Panacea

Jiang Xueming returned to the platform of Nine Realms Station.

As he stepped onto the solid tiles with unsteady legs, he felt as if he had passed through another lifetime.

Passengers hurried on and off the train, and within a minute, the platform was deserted again.

He saw Brother Seven skipping over from afar, holding a bundle of old clothes, waving excitedly as if greeting a husband returning from a long journey.

Jiang Xueming nimbly dodged Brother Seven's bear hug attack, smoothly took the clothes, and changed out of his passenger attire into the worn garments.

Unable to get his hug, Brother Seven pouted and greeted him feebly, "Hey, so cold."

"What's the date today?" Jiang Xueming asked Bu Liuxing beside him.

Before Ah Xing could answer--

--Xiao Qi immediately replied, "July sixth! What's up? We've known each other for three days, but it feels like three years! I'm so happy my employer is back safely from the dangerous, unknown borderlands, alive from that wilderness where we didn't even have time to name the station!"

Jiang Xueming murmured, "July sixth."

"That's right!" Xiao Qi said with a smile. "Should we make this a commemorative day? We can have a meal together every year, a romantic candlelight dinner."

"It's not spring," Xue Ming pouted, feigning thought. "Why is it suddenly the mating season? How strange."

Xiao Qi's smile froze on her face as she watched Jiang Xueming walk silently towards the elevator. Finally, she suppressed her feelings and followed him.

Bu Liuxing passed by Brother Seven, seemingly unaware and afraid to ask anything, only knowing that this female attendant seemed to have a close relationship with Ming Ge.

After a while, Ah Xing could no longer contain her curiosity and turned back to ask quietly.

"Your work ID says 9527? Are you the Xiao Qi from Ming Ge's dreams?"

Xiao Qi's eyes lit up. "Oh? He dreamt of me?"

"Yes! He kept muttering your name in his sleep over two hundred times!" Ah Xing explained convincingly. "Does he owe you a lot of money?"

Xiao Qi was bewildered. "What are you talking about? Owe a lot of money?"

Ah Xing speculated, "Otherwise, how could you spoil him so much? They say the one who owes money is the boss! Looking at your debt-collecting attitude, he must owe you a huge sum, more terrifying than losing everything, like a city or a nation."

"What kind of adjectives are those?" Xiao Qi thought this child's reasoning was a bit off. "No, no, he doesn't owe me money."

The three entered the elevator.

Jiang Xueming heard Xiao Qi whispering to Bu Liuxing, as if they had found best friends.

They were murmuring to each other privately. But with Xue Ming's superhuman hearing, he could hear everything clearly.

Bu Liuxing: "Brother Seven, do you like Ming Ge? Do you want to be my sister-in-law?"

"No, no, no, that's not it, it's not like that." Xiao Qi's words faltered, her eyes constantly darting towards Mr. Jiang Xueming.

Bu Liuxing: "It's okay, I know Ming Ge is good-looking. At first glance, I thought I saw a celebrity, like on TV—do you know Chen Kun? He has a versatile face!"

"Heh heh, indeed, indeed." Xiao Qi chuckled foolishly, then pretended to be serious. "I'm not lusting after his body."

Bu Liuxing became excited, like a meddling matchmaker, saying enthusiastically, "Don't worry, Brother Seven, we're practically family! You know, it's easy for a woman to win a man's heart—if you need any help, I'll do it right away. The moment I saw you, this handsome older sister, I felt a connection. You and Ming Ge look so good together."

Xiao Qi said in a low voice, "How about this, you're so tall and strong, let's pick a good day."

Bu Liuxing: "Bring a few people and knock Ming Ge out?"

Xiao Qi: "Put him in a sack and tie it up tight."

Bu Liuxing: "And bring him to your room?"

Xiao Qi nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, yes."

Bu Liuxing looked troubled. "That won't do, I can't use force on Ming Ge."

"Then we'll drug him," Xiao Qi's wicked smile reappeared. "That's not rough, that's subtle."

Ah Xing was assimilated very quickly and also showed a wicked smile. "That could work! I'll consider it. I'll ask my private doctor if they have such a medicine later."

Jiang Xueming: "Do you both like to plot schemes right under the victim's nose?"

Xiao Qi and Ah Xing looked like two children, their eyes wide and innocent, nodding as if they were. Then, realizing something was wrong, they quickly shook their heads.

Jiang Xueming didn't have the energy to argue with this pair, who were hard to tell if they were best sisters or brothers.

He left the elevator and arrived at the Council of Five Kings, grabbing Xiao Qi's arm and pulling her towards the office.

The force of his grip and the physical contact made Xiao Qi's heart flutter like a health code during rush hour on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, her mood and heart rate soaring from "yellow" to "red."

"I'm here to re-register. Go notify BOSS, and have the medicine sent to me." Jiang Xueming approached the counter, his demeanor like he was ready for a fight, impatient.

Xiao Qi blushed, nervously fiddling with her bangs, twirling her hair around her fingers. "Okay. Okay, okay."

After Xiao Qi fled like a rabbit, Bu Liuxing also met his own attendant.

He shouted to Jiang Xueming from afar, " Ming Ge! I'm leaving!"

Jiang Xueming didn't reply, but turned and gave a thumbs-up, indicating he heard.

"Contact me by phone if you need anything! Remember! I'll call you! If you need my help, I'll definitely help! You saved me twice!" Bu Liuxing seemed reluctant to leave. His female attendant, a good sister, dragged Ah Xing by the collar towards the disinfection room next to the Council of Five Kings.

Jiang Xueming spread his arms, both hands giving a thumbs-up, meaning, "Heard you, will be in touch."

His desire to speak wasn't the issue; the nerve pain lingering in the tendons and joints of his injured arms made it almost impossible to open his mouth. The longer his arms remained still, the more intense the ache became.

This journey had been filled with baffling misunderstandings and mysterious, perilous crises. His mind felt drained and sluggish.

He'd already noticed the abnormality in his body on the way from Tseung Kwan O Hospital to Anshan Health Center.

His vision and hearing had begun to evolve, becoming incredibly sharp.

His hand-eye coordination had also significantly improved, most notably in the accuracy when using firearms.

In his memory, when he'd fired a warning shot at The Faceless Lady, he'd emptied the entire magazine.

From about twenty meters away, he'd intended to miss a few shots to scare off the faceless monster, and then just wing it, not caring if he hit or not.

But the bullets had landed on the sand exactly as he'd intended. As he'd pulled the trigger repeatedly, the tendons in his wrist had tightened and then relaxed instantly, as if his breathing had synchronized with the recoil of the gun.

The process of unleashing the firepower was so smooth it baffled him, making him doubt if he was even capable of such marksmanship.

As he'd shifted his wrist to realign the sights, he'd spotted The Faceless Lady's knee and instinctively pulled the trigger, without the slightest hesitation or any unnatural pause.

This entire magazine dump had been done in one continuous burst.

He'd initially thought it was the adrenaline giving him superhuman strength in a crisis, but he was wrong—at this very moment, he could sense that he possessed extraordinary senses.

He filled out the forms at various counters, signing and stamping, registering with his real name.

He completed his tasks with incredible speed. Complex forms that took other passengers several minutes to fill out, Jiang Xueming finished in almost thirty seconds.

His reading comprehension, spelling, and drawing abilities had also reached a new level.

He didn't know if all this was good or bad. He could only grimly contemplate that his brain, like an overloaded train, would eventually derail and perish if it continued to operate this way.

But Xue Ming couldn't control this phenomenon.

The entire hall fell silent.

The woman in the wine-red suit, carrying the Black Cat, walked in through the arched entrance of the council's atrium.

The arrival of BOSS silenced the murmurs of the passengers.

"Congratulations! Jiang Xueming! You have successfully completed your first task." The Black Cat jumped onto the human cat tree's shoulder and applauded Jiang Xueming. "But! There are a few points I need to criticize."

Jiang Xueming immediately interjected, "I shouldn't have stolen your security's gun."

BOSS grinned, "Ha! You seem to have some self-awareness?"

Jiang Xueming added, "I shouldn't have acted on my own and gotten myself so badly injured."

BOSS nodded proudly, "Mmm-hmm, but I like your rebellious spirit."

Jiang Xueming: "I shouldn't have doubted you. If I had followed your instructions, Mr. David would indeed have provided us with a comfortable and peaceful journey."

"Right." BOSS arched its back, moving with the cat tree towards Jiang Xueming.

Its face contorted, becoming fierce and malicious.

"This is what I care about the most. In the underground world, trust is incredibly precious. I gave you my most valuable sincerity, yet you disregarded it and acted stubbornly, trampling on my genuine feelings. Look at yourself, Mr. Jiang Xueming!"

It patted the cat tree's head, making it adjust its position.

It moved next to Jiang Xueming's arm, cradling one of his half-healed limbs.

"Look at the state you've gotten yourself into."

A colossal shadow surged from within the Black Cat, as if BOSS's true form was never a cute little kitten, but that dark, floating shadow beast beside the oil lamp of the Council of Five Kings, hidden within the flickering lamplight.

Jiang Xueming explained, "I'm very sorry, I was in a hurry."

These simple eight words conveyed his attitude.

There was no trace of regret on his face; it was as cold as ice. Although the process had been bumpy and the outcome somewhat disheveled, he had returned to Nine Realms Station ahead of schedule.

This was the only thing he could do for his sister.

He had killed the part of himself that didn't keep his promises.

He had completely killed the self that was powerless, the self that said, "I'm sorry, brother couldn't do what I promised you."

"That look in your eyes truly disgusts me." BOSS bared its teeth, its emerald eyes glinting with ferocity. "That condescending, arrogant gaze, you completely disregarded me! You little punk?"

Before the words had even fallen, a syringe suddenly shot out.

It accurately hit Jiang Xueming's heart.

Before he could even react, Jiang Xueming watched as BOSS pressed its two paws onto the syringe, injecting the white glowing liquid within into his cardiovascular system.

His two arms made cracking sounds. Within a few breaths, the bruises on his fingers vanished without a trace, and his cracked fingernails grew wildly like grass in the spring sun.

His hair also grew by two inches, his arm joints realigned and reset, and all his old injuries and hidden wounds completely disappeared.

This was the first time he had witnessed the power of Panacea.

In that instant, he felt his blood surging, especially in the large blood vessels of his neck, where a strange warm current flowed throughout his body.

"Your reward has been prepaid." BOSS finished injecting Jiang Xueming, then retreated into the cat tree's embrace. Under the care of a servant, it restlessly kneaded the fabric to relieve stress, as if encountering an exceptionally peculiar individual.

It said, "Give your work log to your attendant. Then you will receive the remaining Panacea."

"This feeling…" Jiang Xueming slowly trimmed his overgrown fingernails. "It's so strange."

"How is it? Heh heh!" BOSS seemed to mock the unsophisticated bumpkin: "This is the effect of Panacea, the pinnacle of the station's pharmaceutical unit."

Jiang Xueming asked: "There was a whole tube just now! Why did you inject it all into me at once? Couldn't you have given me a drop or two first to test the effect? What if we could have saved half a tube?"

BOSS: "..."

The cat tree servant whispered: "He actually has a point, BOSS. With this injury, there shouldn't have been a need for that much medicine."

"Shut up!" BOSS roared at the servant in embarrassment, then threw a second syringe at Jiang Xueming, as a complimentary gift: "Look at how stingy you are! How embarrassing! Take it, take it, go get your safety inspection done quickly, or you won't be leaving here. I won't let any problematic underground travelers return to the mortal world!"

"Hey! Thanks a lot!" Jiang Xueming caught the syringe, putting on a strained, overly-enthusiastic smile like a subway station employee: "Come again!"

He practically had "going through the motions" written all over his face.

After BOSS grudgingly drove the cat tree away.

The fake smile on Jiang Xueming's face vanished.

He looked at the Panacea in his hand and cautiously tested it.

Taking out nail clippers, he made a small cut on his hand. Then, he squeezed a drop of the medicine from the syringe onto the wound.

Seeing the wound heal, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Together with the medicine in Xiao Qi's hand, that made two tubes of Panacea in total.

Next, he had to go to the mental examination agency for a safety inspection.