You Were Taming Your Limbs

One of the many side-hall corridors in the Council of Five Kings was packed with people.

Every time these travelers returned to Nine Realms Station, they had to go to the Mind Screening Room, where the Polarized Sextant was, to undergo a security check.

If travelers showed symptoms of a Vita Imprint, or if their Madness Index or Spirit Calamity concentration was too high, they would also be sent to the medical unit to rest in isolation until all their physical readings returned to normal. Only then could they be "released."

Without the station's permission, travelers who had not passed the Polarized Sextant's examination were absolutely forbidden from returning to the mundane world.

At the BOSS's arrangement, the inspection team opened a fast lane for Jiang Xueming, the newcomer.

He skipped the queue and passed through two security gates, entering the Spirit Elder Church at the end of the corridor.

Armed guards stood watch on both sides of the church's first floor. Six small doors divided the travelers among the Mind Screening Rooms.

The church's main hall held six long rows of seats. Under the security staff's direction, people found seats without any rush and waited to be called by the medical review unit.

Jiang Xueming headed alone for the newcomer lane. To the right of the church's altar, he climbed the spiral staircase beside the bookshelves to the second floor, where another device would verify his results.

The star chart overhead gave off a radiant glow. Under the red and yellow stained glass, the entire church seemed mysterious.

He climbed to the second floor quickly and steadily. The security guard behind him could barely keep up with the newcomer.

He saw the semi-open library on the second-floor loft, the terrace beyond it—and the rows of attendants standing on either side of the terrace entrance. Xiao Qi was among them.

As it happened, Bu Liuxing had just returned from the large terrace. He had changed clothes and looked as if the attendants had just given him a thorough disinfection.

A Xing was carefully reading a Braille card. It showed the latest results of his Mind Screening verification.

Distracted for a moment, he bumped into Jiang Xueming.

"How did the screening go?" Jiang Xueming asked.

"Here." A Xing held up the card.

[Subject: Bu Liuxing]

[Verification Time: July 6, 2024]

[Polarized Sextant · Screening Results]

[Inspiration: B+]

[Mental State: D]

[Combat Skills: C]

[Madness Index: A-]

[Will to Survive: D]

[Intracranial Contraband · Spirit Calamity Concentration: 77%]

Before Jiang Xueming could ask for any useful advice, Bu Liuxing was dragged away by the ear by his attendant.

The enthusiastic older woman tugged A Xing along while reassuring Jiang Xueming.

"He's fine! He just needs to rest for a few days. Ever since he came back from that awful place, his mental state and will to survive have hit rock bottom. I'm grounding him."

A Xing was dragged all the way downstairs, crying out "Ow! Ow!" from the pain.

Even from a distance, Jiang Xueming could hear the attendant yelling furiously, "You went out and slept with some woman!? Getting bold, are you? You've got some nerve!"

Jiang Xueming went over to Xiao Qi and handed over his log and phone, feeling uneasy.

"I did what the BOSS asked me to do. Give me the medicine."

"Sure thing!" Xiao Qi took the items and retrieved a silver briefcase from the bookshelf behind her.

She opened it. A Universal Elixir injector lay in one of the two slots in the shockproof foam.

Understanding what she meant, Jiang Xueming put the other Universal Elixir he was carrying inside.

Xiao Qi shut the case, locked it, and handed the payment to Mr. Xue Ming. "Please keep it safe. Whatever you do, don't lose it."

"Okay, thanks." Jiang Xueming noticed a little grease at the corner of Seventh Brother's mouth and reached out to wipe it away.

Halfway there, the alert Xiao Qi grabbed his hand. "What are you doing?"

Xue Ming shrugged indifferently. "Nothing. You cleaned these old, dirty clothes of mine, too. I was thinking how hard you work, so busy you don't even have time to look after yourself. I saw something on your face, and my occupational habit kicked in. I just wanted to wipe it off."

Xiao Qi understood, slowly loosening her grip. "Oh! Ohhh!"

"Let's get back to business. Set up a Mind Screening for me, and make it quick." Xue Ming started to pull his hand back—

—but Xiao Qi grabbed it again, already holding a handkerchief.

"Come on, wipe it off! I'm ready! Don't you dare cure yourself of such a useful occupational habit. From now on, I'll never wipe my mouth after eating."

The other attendants nearby all wore awkward expressions, as if they couldn't bear to watch.

Jiang Xueming gave in to Xiao Qi's stubbornness and wiped the grease from her mouth.

Xiao Qi's whole body tensed up. She let out a series of muffled sounds like a train whistle.

She led Mr. Xue Ming to the entrance of the large terrace and explained what the Polarized Sextant did.

"In the mundane world, a polarizing instrument is used to identify the optical properties of gemstones. A sextant is mostly used at sea to measure latitude and longitude."

Xiao Qi spread her arms in front of a large circular platform made of interlocking brass and copper gears, presenting the device to Jiang Xueming.

"Put simply, in the underground world, you're an unclassified gemstone. We use this device to determine your properties and figure out where you belong."

Jiang Xueming stepped onto the circular platform, and the mechanisms on the terrace immediately began to move.

"I just stand here?"

Xiao Qi clenched both fists, brimming with anticipation. "That's right! A powerful moonlight will soon focus on you. If you find it too bright, you can close your eyes. Just relax and try not to be nervous."

The brass-and-copper mechanisms clattered as their gears meshed.

A semicircular cover made of the same material as the platform rose from the floor.

It was like a gigantic eye. The cover that emerged from the floor formed its iris and pupil.

Jiang Xueming was enclosed inside it. Overhead, he saw numerous tracks, with all kinds of measuring instruments flying along them.

Most were traditional distance-measuring devices made up of squares and rulers, though there were also many sets of lenses in different sizes.

Inside the giant eye, these intricate instruments gradually assembled into a slender golden beast's pupil, just like the BOSS's bright green cat eyes.

Above the station, the enormous moon in the sky projected a powerful beam of light through the beast's pupil, shining down on Jiang Xueming.

In that instant, he felt like a naked baby, being scrutinized without restraint by some unknown and secretive higher being.

It took only a second for the axles and steel gears to whir, and the platform returned to its original state.

A black Braille card emerged from the bookshelf beside the platform. It was Jiang Xueming's test result.

Xiao Qi didn't even look at it. She pulled out the card and eagerly hurried over to Mr. Xue Ming.

Neither of them lingered or got in the way of the next newcomer's test. They found a quiet, brightly lit corner and crowded together to look over the results.

Jiang Xueming was nervous, afraid the card would delay his return. He stared at it as if it were a critical-condition notice.

"It's okay!" Seventh Brother reassured Mr. Xue Ming. "If you can't go back for the next few days, I can deliver the medicine for you. I'm reliable!"

The back of the card bore the Nine Realms Station logo.

They turned it over. The information read:

[Subject: Jiang Xueming]

[Verification Time: July 6, 2024]

[Inspiration: Off the Scale]

[Mental State: Off the Scale]

[Combat Skills: S]

[Madness Index: None]

[Will to Survive: Off the Scale]

[Intracranial Contraband · Spirit Calamity Concentration: 100%]

Xiao Qi and Jiang Xueming exchanged a glance. Neither seemed willing to speak too loudly.

Jiang Xueming pointed to the Braille on the card. "What does 'off the scale' mean? It couldn't measure them?"

Xiao Qi frowned, her breathing growing rapid.

"No."

Jiang Xueming waited for Xiao Qi to catch her breath.

"There are two possible meanings," Xiao Qi said. After a moment's thought, she decided to be frank. "One is that your emotions fluctuated too much during the test, so it couldn't get an accurate reading."

"But if the reading falls within two adjacent levels, it'll still give you a range, like C–B or B–A. The result might be vague, but it'll give you something."

"Just now, during the few seconds of the test, you might have gone from being devastated because your younger sister was gravely ill, to winning five million in the lottery, then your wife dying, then your first love returning to tell you she had a child with you, only the child wasn't yours, and actually had been adopted, and then dying young from an illness, while your family cat suddenly had triplets. If all that happened at once, the device might not be able to measure you properly, and you'd get an 'off the scale' result."

Jiang Xueming couldn't make heads or tails of that long, punctuation-free sentence.

"."

He seriously considered the scenario Xiao Qi had described, then asked, "What's the second meaning?"

"The second meaning is that the readings fall outside the Polarized Sextant's measurable range." Xiao Qi didn't mince words. "Three of your values exceed the limits of an ordinary person: Inspiration, mental state, and will to survive."

"What about this Madness Index?" Jiang Xueming pointed to the other readings on the Braille card. "And the Spirit Calamity concentration?"

Xiao Qi explained, "A Madness Index of 'none' is the best-case scenario. During the test, you were practically like a corpse, with no mental activity at all. External factors basically have no effect on your psychological health."

"Oh." Jiang Xueming didn't seem bothered.

"But the Spirit Calamity concentration attached to the intracranial contraband, and your combat skills, are both very concerning." Xiao Qi changed the subject. "Generally speaking, passengers' combat skills go down after a mission. They use up their strength on sightseeing trips, and sometimes get injured or exhausted during investigations. Take Bu Liuxing, for example. His combat skills dropped from B to C over the course of this trip. Because of that reading, I might need ten minutes of your time to run a weapons proficiency recheck. Come with me."

With that, Xiao Qi led Jiang Xueming to the training range in the Nine Realms Station weapons department.

The spacious training ground was nearly empty, with only a few injured people doing rehabilitation exercises.

Seventh Brother spoke with the head of the station's security department and got them a private soundproof training room.

Under the cold lights, the large table was covered with weapons, including all sorts of knives and firearms.

Xiao Qi stood across the table and said seriously, "Mr. Jiang Xueming, according to station regulations, any passenger whose combat skills are rated A or above and whose Spirit Calamity concentration exceeds fifty-one percent must undergo a weapons proficiency recheck and registration."

"Everything we say and do from now on will be recorded. Please take this test seriously. Pick up the weapon closest to you. Don't look it over—just go with your gut."

Following Xiao Qi's instructions, Xue Ming trusted his instincts and reached for a firearm beside him.

Xiao Qi loudly announced the firearm's model.

"A Browning M1911 pistol. Its reliability has been proven over a century of use. It's a very sturdy and dependable weapon."

Xiao Qi continued with her instructions.

"Find ammunition among the weapons in front of you as quickly as possible and fire at the twelve targets behind me. Shoot freely—and, as before, don't stop to think about why you're doing it."

Before she had even finished speaking, Jiang Xueming's body had already begun to move.

His eyes swept over the scattered weapon parts on the table, then he quickly pulled out two magazines.

He checked the chamber and locked the slide back.

He inserted a magazine and released the slide.

The crisp sound of the round locking into the chamber rang out.

Muzzle flashes erupted as he fired at the Alien targets.

The twelve targets stood a full fifty meters away. In the first round, Xue Ming knocked down seven of them.

He took out the targets one by one and emptied the magazine in a flash.

Xiao Qi shouted, "Reload!"

Jiang Xueming ejected the empty magazine without hurry and inserted a fresh one.

Before firing, he ducked down and leaned forward. Holding the firearm in one hand, he pulled back the rear sight and drew the slide back a little, using the gap at the ejection port as a makeshift viewing window. He checked that a brass-colored bullet had fed into the barrel before he was satisfied. The whole process took barely an extra second.

Then he fired four more rounds and stopped.

Of the twelve Alien targets, he knocked down eleven in thirty seconds without missing a single shot.

One target remained standing. It was a safety target, depicting a frail, slender girl who was crying.

The other eleven targets showed monsters of different shapes, armed gunmen, and masked figures.

The human-shaped targets had bullet holes in their heads.

The monsters had bullet holes in their eye-like organs.

Every shot had hit a weak point. He had taken them down one by one, in the order of gunmen, monsters, and masked figures.

Xiao Qi wore a complicated expression. She wasn't sure whether this was good or bad.

She shouted, "Disarm!"

Jiang Xueming immediately obeyed. He removed the magazine and used his thumb to push out the two remaining rounds.

There was one last round in the locked chamber. As the slide cycled forward, the extractor pulled it out and sent it flying.

Before it could travel very far, Jiang Xueming caught it neatly in his palm and placed it on the table. He set the bullets upright in a neat row, their primers down and their tips up.

"All right! The test is over. You can talk now." Xiao Qi pulled out a handkerchief, ready to wipe the sweat off Jiang Xueming. But when she came closer, she found that the man who had held his breath and fired with such precision didn't have a drop of sweat on his head. He hadn't even worked up a sweat.

Jiang Xueming stared at his hands, completely baffled.

"What's happening to me? My hands, my body—they seem to move on their own. Am I sick? How long will it take to treat?"

"Don't worry. You don't have a mental illness. You're just a tiny bit good at fighting. As far as the Polarized Sextant is concerned, you're a dangerous individual. The BOSS will watch the recording. I'll get you home right away." Xiao Qi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "All the newcomers who arrive at the station go through an adjustment period. Their inner mental energy struggles with their physical bodies, trying to bring their inner and outer selves into harmony. Put simply—you're taming your limbs."