You’re from the future?

This was something stereotypical of science fiction movies. The answer was either yes or no, nothing in between.

However, Zhu Xuanyue had decided to answer Xia Lei’s query by snapping an ear of corn off its stalk and pressed it into his palms.

“Hey, I’m asking if you’re from the future. Why… Why are you giving me corn?” Xia Lei was absolutely dumb-founded. He thought Zhu Xuanyue was going to drop hints as promised. What the fuck was this corn for anyway?

She reached over and broke another ear of corn beside her.

Xia Lei had no idea how to continue their conversation anymore.

Zhu Xuanyue peeled its husk away to reveal its yellow kernel.

Xia Lei could not bear to stay silent. A wry smile crept up his lips. “Is this supposed to be a hint? I really don’t understand what this is supposed to mean.”

Zhu Xuanyue steadied the corn in her hands and rubbed her finger against the grain of its kernel. At this moment, she was extremely calm. “You’re used to seeing time as the future, present and past. But in my eyes, time is just like this corn. It's made out of many kernels and we’re merely inside one of it. Take this, for example, this one over here.” She picked one up with her finger and showed it to him. “What do you see?”

Xia Lei was clueless. “A corn kernel.”

Zhu Xuanyue continued, “True. What you see here is a complete corn kernel but it is an independent body.” She then tossed it to the ground. “Now, it will grow into another corn stalk and produce new corn. You’ll be graced with more corn and more kernels. If you can see this as a continuity of its life, you can apply the same concept to time. It may sound like a stretch but it is also the same for the world.”

The gears in Xia Lei’s mind began to rotate wildly.

The universe was born out of chaos. It exploded, expanded and birthed stars, planets and nebulae. It began to grow 13.8 billion years ago and has yet to stop. If Zhu Xuanyue’s metaphor of corn continuity made sense, the universe would continue to grow like it. More corn would be created and it’d birth infinite corn with successive generations.

Humans were like corn too. The male and female would come together to birth an offspring and their offspring would flourish and someday have their own family.

The roots of the universe and its end had been something that the humans were desperate to learn since forever. Yet, the answer was right beside us all along. The universe had given life to many and many had borne its genes and imprints.

Letting his mind wander to a certain extent, Xia Lei quickly pulled it back. There was a moment of silence before he spoke, “So you mean that there is no past and future?”

“The past is dead. You won’t be able to return to one mere second of the past even with the power of the strongest blackhole in the universe. And the future…it does not exist. You can imagine how you’d look like when you’re eighty years old but that is only your imagination. The real future you does not exist yet.”

Xia Lei’s mind was bursting at the seams with activity now. “Time is a non-existent concept, am I getting this right?”

Zhu Xuanyue only stared at him, outrightly refusing to answer that.

Xia Lei continued, “There is no past, no future but only present and parallel worlds, right? Then that would mean time is the world, the real world. You are from another corn kernel. Where is it and how does it look?”

Zhu Xuanyue released the corn in her grip nonchalantly. “You’re going overboard with the questions.”

“Alright. I won’t ask anything about your origin but I need to know this. How did you come about? Did you come from the box?”

“I am here on a mission. I did not come from that box and I won’t tell you how I arrived here. That box… That box…” Suddenly, Zhu Xuanyue’s expression turned off and elusive.

Xia Lei was impatient. “Where is the box from then? From another corn?”

Zhu Xuanyue shook her head. “I don’t know. I only know that the prehistoric chosen one had obtained an incomplete box that has one corner missing. He must’ve told you that I was the one who broke the box, right? Well, he’s lying.”

Xia Lei was shocked to the core.

All along, he had thought the prehistoric chosen one had obtained a complete box. It was a surprise to hear from Zhu Xuanyue that the man had only gotten an incomplete box. In other words, the ancient alloy box was never complete, to begin with!

“In our corn, the box is called the Box of the World. You probably think that you got it by accident but I’ll tell you this. It is your mission. You and the prehistoric chosen one share the same mission, but the latter had failed his mission. Displeased with the outcome, he wishes to use you to make up for the mistakes he had committed. The deadline he gave you was not out of mercy. He’s only trying to use you, then kill and replace you.”

Zhu Xuanyue’s airy revelation rippled a storm within Xia Lei.

According to her, the black-robed man, who was also the prehistoric chosen one, had designed everything meticulously. The Bronze Book and the Metal Book he left behind was nothing but lies!

It was no wonder why things did not make complete sense to Xia Lei. The black-robed man had aimed to attain the ancient alloy box, which shouldn’t be an issue for him to snatch away easily. No one would be able to stop him anyway. Weirdly, the man had not even attempted it. The black-robed man hadn’t even taken Xia Lei’s last remaining AE capsule away!

What the hell was he trying to pull?

“He…” Xia Lei took in a deep breath, willing it to settle down his rippling emotions before finishing his sentence. “He left me a message saying that he’d fought you in the Middle Ages, right in the middle of Jerusalem and then sustained severe injuries that brought him to his death. Is that true?”

Zhu Xuanyue replied, “I said it earlier. The end-game of human evolution is a pure energy body. He had existed for a very long time in your little corn kernel. How is he supposed to last so long without achieving the final form? He’s the same as me. It’s difficult for us to kill each other. Your future is going to turn out the same as ours. We’ve walked the very same path you’re taking now.”

“So you’re saying that he lied to me on that too?”

“Yes, indeed.”

“Then what is the AE? Where is it from?”

“That’s enough!” Zhu Xuanyue turned around. “I’ve given you enough of my time. If you wish for more answers, work to become stronger and face that bastard yourself. Overcome him and you will get your answers.”

“Hey. Wait up!” Xia Lei chased after her.

Zhu Xuanyue snapped her head back and raised her feet at him.

With utmost urgency, Xia Lei crossed his arms and brought it down, managing to catch her foot in the nick of time.

Bam! With a muffled noise, Xia Lei was sent flying upside down as he shot into the depths of the cornfield like a rotating cannonball. This time, he had travelled a great distance of more than ten metres! He fell heavily to the ground. The places where he had ‘flown’ over were filled with broken stalks of corn. The trace looked like it was flattened by a road roller.

“Ptui.” Air and blood bubbled in his lung cavity. No longer able to keep it in, Xia Lei spat out a mouthful of blood.

Zhu Xuanyue spared him a glance devoid of any emotion. Coldly, she uttered, “As I said, I’ll only be dropping hints. With the amount of information I’ve let loose, this can be considered the payment I owed you. Do not appear in front of me ever again or I’ll kill you. Your true opponent is the prehistoric chosen one. Go to him to receive your desired answers.”

Pushing his palms against the ground, Xia Lei struggled to clamber up. He wiped the trail of blood at the corner of his lips.

“You’re pathetically weak. Going to him like this is guaranteeing your death.” Zhu Xuanyue’s eyes fell on the alloy pendant dangling off Xia Lei's neck. “What’s the point of leaving the last capsule out? Take it and feed more. The more you consume, the stronger you’ll be. Defeat the prehistoric chosen one, satiate your curiosity and finally get rid of him.”

Xia Lei offered no words as he stared at her. Her name was certainly not Zhu Xuanyue but that was not important. Most importantly, she was no longer the clingy bratty Zhu Xuanyue that stuck to him like glue. And she was most definitely not Ning Jing nor Gu Kewen. To her, Ning Jing and Gu Kewen were merely clothes.

Zhu Xuanyue exited the cornfield and began her trek to Area 51.

Xia Lei slowly climbed out of the field. He watched her retreating back as his mind was launched into a rampage again. “The prehistoric chosen one wants me to take the last AE capsule and Zhu Xuanyue wanted the same thing too. What are they trying to achieve here?”

“The prehistoric chosen one had completed the final evolution and he bears an existence equivalent to Zhu Xuanyue. Yet, he had left behind fake stories about how he was murdered by Zhu Xuanyue and how she was the demon herself with emphasis to take her down. On the other hand, Zhu Xuanyue is saying that the prehistoric chosen one has been deceiving me all along. It seems that the prehistoric chosen one has all the answers I need. But I must become stronger to get what I want and then kill him off. But here’s the thing. Between Zhu Xuanyue and the prehistoric chosen one, who is telling the truth? Or… Are they both trying to deceive me? What is their motivation behind this?”

“According to what Qian Jun and Sa’im had found out in Israel, the Americans had managed to learn about the faceless warrior statues because someone had let word loose. Was this done on purpose? Zhu Xuanyue’s here for the six statues and she insists to continue her journey to Area 51 despite knowing that soldiers will be crawling around due to the earlier gunfight. She knew the risks and yet she still decided to go ahead with her journey. This clearly means that the statues are incredibly important to her. Was she the one who let intel loose? What is she trying to do with those statues anyway?”

“It’s impossible for the prehistoric chosen one to know nothing if Zhu Xuanyue pulls such a big stunt. Will he appear tonight? If he does, is he going to stop her?”

Xia Lei ended his wayward thoughts at that point. This was not the first time he was stuck in a situation like this. Even if he decided to plant his ass down and think about those questions for a full month, the answers would never arrive. He could only depend on himself to satiate his dire curiosity, no one was going to help him.

Xia Lei brought the motorcycle up and pushed it onto the road. Once again, he spared another look back at where Zhu Xuanyue had left to but he could no longer see the woman anymore. He couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at his predicament. He had hoped for Zhu Xuanyue to remain an ally and they’d eventually face the black-robed man together. However, for that to happen seemed like a fantasy now. Perhaps she was meant to be his nemesis since the start!

The black-robed prehistoric chosen one was a foe. Zhu Xuanyue too was a foe. It felt like Murphy’s Law was toying with his life. He had worries that things would go down south and indeed, everything was developing towards a nasty direction.

“The reason why they both had not to kill me yet must be because I still hold some value. If I were to lose that value, they’d kill me without a doubt. Why is my value?” A new question manifested in Xia Lei’s mind. As if on instinct, he fisted the alloy pendant dangling off his neck tightly.

Both the prehistoric chosen one and Zhu Xuanyue had intended for him to consume the last AE capsule. The latter had even explicitly requested so. She was even trying to convince him to do just that and began feeding on human minds to grow stronger. Perhaps it was really the right time to pop the last capsule and become stronger. However, as soon as the desire to do so was roused, his heart was riddled with sinking insecurity inexplicably.

Was it alright to do something your enemies yearned for you to do?

Xia Lei’s cold smile did not quite reach his eye. He placed the pendant back into the confines of his shirt and hopped on the Harley Breakout. With one swift movement, he ignited the engine and began zooming towards Area 51.

Area 51 was bound to be lively tonight.