Genius Club.

Chapter 391 The Dark Hand Lurking in the Future
The bright moonlight is scattered in the dense jungle.

Lin Xian and CC set out from Queenstown and walked for about an hour and a half to reach Rhine Village by the river.

The oil lamps in every household in the village had been extinguished, leaving only a charcoal fire in the middle of the village still burning. A pot of hot water was burning on it, emitting steam, and night watchmen were talking in low voices in twos and threes around it.

Normally at this time, Zheng Xiangyue, who is already the village chief's grandmother, would not sleep; CC said that Zheng Xiangyue would usually take advantage of the quiet hours in the early morning to organize the next day's teaching materials, correct the children's homework, and then plan the future of the village, etc. She is a very competent and serious person.

The two crossed the river and prepared to go into the village to look for Zheng Xiangyue, but unexpectedly discovered——

"Grandma, the village head?"

CC saw the elderly figure in white at the entrance of the village from a distance.

It was Zheng Xiangyue...but why was she still outside so late?
Zheng Xiangyue heard CC's voice.

Turn your head.

Then he smiled and breathed a sigh of relief:

"CC, you're back."

CC nodded and went forward:
"Grandma, why are you standing guard here?"

She suddenly reacted:
"Are you...waiting for me?"

"Hehehe."

Zheng Xiangyue, who was called grandma, smiled kindly:

"You've never come back so late before. I was worried that something might have happened to you outside, so I came out to check."

"I'm glad you're okay. There are often wild animals in the forest outside. It's best not to come back so late next time... Is there anything that can't be done during the day? Right?"

Say it.

She looked behind CC and saw the young man who followed her:
"Who is this?"

CC turned sideways and introduced her:
"Village head grandma, this is my friend, Lin Xian."

Hear the name.

Zheng Xiangyue couldn't help but open her eyes wide:
"You...you are..."

"Yes."

Lin Xian stepped forward:
"I am Lin Xian, the person on your wish list. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long..."

He looked at the centenarian and smiled:
"Xiangyue, I'm here to find you."

……

Next to the stone well in Rhine Village.

It was quiet and warm. As the bright full moon gradually rose in the night, the chirping of cicadas in the distant forest became weaker, and everything returned to peace.

Lin Xian and Zheng Xiangyue sat on the stone steps nearby, holding in their hands the wish list that Zheng Xiangyue had treasured for hundreds of years and had existed in this world for six hundred years:
《Things you must do after waking up from hibernation! 》

1. Bury your brother on the moon.

2. Repay Brother Lin Xian well.

3. Be a kind and loving person.

"This is what you wrote before entering the hibernation chamber."

Lin Xian looked at the plastic-wrapped paper in his hand and said softly:
"You were very young at that time. Your actual age was a little over fifteen, but less than sixteen. But your mental age was probably around eight or nine, very simple and naive."

"So at that time, you didn't have any specific idea about amnesia, and you didn't think it was that bad. Naturally... you didn't make any preparations, and you didn't leave as many notebooks and videos as others did."

Zheng Xiangyue listened silently and closed her eyes:
"I see."

"I've always wondered why other people who woke up from hibernation would get a lot of notebooks and video materials, but I only have this one piece of paper, which makes me know nothing about my past self... Now that you've said it, I understand that this is the reason."

"For so many years, I have been wondering why I didn't leave any memory records before I hibernated. No matter how I look at it, there may be only one reason... that is, I must have lived a very miserable life before hibernation, so I wanted to forget my past and start over, so I didn't leave any memory."

"Hehe...it seems I was overthinking it."

Lin Xian was silent for a while.

continued:

"In fact, it's not all your fault. There were many adults around you who cared about you at the time, but before you went into hibernation, almost everyone kept silent tacitly. No one deliberately reminded you to leave a memory diary."

"How should I put it? It's hard to say whether this behavior is forced kindness or unnecessary kindness... But I actually thought the same thing at the time. I know very well that the wish list you wrote down will not have any effect at all... Because these wishes are too simple and too vague. When you wake up from hibernation, you will definitely not understand them."

"But even though I knew all this, I still held back and didn't speak. The doctors and I had the same idea. We all thought that it would be better to forget such a tragic and pitiful memory. Because you had nothing at the time, and you would have nothing after waking up from hibernation. What's wrong with starting over?"

Zheng Xiangyue slowly opened her eyes and turned to look at Lin Xian:

"So...Mr. Lin, have you changed your mind now?"

"Are you willing to tell me about my past, my real life before?"

Lin Xian nodded:
"I met a friend today, who is also from Mars, and is also here to find his memory and himself."

"His name is strange, but what happened to him is magical. He used to hate his name, then he forgot his name, and then he doubted his name and even himself. But in the end... he liked his name."

"[Because that name that sounds like a joke, in the heart of a girl who has loved him for more than two hundred years from infancy to old age... it is a name as great as Ultraman Tiga, as great as the light that illuminates the world, and as great as a hero.]"

"It sounds funny, but this is what just happened. So my thoughts have indeed changed. A person's life and even memory cannot be smooth and perfect. But memory itself is by no means a movie clip that is forgotten after watching it. It contains emotions, ups and downs, and the essence of life."

"Are you ready, Xiangyue?"

Lin Xian also turned around, holding the plastic-wrapped paper in his hand, with the side with words facing the elderly man, letting the moonlight shine on the three wishes:
"Behind these three wishes, there are sad and heartbreaking cruel realities...but at the same time, they also contain three different kinds of love, enthusiasm, and kindness."

"If you are ready, I will start to tell you. It was an event that happened 600 years ago. Even though 600 years have passed, many things have not been smoothed over."

Zheng Xiangyue stared at the plastic-wrapped paper.

Staring at the innocent words of the child.

at last……

Nodded:

"Mr. Lin, please tell me..."

"The life I've been through, and what's happening around me."

……

……

Lin Xian told everything.

The siblings' parents died, Zheng Chenghe was bitten by a dog, and the two left their hometown and came to the East China Sea to depend on each other.

Afterwards, Lin Xian did not tell Zheng Chenghe about joining the Seven Deadly Sins, but only told Zheng Xiangyue that her brother had found a generous boss and was able to earn money for her hospitalization and treatment.

Later, when it came to Zheng Chenghe's death, Lin Xian also explained it as a car accident according to the news reports... After all, the teenage Zheng Xiangyue also knew about it in this way. The law did not convict Zheng Chenghe, so naturally Lin Xian would not do so either.

Lin Xian told her everything, including the ship ticket to the moon, the agreement between Jask and her, and the disappearance of the logo on the moon.

"Finally, you agreed to hibernate in the hibernation chamber."

Lin Xian handed the plastic-wrapped paper back to Zheng Xiangyue:

"You wrote down these three wishes on your sickbed. At first, you only wrote the first two, but later I told you that... kindness needs to be passed on. You can spread your gratitude and thanks to me again. If you have the ability, you can serve the motherland. If you don't have the ability, you can build your hometown."

"I never thought that even though you lost these memories, you still traveled hundreds of millions of kilometers from Mars to Earth and rebuilt Rhine Village on the East China Sea ruins."

Lin Xian finished his story.

Just as he thought, Zheng Xiangyue didn't have any particularly big reaction.

Even when telling these stories again, Lin Xian's personal feelings were greater than Zheng Xiangyue's.

Because he experienced these things personally.

As for Zheng Xiangyue now...

What I heard was just an outdated movie from 600 years ago.

How many people would still go to see early black-and-white movies nowadays?

How many people would go to see Chaplin's earliest pantomimes?
It is understandable that Zheng Xiangyue has no empathy.

Because the life just described was too far away from her and she couldn't relate to it at all.

The reason why Angelica felt revengeful;

It was because of her constant self-suggestion and self-hypnosis over the past few decades that her memories were given emotions and gradually became real.

The reason why Mr. Wei Shengjin was moved to tears by past memories;
It is because the name Liu Shiyu has become a bridge connecting the past and the present.

That.

What about Zheng Xiangyue?

What does she have?
She has nothing.

A few chirping birds flew over the Rhine Village and landed on the wooden waterwheel bucket outside the village.

It lowered its head, drank water, then gradually rose and fell along with the rotating waterwheel, flapped its wings and flew up again, disappearing into the moonlit forest.

"Hey……"

Zheng Xiangyue sighed and shook her head somewhat dejectedly:
"I have guessed most of the stories you told me over the years. I can also roughly guess that it was you who gave me the ticket to the moon, so I wrote 'repay Brother Lin Xian well' on my second wish."

"But... I really want to have empathy for these things, whether it's for my brother whom I've never met and don't have any memory of; or for you who helped us so much, bought me a boat ticket, and sent me to sleep in a hibernation chamber... I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, but I don't want to be like now, where I can only say thank you dryly without empathy."

Lin Xian smiled slightly.

Shake your head:
"You've done a great job. Even if we don't mention the fact that the perfect moonlight shines on the earth... the fact that you voluntarily returned from Mars to Earth to build your homeland is enough to move and comfort me."

"I have never thought of myself as a great person, but I never expected that a careless remark could lead to the establishment of a Rhine Village on Earth 600 years later. This is your greatest and best reward to me, and it is also the highlight of my life."

"Ah... I forgot to mention the Rhine Cat thing. When you were a kid, you loved the Rhine Cat doll very much. Your super-large Rhine Cat doll was my birthday present to you. And... do you know why Jask couldn't find the same model of this doll or even the promotional picture after searching for so long?"

"Because the oversized Rhine Cat doll itself is not for sale. After only two samples were made, the project was shelved due to cost reasons and there was no follow-up. Of the two samples, one was given to the real little princess of Donghai City, and the other one is in your hands."

Hear this explanation.

Zheng Xiangyue suddenly realized:
"No wonder..."

"Mr. Jask told me that when I woke up from hibernation, the Rhine Cat doll that had been there for 600 years had completely exploded. The cotton wool inside had turned black and rotted, not to mention the outer wrapping cloth... It had all faded, cracked, and turned into powder."

"So, it's very difficult to repair it. There's no place to start, so we can only search for the same model based on the few clues we have. But like you said, there is no such model on the market, and there are no promotional pictures in history... Who would have thought that an ordinary little girl like me could own the only two Rhine cats in the world?"

"In the end, there was really no other way, so Mr. Jask asked the restorer to use the few colored fragments to revive the original doll and then repair it. In the end, it became a 'Cat of Theseus'. I have always carried that cat doll with me and brought it to Earth."

"But I'm still sorry, Mr. Lin, I still can't remember how I felt about liking this cat. I can feel how important this cat is to me, and I can also feel how much I liked this Rhine cat before... But I can't help it. I can't remember that feeling of liking it."

Zheng Xiangyue's words were full of helplessness.

Lin Xian could understand her inner conflict.

She kept the cat of Theseus with her for more than a hundred years, mending and sewing it; she never left it when she came to Earth, and even named the village Rhine Village, which showed that she was really trying to like the cat, but when it comes to memories and feelings... humans can never deceive themselves.

"I've seen your cat."

Lin Xian smiled and said:

"But... the cat doesn't look like the one I gave you. Of course, this isn't the restorer's fault. He's obviously done his best. Without the prototype and the original drawing as a reference, it's inevitable that he would have gone astray."

"The original doll I gave you, the Rhine cat, had puffed cheeks and looked angry but cute. The one you have in your hand has been restored to look like it's smiling with narrowed eyes... So strictly speaking, it can't be called 'Theseus's cat', it should be called 'other cat'."

"Do you have a pen and paper?"

Lin Xian stretched out his hand and asked:

"Since I promised you that I would tell you the truth, that naturally includes your favorite Rhine cat."

"If you have a pen and paper, I can draw you the original appearance of the Rhine cat. The design of the Rhine cat was made by me. I remember every cat I have ever drawn clearly."

Afterwards, Zheng Xiangyue returned to the room and brought Lin Xian two sheets of thick rough paper made by traditional papermaking techniques and a charcoal pencil tied with a rope. Lin Xian gladly took them.

The strong never complain about the environment and tools.

The ancient sketch masters in history used charcoal pencils.

I have lost count of how many Rhine cats I have drawn while working at MX Company. The memory engraved in my muscles and bones made Lin Xian enter the state the moment the tip of his pen touched the paper, and he began to sketch the chubby face of the Rhine cat.

There are only two Rhine cats in the world, the one in Chu Anqing's hand and the one in Zheng Xiangyue's hand. They have never been publicized. Lin Xian is probably the only person in the world who can draw them.

It only took a dozen minutes.

A lifelike sketch of an angry, puffy-faced Rhine cat appears on the paper.

Lin Xian was very satisfied with this creation and handed the thick rough paper to Zheng Xiangyue:
"Look, this is——"

suddenly.

He was stunned.

The moment he looked up after finishing the painting, he found that Zheng Xiangyue had two lines of tears on her cheeks, staring blankly at the sketch in his hand.

She has been watching.

I have been watching since Lin Xian started to sketch the first stroke.

She was sure it was a strange Rhine cat.

I've never seen this style of Rhine.

Not the one in her hand,

Not any other seen on Mars,

This is a brand new Rhine cat that has never been seen before and has never appeared in the world!

but……

Why do tears fall?
Zheng Xiangyue herself doesn't understand.

Good.

Why do we cry?
"Do you remember?"

Lin Xian looked at Zheng Xiangyue who was crying and asked softly:
"Do you recall playing with this Rhine cat, leaning against it, lying on it, and hugging it and talking to it?"

"No."

The elderly Zheng Xiangyue shook her head, but tears continued to flow:
"I don't know why... I don't know what's wrong with me..."

"I've never seen this Rhine cat, and I'm not moved at all, but... why can't I control my tears?"

She took the sketch from Lin Xian.

Staring at the Rhine cat above, which he had never seen before and did not feel familiar with, but which made him burst into tears instantly:
"Too strange……"

She wiped her tears, but tears welled up again.

Blurred vision.

Continue to flow.

"But I seem to understand something."

Zheng Xiangyue raised her head from the sketch and looked at Lin Xian:

"Mr. Lin Xian, could you please close your eyes?"

Lin Xian nodded.

Close your eyes completely.

He heard the sound of thick rough paper being placed on the stone bench, and then... two large, wrinkled and dry hands held his left and right hands respectively.

Because Lin Xian has his eyes closed, his other senses become more sensitive and clearer.

He could even clearly feel the wrinkles on Zheng Xiangyue's hands.

A faint tremor,

The temperature of his hands is cooler than his own.

The hands of the old, the hands of the young, the hands of the children.

He had once held Zheng Xiangyue's hand and even picked her up.

So delicate, so light.

But now, 600 years have passed, and the teenage Zheng Xiangyue has become a centenarian, but it is her hand that holds Lin Xian.

"Thank you for giving me my birthday present..."

Zheng Xiangyue's slightly hoarse voice came, and Lin Xian suddenly remembered the frail girl on the hospital bed who couldn't hold the Rhine cat when he first saw her.

"Thank you for taking care of me and my brother..."

Zheng Xiangyue's voice was a little choked, and Lin Xian couldn't help but think of the thin little girl who tried her best to lift the urn, and forced a smile, saying "Look, I can hold my brother."

"Thank you for buying me a ticket to the moon..."

Zheng Xiangyue's voice was soft and ethereal. Lin Xian couldn't quite tell who was talking to him. It was Zheng Xiangyue, who said with a smile, "My dream is to be buried on the moon after I die!"

"Thank you for letting me live a fulfilling life without regrets..."

Lin Xian did not open his eyes.

He felt the hands in his hands, which seemed to gradually become delicate, soft, and smooth. Even Zheng Xiangyue's crying voice merged with the strong and lonely little girl 600 years ago:

"Thank you, Brother Lin Xian."

He opened his eyes suddenly!

boom! ! ! ! !
boom! ! ! ! !
boom! ! ! ! !
The white light arrived on time at 00:42, burning everything in the world and blurring the smiling face in front of me.

……

……

……

In a corner of the bedroom, Lin Xian opened his eyes.

He looked at the ceiling above his head.

He didn't get up for a long time.

The reason why Zheng Xiangyue asked him to close his eyes was probably because she considered that at her age, it would be a bit scary to call Lin Xian brother in person, right?

but……

Why did she finally shout?

I had clearly told her everything about the past, and she already knew that I was her brother Lin Xian, but she always called him Mr. Lin.

Did she regain her memory?
Definitely not.

However, why did Zheng Xiangyue burst into tears when she saw the correct sketch of Rhine Cat?

That is [emotion].

Her memory did not recover, but it seemed that her emotions had already transcended time and space.

Lin Xian suddenly thought of it.

Since memory can exist independently of emotion.

So is it possible that emotions can also be born out of memories and exist independently?

nowadays.

One fact recognized by scientists is that the memory loss caused by hibernation is irreversible.

In other words, the memory lost during hibernation can never be recovered, and the side effect of memory loss cannot be avoided.

however……

Is it really so absolute?

Zheng Xiangyue's incident made Lin Xian doubt this generally accepted conclusion.

[Is it really impossible to recover the memories lost during hibernation? 】

He thought about what Angelica had said.

Jask obviously hadn't lost any of his memories, but his appearance was too young.

This is a very contradictory thing.

If you look young, it means you have been in hibernation for a long time, so it is impossible not to lose your memory;

If the memory is not lost, it means that the hibernation time is very short and very frequent, which makes it impossible for the person to look young.

These are two things that cannot be achieved at the same time.

Three more doubts come to mind:

1. No one can explain the truth about the super disaster on Earth in 2400.

2. After the hibernating humans on Mars awaken, the history education they are forced to receive obviously avoids the important issues.

3. The Earth-Mars space bus only runs once every two years, completely cutting off communication between the Earth and Mars; and it takes two years to return after a visit, which directly ruins people's idea of ​​traveling to Earth. This is obviously the result of deliberate human control.

seem……

[Some important truth has been deliberately hidden and concealed. ]

"Let the humans with real memories die, and then let the survivors hibernate and lose their memories, and then fill them with false memories... wouldn't it be possible to turn false history into real history?"

Think of this.

Lin Xian felt that the super disaster in 2400 and Jask's uncertain Mars immigration plan seemed to be far from as simple as what he saw and heard in the fifth dream.

Lin Xian sat up from the bed.

Open the curtains.

Looking at the moonlight hanging high outside the window:
"Who could be Jask's enemy?"

"Completely destroy human technology, completely isolate the Earth and Mars, and make the Earth degenerate to a primitive age without even electricity... Who are you afraid of?"

Lin Xian closed his eyes.

Try to summarize your thoughts and find clues.

Humanity [technology] is completely destroyed,

The Earth and Mars are completely [isolated],

In the primitive times when there was no electricity,

Wait a moment.

This feeling.

Why does it look so familiar?
It’s just like... the siege and escape against the super artificial intelligence VV!
There may be only one "person" who deserves this kind of extinction-level destruction.

Lin Xian opened his eyes.

Thinking of Kevin Walker who died of a headshot in an abandoned school in Mississippi, and the digital lives that swore to always be fair and just on the speakers in the room—

"[Turing]."

(End of this chapter)