Genius Club

Chapter 1425: Chapter 2: Battle 2

The man nodded blankly:

"I suppose so. I don’t understand either."

He had to bury his head in peeling bird eggs, then put them in his mouth.

Very tender, very smooth, but with a fishy taste.

...

After a simple dinner, the two who walked all day were very tired, so they slept around the fire pit.

Fortunately, the temperature was neither too cold nor too hot. Finding a dry and soft place to lie down was quite comfortable.

After adding a lot of dry branches to the fire, the man yawned, lay down on the opposite side of the fire, and closed his heavy eyelids:

"Goodnight, CC."

The small figure on the other side of the fire curled up:

"Goodnight, VV."

...

That night, the man slept uncomfortably, waking up many times in a daze.

Sometimes it was mosquito bites that prevented him from sleeping;

Sometimes it was inexplicable panic and tension that suddenly woke him up;

He slept lightly and poorly, sensitive to any disturbance.

Especially when the occasional beastly howls from the jungle made him open his eyes abruptly each time.

After all.

It must be because his brain had no memories.

Without memories, there was no sense of security, nothing felt stable.

He had thought of recalling something through dreams at night, but found that even dreaming was a luxury now, completely impossible.

As if...

As if once he fell asleep, he plunged into a deep dark abyss, feeling nothing, sensing nothing, time slipped away inexplicably.

"Mama..."

A soft, tender voice called out.

The man looked up towards the other side of the fire, where CC was curled into a little ball, seemingly talking in her sleep.

Seeing her tense sleeping face, biting her lips hard, her body slightly trembling.

It seemed she was having a nightmare.

The man stood up, added some dry wood to the fire, and after ensuring CC’s expression relaxed and breathing evened out, returned to his place and fell asleep again.

The next morning.

The two casually filled their stomachs and set off.

"Did you have a nightmare last night?"

The man followed behind the little girl.

CC cut through the vines with a dagger, nodding:

"I dreamed about the day the village was invaded again... I was thrown into a well by my parents, covering my mouth, not daring to make a sound, but the chaos outside terrified me."

"Gunshots, screams, running, the sound of hooves, cries for mercy... everything gradually turned silent, leaving nothing behind."

"That feeling of only hearing sounds was, for me, even more terrifying than witnessing everything with my own eyes. I often have this nightmare, like a psychological shadow."

Speaking, the little girl CC turned back to look at the Bearded Man:

"What about you? Did you dream last night?"

"People say dreams are a form of memory, where you might recall people you knew and things that happened before, maybe you can extract some real memories from dreams."

"No."

The man scratched his messy long hair:

"I didn’t dream at all. Despite waking many times and sleeping lightly, if I had dreamed, I would have some impression."

"But the problem is... I have no impression of dreaming at all, as if I’ve lost the ability to dream, or never could dream."

CC thought for a moment, shaking her head:

"That shouldn’t be the case, everyone dreams, maybe you just don’t remember."

"Perhaps."

The man replied perfunctorily:

"Let’s get some more sleep and see."

The two continued moving southeast.

CC was very familiar with this place, with her guiding, there was no worry about losing direction.

"Hey, wait a minute."

The man suddenly stepped forward, pulled CC, and gestured for silence:

"Look over there."

He pointed to an open area beyond the bushes:

"You might not have noticed while leading, but I sensed something was off earlier. You see those footprints... don’t they look like hoofprints?"

If CC hadn’t mentioned hearing hoofbeats while hiding in the well, he wouldn’t have paid much attention to such prints.

After all, this is the natural jungle, wild buffalo, horses, and deer are quite common.

But if those armed villains were riding horses... these hoofprints definitely needed attention.

CC and the Bearded Man walked out of the bushes together, looking at the "fresh" hoofprints on the ground:

"They are indeed hoofprints."

CC frowned:

"And there are three horses, with horseshoes, which means they aren’t wild, but domesticated horses! They might be the same villains who took my parents away!"

The man squatted down, touched the hoofprints, and began to analyze:

"These hoofprints are very fresh, indicating they passed by not long ago. Is it a coincidence? Why is their direction the same as ours?"

"It couldn’t be... it couldn’t be that your father, after being captured, revealed the hidden research facility in the mountain to save his life, or under coercion and inducement?"

CC bit her lip, face full of worry:

"I don’t know."

She shook her head again:

"I really don’t know..."

"Then what do we do now?"

The Bearded Man asked:

"If we continue further towards that secret research facility, we’re likely to encounter these armed villains; they have guns and horses, we are no match."

"But... on the other hand, if we ignore it or run away, we might miss the only chance to save your parents."

Finally.

CC raised her head, determination in her eyes as she looked at the man:

"VV, I want to follow and see what’s going on."

She clenched her fist:

"I don’t know how those villains found out about this secret research facility, but if, as you say... my father revealed it under some circumstances... what was his purpose after all?"