“I’m going.”
Lin Xian put down his makeshift megaphone, made from a banana leaf, and stepped back, staring at the girl who had unexpectedly appeared before him.
“Why is it you?” he muttered, feeling awkward as he remembered the name he had just been yelling loudly through the banana leaf.
He had been shouting for “Wei Sheng Jin.”
And he had shouted it very loudly.
This was embarrassing.
CC frowned, looking him up and down. She hadn’t gotten the wrong person. It was definitely Lin Xian, just like the fragments of her memories. But this crude and shameless behavior... Was this really the Lin Xian she remembered? The Lin Xian from her memories was bold, decisive, quick-thinking, and charismatic. But now, here he was, yelling for a woman’s pad in the middle of a forest.
(Note: I actually didn’t catch this joke either so the previous chapters weren’t done so well for this gag.)
The only word that came to mind was “sleazy.” If he didn’t look exactly like the Lin Xian she remembered, she wouldn’t have wasted her time.
“What on earth are you yelling about?” CC finally asked when he didn’t say anything. “Are you really that desperate for that thing? Who do you think is going to bring it to you? Earth’s industry can’t even make that stuff anymore.”
Lin Xian cleared his throat and tossed the banana leaf aside. “You misunderstood. I was looking for someone—a man named Wei Sheng Jin.”
He looked up and saw the disbelief in CC’s eyes, which seemed to scream, “-99 Affection Points.”
“You don’t believe me?” Lin Xian asked.
“Do you believe yourself?” CC shot back. “Who would have a name like that?”
Lin Xian chuckled. “You’d be surprised. Today, you’ll see the cultural gap between Earth and Mars up close.”
They exchanged more information after that, and surprisingly, there were no issues with trust. The memory fragments from the First and Second Dreams had proven useful. They skipped a lot of the usual drama and quickly fell into a rhythm as teammates. If it weren’t for the “Wei Sheng Jin” mess, maybe their bond would have been even stronger.
But what could Lin Xian do? He was lost in the dense jungle and had no idea where to go. Looking at CC, he glanced in the direction she had come from.
“So, that way leads to Rhine Village,” he said. “And from the timing, you just left there.”
Lin Xian remembered clearly—yesterday, in the dream, CC told him she’d leave Rhine Village around noon to head to Big Cat’s Village and search for a safe.
Rhine Village was north of where he started, and Old Man Wei Sheng Jin and Big Cat’s Village were to the south...
Today, Lin Xian had gone the wrong way. He missed Old Man Wei Sheng Jin but, by some fluke, intercepted CC.
“No, you didn’t intercept me,” CC corrected. “Your shouting got my attention. I was curious about what kind of performance art it was... I really didn’t expect it to be you. You’ve truly expanded my worldview.”
“Alright, alright,” Lin Xian said, waving his hand. “Let’s not talk about that. Let’s get down to business.”
He continued, “Like I said before, finding a safe with my name on it is too hard right now; we don’t have any leads.”
“There are only two options. We either use Old Man Wei Sheng Jin’s metal detector to search randomly, or we head to Big Cat’s Village and check out Gao Wen’s safe to see what’s inside.”
“You mentioned before that you’ve been to Big Cat’s Village and that Er Zhuzi and San Pang have been trying to crack the safe’s code for years—they might be just a few digits away from the password. We just need to get there first and open it. We’d be like the cuckoo laying its egg in another bird’s nest, benefiting from their hard work.”
“But first, we still need to find Old Man Wei Sheng Jin. We need his equipment; it’s advanced Martian technology. At least on Earth, it would be like an attack from another dimension.”
To Lin Xian, Old Man Wei Sheng Jin was a goldmine. Not to mention the gun at his waist—the large backpack he carried was packed with survival supplies and tools. Just that folding shovel was like having Lu Bu—the legendary warrior—back on Earth, capable of defeating any god.
“Let’s go find Old Man Wei Sheng Jin,” Lin Xian said, waving for CC to follow.
CC sighed but followed him. “I still can’t believe anyone would have that name, especially an old man. When we meet him, what should I call him? I really can’t bring myself to say that name.”
“Just call him Teacher Wei,” Lin Xian replied, pushing through some vines. “Like me, just call him Teacher Wei. But first... we have to find him. I’m completely lost right now.”
“You could describe the surroundings from the last time you saw him,” CC suggested as she ducked under some vines. “I’m familiar with this forest. If it’s a distinct tree or landmark, I usually know where it is.”
Lin Xian briefly described a few trees, and CC, like a human GPS, quickly figured out the general location and started leading the way, swinging a large black machete to cut through vines and branches.
Lin Xian watched her back, deep in thought, reminded of Chu An Qing, who had vanished like an ancient tree stump. Lin Xian never dreamed—not the kind where he could see people he wanted to meet. After his grandmother passed away, he missed her a lot. His father often said he dreamed of her, seeing her kind face, handing him “big bills” from her handkerchief. But these were all his father’s dreams. Lin Xian wanted to dream of her too, to see her one last time. But no matter how much he wanted it, he never could.
Everyone else could see people they missed in their dreams. Everyone but him.
Just like Tang Xin, Yellow Finch, and Chu An Qing, who had left him. If only he could see them again, at least to say thank you or apologize.
Even though CC and Chu An Qing looked almost exactly the same, he knew deep down they were not the same person.
Suddenly, CC stopped and looked back at Lin Xian. “You seem unusually quiet today,” she said.
Lin Xian looked up. “Wasn’t I always like this?”
CC shook her head. “In the memory fragments I have of you, you were always lively, full of energy—even annoyingly so. You’d jump around without being serious.”
“But now... you’re too quiet. It makes me uncomfortable, like you’ve become someone else.”
Lin Xian chuckled softly, a hint of helplessness in his voice. “Well, a lot has happened.”
The last time they met was before the Third Dream arrived, back in May 2023. Then, the Rhine Company was founded. He entered the Third Dream, then the Fourth, never seeing CC again.
And now, a year had passed. Both in dreams and reality, so many things had happened—so many goodbyes, to the living and the dead.
Lin Xian admitted it. He couldn’t be as “lively” anymore. At the very least, he needed to bring Chu An Qing back, as he had promised her. He had also promised Chu Shan He to bring his daughter back home.
Saying pretty words isn’t enough; you have to do real things. But for now, the clues about the millennium-old tree were completely stuck. If there was one breakthrough... it would probably be CC, who was also like a millennium-old tree in front of him.
“The safe is buried over there. There’s nothing along the way. Let’s speed up!”
Lin Xian and CC acted as if they were in a hurry, rushing off. This made Old Man Wei Sheng Jin nervous...
He quickly followed behind. “Hey, young people, why are you running so fast? We’ve got plenty of time!”
After running for a bit, he started to run out of breath.
“Whoa, I can’t keep up with you... slow down, slow down, folks. It’s not like the world is ending tomorrow, what’s the rush?”
Finally, they dragged Old Man Wei Sheng Jin to a clearing. Lin Xian put down the backpack. Wei Sheng Jin activated the metal detector and began locating the safe.
Beep, beep, beep, beep!
Soon enough, he pinpointed the location of the aluminum alloy safe.
Excited, he exclaimed, “Wow! You were right! There really is an aluminum alloy safe buried here! This is amazing... I’ve been searching here for two months and haven’t found a single one. I can’t believe we found one today!”
“Lin Xian!” Old Man Wei Sheng Jin turned around, beaming with excitement. “Take out the folding shovel from my backpack. We’ll—”
He stopped mid-sentence. His eyes widened. He stared at Lin Xian and CC, who were now fully equipped. Both had folding shovels in hand, with Lin Xian even handing CC a pair of gloves. They each wore a spare straw hat, and Lin Xian had even taken out a water bottle, which CC drank from and passed back to him.
“Wait...” Wei Sheng Jin was stunned. “Are you two professional archaeologists? Isn’t this a bit too professional? How do you know my backpack so well?”
He couldn’t understand it. His backpack was so messy, filled with so many things. How did Lin Xian find everything so quickly, even the water bottle?
“Don’t worry, Teacher Wei,” Lin Xian patted his chest. “When it comes to dealing with safes, the two of us are pros.”
He bent down, pulling out another folding shovel like it was second nature, assembling it skillfully, and handing it to Old Man Wei Sheng Jin. “Here, let’s all dig together. It’ll be faster with three people.”
He then rummaged through the side pocket and pulled out a pair of work gloves, handing them to Wei Sheng Jin. “Teacher Wei, put on these gloves. Otherwise, you’ll get blisters.”
At this point, Wei Sheng Jin couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Young man! You’re too familiar with my backpack! You know it better than I do!”
He looked at Lin Xian in confusion. “You’re making me feel very insecure!”
However, Lin Xian and CC, true professionals when it came to dealing with safes, had already dug up several piles of dirt by the time Old Man Wei Sheng Jin finished complaining.
“Ughh...” Old Man Wei Sheng Jin sighed. He could only lament that he was getting old and couldn’t keep up with the younger generation. This young man and woman were the most decisive people he had ever met. They acted fast, like workers on an assembly line.
Oh well. At least they meant no harm. As an older man, Wei Sheng Jin knew better than to overthink things. So, he rolled up his sleeves and joined Lin Xian and CC’s digging team.
With three people digging, it was indeed much faster than with two. Two focused on digging. One was responsible for expanding and moving dirt. In less than an hour, the aluminum alloy safe was unearthed.
The moment it stood upright, the three of them crowded around to look at the number and name on the safe.
Number: 1277
Name: Pang Ya
Indeed, the number and the owner of the safe hadn’t changed. However, Lin Xian rubbed the nameplate with his gloves... And sure enough, he wasn’t mistaken!
The name “Pang Ya” was written in the Microsoft YaHei font...
Success.
This meant that Lin Xian’s plan to trigger a minor time-space change had succeeded. He preserved Wei Sheng Jin and Gao Wen’s safes but also caused the font of Pang Ya’s safe name to change from SimSun to Microsoft YaHei.
Though this was a minor change with almost no impact on time-space or the future, it provided a valuable parameter for studying space-time curvature and coordinates.
After leaving the dream in the early morning, by observing the changes in the time-space clock, he could deduce the rules of space-time coordinates. From there, he could answer the first question of the Genius Club.
Everything was ready. Now they just had to wait until tonight to leave the dream!
“What should we do next?” CC asked, sitting on top of the safe, wiping her sweat as she looked at Lin Xian. “Are we going to Big Cat’s Village?”
Lin Xian thought for a moment. This was a rare opportunity. They should go to Big Cat’s Village, the home base of Big Cat Face, and try their luck. Currently, Big Cat’s Village hadn’t been infiltrated by CC yet, which meant it wasn’t on alert and was ideal for sneaking in.
“How much do you know about Big Cat’s Village?” Lin Xian asked, watching CC swing her legs on the safe. “Have you scouted it before?”
CC nodded. “I’ve been there a few times. Around this time, Er Zhuzi usually patrols the entrance... They patrol in shifts, but I’m not sure of the exact rules.”
“My original plan was to sneak in later in the afternoon because that’s when they change shifts. Ah Zhuang takes over patrol duty from Er Zhuzi, and Er Zhuzi and San Pang continue their trial-and-error cracking of the safe’s code.”
“Ah Zhuang doesn’t have good eyesight, unlike Er Zhuzi, who’s sharp-eyed... I suggest we scout first, but it’d be easier to sneak in when Ah Zhuang takes over from Er Zhuzi.”
“Er Zhuzi is on duty?” Lin Xian recalled the agile and swift Er Zhuzi, like a human lightning bolt. If he’s patrolling... It might be an even better opportunity!
“No.” Lin Xian shook his head. “We’re going now. Let’s move fast and sneak in while Er Zhuzi is patrolling.”
CC frowned, confused. “Didn’t I make myself clear? Er Zhuzi is really strong. He’s fast, has great vision, and can spot movements from far away. And his red-tasseled spear is deadly at close range, considered the king of cold weapons. Why do you want to face him head-on?”
Lin Xian stood up from the ground and chuckled. “What’s there to be afraid of? Who said we have to face him head-on? We’ll outsmart him, won’t we?”
“I’ve seen Er Zhuzi’s skills; he’s indeed strong. But at the same time...”
“Er Zhuzi has a fatal weakness.”