Eyes.

Blue eyes!

The blue light in her pupils was as bizarre and bright as the temporal assassin's.

This meant… the girl turning her head from the motorcycle was also a temporal traverser!

The girl needed to watch the road ahead while driving the motorcycle.

So, after briefly turning her head, telling Lin Xian her name, she immediately turned back to face forward, tightened the throttle, and sped off on the empty road.

She wasn't wearing a helmet.

The small ponytail behind her head, like a hamster, danced in the night wind, blown straight back.

The ends of her hair brushed against Lin Xian's nose, a faint, teasing tickle.

"You're also a temporal traverser," Lin Xian said.

"That's right."

Leaning forward, arms outstretched, the girl riding the Harley motorcycle shouted into the night wind:

"Obviously, I'm a temporal traverser just like the girl chasing you. And judging by the intensity of the blue light in our eyes, the time we traversed from isn't too far apart, right?"

Lin Xian grasped this point.

"You're saying the blue color in the pupils is caused by temporal rejection, and the brightness depends on the time difference of the traversal? If a temporal traverser comes from decades in the future, the light might be weaker, so weak it's hard to notice."

"But if it's from hundreds of years in the future, the brightness will be like yours, like a blue light bulb… I originally thought the brightness was related to the so-called energy in your bodies."

At this point.

The case was solved.

Lin Xian had discussed the brightness of the temporal traversers' blue eyes with Liu Feng.

Lin Xian believed the blue light in their eyes was simply an indicator of energy or battery level, and when the traverser was about to disappear, the light would dim.

But Liu Feng thought the brightness represented the intensity and warning level of temporal rejection. In other words, the more dangerous and powerful the enemy, the brighter the pupil color would become due to temporal rejection, making them easier to detect.

Currently, it seemed they were both wrong.

The girl who had saved him had stated clearly that the brightness of the blue pupils was related to the time span of the temporal traversal.

"What era do you and the temporal assassin come from?" Lin Xian asked, supporting himself on her shoulders.

"I can't say."

The girl gave a predictable answer:

"You should understand why I can't say. It's because of the limitations of the temporal laws. Although we have different names for the various temporal laws, the general meaning is the same."

"Including your questions about what era I'm from, who sent me, these things that exceed the limitations of the temporal laws, I can't tell you at all. But I can tell you that I'm here to save you, and I've been looking for you for a long time. This world is too big, and if you weren't in Donghai, it would be really hard to find you."

"If it weren't for sensing that… let's call her the temporal assassin, as you do. I can sense the approximate location of the temporal assassin, and she can sense me. I had a feeling her movements these past few days were too frequent and too precise, so I knew… she must have found her target."

"So, to find you, I directly followed her movements all the way to Princeton in the United States, relying on the [Temporal Similarity Attraction Sense]. Wherever she went, I followed, and sure enough, I found you."

…

Listening to the girl's childish, clear voice, Lin Xian understood the whole story.

It was probably like the movie *Terminator 2*, right?

A temporal assassin from the future, a temporal bodyguard also from the future, two Terminator robots starting a road chase and protection battle around a teenager.

So.

These two girls, similar in age and equally skilled, were one here to kill him and one here to protect him?

Although he didn't know the specific reason.

Judging by the facts, it seemed that was the case.

Actually, a closer comparison would reveal that these two girls had many differences besides their similar age.

The temporal assassin who had come to assassinate him was slightly taller, and her figure was stronger, with obvious muscle lines and signs of training.

Although on the whole she still looked like an ordinary little girl, with thin arms and legs, her muscle lines clearly showed she had undergone specialized training.

Then, in terms of appearance, the temporal assassin had black, chin-length, straight hair that looked very sharp, and coupled with her expressionless, mask-like face, she was really scary.

In contrast, the girl who had saved him.

Although she also looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old, her figure was more petite, shorter, thinner, and narrower in the shoulders than the temporal assassin, and she had fewer signs of training.

As for her hairstyle, although her hair was also black and not very long, she wore it in a cute, round ponytail.

Lin Xian could guess the reason why both of these capable girls didn't keep their hair long. Long hair was definitely not conducive to combat, and it was also very cumbersome and troublesome. The real killers in movies… were often bald, decisive and not easily grabbed by the hair.

In terms of appearance, the two girls also differed greatly.

The girl who had saved him clearly had more expressions, was more lively, and was more like a normal person rather than a robot.

Although their fleeting eye contact was only for a moment, Lin Xian could see clearly that this girl was also stunningly beautiful, far surpassing the beauty of a sculpture.

This wasn't surprising.

After all, she and the temporal assassin both came from the distant future, at least hundreds of years from now, so they had naturally received the same drug enhancements and gene editing, and their physical fitness and appearance were both top-notch.

But in fact, compared to these…

What Lin Xian really cared about was the girl's name—

Yu Xi.

Hearing this completely unexpected name at this time, in this place, and in this situation, Lin Xian was very surprised.

He had been thinking about it all this time.

What exactly did the Yu Xi that Huang Que spoke of refer to, who did it refer to?

He had thought of many possibilities, but none of them convinced him.

Because Huang Que had already given him too many riddles, and he had found the pattern of Huang Que's riddles… that they were straightforward and simple enough.

But he never expected.

This time, the riddle was indeed like the previous mirror riddle, not at all circuitous, requiring no thought at all, saying what it meant, and the answer was in the stem of the question!

Yu Xi…

Was actually a person's name!

Not a metaphor, not a substitute, not a title, not an adjective… just a real girl sitting in front of him.

The last words Huang Que left before disappearing were to tell him "never to leave Yu Xi."

So she had known all along that he would eventually be hunted down by a temporal assassin.

And she also knew that a temporal bodyguard named Yu Xi would traverse back in time to protect him.

"Do you know a person named Huang Que?" Lin Xian asked, looking at the small ponytail behind Yu Xi's head.

"I don't know her," Yu Xi replied.

"Then do you know Zhao Yingjun?"

"Of course, I know her."

Yu Xi leaned to the right, bending the motorcycle to make it drive onto the road to the right without slowing down:

"Isn't Zhao Yingjun your friend in Donghai? She used to be your boss, but later you went out on your own. However, the business of your two companies is highly overlapping, so there's actually no difference between splitting up and not."

"I'm not talking about Zhao Yingjun in this era."

Lin Xian interrupted her:

"I'm talking about Zhao Yingjun in your era, do you know her?"

"I don't know her."

The super-short ponytail that looked more and more adorable shook:

"I've never heard of this person."

Lin Xian was a little puzzled:

"But… whether it's Huang Que or Zhao Yingjun, whatever her name is, she knows you. She knows your name, and it seems she also knows you'll come looking for me."

"That woman has a very significant feature, she especially likes to wear earrings, and she especially likes to wear high heels, and she especially likes to wear trench coats, and she especially likes to look at people with her arms crossed… think about it, among the people you know in your era, is there anyone like that?"

The hamster-like ponytail shook again:

"No, I don't know anyone like that at all."

…

Okay.

Lin Xian didn't ask any more questions.

If this girl named Yu Xi still used "can't say" or "no way to say" to answer this question, then Lin Xian could directly assume that this girl definitely knew Huang Que.

But.

Now this girl, without hesitation, denied knowing Huang Que and Zhao Yingjun without any emotion, completely like a stranger hearing the names for the first time, not caring at all.

This meant that this girl, in all likelihood, really didn't know Huang Que.

Hmm…

Lin Xian sat on the back seat of the motorcycle, thinking.

From the timeline perspective, it wasn't impossible.

Now it could be confirmed.

Huang Que, traversed from decades in the future.

Yu Xi, and the temporal assassin, came from at least hundreds of years in the future.

The eras they lived in were hundreds of years apart, so it was normal for them not to know each other or have heard of each other.

The only thing that couldn't be explained was… why Huang Que accurately knew Yu Xi's name, and also knew that Yu Xi would definitely traverse back in time hundreds of years later to protect him.

This was a bit mysterious.

After all, this was directly predicting things hundreds of years in the future, even gods wouldn't dare to be so certain. Where did Huang Que get her confidence?

Unfortunately.

Now that Huang Que had disappeared, and this little girl Yu Xi didn't know about this matter, this question probably really couldn't be answered.

"Then, how much do you know about the temporal assassin? Do you know her specific situation?"

Faced with Lin Xian's question.

Yu Xi shook her head again:

"Like you, today is also the first time I've seen her. Before today, I knew nothing about what she looked like, whether she was male or female, what age, what figure, what era she came from… you could even say that you know her better than I do."

"I just felt a few days ago that we were both within the Dragon Country, near Donghai. But later, she went to a very, very far place, probably in the direction of Europe, where there was also a temporal traverser with a very weak sense."

"I was also planning to follow, but before my plane could fly there, her location changed again, and she returned to Donghai. And that weak sense disappeared. I don't know if it disappeared naturally or if she was killed."

"After that, her location changed again, and she came to the United States. It was through this rapid and illogical location change that I deduced she had a target to act on, and the target was accurate."

So that's how it was…

Looking at it this way, everything matched up:

"It seems the sense between you temporal traversers is very accurate."

Lin Xian explained to Yu Xi:

"I went to Copenhagen a few days ago, and the temporal assassin killed one of my friends in front of me; then back in Donghai, she tried to kill me again, but I dodged it by driving, so I immediately flew to the United States, thinking it would be safe abroad; but I didn't expect she would actually chase me to the United States, and her methods would be even more fierce, completely unafraid of accidentally killing me."

"I'm sorry."

The girl driving the motorcycle looked at the streetlights ahead and said softly:

"If I could have found you sooner, maybe your friend wouldn't have been in danger. The temporal assassin obviously has a more accurate way of knowing your location. Perhaps someone in the current time is providing her with clues… I'm too far behind her on this point. I'm fighting alone, without anyone's help, so I didn't find you until today."

"No, no, it's not your fault, you don't need to apologize."

Lin Xian felt this girl was a little too reasonable. How could Huang Que's matter be her fault?

"I just have one question."

Lin Xian continued to ask:

"Look at you, now, when you talk to me, you're restricted by the temporal laws, so let alone doing other things, can you hurt me? Can you kill me?"

"Obviously, I can't do that." Yu Xi shook her head:

"As soon as there's an action to harm you, it will immediately be prohibited by the temporal laws before the harm arrives. What do you call this temporal law?"

"Forced avoidance," Lin Xian replied.

Yu Xi nodded, causing the small ponytail behind her head to jump up and down:

"You've come up with a good name for it. That's right, you also know this principle. Temporal traversers absolutely cannot interfere with history, change history, or do anything that exceeds the scope allowed by established history."

"If you forcibly do things that interfere with history, the consequences and outcomes are very tragic. Not only will it trigger forced avoidance, but it will also greatly reduce the time you can continue to stay in this time. Even… if you do something outrageous enough, like killing someone, there's no doubt, there's absolutely no doubt! You will be completely erased by the temporal laws and vanish from this world."

"But that's where the problem lies!"

Lin Xian frowned:

"I don't know if you saw what happened before you saved me. That temporal assassin isn't restricted by any temporal laws at all! She can not only harm me, but even kill me, and I'm sure now that even if she kills me, nothing will happen to her, she won't be subject to any temporal rejection or forced avoidance."

"It's not just killing me. Before, in Donghai City, she almost beat my driver to death… Although that punch went astray and only smashed through the glass without hurting my driver, judging from the severity of her attack, she didn't care at all about the backlash and restrictions of the temporal laws. She really didn't care about my and the driver's life or death."

"So… what's going on? Logically speaking, nothing, no matter what, should be able to escape the limitations of the temporal laws, right? Aren't the temporal laws absolute? I've always believed the temporal laws are absolute, whether it's on you or on my traverser friend Huang Que, the temporal laws are strictly enforced every time, never lenient."

"But why is it that the same thing doesn't work on the temporal assassin? Is this normal? Do you temporal traversers have ways to avoid the backlash of the temporal laws through historical correction or other means?"

"[That's absolutely impossible.]"

The girl Yu Xi replied without hesitation:

"Even with historical correction, that's something only people in this time, this era, can do. We temporal traversers are very restricted by the temporal laws… We can hardly say or do anything that has a big impact."

"So, if there really is a situation like you said, that is, the temporal assassin is completely unrestricted by the temporal laws, I think it's impossible… But since you're so sure that it's a fact, I won't say impossible, which is a meaningless negation."

"I can only say that a temporal traverser whose eyes are clearly blue can actually be beyond the temporal laws, unrestricted by the temporal laws…"

"[That's absolutely abnormal.]"

…

Yu Xi's words once again corrected one of Lin Xian's previous misjudgments.

He had naively thought that the reason the temporal assassin could be violent towards him was because she and the people behind her had found a specific way to correct history and had calculated "positive correction" and "negative correction," and then neutralized the historical disturbance caused by killing him by simultaneously changing certain things.

Sure enough, this kind of thinking was completely unrealistic!

Temporal changes are uncontrollable.

This was the principle Lin Xian had realized from the very beginning.

Unless the enemies could accurately predict the future like him, how could they know for sure which things were disrupting history and which things were correcting history?

The values Lin Xian had imagined before, that killing himself would have a +105 impact on the historical trajectory, and saving two people would have a -160 impact… These data were irresponsible assumptions and inferences made under tense and panicked circumstances.

In fact, who could determine how big a butterfly effect killing a person or saving a person would produce?

The butterfly effect itself is a chaotic system that cannot be quantified or measured.

As for the matter of Thames Bank going from disappearing to being found again…

Perhaps this was really just an accident, a coincidence.

Moreover, the disappearance and appearance of Thames Bank was itself one thing, one thing! Not the result of two things canceling each other out, just a simple multiple-choice question.

"So, the hypothesis I imagined before, that of neutralizing temporal elasticity, is completely wrong," Lin Xian said to himself.

Then he looked up again:

"Even though the temporal assassin being able to ignore the temporal laws is very unreasonable and abnormal, there must be a reason, right? There must be some special reason for her to have obtained this ability… Do you have any clues?"

"No."

Tonight, Yu Xi didn't know how many times she had shaken her head, and Lin Xian was even a little tired of seeing that little ponytail swaying:

"Lin Xian, don't worry about how she's able to ignore the temporal laws, but you have to understand that I'm still restricted by the temporal laws. If you really want to find out the reason why the temporal assassin is beyond the temporal laws… I'm afraid I can't help you much. All of this needs to be researched, explored, and answered by you."

…

Listening to Yu Xi's familiar tone, Lin Xian even felt a little nostalgic.

Wasn't this what Huang Que always said?

He didn't expect the big riddle-maker to leave, and a small riddle-maker to arrive.

A big Huang Que left, and a little Yu Xi came.

In fact, what made Lin Xian's head ache the most…

Wasn't just the temporal assassin ignoring the temporal laws.

But.

Why! Did forced avoidance happen to him?

This was too unbelievable… completely incomprehensible. To the point that, when he saw the invincible, flawless temporal assassin walking towards him, Lin Xian really felt a little desperate.

How should this battle be fought?

The opponent was not only fierce in attack and unrestricted by the temporal laws, but also immune to all his attacks. Shooting at her instead caused him to become stiff and paralyzed.

Even the hacks in online games weren't as powerful as her.

This temporal assassin was simply full attack, full defense, and had a paralysis aura… only invincible could describe her.

Seeing Lin Xian hadn't spoken for a long time.

Yu Xi turned her head worriedly, took a look, and then comforted him:

"Don't be too discouraged… We can think of a solution slowly. Don't worry, my task is to protect you. I will protect you with my life. If the temporal assassin wants to kill you, she has to step over my corpse."

"And you saw just now that although you can't attack the temporal assassin, I, as a temporal traverser, can. I can not only hit her with a motorcycle, but also shoot her with a gun, and even burn her with fire…"

"So don't worry, Lin Xian. The temporal assassin is just terrifying to you, but in my opinion, she's not invincible. There's no difference in combat power between the two of us. We're both temporal traversers, and we've both undergone drug enhancements and gene editing in our respective eras. Our strength and combat abilities are pretty much the same."

Listening to Yu Xi's heart-warming words.

Lin Xian nodded.

He wasn't discouraged, nor was he losing his fighting spirit as Yu Xi thought.

He had experienced so much.

How could he still be struck down by this little thing?

He just felt that…

There must be something strange somewhere.

There must be something he had overlooked.

There must be some details he hadn't noticed yet—

Everything happens for a reason.

The temporal assassin couldn't be immune to the temporal laws for no reason. There must be some trick, some operation, some secret in it…

As long as he figured out the reason why she wasn't restricted by the temporal laws.

Perhaps, he could find a way to deal with her.

Then.

Defeat her!

For some reason…

Lin Xian recalled the words Gao Yang had shouted at Ji Lin's birthday party—

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling! But in having the courage to rise again after falling countless times!"

Because he was very shocked at the time, Lin Xian still remembered this sentence clearly.

Gao Yang said that this was a famous quote from the 18th-century British writer Oliver Goldsmith.

He didn't know if this trivia was true or false.

But at least, this famous quote made a lot of sense.

Yeah.

What was there to fear about failure?

Hadn't he, Lin Xian, experienced countless failures from childhood to adulthood, from knowing the truth about his dreams to now?

Countless people around him had told him.

Failure wasn't scary.

What was scary was losing the courage to stand up again.

Just like now.

The enemy was powerful.

But Lin Xian believed that she was definitely not so powerful that she couldn't be defeated!

"I'll find a way to figure out the reason," Lin Xian patted the girl Yu Xi on the shoulder.

"Where are we going now?"

Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling————

Lin Xian had just finished speaking.

His phone rang.

He opened it and saw that it was Angelica calling.

He pressed the answer button:

"Hello?"

"Hehe, that female secretary has already fallen asleep," Angelica said on the other end of the phone, as if she were smoking a post-coital cigarette, because Lin Xian heard the sound of a lighter.

"You're really amazing," Lin Xian praised.

"To be honest, I'm really envious of your situation right now, really one is in heaven and one is on earth… How was it, did you find out anything?"

"Of course."

Angelica laughed on the phone:

"When have I ever failed?"

"Tell me, Lin Xian, which one do you want to hear first? About the lolita complex… or about artificial intelligence?"

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes:

"Tell me about the lolita complex."

Angelica chuckled and said slowly:

"This female secretary complained to me that her boss, Jask, hid a teenage girl, an Eastern girl, in the Iron Tower for several months recently."

"She's very worried that this will disgrace Jask and even lead to imprisonment. Because you may not know, Lin Xian, in the United States… once this kind of thing is exposed and confirmed, Jask's life will be over."

Lin Xian switched hands holding the phone and adjusted his position on the motorcycle seat:

"Does that teenage girl have any other characteristics?"

"The female secretary said that the little girl is very beautiful, like she walked out of a manga, her face exquisitely carved, like a work of art."

"Besides being good-looking and beautiful, the female secretary also said that the girl's hair is chin-length, black short hair, and she looks very cold, silent, and taciturn. Ah, and one more thing, what that female secretary remembers most vividly is…"

Angelica exhaled a puff of smoke and said softly:

"The girl's eyes are blue. And… frighteningly bright."