since the red moon appeared
Chapter 2
The dark red moon hung low above the city’s scattered tall buildings, almost filling half of the sky.
A dark rust-covered inter-city train flew through the entire city under the red moon’s gaze. Inside this train, some passengers dressed in various colors were reading the newspaper, and some were dozing in the dim light.
“Ding! We have arrived at Moon Terrace Station!”
Lu Xin woke up from his doze, lifted his bag, and flowed out of the carriage with the surging crowd.
He carried his bag, walked past the dirty and worn steps, the platform full of newspapers, and walked to the ground of the city. Looking up, the glow of neon lights around made the streets and the people look colorful and feel strange. But no matter how rich the colors, the red moon still represented the world’s base color.
Ever since the Red Moon Event appeared thirty years ago, the whole world had been like this.
Of course, Lu Xin didn’t know what difference it made. He was born after the Red Moon Event, and the world had always been like this.
He carried his bag through an alley, where it had just rained, and ascended to a dilapidated old building. The elevator was broken again, so he had to take the stairs. He slowly came to room 401 on the fourth floor, took out the key, and opened the heavy door.
The hallway was quiet and chilly, but the apartment was warm and soft.
In the kitchen, Dad was stewing meat, and the pressure cooker was gurgling with heat, emitting a tantalizing meat smell.
Sister was lying on the couch, holding a snack and watching a very old cartoon: SpongeBob SquarePants.
Mom, elegant and modest, was wearing a white wool cardigan and standing by the window talking to someone on the phone.
“You’re back, Brother!”
Seeing Lu Xin walk in and put down his backpack, his sister looked up and smiled sweetly in greeting.
“Were you well behaved at home? I’ve bought you the teddy bear you wanted.”
Lu Xin stroked her head and handed her a brown teddy bear.
“Ah, thank you, Brother. I like it very much!”
Sister jumped up happily and hugged the bear.
“You’re back?”
Mom looked up at him and nodded with a smile. “Sit down and rest for a while, dinner will be served soon.”
Lu Xin nodded and sat down next to the dining table.
…
The table had been set with four sets of bowls and chopsticks and a few plates of green small dishes. The rice in the bowls was already a little cold.
However, the family had no intention to sit down to eat.
Mother was speaking gently on the phone: “Sister Zhang, actually, today’s matter, it is indeed my fault. Please don’t get angry. Of course, my gray wool sweater’s style is indeed a bit old, but how could you say it doesn’t look good? … Yes, I called you because of this matter… You certainly did not say it, but I know you think so in your heart…”
“No no, please don’t misunderstand… I just want to ask you to apologize… It’s not good to curse, too uncivilized… ”
Dad chopped bones louder and louder, and his cursing voice could be faintly heard: “Scum, waste, randomly breaking into other people’s homes. Damn, damn it….. F**king eating so much, I can’t finish chopping no matter how much I chop, and I can’t clean it no matter how I cook it!”
Sister was happily sitting cross-legged on the sofa at this time, tearing the brown bear apart bit by bit, using both hands to pull it apart and biting it with that mouthful of snow-white teeth. She bit off the brown bear’s ears, eyes, and both arms bit by bit. She tore it off and carefully watched the arms separate from the bear’s body with an excited and satisfied expression.
“We’ll have to wait a while before eating!”
Mom had already put down the phone, and she said gently, “I had a little misunderstanding with my neighbor Sister Zhang. I’ll go and apologize to her.”
With that, she smoothly took out the scissors in the drawer and elegantly walked out, taking the door with her.
…
Lu Xin quietly sat next to the dining table and waited.
He felt lucky. At the beginning of the Red Moon Event, the world had a long period of chaos. In that time, many people died, creating many orphans like him. Among them, a large portion disappeared after adulthood. Meanwhile, Lu Xin was lucky enough to be adopted by Dad and Mom and have a warm home. This was something that would make many envious.
Of course, this family and these family members would be a little strange sometimes.
But this family, in this shabby and dirty little satellite town, was still very complete.
Mom soon came back with a pleased smile on her face, saying, “Sister Zhang has made up with me!”
Lu Xin found an additional inconspicuous fresh bloodstain under the collar of her white woolen sweater.
The family began to eat.
Sister was still holding her little bear, which she had torn open and then sewn back together.
It was a crookedly pieced body, full of rough stitches, but Sister liked it even more than before.
Dad sat down at the table, opened a bottle of baijiu
1
, which label had been so soiled that the words could not be read, grabbed some green vegetables with his chopsticks, then finished the glass of baijiu in one gulp. There was no meat on the table. Dad liked to chop bones and stew meat, but never let anyone eat it or go near his iron pot. He was still wearing his plastic apron splattered with blood, and a few flies swirled around him.
Sirens approached outside, and noisy sounds of people talking could be heard continuously. But what they said was unknown.
“Smack!”
Dad suddenly put down his glass with force, looking out the window with bulging bloodshot eyes. “Noisy, noisy, just f**king know how to make noise. Can’t even let people eat a peaceful meal. Trash police, can’t find out anything. Trash neighbors, just know how to peek at people every day!”
“Don’t scare the children.”
Mom picked up a green vegetable and carefully ate it. Her bright red lips were striking in the dim light.
Lu Xin remembered that she did not wear lipstick.
“F**k the kids, damn it. Damn them all!”
Dad was even angrier. His five fingers gripped the bottle tightly and his veins rippled as he cursed, “Bitch, you deserve to die too!”
“Yes, in your eyes, everyone deserves to die but you.”
Mom smiled gracefully and calmly. “Because you’re going to stay to collect the corpses at the end, aren’t you? You like to collect corpses!”
As she spoke, she put down her bowl and chopsticks, smiled gently, and looked at Dad. “Because those people were better off than you when they were alive. They were more capable than you, so you especially don’t like to see them alive. You like to see them unable to talk!”
“Shut up, shut up. What do you know?”
Dad was really enraged by Mom. He violently broke the bottle, rushed up, and choked her.
Giggle…
Mom laughed very happily, even though she was choked until her face turned purple. Her smile was still very elegant. “Tra… trash…”
Smack!
Dad finally couldn’t help himself and started to punch and kick Mom, hitting her so hard the dining room shook non-stop.
“Wow… Dad, don’t hit Mommy…”
Sister cried out in fear, clinging to the bear, then suddenly blushed and giggled wildly. “Fun, fun, so fun…”
Then, she suddenly rolled over and jumped up like a flexible spider, climbed to the ceiling, hooked the chandelier with her feet, and somehow stabilized her body. She twisted and turned her head, looking at the fight below while her mouth gripped the toy bear. She slapped her hands hard and whimpered incessantly. It was like she was laughing, but also like she was crying. “Too fun!”
Dad was getting angrier and angrier, and his body seemed to expand. His muscles burst through his shirt, revealing his green, black hairy back. His features were twisted and big. He waved his fist, punching down hard at Mom, punch after punch. Mom was being beaten by him until her skin tore, but her voice was still as elegant. “That’s nice. This impotent rage…”
Lu Xin carried his rice bowl and sat next to the flipped-over table, slowly eating the rice.
After the Red Moon Event, a warm family was rare…
Although in his own home, his family would also have some minor problems and sometimes quarrel and fight, it was still home…
…
Outside the window, a room directly opposite the living room window of Lu Xin’s house was set up as a simple studio.
A short-haired woman in a casual suit observed Lu Xin’s room through a telescope.
Through the lens of the telescope, one could see that in the empty room, Lu Xin was sitting alone in a chair eating. Obviously, he was the only one sitting there. But that room looked as if an earthquake had happened in it. The table and chairs were overturned, the chandelier kept shaking, and on the window glass, a cloud of white flower-like cracks appeared from time to time, as if something had hit it.
“The thirteenth psyche mutation observed entity’s numinous power has appeared.”
One of the two young men beside her, wearing delicate work attire, calculated rapidly while the other recorded the scene.
“Does he have the potential to be recruited?”
“How big is the potential threat?”
“What are the specific abilities?”
The short-haired woman shook her head and said, “It’s not clear yet. He’s not like other psyche mutants who reveal a strong mutant form in the early stages, such as being able to enter other people’s dreams or unintentionally release a psyche plague, etc. He looks normal. He can go to and from work normally every day and can even handle his job well, but his psyche occasionally appears disturbed.”
“Sounds like he has a lot of potential and would be easy to guide.”
Behind them, a man with a somewhat imposing face said, “Have you tried asking a dream maker to enter his dream world to assess him?”
“Yes!”
The short-haired, red-suited woman nodded gently and said, “But after that dream maker entered his dream world, he never came out.”