Class Reunion

"Bang." "Bang." "Bang."

As Mom cleaned nonexistent dust from the room, she muttered and cursed nonstop.

Her voice was just loud enough for Xiao Xiao, hiding in the bedroom, to hear, but not loud enough for the neighbors. Every so often, she angrily slammed the broom or rag against the floor or table:

"You're already this old, yet all you know is hiding in your bedroom playing games every day."

"You don't even clean your room. It's a pigsty. How did I end up with a son like you? You're exactly like that good-for-nothing father of yours..."

"You're destined to accomplish nothing and rot away in your room!"

"..."

Xiao Xiao covered his ears in anguish, his body trembling slightly.

He had forgotten when this kind of life had begun. All he felt was an unbearable splitting headache, as though his brain were being brutally stirred into pieces.

For the past four years, he had often suffered from this splitting headache. Accompanied by intense dizziness, it made everything around him seem to twist and stretch.

The things before his eyes no longer seemed real, writhing and twisting like earthworms.

He could hear his heart pounding like a drum. The interval between each beat seemed to last several minutes.

In this state, where his surroundings periodically became utterly unreal and distorted, he could not even focus. His thoughts were like shattered glass, reflecting strange, intersecting light.

He had tried to accept it and control himself, but clearly, his family could no longer accept it.

"Bzz..."

His phone suddenly vibrated softly. The sound eased Xiao Xiao's symptoms somewhat, giving him the faint feeling of returning to reality.

"Don't forget the class reunion. Minghe Hotel, private room on the second floor."

The message was from a high school classmate named Jiang Cheng.

In fact, Xiao Xiao had not been in touch with his former classmates for a long time. During these four years, he had barely even gone outside. But after seeing the message, he still decided to go out.

Even though the headache resembling a panic attack had only just flared up, he wanted to go out. Perhaps he had been cooped up for too long and wanted to escape, if only temporarily.

"Can't you just stay home properly? Where are you running off to now?"

"Get out! Get out!"

"If you've got the guts, die out there and never come back!"

"..."

When Xiao Xiao casually grabbed a hoodie and went out, Mom's curses suddenly grew louder. It seemed that no matter what Xiao Xiao did, he could always hit a nerve.

"Thud, thud, thud..."

As she spoke, she forcefully chopped some unknown meat on the cutting board. Her eyes remained fixed on Xiao Xiao, and the knife in her hand came down with such murderous force that it seemed she wished to chop him up next.

The look frightened Xiao Xiao. Feeling icy all over, he fled out the door.

Night had fallen. There were no streetlights in the narrow alley. Xiao Xiao escaped the sound of his mother chopping meat, yet he continued to feel that something was watching him, as if some enormous creature had its eyes locked on him.

"Woof..."

Hearing him approach, the three vicious dogs in the neighbor's yard let out threatening growls.

The iron chains around their necks were pulled taut, making metallic groans as though they were about to break. Their dark red eyes stared fixedly at him, while saliva dripped between their jagged, ferocious teeth.

He walked close to the outer wall, but strange, warped sounds suddenly drifted down from above. Behind a window on the second floor, the Old Record Player's sound was mournful and plaintive.

The intangible tension made him walk faster and faster, but then the shriek of a chainsaw suddenly drew his attention. Through a filthy, blurred window, he saw a tall Butcher holding a chainsaw and cutting something apart.

"Swish!"

The Butcher and the thing being cut suddenly turned their heads at the same time and looked toward him through the window.

Xiao Xiao was overwhelmed by terror. He stumbled backward, then broke into a run. Only after passing through the alley did he stop beneath a streetlamp and gasp for breath.

He looked up at the bustling street, and a dazzling tide surged into his mind.

Brilliant neon lights spewed across the sky above the city like lava, while the honking traffic roared past his eyes like hordes of steel monsters.

Searchlights on the rooftops swept across the night sky, as though trying to illuminate the entire darkness. Yet they alone could not light up the city's shadowy corners and sewage-filled alleys.

The newspapers scattered on the ground reported in large headlines that the serial killer who stole people's hearts had yet to be caught, while The Maiden Gang, which had bombed the school not long ago, had openly provoked The Guard Hall, among other news.

White paper and black letters—it was a perfect reflection of the city's character.

"Have I really been staying home too long?"

Xiao Xiao drew in a deep breath of cold, damp, salty air and forced himself to calm down.

He looked up at the city and found it strangely unfamiliar. He did not know when it had happened, but the city seemed to have taken on an entirely different character.

He did not know where this shadow-like feeling had come from, but thinking of the persistence he had shown over the past four years, he wrapped his clothes tighter and slowly headed toward the reunion.

"Xiao Xiao's here?"

"This reunion turned out great. We managed to bring out Xiao Xiao, the shut-in god who hadn't taken a single step outside in years, and we also got to see Yang Jia, the goddess who hadn't contacted any of her classmates in four or five years..."

"Getting Xiao Xiao, who was prepared to stay home until he died, to come out is truly a major event..."

Inside the private room, the smiling faces of his classmates began overlapping with the youthful, vibrant images in Xiao Xiao's memories, pulling him back to that sunny memory from four years ago.

His wildly beating heart calmed down a little.

Over the past four years, they had all gone to university and begun different lives.

But he was different. Because of his severe headaches, it was as if his life had been locked in a cage for four years.

A sense of estrangement had already emerged, but Xiao Xiao was still happy. After all, this seemed like a normal feeling, and these were normal people.

"What are you talking about?"

Someone suddenly spoke with a laugh, interrupting everyone's discussion.

A radiant girl who had been making a phone call outside walked in. She had a slender figure and clean, delicate features, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

The classmates at the table immediately put on different smiles and said one after another, "It's nothing. Yang Jia, now that you're back, are you staying?"

"..."

She was the center of attention at the reunion and the girl everyone acknowledged as the most beautiful.

Even in Xiao Xiao's memories, her image was clearly preserved. She had been the prettiest girl in high school, with excellent grades, a talent for sports, and outstanding ability in every respect.

Besides that, she possessed a mysterious quality that was difficult to describe precisely.

It was said that she came from a prominent family in a major northern city. She had transferred to their school for some special reason and had left after studying there for only one semester.

"I'll be staying here for a while," Yang Jia replied with a smile. "But I haven't decided exactly how long."

She seemed to possess that quality by nature: gentle toward others, yet distant. She appeared unconcerned, yet always became the center of everyone's attention.

"She seems different from the others..."

Xiao Xiao did not know when he had begun to feel drawn to Yang Jia.

It was not because she was beautiful, but because she constantly radiated a sense of reality—something Xiao Xiao found difficult to describe with words.

Only when he looked at her did he seem to move away from that unreal dizziness. His tense emotions slowly faded.

Perhaps the discomfort and panic he had felt earlier were merely effects of his headaches. Perhaps he had been too nervous and had started imagining things.

"Heh, Xiao Xiao, what are you looking at?"

But at that moment, a cold voice suddenly jolted Xiao Xiao awake.

He raised his head and saw Jiang Cheng staring at him with a sinister look. A cigarette was held between his fingers, the corners of his mouth pulled into an unnatural grin, while a chilling light shone from his eyes.

Another classmate was gripping a table knife and repeatedly stabbing straight down into the meat on his plate. Yet as he did so, his eyes remained fixed on Xiao Xiao.

Someone across from him yanked a chair hard, producing a grating screech, then leaned back at an angle and gave Xiao Xiao a smile that was neither quite a smile nor not one.

In that instant, Xiao Xiao felt as if he had suddenly become the target of everyone's hatred.

His heart abruptly began pounding out of control, yet each beat grew slower and slower. Xiao Xiao felt his nerves tense up again, beyond his control, as cold sweat seeped layer by layer across his forehead.

The dizziness struck once more. Everything around him seemed to grow unreal.

He could even sense that these people might suddenly leap up at any moment and drive the knives in their hands viciously into him.

They all want to hurt me...

When the thought suddenly burst into his mind, Xiao Xiao startled even himself.

He rose in a panic. "I'm going to the bathroom!"

He fled the hotel's private room, yet he could still feel countless sinister gazes boring into his back.

"What's happening to me?"

Xiao Xiao splashed a handful of cold water onto his face and closed his eyes in pain.

He did not know why this was happening. His mother at home, the pedestrians on the road, and even the classmates he knew all occasionally revealed expressions as if they wanted nothing more than to kill him.

So was he actually sick?

He had fallen ill four years ago. His head had begun splitting with pain, and the entire world had become twisted and unreal.

He had spent four years exercising in his bedroom, feeling that he had gotten somewhat better. But in fact, he had not. His symptoms had only grown worse?

"How long has it been since you awakened?"

Just as Xiao Xiao was questioning himself in pain and confusion, a calm voice rang out.

Xiao Xiao was startled. He quickly turned around and saw that Yang Jia had somehow appeared behind him.

She leaned against the wall, a slender cigarette held between her fingers. Her expression was indifferent as she looked at him.

"I..."

Xiao Xiao hesitated, wanting to explain that he had just said he was going to the bathroom.

But Yang Jia suddenly interrupted him. "I'm asking how long ago you awakened. How did you attract so much hatred?"

"Hatred?"

Xiao Xiao became even more confused. He looked at Yang Jia in bewilderment.

"Didn't you notice?"

Amid the drifting smoke, carrying a faint hint of mint, Yang Jia's eyes seemed somewhat mysterious as she spoke softly.

"This city is fake..."

"All the things around us are evil spirits..."

Haha, it was wonderful to meet everyone again on such a special day!!