Angel on the Moon

The room fell silent for a moment.

A few seconds later, Dr. Li came back to his senses. "The Seraph?"

"Yes."

"What was the Seraph doing?"

"Nothing. The Seraph was like a golden statue, sitting in the center of an enormous lunar crater, looking up at Earth, as if... keeping watch?"

Dr. Li rubbed the corner of his eye and spoke helplessly. "Qiye, do you know how far the Moon is from Earth?"

"Nearly four hundred thousand kilometers," Lin Qiye said calmly.

"Nearly four hundred thousand kilometers," Dr. Li repeated. "Even with the most advanced astronomical telescopes, we can barely see the Moon's surface. Yet when you were seven, you lay on the roof of your old home and saw an angel on the Moon with your naked eye?"

"It wasn't that I saw the Seraph," Lin Qiye said quietly. "The Seraph saw me. I merely looked up, and it was as if my eyes were dragged through space to meet the Seraph's gaze."

"So the Seraph forced you?"

"More or less. Otherwise, how could I have seen the Moon's surface? It's not like I have clairvoyance."

"But if an angel truly existed on the Moon, why had humanity never discovered it all these years?"

"I don't know." Lin Qiye shook his head. "Perhaps that Seraph didn't wish to be observed. Besides... does humanity really understand the Moon?"

Lin Qiye spoke with such sincerity that Dr. Li immediately wanted to call for a car and have him dragged back to the Psychiatric Hospital.

Dr. Li was, after all, a doctor specializing in mental illness. He had seen every kind of psychiatric patient, and over the course of his medical career, he had come to a conclusion: the more seriously someone spouted nonsense, and the more convincing it sounded, the more severe their condition was.

"What about your eyes? What happened to them?"

Lin Qiye raised a hand and gently rubbed the black satin covering his eyes. There was no emotion in his voice. "That day, I met the Seraph's gaze for a moment, and then... I went blind."

Dr. Li opened his mouth, lowered his head to look at the medical record in his hand, and fell silent.

Under the section for cause of blindness, there were only four words.

—Cause unknown.

So... what had really happened back then?

Could it really have been as Lin Qiye said? Had he seen the Seraph on the Moon? Otherwise, how could his sudden blindness be explained?

The thought surfaced for only an instant before Dr. Li crushed it outright.

That was close. He had nearly been led astray by a psychiatric patient!

He could practically imagine how spectacular the doctors' expressions must have been when the young, blind Lin Qiye had said those very words ten years ago.

No wonder the child had been forcibly kept in the hospital. No matter how one looked at it, everything he said was the sort of thing only psychiatric patients would say.

There were plenty of people like that in the hospital. Some claimed to be the reincarnation of the Monkey King and spent every day hanging from the horizontal bar in a daze. Some believed themselves to be coat racks and stood motionless in their rooms all night. Some saw every man as their husband and would sneakily grope other people's asses whenever they got the chance...

Well, the last patient was a greasy forty-year-old uncle.

"What you mentioned was all in the past. What about now? How do you view this matter now?" Dr. Li adjusted his emotions and continued the follow-up procedure.

"They were merely delusions." Lin Qiye spoke calmly. "That day, I simply accidentally rolled off the roof and hit my head on the ground. As for my eyes, perhaps some nerve was damaged, which caused the blindness."

He did not know how many times he had said those words. He was practiced and composed.

Dr. Li raised his brows, wrote something in the medical record, then chatted with Lin Qiye about daily life. About twenty minutes later, he checked the time and stood with a smile.

"All right, that's enough for the follow-up. There's no real issue with your condition anymore. I hope you can adjust your mindset and live well." Dr. Li shook Lin Qiye's hand encouragingly.

Lin Qiye smiled and nodded slightly.

"Oh, Dr. Li, stay for a meal," his aunt warmly urged when she saw Dr. Li leaving.

"No, no. I still have another patient to see, so I won't impose."

Dr. Li politely bade his aunt farewell, then pushed open the door and left.

The instant the door closed, Lin Qiye's smile vanished, as if it had never existed.

"Delusions... huh..." he murmured.

"Bro, dinner!" His cousin Yang Jin came out of the kitchen carrying dishes and called out.

Yang Jin was his aunt's son, four years younger than Lin Qiye and newly enrolled in middle school. Since Lin Qiye's parents had disappeared and he had moved in with his aunt, the two had grown up together. They were closer than blood brothers.

"Coming," Lin Qiye answered.

Lin Qiye had just sat down beside the cramped dining table when warmth suddenly spread from the sole of his foot. He froze for a moment, then the corners of his lips rose slightly.

Yang Jin glanced under the table and laughed as he scolded:

"You little Xiao Hei Lai. You're usually too lazy to move, but when it's time to eat, you get here faster than anyone."

A little black Mangy Dog poked its head out from beneath the table. Its tongue hung past its teeth as it panted out warm breath. It sidled up beside Lin Qiye, licked his foot again, and wore an utterly fawning expression.

Three people and one dog—that was a family.

Simple, difficult, yet somehow reassuring.

It had been that way for ten years.

Lin Qiye patted the dog's head, picked one of the few pieces of meat from the plate, and placed it in Yang Jin's bowl.

"Give it a bone to chew on."

Yang Jin did not refuse. With the bond between the brothers, saying anything more would only make them seem distant.

What concerned him was something else.

"Bro, are your eyes really almost healed?"

Lin Qiye smiled faintly. "Mm. I can see now. I'm just still not able to handle light very well, so I'll have to keep this black satin on for a few more days."

"What do you mean, a few days? Qiye, listen to your aunt. Eyes are too important. Even if you can see now, don't rush to take off that black satin. What if... what if the sunlight damages them again? That would be such a shame! We should be careful and keep it on a little longer!"

"Got it, Auntie."

"Oh, right, Bro. I saved up some money and bought you a really cool pair of sunglasses. I'll show them to you later!" Yang Jin seemed to remember something and said excitedly.

Lin Qiye smiled and shook his head. "A Jin, sunglasses can block light, but they're nowhere near as effective as black satin. I can't wear them yet."

"Okay..." Yang Jin looked a little disappointed.

"But once my eyes are completely healed, I'll wear them every day when I go out. I'll buy you a pair too, and we can wear them together."

At those words, Yang Jin's eyes lit up again, and he nodded hard.

"Oh, Qiye, your aunt has already arranged your transfer. Once this semester begins, you'll be able to transfer from the special school to an ordinary high school." His aunt seemed to remember something. "But have you really thought it through? Ordinary high school is different from a special school. With your condition, what if..."

"There's no what if, Auntie." Lin Qiye interrupted her. "My eyes are already healed, and if I want to get into a good university, I have to stand on the same starting line as everyone else."

"You child... Even if you can't get into a good university, it's fine. At worst, your aunt will support you forever!"

"Bro, I can support you too!"

Lin Qiye's body trembled slightly. No one knew what his eyes looked like beneath the black satin. His lips pressed together, then curved into a smile.

He shook his head firmly.

He said nothing, but both Yang Jin and his aunt could feel his determination.

Even Xiao Hei Lai at his feet rubbed against Lin Qiye's ankle.

"Woof!"