Genius Club

Chapter 77: Chapter 77 Brother Lian

“Big Face Cat!”

Lin Xian had never imagined that after the entire Dream World had been turned upside down… he would still be able to meet Big Face Cat here.

This wonderful feeling of encountering an old friend in a foreign land nearly made Lin Xian want to rush up and hug him.

“Gah?”

Big Face Cat furrowed his brows, sizing up Lin Xian from head to toe:

“Have you heard of my formidable reputation, kid?”

“Damn!”

Seeing that he was outnumbered, the thief turned his head and ran.

“You really think you can run away!”

Big Face Cat swung his stick and tore the thief’s clothes apart from behind, then with another swing, he hit the thief’s arm, knocking the sharp knife out of his hand.

“Nice moves!” Lin Xian started with awkward flattery to ingratiate himself.

The three underlings from behind swarmed up and pinned the thief down. Big Face Cat picked up the handbag from the ground and handed it to the only fatty among the three underlings:

“This is Auntie Li’s bag; take it to her. Since we’ve taken her protection money, we need to maintain peace in this area.”@@novelbin@@

The fatty left with the bag.

Lin Xian blinked and watched Big Face Cat… hardly believing that this guy had actually become a force for justice.

Just as he had predicted.

After the Temporal Flux, not only would history and the future change, the world would change, and everyone’s fate would change with it.

Now, Big Face Cat was clearly no longer a bold bandit; he seemed to have become a local thug who collected protection money, but at least he was doing good deeds.

Whish——

Yet another cold flash swept by, and the two underlings holding down the thief let out a scream:

“Big Brother! He’s got another knife!”

Lin Xian turned his head to look…

Only to see the thief pull out another knife from his boot and make a run for it.

“Impressive…”

He was genuinely amazed that this little village could harbor a Triple Blade Master.

“Don’t let him get away!”

Big Face Cat shouted an order and then patted Lin Xian on the back:

“Lend a hand, little brother, block him up ahead!”

Upon saying this, he took off in pursuit with his two underlings.

“Oh…”

Lin Xian responded, not quite sure what he should do.

But with Big Face Cat, a familiar face, he felt a sudden warmth towards this dream.

Anyway, exploring the Dream World also started with questioning the natives, and the current Big Face Cat didn’t seem like a bad guy. He might as well connect with him later.

The main thing was that this guy was honest and simple-minded, believed anything he was told, and was gullible, making him the perfect question-and-answer robot.

Lin Xian sped up his run and directly parkoured against the mossy stone wall, overtaking Big Face Cat and his men in an instant.

“What the hell?”

Big Face Cat and the two underlings stood there dumbfounded:

“What is this trick?”

“Big brother! He’s flying!”

This complicated network of small pathways was simply a paradise for parkour enthusiasts, and Lin Xian, with a grasp here and a leap there, quickly caught up with the thief again.

“Here we go!” “Ahh—”

The same flying kick once again sent the thief tumbling to the ground.

Lin Xian frisked the thief:

“Don’t tell me you’re a nine-blade style…”

Fortunately, he found nothing.

…

Later, Big Face Cat and the three underlings turned the thief over to the police station.

Lin Xian wasn’t sure if that place could be called a police station, but it was an institution he didn’t recognize, although it looked like a police office of sorts.

“Little brother, not bad with the moves,”

Big Face Cat slapped Lin Xian on the shoulder:

“What do I call you?”

“Lin Xian,” Lin Xian replied faintly.

“Alright, Lin Xian.”

Big Face Cat turned his head, pointing at his three underlings:

“Let me introduce you. I’m the one who oversees this area, everyone on the street calls me Big Face Cat, you can just call me Brother Lian. These are my three underlings, Ah Zhuang, Er Zhuzi, and San Pang.”

Lin Xian looked them over one by one…

Sure enough, it was no mistake; these three slacker gangsters were the very same underlings that were taken out by Big Face Cat in the bank in the previous dream.

The first one named Ah Zhuang was short and stocky, the “dirty-handed” one who was taken out at the bank entrance.

The second one named Er Zhuzi was tall and skinny like a bamboo pole, the one who tried to seduce the “big sister-in-law” next to the power distribution box.

This one was significant, and Lin Xian couldn’t help but take another look, but aside from his height, he seemed unremarkable.

The third one named San Pang was the “double-crossing” one who got taken out in the bank’s underground passage before.

After the Temporal Flux, the fate of these three men had changed as well.

Just didn’t know if their nature had changed.

Lin Xian glanced at Er Zhuzi again, somewhat concerned about Brother Lian’s hat.

“Everyone on the street calls me Big Face Cat.”

Big Face Cat grinned and patted his chest and belly:

“From now on, you can just call me Brother Lian.”

“Speaking of which, little brother, where are you from? I recognize everyone around here; you’re not from this village.”

Lin Xian nodded:

“I’m… just passing through, wandering aimlessly.”

Big Face Cat gave Lin Xian a suspicious look… but seeing the wisdom in his eyes, he seemed to willingly accept this persona.

He pointed to a nearby low wall:

“I saw you’re pretty agile just now, climbing up and down like you were flying. Where did you learn that skill?”

“That’s called parkour.”

“What is parkour?” Big Face Cat and his three underlings looked at each other, having never heard the term before.

“Well… it’s hard to explain, sort of like kung fu, martial arts. Think of it as physical technique, movement, just understand it like that.”

Big Face Cat nodded thoughtfully and glanced at the two-story stone wall beside him:

“Then flip another one, let me see.”

“It’s not Brother Lian…” Lin Xian couldn’t help but laugh:

“I’m not a monkey, I can’t just flip whenever you say so.”

“Flip one, just flip one.”

Big Face Cat clapped Lin Xian on the shoulder and coaxed:

“Flip one and let’s see, if you’re agile enough, I’ll let you join my gang.”

“Huh?” Lin Xian was a bit lost:

“This small bunch of people also counts as a gang?”

“Quality over quantity, our recruitment standards are very strict.”

“So what are the benefits of joining the gang?”

“Hehe…” Big Face Cat chuckled:

“Join the gang and we’re family, I can take you home for dinner, meet the kids and sister-in-law!”

?

Kids?

Could it be that after the Temporal Flux, Big Face Cat’s daughter wasn’t killed by an accident?

What about Big Face Cat’s father?

Could he also not be dead?

If Big Face Cat’s father also wasn’t dead… then either it means he didn’t continue his research; or, it could mean that the Genius Club might no longer exist in this future world!

It was really necessary to visit Big Face Cat’s home.

Pop.

Lin Xian grabbed Big Face Cat’s plump hand:

“Joining the gang gets me a visit to your sister-in-law’s house?”

Big Face Cat nodded seriously, then turned his head to his three underlings and burst into laughter:

“Hahahahaha! Look at this foolish kid, he actually believes it!”

Giggling crazily, Er Zhuzi laughed so intensely it sounded like a goose honking.

“I’m joking, my brother, things like meeting the sister-in-law are not to be taken seriously,” said Big Face Cat with a hearty wave of his hand:

“Actually, the real benefit of joining the gang is—”

“I’ll join.”

Lin Xian declared righteously:

“No need to say anymore Brother Lian, I’ll join.”

He turned around, gripped the crevices between the bricks on the stone wall, and vaulted up the wall in a single step, flipping in mid-air.

Thud.

After landing, he smiled at Big Face Cat:

“How’s that for agility, Brother Lian? When will you take me home?”

At those words, Er Zhuzi stiffened, his face turning pale:

“No, big brother, we can’t take this kid!”

“What’s the matter?” asked Big Face Cat.

“This kid is after the sister-in-law! He’s got ill intentions!” Er Zhuzi said anxiously.

“Hey! What nonsense are you spouting!”

Big Face Cat, with a sweep of his arm, embraced Lin Xian’s shoulder:

“I trust my brother! Bro! From today onward, you are one of us, a member of Lian Gang!”

“…Are you really not considering changing the name to Cat Gang?”

“Cat represents ideology, face is metaphysics.”

Tap.

Lin Xian stopped in his tracks, staring at Big Face Cat.

He couldn’t believe these two philosophical terms came out of Big Face Cat’s mouth.

Although in the previous dream, Big Face Cat was spouting English nonsense, which was not odd in that modern city.

But now.

In this backward, impoverished village, clearly reeking of illiteracy, Big Face Cat could actually utter such systematically philosophical terms… Lin Xian found it very strange.

Even if Big Face Cat’s use was completely wrong, even if he did not understand the true meaning of those words… the presence of such philosophical terminology here was much too “discordant.”

“Where did you learn those two terms?” Lin Xian focused on Big Face Cat.

“My dad said them.” Big Face Cat replied nonchalantly, lighting a cigarette.

“Is your dad a philosophy teacher?”

“He doesn’t know shit about philosophy; he’s just an elementary school math teacher, quite delirious too, always shutting himself in the room, studying some ancient text.”

“Ancient text?”

“Yeah, a book dug out from a tomb.” Big Face Cat exhaled smoke and explained:

“It’s a book from hundreds of years ago, preserved quite well by accident.”

Ancient text?

Tomb?

Hundreds of years ago?

Lin Xian felt the whiff of a fantasy novel:

“What’s the name of that ancient text?” he was curious.

Big Face Cat exhaled smoke and scratched his head:

“I remember it’s called… ‘Introduction to the Cosmological Constant’.”

?

Lin Xian was dumbfounded:

“That doesn’t sound like something from ancient tomb sects; it’s a bit too avant-garde.”

“Oh, don’t ask me! How should I know so much!”

Big Face Cat, with his head feeling larger from the questioning, looked at Lin Xian with disdain:

“You look like a bookworm too! Just don’t go mad studying like my father did!”

“Ever since he fully understood that ancient text, he’s been like a nutcase. He stopped going to school, wouldn’t leave the house, cooped up all day, endlessly muttering something as if he’s gone mad!”

“Muttering what?” Lin Xian grabbed Big Face Cat’s arm with a serious gaze.

If the Genius Club might have been the killers of Big Face Cat’s father, then his research findings, that ancient text, matters related to the cosmological constant… might all be the very things the Genius Club feared and dreaded!

For Lin Xian’s current situation, this was crucial.

“What exactly is your dad muttering?”

Lin Xian shook Big Face Cat’s arm, urging him:

“Quick, quick, Brother Lian, tell me.”