Chapter 397: Finding Home

Lin Xian lay in the corner of his bed, his eyes slowly opening. He was back in his bedroom. This was his second time entering the sixth dream world, and he had learned a lot from it. What reassured him the most was realizing that Turing, the digital lifeform, wasn’t as powerful as he’d once thought.

Compared to artificial intelligence, digital lifeforms have their own natural weaknesses. The gap in their strengths is vast—like night and day. Turing, after all, is just an internet version of Kevin Walker. Sure, it’s stronger than Kevin Walker himself, but it’s still based on a human mind, which limits its power.

The biggest flaw is that Turing doesn’t dare to split itself or create copies. It can only think and act in one thread at a time. It’s like a human—no one would want a clone of themselves walking around. There’s always the fear that a clone might betray them, attack them, or even replace them. Like in that movie, The Island, where the clone kills the original and takes over their life.

This fear keeps Turing from splitting even a tiny part of its consciousness. As a result, it can’t monitor the whole world or listen to everything at once. This realization gave Lin Xian some comfort.

But it wasn’t enough to feel completely safe.

Lin Xian often thought about the mysterious old man from his fourth dream, the one who seemed like Copernicus. How did he know Lin Xian could dream about the future? How did he know the exact locations of these dreams? These things were unbelievable to know. How was that possible?

Even Lin Xian himself didn’t know his own starting point—so how could Copernicus?

Lin Xian suspected it might be connected to Turing’s surveillance. As the porcupine version of Turing once mentioned, it couldn’t monitor the whole world simultaneously, but it could focus on a few people with a specific purpose.

If Turing chose to monitor him 24/7, wouldn’t it eventually figure out that he always woke up at 12:42 a.m.? Wouldn’t the secret of his dreams eventually be exposed?

Lin Xian couldn’t figure out how Copernicus could have known his secret. Could it be...

According to the history in the fourth dream, he would be sent to the space-time court, where they might use cruel or advanced technology to force him to reveal everything. That’s how Copernicus knew the secrets of his dreams and then set up an ambush on August 28, 2624.

“It makes sense logically, but every event must have a starting point,” Lin Xian thought, staring at the ceiling where the moonlight seeped in.

“Today is June 1, 2024. I have no reason to expose the secrets of my dreams yet, so the enemy probably doesn’t know about them. But what about later? As my activities become more widespread, as my company grows larger, and as I make bolder moves in various fields of science... ‘The taller trees catch the most wind.’ I’m bound to attract attention.”

“Right now, my company, Rhine, is just a small business. On a global scale, or even nationally, it’s not much—just a small company worth a few billion. The Rhine Cat mascot is still the biggest source of income; everything else is losing money.”

“At this stage, I’m not exposed yet, and I’m not that noticeable. But... what about when the mini nuclear battery comes out? Or when the time-travel machine project starts operating? When my existence becomes a threat to Turing, to Copernicus, or to the members of the Genius Club, that might be when my identity and secrets are truly exposed.”

Lin Xian closed his eyes again. He had no idea where Turing was in 2024. Was it in his bedside alarm clock? In his phone? Was it listening to him all this time? Once you start down the path of suspicion, it becomes endless, and paranoia can drive a person insane.

But Lin Xian had a reason to believe that his future exposure would be related to Turing. This omnipresent ghost, now unchecked with its powerful ally VV gone, was indeed getting too arrogant.

So, for his safety and to prevent human civilization from becoming a casualty in a proxy war, Turing must die.

If he could kill Turing in 2024, both he and many others could break free from its surveillance. He wouldn’t have to worry about it becoming biased or unfair one day. Also, future humans wouldn’t become its battle puppets, constantly at war. A triple win. It would be a good deed for himself and for humanity.

However, right now, the “kill switch password” to destroy Turing wasn’t reliable. Turing was far more cunning than he’d imagined. He had a version with 13 lines of code and another with 7 lines of code, but neither were the original versions—they must contain hidden tricks.

“I need to simplify and compress it more.”

Lin Xian had a plan in mind. The next time he entered the dream world, he would use the 7-line version to threaten Grizzly Turing. Maybe he could get a 5-line version. Then, with the 5-line version, he’d go to Porcupine Turing. Perhaps he could get a 4-line version.

Finally, he’d take the 4-line version to Red Bull Turing...

“Let’s see how much you can compress it down to!” Lin Xian chuckled.

As far as he could tell, the first three lines were genuine; it was the content afterward that needed scrutiny.

In reality, in 2024, he might not be able to fight against the digital lifeform Turing, but in the dream world of 2624, it was his domain. With infinite loops and information gaps, he could control everything.

He pulled off his blanket and picked up the remote to lower the air conditioner temperature by two more degrees. Summer had begun in June, and temperatures in Donghai City were soaring, gradually aligning with the time and season of his dreams.

By the time it was August 28, 2024—a date with special significance—it would be exactly 600 years away from the time in his dreams.

Putting on his slippers, Lin Xian walked over to his desk, turned on the desk lamp, and began twirling a pen in his fingers. He looked at the calendar on his desk and flipped the page from May to June. He stared at the red circle marking July 7 on the next page... There were only 36 days left in the countdown to his death.

Unfortunately, he still had no clue about how he would die, what his death would look like, or who the killer would be.

He had hoped to get some information from Turing. But that guy, full of deceit, had tricked him.

“You really don’t appreciate the good until you see the bad,” he thought. Compared to these sneaky, manipulative characters, Big Cat Face, who spoke plainly and honestly, was much more lovable.

But even if he couldn’t get the information out of Turing, he couldn’t just sit and wait to die.

He had to save himself!

The pen in his fingers spun faster as Lin Xian’s mind pieced together clues.

So far, the most likely killer was Lin Yu Xi, who was currently missing. And Lin Yu Xi was probably the blue-eyed girl, Yan Qiao Qiao, from his dreams. If they both had the same name, it must be linked to the Yan Qiao Qiao he knew in real life.

So, based on these clues, it seemed like he could deduce an unsettling conclusion—The person who would kill him on July 7 was Zhao Ying Jun’s distant relative, Yan Qiao Qiao.

Thankfully, this could be confirmed with a DNA test.

And that would be his task during tomorrow’s trip to Disneyland—figure out a way to get hair samples from Zhao Ying Jun and Yan Qiao Qiao.

If it turned out that Yan Qiao Qiao was biologically his and Zhao Ying Jun’s daughter, then it would be confirmed—Yan Qiao Qiao was Lin Yu Xi, the time-space assassin who wanted to kill him.

“This result is hard to accept,” Lin Xian muttered, his pen stopping mid-spin.

Even if it were someone else trying to kill him, or if Lin Yu Xi wasn’t related to him by blood, Lin Xian could accept it. He had countless ways to deal with it, including but not limited to eliminating Lin Yu Xi ahead of time.

But...

A tiger doesn’t eat its cubs.

If Lin Yu Xi was indeed Yan Qiao Qiao, his and Zhao Ying Jun’s biological daughter... How could he bear to do it?

Even without a strong father-daughter bond, and even though she wasn’t a true biological child born after ten months of pregnancy, blood ties are mysterious things.

Besides, Yan Qiao Qiao and he, as well as Zhao Ying Jun, weren’t entirely without feelings. They had been calling each other brother and sister all along... But after spending so much time together, feelings had developed. People’s hearts are made of flesh, after all.

Sometimes, fate has a funny way of giving you exactly what you fear the most.

Lin Xian was starting to guess what the result might be.

“So what can I do about it?” he sighed, asking himself.

“You’re just used to my usual style. But you’re right... I haven’t worn everyday makeup like this in a long time. Mostly because I haven’t gone out to have fun in a long time.”

Yan Qiao Qiao tilted her head. “Haven’t you ever gone out to have fun with Brother Lin Xian?”

“No,” Zhao Ying Jun shook her head. “The only two times we did, it was all rushed. Both times were after banquets. He drove me around a bit or took me to the racetrack for practice... We never really went out properly.”

“So... it’s safe to say this is my first time going out for fun since I returned to Donghai, and it’s also the first time I’m going out with Lin Xian,” Zhao Ying Jun said.

“Oh,” Yan Qiao Qiao nodded. She had assumed that Zhao Ying Jun and Lin Xian were very close. But it turned out they hadn’t even gone out to play or shop together. She snorted softly. “So I’m ahead of you.”

She looked up at Zhao Ying Jun, who was beside the vanity mirror. “I’ve already played with Brother Lin Xian for two days.”

“Hehe,” Zhao Ying Jun chuckled, choosing a lighter shade of lipstick and applying it to her lower lip. “And who was it that sent you over to him?”

Yan Qiao Qiao felt a bit annoyed. “But I also slept over at Brother Lin Xian’s house for two nights.”

“So what?” Zhao Ying Jun smiled, pressing her lips together to spread the lipstick evenly. “You’re quite proud of yourself.”

Yan Qiao Qiao blinked her intelligent eyes. “Why can I sleep over at Brother Lin Xian’s house, but Brother Lin Xian can’t sleep over at ours?”

Zhao Ying Jun’s hand froze mid-air, the lipstick nearly stabbing her cheek. She turned to look at Yan Qiao Qiao, who had made such a bold statement. “Do you see any extra room in our house? We only have one bed.”

“You could sleep on the couch,” Yan Qiao Qiao suggested.

“Why don’t you sleep there?” Zhao Ying Jun shot back.

“Well...” Yan Qiao Qiao thought for a moment and nodded, “I guess I could.”

“Hehe,” Zhao Ying Jun chuckled again, closing her lipstick and placing it in her purse. “You do know how to be considerate.”

“It’s been ten days since you’ve seen Lin Xian. He’ll definitely be surprised by how much you’ve grown. Look at you now—you speak, communicate, and interact like any normal girl in her teens. You’ve really matured.”

“If only you could regain your memory,” Zhao Ying Jun continued, “I’d really love to know what kind of life you lived before, where you lived, and whether you were happy.”

Yan Qiao Qiao shook her head. “I don’t know either.”

She paused for a moment, then added, “But I’m happy now. If I could regain my memory... I’d only want to know who my mom and dad are. I don’t really care about anything else.”

“Still... do you think I can find my mom and dad? Would they want to see me?” she asked, lowering her head and fidgeting with the floral hem of her dress.

“Have they not come looking for me all this time because they don’t want me?”

Zhao Ying Jun held her breath, turning away before exhaling slowly.

“No,” she said softly, “No parent would ever abandon their child.”

“But it happens a lot on TV,” Yan Qiao Qiao argued.

“That’s just drama and movies making up stories to create conflict,” Zhao Ying Jun explained. “Sure, there might be some parents who can be heartless and abandon their children... But I’m sure, Qiao Qiao, that your parents aren’t like that.”

“But... why do you have such a deep longing for your parents?” Zhao Ying Jun wondered aloud. “Even though you’ve completely lost your memory, you miss them so deeply?”

“I don’t know,” Yan Qiao Qiao shook her head again. “I’ve forgotten everything; I can’t remember anything. But the longing for my parents, this formless feeling... that’s something I’ve never been able to forget. It feels like I’ve been missing my mom and dad ever since I was little... always, always thinking about them.”

“Why would that be? Could it be that I never had parents from the start?” she asked.

Zhao Ying Jun didn’t say anything. She slowly walked over to Yan Qiao Qiao.

Children grow up. Yan Qiao Qiao had experienced in one month what most do in over a decade. She had developed her own feelings, her own thoughts, and her own obsessions.

Should she keep hiding this from her?

Being so close, yet unable to speak the truth felt like a cruel distance. Zhao Ying Jun often felt a pang of sympathy for Yan Qiao Qiao during moments like this.

She had been pondering this issue for a while—should she come clean to Lin Xian? Even if she didn’t want to sound like she was using this information to manipulate him, it was hard to see Yan Qiao Qiao longing for her parents every day.

Was it fair for her to keep hiding this from her daughter while watching her suffer?

Thinking about it carefully, Lin Xian was probably prepared for this all along, wasn’t he? Otherwise, why would he have invited her to join him for the blood test during that parentage test mix-up?

At the time, it seemed odd, but she hadn’t given it much thought. Looking back now, it seemed that Lin Xian had also been searching for some truth, not really worried about her knowing anything and not deliberately hiding it either.

If Lin Xian had found the little girl back then, and it had been Yan Qiao Qiao, not Yu Xi, then perhaps the truth would already be out.

As it turned out, it was her and her parents’ fabricated story that had thrown Lin Xian off track.

Thinking about this, Zhao Ying Jun felt a little guilty. Lin Xian trusted her, and he trusted her parents too. So, when the three of them told him that Yan Qiao Qiao was a distant relative, he accepted it without a second thought.

Was it wrong to do this?

She never wanted to keep anything from Lin Xian, especially not about Yan Qiao Qiao. She had been waiting for the right moment to reveal this, but she wasn’t sure what that moment would look like.

Now, Yan Qiao Qiao was growing up every day. Her mind was maturing, and her longing for her parents was growing stronger.

It seemed like...

They couldn’t keep this hidden anymore.

For the sake of honesty with Lin Xian, and for the responsibility towards Yan Qiao Qiao, Zhao Ying Jun felt... she couldn’t continue hiding this relationship behind lies.

She crouched down to look into Yan Qiao Qiao’s eyes. “Qiao Qiao, if your parents aren’t as perfect as you think, would you be disappointed?”

Yan Qiao Qiao shook her head. “As long as they still want me... I’ll be happy.”

“Alright then.” Zhao Ying Jun smiled, brushing a lock of hair away from Yan Qiao Qiao’s forehead. “Leave it to me.”

“I’ll help you... find your home.”