Time passed like it never existed. Tianlei felt dizzy . His hands were numb, and he couldn't shift his body at all.
He slowly opened his heavy eyes to the intense white light of the room.
It reminded him of the pre-evaluation chamber .
He tried to move his hands and legs but couldn't. Even his head was pressed tightly against what felt like a bed.
"What the heck…" Tianlei tried to rise, but his body wouldn't budge.
His head and every part of his body ached. He turned slightly toward the sound of beeping machines.
A door clicked open and boots approached.
He turned to face the person hovering above him. It was a man in his fifties, wearing a military uniform beneath a white coat. He adjusted his spectacles up the bridge of his nose, clicking his tongue softly.
"Oh. You're awake."
He pressed a button on the side of the bed, and it shifted, turning Tianlei to face the other side of the room. Now that he could see properly, he realized he was in some kind of hospital room though no hospital had any reason to restrain someone this tightly.
"What is going on? Why am I tied up like this?"
The man didn't answer. He walked over and pulled the curtains aside, letting sunlight spill into the room. From its brightness, Tianlei could tell it was morning.
"You are Feng Tianlei, am I right?" the man asked.
"Yes."
"Oh? You remember your name."
He picked up a pen and something resembling a questionnaire, pulled a chair closer, and sat down with one leg crossed over the other.
"Well, I am Doctor Zhao. I will be your psychiatrist for today."
Psychiatrist. Tianlei remembered being told he would have one of these sessions, but he hadn't expected it to come so soon especially not while his body still ached like this.
"Why am I… like this?" he asked.
He stared at the bruises on his arms, still fresh and painful. Some were stitched; others were wrapped in bandages.
"Short-term memory loss," Doctor Zhao muttered, clicking his pen before writing something down.
He set the clipboard aside and looked at Tianlei.
"Mr. Feng, do you truly not remember anything from three days ago?"
Three days ago? That alone was a mystery his mind couldn't process.
"What do you mean by three days? All I remember is entering the room, lying on my bed, and taking a short nap. Then…"
His thoughts stalled. Beyond that moment, there was nothing—only a faint memory of cigarette smoke and other things he didn't want to reveal. He vaguely remembered sounds he'd heard while his eyes were closed.
"Then," he continued slowly, "I smelled cigarettes and heard some chatter. I don't remember anything else."
"Mr. Feng," Zhao said calmly, "cigarettes are prohibited in resting areas, especially here at the military branch. Are you sure that is all you remember?"
"Do you have cotton in your ears?" Tianlei snapped. "I said I don't remember anything—except—"
"Except what?"
"I don't remember why I'm like this in the first place."
Doctor Zhao leaned back in his chair, picked up the questionnaire again, and turned a page, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the words.
"All right, Mr. Feng. Clearly, you are experiencing memory loss or possibly a multiple-personality disorder. Do you sleepwalk?"
This doctor was either playing with him or completely insane but Tianlei had expected this kind of behavior. He remembered the feather lady's warning: they might try to make him look insane. But why?
"I am not insane. Stop trying to make me look like one," Tianlei said flatly.
"All right, Mr. Tianlei."
Doctor Zhao turned another page and began reading.
"Three days ago, in the afternoon, a new batch of students arrived. This included Feng Tianlei. Upon arrival, he was holding a strange rod and immediately fell asleep on bed thirty-six. One hour later, he got up and urinated on Muyan. Another student, Xue Yuchen, intervened, and a clash broke out, resulting in a stampede involving Feng Tianlei."
Doctor Zhao stopped reading and looked up.
"Mr. Feng, that is the official incident report. Do you remember anything now?"
An hour passed. Got up. Urinated on Muyan. Yuchen intervened.
Indeed, all of this existed in his memory.
"All that, I—"
"Mr. Feng," Zhao interrupted, "we also have CCTV footage. Your actions are consistent with sleepwalking, but according to your records, you have never experienced such behavior. That leaves us with only one explanation...mental disorder."
Now this freak was clearly trying to confuse him.
"If you've read my records, then you should know I don't have any mental disorders."
Doctor Zhao exhaled softly.
"We don't know what your brain thinks, so we can't justify that conclusion."
Tianlei struggled against the restraints, but the metal bands tightened painfully, biting into his limbs the more he resisted.
"Mr. Feng, that won't help," Zhao said. "I will ask you a few questions. Answer carefully. There is a lie detector active. This is your only hope."
A construct of two metallic rings descended from the ceiling. One separated and hovered above Tianlei, emitting a beam of light that scanned his body.
Data appeared on the screen.
Heart rate: 54 bpm
Blood pressure: 110/68
Breathing: 8–10 bpm
GSR: Flat
Oxygen saturation: 96%
Everything was normal. Even with advanced technology, they still relied on traditional measurements.
"I will ask you a few questions," Zhao said. "If you lie, the index will rise above eight. If you cooperate, it should remain below four."
Tianlei steadied himself. He had read enough novels and watched enough shows to know how lie detectors were fooled . He just had to control breathing, control heart rate, answer smoothly, don't hesitate.
He was likely not under any kind of drug. He had to stay calm and follow his plan of fooling his way out of this nonsense.
"Before you arrived at the academy," Zhao asked, "what was your major objective?"
His major objective… That sounded more like a purpose in life. Unlike others, Golden Earth Academy had never been his dream. He didn't even know how he had ended up in the pre-evaluation chamber under Xue Ren—especially after he should have died from the fall.
What was my purpose?
The numbers on the screen hovered between four and five. He had hesitated.
"My purpose in life," Tianlei said slowly, "was to fulfill my assigned obligations."
"What obligations?"
"To make the people around me proud."
That wasn't a lie. He had to gain the supreme bloodline of the Feng family and stop the Heavenly Sky Mansion from trampling over his grandfather. If he succeeded, the people around him would indeed be proud.
The machine accepted It.
"Okay, Feng Tianlei," Zhao continued. "Would you kill someone like the First Commander if you had the chance?"
"Yes," Tianlei answered almost immediately.
The index dropped to two.
"So you would kill anyone who made you angry?"
Tianlei hesitated. The index rose to six. All his life, he had lived behind others always weak and underestimated, an easy target for people like Bai Kun, First Commander Zhang, and even Feng San. He held grudges, but not blind ones.
"If I were to kill everyone who made me angry," he said calmly, sharpening his gaze at the doctor, "that would include you."
Doctor Zhao met his eyes. He didn't need the machine to know Tianlei was serious.
"Besides," Tianlei continued, "I am not a vengeful spirit. I seek justice and wish to eliminate those who uphold wicked systems."
"All right."
The index dropped to three.
"Do you know the person you urinated on?" Zhao asked. "He claims that while you slept, he traced a marker on your stomach to draw abs you didn't have. Could that be the reason you attacked him?"
"This nonsense again," Tianlei muttered. He still remembered everything but had to keep up the pretense.
"Like I said, I don't remember anything."
The numbers didn't move.
"All right," Zhao said. "Have you ever wished to harm yourself? Do you engage in self-degrading thoughts? Do you feel jealousy when others advance?"
Jealousy? Tianlei thought. In a world like this?
"My thoughts are my own," he replied. "I imagine many things. I am jealous of many things. That is human."
The doctor clicked his pen.
"What are your fears?"
That question struck a nerve. The index spiked to nine as memories surged from his drowning cursed mind technique training .
He forced himself calm, even as his heart rate and breathing rose.
"I would rather not answer that question."
"All right," Doctor Zhao said, standing. "It seems you are not insane. Your case has been dismissed."
"Why would you dismiss a case that didn't exist?"
Doctor Zhao turned, surprised by the sudden question.