm and even kill me without repercussions from the time laws. She attacked my driver in Donghai, seemingly indifferent to the laws. This doesn’t align with the supposed absoluteness of time laws. How is she bypassing them?”

“That’s impossible,” Yu Xi asserted firmly. “Time travelers cannot override the laws. If your account is accurate, it’s highly unusual and alarming.”

Yu Xi’s confirmation corrected Lin Xian’s previous misconceptions. He had thought the assassin found a loophole that allowed her to balance historical impacts, enabling her to attempt his assassination without consequence. This notion now seemed far-fetched.

Predicting which actions would disrupt or align with history was a gamble without knowing the future.

His theory of ‘balancing time elasticity’ was flawed from the start, a product of panic rather than logic.

“So, my assumption was entirely incorrect,” Lin Xian acknowledged, looking thoughtful. “Even though the assassin’s immunity to time laws seems irrational, there must be an underlying reason. Any thoughts?”

“None,” Yu Xi admitted, shaking her head, her ponytail swaying with the motion. “Lin Xian, I can’t assist with that mystery. You’ll need to unravel it on your own.”

Lin Xian felt a pang of nostalgia, reminiscent of Yellow Finch’s mysterious clues.

Now, the great mystery-solver was replaced by a new, albeit smaller mystery.

The real puzzle wasn’t just the assassin’s apparent immunity to time laws.

The question was why the Forced Evasion law seemed specifically applicable to him.

This was baffling. Faced with the seemingly invincible time assassin, Lin Xian felt a momentary despair.

How could he combat someone who appeared impervious to his efforts, paralyzing him with her mere presence? She seemed like a formidable game boss, armed with maximum attack and defense capabilities, plus a paralyzing aura.

Noticing Lin Xian’s prolonged silence, Yu Xi turned to him, her expression filled with concern:

“Don’t lose hope. We’ll find a way. My mission is to protect you, even if it costs me my life. The time assassin might terrify you, but to me, she’s just another adversary. We’re evenly matched.”

Reassured by Yu Xi’s confident words, Lin Xian nodded. He wasn’t disheartened; he was merely piecing together the puzzle.

He believed there was a crucial detail he was missing.

Every event has a cause and effect.

The time assassin’s apparent immunity had to have a logical explanation. Discovering this could expose her vulnerability and provide a strategy to defeat her.

Recalling Gao Yang’s words at Ji Lin’s birthday party resonated deeply:

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall!”

This inspired Lin Xian. Failure wasn’t the end; the true defeat was losing the courage to stand again.

The adversary was formidable, but Lin Xian believed she was not invincible.

“I’ll figure it out,” he affirmed, patting Yu Xi’s shoulder. “Where are we heading now?”

At that moment, Lin Xian’s phone rang. It was Angelica.

He answered, eager for a distraction: “Hello?”

“Hehe, the secretary has fallen asleep,” Angelica’s voice came through, the sound of a lighter flicking and a cigarette igniting audible in the background.

“You’re amazing,” Lin Xian complimented. “Honestly, I envy your current situation. What did you discover?”

“Plenty,” Angelica chuckled, her tone playful yet mysterious. “I never fail. Do you want to hear about the lolicon or the AI first?”

“Tell me about the lolicon.”

Angelica laughed softly, her voice low and teasing: “The secretary revealed that her boss, Elon Musk, has been hiding a teenage girl—an East Asian girl—in the tower for several months.”

“She’s worried this could ruin Elon Musk, possibly even landing him in jail. In the US, if this news breaks and is verified, Elon Musk’s career and life could be devastated.”

Lin Xian adjusted his seating on the motorcycle, intrigued: “Any more details about the girl?”

“The secretary described her as stunning, like a character from a manga, with a beautifully sculpted face akin to a piece of art.”

“Besides her beauty, the girl had neck-length black hair and appeared very reserved and quiet. And one more thing—the most memorable feature—her eyes were blue. And… incredibly bright.”