Homecoming

The dark crimson moon hung low above the city's densely packed high-rises, nearly filling half the sky.

A dark train, its body covered in patches of rust, sped through the entire city beneath The Crimson Moon's Gaze. Inside, passengers dressed in all kinds of clothes read newspapers or dozed beneath the dim lights.

"Ding, Moon Platform Station has arrived!"

Lu Xin jolted awake from his nap, picked up his bag, and flowed out of the carriage with the crowd.

With his bag slung over his back, he crossed filthy, crumbling stairs and a platform littered with newspapers, emerging onto the streets of the city. Looking up, he saw neon lights casting the streets and crowds in bizarre, multicolored hues. Yet no matter how rich the colors below were, the Crimson Moon overhead still represented the world's underlying shade.

Ever since the Crimson Moon incident thirty years ago, the world had always been like this.

Of course, Lu Xin did not know what was different about it. He had been born after the Crimson Moon incident; the world had always been this way to him.

With his bag on his back, he passed through an alley still wet from the rain and entered an old, dilapidated building. The elevator was broken again, so he could only take the stairs, slowly making his way to Room 401 on the fourth floor. He took out his key and opened the heavy door.

The hallway was silent and chilly, but the apartment inside was warm and gentle.

In the kitchen, Dad was stewing meat.

Sister lay sprawled on the sofa, hugging snacks as she watched an old cartoon, SpongeBob.

Mom, elegant and composed in a white wool cardigan, stood by the window talking on the phone.

"Brother Jiu, you're back!"

When she saw Lu Xin come in and put down his bag, Sister looked up and greeted him with a sweet smile.

"Was Little Seventeen good at home today? I bought you the teddy bear you wanted."

Lu Xin patted her head and handed her a brown teddy bear.

"Ah, I love it!"

Sister jumped up happily and hugged the teddy bear to her chest.

"You're back?"

Mom looked up at Lu Xin, smiled, and nodded. "Sit down and rest for a while. Dinner will be ready soon."

Lu Xin nodded and sat beside the dining table.

Four sets of bowls and chopsticks had already been laid out on the table, along with several small dishes of green vegetables. Rice had been served into the bowls and was already a little cold.

Yet no one in the family seemed to intend to sit down and eat.

Mom continued speaking gently into the phone. "Sister Zhang, what happened today really was my fault. Please don't be angry. Of course, the style of this gray wool sweater of mine is a little old-fashioned, but how could you say it isn't pretty?... Yes, that's why I called you... You didn't say it aloud, of course, but I know that's what you were thinking..."

"No, no, please don't misunderstand... I only wanted to ask you to apologize... It wouldn't be good for you to curse at people. It's so uncivilized..."

The sound of Dad chopping bones grew louder and louder, along with his faint muttering. "Scum, trash, barging into someone else's home whenever you please. You deserve to die, all of you deserve to die... Damn it, eating so much. No matter how much I chop, it never ends. No matter how long I cook it, it never gets clean!"

Meanwhile, Sister sat cross-legged on the sofa, happily tearing apart the brown teddy bear bit by bit. She pulled with both hands, bit with her fine, snowy-white teeth, bit off the bear's ears, then its eyes, and tore off its arms one by one. As she carefully watched the arms separate from the bear's body, an excited, satisfied expression appeared on her face.

"We'll have to wait a little longer before dinner!"

Mom had already put down the phone. She said gently, "There was a small misunderstanding between Sister Zhang and me. I'm going to apologize to her."

As she spoke, she casually took a pair of scissors from the drawer, gracefully walked out, and closed the door behind her.

Lu Xin sat quietly beside the dining table and waited.

He felt that he was lucky. When the Crimson Moon incident first occurred, the world had gone through a long period of chaos. During that time, countless people had died, leaving behind many orphans like Lu Xin. A large number of them vanished after reaching adulthood. Lu Xin, on the other hand, had been adopted by Mom and Dad and had a warm home. Who knew how many people envied him for that?

Of course, this family and these family members could be a little strange sometimes.

But in this tiny, ruined, filthy Satellite City, this family was still complete.

Mom returned very soon, her face carrying a relieved smile. "Sister Zhang and I have made up!"

Lu Xin noticed a small, inconspicuous bloodstain beneath the collar of her white wool sweater. It was fresh.

The family began eating.

Sister still hugged her teddy bear. After she had torn it apart, it had been sewn back together.

Its body was stitched together crookedly, covered in rough seams, but Sister liked it even more than before.

Dad sat at the dining table and opened a bottle of baijiu with a filthy, illegible label. He picked up a chopstickful of greens, then downed an entire cup in one gulp. There was no meat on the table. Dad liked chopping bones and stewing meat, but he never let anyone eat it or approach his iron pot. He still wore a plastic apron splattered with bloodstains, while several flies buzzed around him.

Police sirens approached from outside, accompanied by constant noisy voices whose words could not be made out.

Bang!

Dad suddenly slammed his cup down and stared out the window with bloodshot eyes. "Noise, noise, noise! All you fucking know how to do is make noise! Can't even let people eat one peaceful meal! Useless Guard Department, can't investigate a damn thing! Useless neighbors, always peeping at other people!"

"Don't scare the child."

Mom picked up a strand of green vegetables and ate it carefully. Her bright red lips looked especially striking beneath the dim light.

Lu Xin remembered that she had not put on lipstick.

"Fuck the child! They should all die, every last one of them!"

Dad grew even angrier. His five fingers clutched the liquor bottle tightly, veins bulging as he cursed, "Bitch, you should die too!"

"Yes, in your eyes, everyone deserves to die except you."

Mom smiled with elegant composure. "Because you have to stay behind to collect the corpses, right? You like collecting people's corpses!"

As she spoke, she set down her bowl and chopsticks, smiled gently, and looked at Dad. "Because those people lived better lives than you did while they were alive, because they were all more capable than you, you especially hate seeing them alive. You like seeing them when they can never speak again!"

"Shut up! Shut up, do you hear me?"

Dad was indeed enraged by Mom. He smashed the liquor bottle and rushed forward, grabbing Mom by the throat.

"Hee hee..."

Mom laughed happily. Even though her face had turned purple from being strangled, her smile remained elegant. "Use... useless..."

Bang!

Dad finally could not hold back any longer. He began punching and kicking her, making the dining room shake continuously.

"Waaah... Dad, don't hit Mom..."

Sister burst into frightened tears, clutching her teddy bear tightly. Then her expression suddenly changed, and she began giggling wildly. "Fun, fun, so much fun..."

Still laughing, she suddenly flipped herself upright and leaped up. Like an agile spider, she crawled onto the ceiling, hooked both feet around the chandelier, and somehow held herself in place. Twisting her head around, she watched the fight below with the toy teddy bear clenched between her teeth. She clapped hard with both hands, her mouth constantly whimpering, half laughter and half crying. "This is so much fun..."

Dad grew angrier and angrier. His body seemed to expand without end, his muscles bursting through his shirt and exposing a bluish back covered in stiff black hair. His features became twisted and enormous. Waving his fists, he struck Mom with all his strength, punch after punch. Mom had already been beaten until her skin split and flesh tore, but her voice remained as elegant as ever. "How wonderful, this impotent rage..."

Holding his bowl of rice, Lu Xin sat beside the overturned dining table and slowly ate the grains of rice inside.

After the Crimson Moon incident, having a warm family was so precious...

Although his family members had some small flaws and sometimes argued or fought, it was still home...

Outside the window, in a room directly opposite Lu Xin's living room window, a simple studio had been set up.

A short-haired woman in a casual suit was observing Lu Xin's apartment through binoculars.

Through the lenses, the empty room could be seen. Lu Xin sat alone in a chair, eating. Though he was clearly the only one there, the room seemed to be undergoing an earthquake. Tables and chairs were overturned, the chandelier swayed constantly, and clusters of white cracks occasionally appeared on the window glass, as though something had struck it.

"Telekinesis has manifested in Mental Mutation Observer Number Thirteen."

Beside her, two young men in neat work uniforms worked—one calculating rapidly, the other taking notes.

"Does he have recruitment potential?"

"How great is the potential threat?"

"What exactly is his ability?"

The short-haired woman shook her head. "It's still unclear. Unlike other Mental Mutants, he did not display a powerful mutation form early on, such as entering other people's dreams or unconsciously releasing a Mental Plague. He appears normal. He goes to and from work normally every day and can even handle his work very well, but his mind occasionally becomes unstable."

"Sounds like he has great potential and would be easy to guide."

Behind them, a stern-looking man asked, "Have you tried having a dreamweaver enter his dreams for an assessment?"

"We have!"

The short-haired woman in the red suit nodded lightly. "But after that dreamweaver entered his dream, he never came back out."