Universal Elixir

Jiang Xueming returned to the platform at Nine Realms Station.

When he stepped unsteadily onto the solid tiles, he felt as though he had returned from another world.

Passengers hurried back and forth, boarding the train. In less than a minute, the platform had fallen quiet again.

From a distance, he saw Seventh Brother skipping toward him, holding his old clothes. She waved excitedly, like a wife greeting her husband home from a long journey.

Jiang Xueming nimbly dodged Seventh Brother's bear hug, took the clothes without a word, and changed out of the passenger's long coat and casual clothes.

Seventh Brother's attempt had failed, so she pouted theatrically and greeted him from the side. "Oh, how cold of you!"

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

Before A Xing could respond—

—Xiao Qi immediately answered, "July sixth! What's wrong? We've known each other for three days now, but it feels like we've been apart for ages! I'm so happy my employer made it back safely from that dangerous, unknown borderland, alive and well from that wilderness that didn't even have a station name yet!"

Jiang Xueming murmured, "July sixth."

"That's right!" Xiao Qi said with a beaming smile. "Should we make it an anniversary? We could have dinner together every year, a romantic candlelit meal."

"It's not even spring," Xue Ming said, pursing his lips and pretending to ponder. "Why are you in heat? How strange."

Xiao Qi's smile froze. She watched Jiang Xueming walk silently toward the elevator, then finally swallowed her resentment and followed.

Bu Liuxing passed by Seventh Brother, looking like he didn't know what was going on and didn't dare ask. He only knew that this female attendant seemed to have a close relationship with Ming Ge.

After a while, A Xing could no longer resist his curiosity. He turned around and quietly asked, "Your badge says 9527? Are you the Xiao Qi from Ming Ge's dreams?"

Xiao Qi's eyes lit up. "Oh? He's dreamed about me?"

"That's right! He said your name in his sleep over two hundred times!" A Xing explained with a knowing air. "Does he owe you a lot of money?"

Xiao Qi was baffled. "What? Owe me a lot of money?"

A Xing speculated, "Otherwise, why would you spoil him so much? They say the one who owes money is king! Judging by how you're chasing him for it, he must owe you a fortune—something even worse than losing everything. The kind where you lose the whole city!"

"What kind of expression is that?" Xiao Qi thought there might be something wrong with this kid's brain. "No, no, he doesn't owe me money."

The three of them entered the elevator.

Jiang Xueming heard Xiao Qi whispering to Bu Liuxing as though she'd found a close friend.

The two of them whispered to each other, but Jiang Xueming could hear every word with his superhuman Inspiration.

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

"N-no, it's nothing like that!" Xiao Qi stammered, unable to stop glancing toward Mr. Xueming.

Bu Liuxing said, "It's okay. I know Ming Ge's handsome. When I first saw him, I thought he was a celebrity, like that guy on TV—Chen Kun, you know? He has such a versatile face!"

"Hehe, that's true, that's true." Xiao Qi giggled, then tried to sound serious as she explained, "I'm not after his body."

Bu Liuxing grew excited, like a matchmaker pairing up the wrong people. "It's fine, Seventh Brother, we're practically family! You know what they say: there's only a layer of paper between a woman and the man she's chasing. If you need help with anything, I'll do it right away. I liked you the moment I saw you, pretty big sis. You and Ming Ge look so good together."

Xiao Qi lowered her voice. "How about this? You look pretty strong. Pick an auspicious day."

Bu Liuxing asked, "Bring some people and beat Ming Ge unconscious?"

"Stuff him in a sack and tie it tight."

"Take him to your room?"

Xiao Qi nodded frantically. "Mm-hmm!"

Bu Liuxing looked troubled. "That won't work. I can't get rough with Ming Ge."

"Then drug him." Xiao Qi's face lit up with that crazed smile again. "That's not rough. It's delicate."

A Xing was quickly being corrupted. He wore the same crazed smile. "Sounds good! I'll think about it. I'll ask my personal doctor later if he has anything like that."

Jiang Xueming asked, "Do you two always plot against people right in front of them?"

Xiao Qi and A Xing looked like a pair of little kids, their eyes shining as they nodded innocently. Then they realized something was off and hurriedly shook their heads.

Jiang Xueming didn't have the energy to banter with this pair of live wires who couldn't decide whether they were close girlfriends or brothers.

After leaving the elevator and arriving at the Council of Five Kings, he grabbed Xiao Qi by the arm and led her straight to the office.

The grip on her arm and their physical contact sent Xiao Qi's heart racing like a healthy QR code on the Guangzhou–Shenzhen Expressway. Her mood and pulse went from suggestive to full-on red alert.

"I'm here to complete the paperwork. Go tell the boss to bring me the medicine." Jiang Xueming reached the counter in a rush, looking ready to start a fight.

Xiao Qi blushed and nervously tucked the side-swept bangs away from her brow, winding them around her finger again and again. "O-okay. Okay, okay."

After Xiao Qi ran off like a rabbit,

Bu Liuxing's attendant arrived too.

He called out to Jiang Xueming from a distance. "Ming Ge! I'm off!"

Jiang Xueming didn't answer. He turned around and gave him a thumbs-up, meaning he'd heard him.

"Call me if anything comes up! Remember! I'll pick up! If you need me, I'll help! You've saved me twice!" Bu Liuxing seemed reluctant to leave. His female attendant was a nice big sister, too; she grabbed him by the collar and dragged him toward the disinfection room next door to the Council of Five Kings.

Jiang Xueming raised both arms and gave a thumbs-up with each hand, meaning, "I heard you. I'll get in touch."

It wasn't that he didn't want to speak. After injuring both arms, the tendons and joints still throbbed with intense nerve pain, so bad that he could hardly talk. If he kept his arms rigid and still for too long, the pain grew stronger and stronger.

That journey had been full of misunderstandings that made him laugh and cry, as well as mysterious, sinister dangers. He still felt mentally exhausted.

By the time he'd gone from Changsha Bay Hospital to Anshan Health Center, he'd already noticed something was wrong with his body.

His sight and hearing had begun to evolve, becoming incredibly acute.

His hand-eye coordination had also improved significantly. The clearest example was how accurately he could use firearms.

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

She'd been about twenty meters away. He'd meant to miss a few shots to scare off the faceless monster, then fire the rest without much care. If he missed, so be it.

But every bullet had landed in the sand exactly where he'd wanted it to. As he repeatedly pulled the trigger, the tendons in his wrist had tensed and sprung, then relaxed at once, almost as if they could match his breathing to the firearm's recoil.

The way he'd unleashed that barrage had been so smooth that he could hardly believe he'd been capable of such marksmanship.

When he'd shifted his wrist and moved the rear sight, he'd spotted the Faceless Lady's knee and pulled the trigger almost by instinct. He hadn't hesitated for a moment, nor had there been any pause or unnatural stiffness.

He'd emptied the magazine in one continuous burst.

At first, he'd thought the strength had come from the adrenaline his body released in response to danger. But he'd been wrong—right now, he could sense that he possessed superhuman senses.

He filled out forms at each counter, signing and registering under his real name.

He worked incredibly quickly. Other passengers needed several minutes to complete the complicated forms, but Jiang Xueming finished his in less than thirty seconds.

His reading comprehension, spelling, and drawing skills had all reached a new level, too.

He didn't know whether any of this was good or bad. He could only think pessimistically that his brain was like an overloaded train: if it kept running like this, sooner or later it would derail and be destroyed.

But Xue Ming couldn't control what was happening.

The entire hall fell silent.

A woman in a burgundy suit walked in through the Council's central archway, carrying the black cat in her arms.

The boss's arrival silenced the passengers' whispers.

"Congratulations, Jiang Xueming! You completed your first mission successfully." The big black cat hopped onto the shoulder of its human cat tree and applauded him. "But! There are a few things I need to criticize you for."

Jiang Xueming immediately answered, "I shouldn't have stolen a gun from your security staff."

The boss grinned. "Ha! At least you know that much?"

Jiang Xueming added, "I shouldn't have acted on my own and gotten myself covered in injuries."

The boss nodded smugly. "Mm-hmm. Still, I like that you're the type to break the rules."

Jiang Xueming said, "I shouldn't have doubted you. If I'd done what you said, Mr. David really could have given us a comfortable, relaxing trip."

"Right." The boss arched her back, and the cat tree carried her toward Jiang Xueming.

Her face turned vicious and sinister.

"This is what I care about most. In the underground world, trust is precious. I gave you my most valuable sincerity, and you ignored it and acted recklessly, trampling on my good intentions. Just look at yourself, Mr. Jiang Xueming!"

She patted the cat tree's head, signaling for the servant to adjust its position.

She came to Jiang Xueming's arm and cradled one of his half-crippled limbs.

"What have you done to yourself?"

A massive shadow poured out of the black cat. It was as though the boss had never been a cute little cat at all, but a dark, monstrous beast floating beside the oil lamps of the Council of Five Kings, concealed among the shadows cast by their flames.

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

Those simple words conveyed his attitude.

There wasn't a trace of regret on his face. He was as cold as ice. The journey had been full of twists and turns, and he'd ended up in a sorry state, but he'd made it back to Nine Realms Station ahead of time.

It was the only thing he could do for his younger sister.

He had killed the version of himself who broke his promise.

He had utterly killed the helpless version of himself who would have said, "I'm sorry. Your brother didn't do what he promised."

"That look in your eyes disgusts me." The boss bared her teeth, her green eyes glinting with menace. "That arrogant, superior look—it's like you don't take me seriously at all, you little punk!"

Before she'd finished speaking, a syringe shot out.

It struck Jiang Xueming right in the heart.

Before he could react, Jiang Xueming watched helplessly as the boss pressed both paws against the syringe, forcing all the glowing white liquid inside it into his bloodstream.

Both arms cracked and popped. Within a few breaths, the bruising on his fingers faded, and his split nails grew wildly, like weeds springing to life in the sun.

His hair grew another two inches, and the joints in his arms snapped back into place. All the wear and tear and hidden injuries vanished completely.

This was the first time he'd witnessed the power of the Universal Elixir.

In that instant, he felt the blood rushing through his body. A strange warmth surged from his major blood vessels, especially the arteries and veins in his neck, and spread throughout his body.

"I've already paid your reward in advance." After injecting Jiang Xueming, the boss climbed back into the cat tree's arms. With the servant's help, she paced restlessly, kneading as if to relieve her stress. She seemed to have run into the strangest guest imaginable.

She said, "Give your work log to your attendant. Then you'll get the rest of the Universal Elixir."

"This feeling..." Jiang Xueming clipped off his overgrown nails a little at a time. "It's strange."

"How is it? Hehe!" The boss sounded like she was mocking a country bumpkin who'd never seen the world. "That's the effect of the Universal Elixir—the finest work of the station's pharmaceutical department."

Jiang Xueming asked, "That was a whole syringe just now! Why did you inject all of it at once? Couldn't you have started with a drop or two so I could test the effect? What if half of it could've been saved?"

The boss: "..."

The cat tree's servant quietly reminded her, "He may have a point, boss. With injuries like his, that dose probably wasn't necessary..."

"Shut up!" the boss snarled at the servant in a fit of embarrassment, then tossed Jiang Xueming a second syringe as a bonus. "Look at you, so stingy! How embarrassing! Take it, take it, and get a safety check right away. Otherwise, you're not leaving. I won't let any underground passenger with a problem back into the mundane world!"

"Hey! Thanks a lot!" Jiang Xueming caught the syringe and gave her the same hardworking smile he'd use for a subway station customer. "Come again!"

The words "half-hearted service" might as well have been written all over his face.

After the boss left in a foul mood, riding the cat tree,

the fake smile vanished from Jiang Xueming's face.

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

He took out a nail clipper and pinched a small cut into his hand, then squeezed a drop of the medicine from the syringe onto it.

Only when he saw the wound heal did he finally relax. Including the one in Xiao Qi's possession, he had two syringes of Universal Elixir.

Next, he needed to go to the Thought Review Bureau for a safety check.