Chapter 423: Qiao Qiao and Yu Xi

Lin Xian’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What? Seventeen minutes... twenty-one seconds...”

He was going to die?

Honestly, he had mentally prepared for it. If Einstein had told him that July 7th was his death date, Lin Xian would have believed it. After all, the fifth, sixth, and seventh dreams all had undeniable clues pointing to his death on that date. If Einstein could name that day, it would mean he wasn’t lying.

But Lin Xian hadn’t expected this. The answer he received was completely shocking.

Wait a second.

His mind started racing.

First off, Einstein had predicted the exact way he would die—decapitation. That meant the prophecy was probably true. This old man definitely knew things, and Lin Xian believed him.

Second, why had his death date changed? What had caused it to move from July 7th to July 1st, a whole week earlier?

When you’re close to a crisis, your mind works at lightning speed. Lin Xian quickly drew a conclusion:

The butterfly effect of time and space had taken place. The future had changed.

But what was the cause? What was the turning point that couldn’t be undone?

Most likely, it had something to do with Elon Musk!

Earlier, Elon Musk’s virtual image had disappeared, and many people thought he was dead—even Copernicus put on a show of grief. But Lin Xian was 100% sure Elon Musk wasn’t dead.

What kind of idiot would get killed after knowing their death date and being aware of a traitor lurking around?

Maybe an ordinary person would. But not Elon Musk—a genius wouldn’t make such a dumb mistake.

So, it was obvious. Elon Musk’s disappearance was a fake death, a trick—a “prince replaced by a civet cat” kind of thing.

Following that line of thinking: Elon Musk, who was supposed to die, didn’t. Given his influence and achievements, it wasn’t surprising that this altered the timeline.

But this time, the butterfly effect was enormous—not only changing Elon Musk’s fate but also somehow moving Lin Xian’s death closer.

For now, Lin Xian could only piece together a rough explanation. He would have to work out the details properly once he survived the next seventeen minutes.

Right now, his main goal was to stay alive.

According to Einstein, his death would happen in his own living room, by the front door. That meant the killer would come to his house.

The best thing to do was leave.

He hadn’t imagined his first Genius Club meeting would end like this.

It felt a little embarrassing. After all, he’d just mocked Copernicus, and now he had to run. Wouldn’t that make him look foolish?

Sure enough, as soon as Einstein finished speaking, Copernicus chuckled.

“Well, what a surprise...” He began to clap slowly, smiling as he said, “I never thought today I’d witness not one but two geniuses fall. Truly... an eye-opener.”

Next to him, the middle-aged man, Galileo, remained serious, his voice deep and steady. “Seventeen minutes, being hunted down, a brutal death... Rhine, we may not know who you really are or what you’ve gotten yourself into, but I’m afraid tomorrow’s headlines will tell us everything. As a fellow member of the Genius Club and your senior, I don’t wish for your death. But Einstein’s visions are absolute. We’ve all confirmed this in our ways.”

Before Galileo could finish, Da Vinci let out a scornful laugh.

“Ha, not necessarily!” She looked at the cat mask on Lin Xian’s face and spoke quickly, her tone like that of a caring grandmother, gentle and sincere. “Rhine, why did you ask about the future? What’s your purpose in knowing it?”

After a pause, she continued, “We seek to know the future not to submit to it, but to change it. I have no doubt that Einstein’s prediction is accurate. But anything that hasn’t happened yet can be changed. Just like what we do here and the question you answered when you got your invitation... We gather to create the future!”

“This future isn’t just about human civilization—it’s also your future. I believe that everyone’s future is in their own hands.”

“So don’t treat an unfulfilled future like a fixed history—even if it’s just seventeen minutes away. The wood hasn’t been carved, the drop hasn’t fallen; there’s still time.”

“Exactly,” Newton agreed, standing in solidarity with Da Vinci.

For Newton, an enemy’s enemy was a friend. When Lin Xian first joined, Newton’s approval of him had skyrocketed because of his mocking of Copernicus.

Lin Xian wasn’t sure if Newton had figured out the answer to the “time machine principle” question he’d asked earlier, but one thing was clear—Newton was willing to help.

With an exaggerated look at his watch, Newton yelled, “Einstein! Now that everyone’s had their turn, isn’t it time to wrap up? My grandkids are waiting for me—I can almost hear them pounding on my living room door. Can we call it a day already?”

Lin Xian wasn’t stupid. He could tell Newton was rushing the end of the meeting for his sake. And while taking off the VR goggles and running might have been an option, Newton clearly saw everyone on the right-hand chairs as being on his side.

Indeed, everyone here lived up to the title of “genius.” They were all good actors, with plenty of tricks up their sleeves.

Hearing Newton’s urging, Einstein nodded slowly, raising both hands.

“Very well. Now that our final genius has gotten his answer, as per our agenda, today’s meeting is over. Rhine, as Miss Da Vinci said, we’re here to change the future—to steer it towards a brighter outcome. So, I sincerely hope that a month from now, at our next meeting on August 1st, we’ll see that cat mask of yours again. It’s brought a unique energy to our club.”

“And with that, meeting adjourned!”

As Einstein ended the meeting, the members stood, disappearing one by one.

Across from Lin Xian, Gauss spoke slowly: “Rhine... don’t... take... the elevator... it will...”

“Thank you, Gauss.” Lin Xian cut him off, waving goodbye. “Talk next time!”

And with that, he yanked off the VR goggles—

The bright, bustling hall disappeared, replaced by his dimly lit living room, and... a glowing phone screen on the coffee table, with Zhao Ying Jun’s call.

Since his phone was on silent, there hadn’t been any ringing or vibrating, so Lin Xian hadn’t noticed.

“Ying Jun’s calling me...” Lin Xian quickly reacted. “Qiao Qiao must be in trouble.”

Not wasting a second, he grabbed the phone, answered, and dashed out the door, sprinting down the stairs.

“Hello?”

First, maybe the timeline dropped in steps, just like how it ascended before, moving one increment at a time. If so, it could be that it briefly passed through the zero timeline, allowing Lin Yu Xi to recover some memories.

The second possibility was that Yu Xi existed in both timelines because they were adjacent to each other.

If this were true, the memories in her mind now weren’t from the zero timeline but from the negative timeline!

A bold guess. If correct, then the memories she had were hers but not truly hers—they belonged to another version of her.

It was complicated but not hard to understand.

Lin Yu Xi, from the zero timeline, lost her memories, then inherited those from the negative version of herself.

Lin Xian didn’t know which theory was right, but one thing was certain:

Yu Xi had regained her memories!

For now, survival came first!

Suddenly, Lin Xian thought of the white mini-fridge with the entangled time particles inside. He shouted into the phone: “Liu Feng! Check the fridge—see if the time particles have charged, if they’ve gained any energy!”

“No!” Liu Feng answered without hesitation. “I wasn’t idle while you didn’t pick up! I checked the fridge, and there’s no change in the particles. They’re as stable as ever—no fluctuations at all. I’m starting to doubt my own theory that they could recharge.”

Lin Xian clicked his tongue.

Wrong... he had been wrong all along.

So, Yu Xi’s regained memories had nothing to do with the particles. Who would’ve thought the timeline would drop?

Lesson learned.

“That’s it for now, talk tomorrow.”

Lin Xian reached the south gate, hanging up on Liu Feng. With only thirteen minutes left until Einstein’s predicted death, he was pushing himself harder than ever—even beyond his high school parkour championship days.

It seemed adrenaline truly was the strongest motivator—only life-threatening danger could bring out his full potential.

He put his phone away, grabbed the gate’s railing, and vaulted over, landing in the street as the security guard stared in shock.

Luck was on his side—there was a taxi waiting nearby.

Lin Xian approached, opening the front passenger door.

“Driver, take me—”

He froze mid-sentence.

It felt like he’d been thrown into a freezer—his entire body went cold, his scalp prickling.

Sitting in the back seat was a girl with pale skin and a cold expression.

She looked about seventeen or eighteen, wearing tight clothing. Her long black hair flowed smoothly over her shoulders, her arm’s muscles visible beneath her rolled-up sleeves.

But what terrified him the most were her bright blue eyes—staring straight at him.

Lin Xian recognized her immediately. He’d seen this girl before.

She was the one from the sixth dream—in the underground winter base—who had claimed to be Yan Qiao Qiao, even though she looked nothing like her.

And she was also the blue-eyed village chief from the seventh dream.

Lin Xian instantly knew he was in trouble. He turned to run, but—

BOOM!

A deafening crash as the taxi’s back door was kicked off, flying several meters before skidding across the pavement, sparking as it went.

In the same moment, two streaks of blue light shot forward in the dark, as if she had teleported right behind him.

She was too fast—faster than anything on Earth.

Even with Lin Xian’s parkour skills and heightened reflexes, he couldn’t dodge her unnatural strength.

The tall, blue-eyed girl grabbed him by the back of his neck and slammed him onto the ground.

“Cough!”

The blow crushed his chest, forcing a metallic taste into his mouth.

But she didn’t stop. She pulled a sharp knife from her waist—its blade gleaming in the moonlight—and swung it at Lin Xian’s neck. He closed his eyes—

CLANG!

A clear sound of metal clashing.

Lin Xian felt a cold breeze hit him, but the knife never fell—his neck was still intact!

He opened his eyes to a surprising sight.

In the chilling moonlight, a small girl stood before him, her short ponytail swaying. She wore a black and white tracksuit, blue ribbons tied in her hair.

She had no visible muscles, but her body was taut, her arms holding a kitchen knife, locking it against the blue-eyed girl’s blade.

Lin Xian’s eyes widened, his breath catching.

“Yan... Qiao Qiao?”