Since The Red Moon Appeared

The dark Red Moon hung above the densely-packed tall buildings in the city, filling nearly half of the sky.

A dark city train covered with rust flew swiftly across the city under the stare of the red moon.
Inside the train, passengers in all kinds of clothes, some were reading the newspapers, some were dozing off in the dull light.

Ding.

“The train is now boarding in the Moon Terrace station!”

Lu Xin was awoken from his light snooze.
He got up with his bag and left the carriage following the flowing crowd.

With his bag on his back, he drifted through the rundown, dirty stairs and the platform filled with newspapers.
When he reached the surface of the city, he looked up and gazed upon the sky.
The neon light made the view of the streets and the people wandering appear to be quite bizarre.
No matter how colorful the city was, the redness that came from the moon that dangled on top of the city still represented the primary color of the world.

The world had been like this since 30 years ago when the event of the Red Moon took place.

But of course, Lu Xin doesn’t know what the difference is.
He was born after the event occurred.
The world had been like this since the moment he became aware.

He went through the alley that was wet due to the rain earlier with his bag, entered a worn building, but the lift was broken again, so he could only take the stairs.
Unhurriedly, he reached Room 404 on the fourth floor.
He opened the dull door when he found his key.

The corridor was quiet and chilly, but the house in contrast was warm and meek.

In the kitchen, the father was stewing meat, the pressure cooker was bubbling with heat spreading out, exuding an irresistible smell.

The little girl was lying on the sofa, holding her snacks, and watching an old cartoon called “SpongeBob SquarePants”

The mother was as elegant as ever, wearing a while cardigan produced from wool.
She was conversing with someone on the phone by the window.

“You’re back big brother!”

Seeing Lu Xin coming back while placing down his bag, his sister looked at him and greeted him with a sweet smile.

“Were you good at home today? I bought your favorite teddy bear today!”

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

“Ah, thank you, big brother, I really like it!”

“You’re back?”

Lu Xin’s mother peeked at him and said with a smile, “sit down and take some rest, dinner will be here soon.”

Lu Xin nodded and sat by the dinner table.

…

…

There were four sets of bowls and chopsticks with a few green side dishes on the table.
The rice that was placed in the bowl was already getting a little bit cold.

However, the family had no intention to eat.

The mother was still talking patiently on the phone, “lady Zhang, considering today’s matter, it was indeed my fault, please cease your anger.
Of course, the grey wool sweater that I wore was old-fashioned, but how could you say it doesn’t look good? …Yes, I called you because of this matter, you didn’t say it out loud, but I could tell you were thinking about it…”

(Still the mother talking) “No no, please don’t misunderstand my intentions… I just want you to apologize.
You shouldn’t curse, it’s too barbaric…”

The noises from the father stewing the meat were gradually becoming louder, faint curses could be heard, “Scum! Trash! Randomly breaking into someone’s house! Damn you! Damn you all! Eating so damn much, there would never be enough no matter how much I cook or stew!”

The little girl was happily sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, ripping the brown teddy bear apart bit by bit using both of her hands, biting with those deathlike white teeth.
From the ears of the toy to the eyes, arms, bit by bit, they were torn down.
She carefully observed the process when the limbs of the teddy bear were torn off from its torso, an excited and satisfied expression appeared on her face.

“We’ll eat in a bit!”

The mother with her phone placed down, said gently,

 “I had some misunderstandings with our neighbor lady Zhang, I have to apologize!”

After finishing her statement, she casually took out the pair of scissors from the drawer and left the house.

…

…

Lu Xin was waiting quietly by the dinner table.

He felt lucky.
Ever since the event of the red moon, chaos has taken over the world for a long time.
During that period, many died, and orphans like Lu Xin were common.
Some of them disappeared after adulthood.
Lu Xin was adopted by his current parents, with such a warm family, many were jealous of him.

Of course, this family could be weird sometimes.

But this family, in this rundown and tiny satellite town, was still quite complete.

The mother came back quickly, with a pleased smile implanted on her face, she said, “lady Zhang was able to reconcile with me!”

Lu Xin discovered an unnoticeable bloodstain under the collar of her white wool sweater, it was still quite fresh.

The family started eating.

The little girl was still embracing her teddy bear, the toy was sewn back together after she had torn it.

Its body was unsteadily pieced, there were stitches and sewing marks all around it, but the little girl liked it more than ever.

The father also took a seat at the table, he opened a liquor whose labels was distorted and the words on it couldn’t be read.
He grabbed chopsticks full of vegetables and took a shot in one go of the liquor.
There was no meat on the table.
The father liked chopping bones and stewing meat, but he never let anyone eats it, nor did he let anyone go close to his pot.
He was still wearing a plastic apron stained with blood.
A few flies were circling him.

There were sirens closing by, the noises of the crowd were constantly bombarding the house.
They didn’t know what the people were saying.

BANG!

The father suddenly slammed his cup against the table, he stared at the window with his bloodshot eyes,

“The only thing they know how to do is make noises! They won’t even allow people to have a quiet meal.
Garbage police, they can’t find out anything.
Garbage neighbors, the only thing they can do is peeping at others!”

“You’re scaring the kids!”

The mother picked up a green vegetable then proceeded to carefully eat it, but only her red lips were uncannily visible in the dim lights.

Lu Xin remembered that she doesn’t put on lipsticks.

“Damn the kids! Damn it, Damn them all!”

The father was getting more furious, his fingers driving into the glass, veins appeared in his hands,

“You whore! You should die too!”

“You’re right, everyone but you should die in cold blood through your eyes!”

She smiled elegantly, “because you want to be a scavenger until the very end! You love being a scavenger!”

While making that comment, she placed down her bowl and chopsticks, smiled gently at the father and said, “Because while they were living, they had better lives than you, they were greater than you, so you didn’t want to see them when they were living, you love seeing them that can’t speak!”

“Shut up, SHUT UP!”

The father was agitated by the mother, he slammed and broke the cup, and choked her.

“Hehe..”

The mother guffawed joyfully even though her face was purple, her smile was still as elegant as ever.

“Tra-trash…”

BAM!

The father couldn’t hold back anymore, he started beating the mother.
It was so ferocious that even the house was shaking.

“Waa… Daddy stop hitting mummy…”

The little girl was frightened by the sight as she tightly held the teddy bear in her arms, the fragile look did not last long as her face suddenly changed 

“Fun, fun, so much fun…”

While laughing to her heart’s content, she flipped and jumped to the ceiling all of a sudden as if she was imitating an agile spider.
Her legs were hooked on the chandelier and she fixed her body in place, she twisted her head to perceive the magnificent sight under her.
The teddy bear that she was embracing is now in her mouth, she was clapping with all her might and her mouth was moaning, it was unclear whether she was crying or laughing.

The father was getting angrier by each moment and as if his body was expanding, his shirt was ripped by the muscle, and the green, black hair on his back was revealed, his expressions were distorted, he was still throwing heavy punches at the mother.
One after another, the mother’s skin was torn but her voice remained calm, 

“Look at you, your savage yet incompetent manner…”

Lu Xin carried his bowl and sat next to the dinner table which had already been flipped over, started leisurely eating the rice out of his bowl.

Ever since the event of the Red Moon, having a warm family was precious…

Even though there were small problems within this family, like argument and fighting, at least it was still home.

…

…

Outside the window, a room that was set up like a small studio was opposite the living room window of Lu Xin’s house.

A woman with short hair and a casual suit was observing the room with a telescope

An empty room can be seen through the telescope, Lu Xin was eating on his own in a chair.
Although there was only him, it looked as if an earthquake had occurred inside the house.
The chairs and tables were flipped, the chandelier was wobbling and there would be cracks like white flowers occasionally on the glass windows – as if something had struck it.

“Psychic power has appeared from the observed 13th psyche mutant!”

Two young men were in fine working suits beside her, one of them was briskly calculating while the other was recording.

“Does he have any potential in getting recruited?”

“How big is the potential threat?”

“What’s his overall abilities?”

The woman with short hair shook her head and said,

“It’s not clear currently.
Unlike the other psyche mutants, who were able to display strong mutant forms: such as being able to enter others’ dreams, or unintentionally releasing a psychic plague.
He looks normal, attending and leaving his job every day, he had even shown great problem-solving skills, though his psyche occasionally becomes disturbed!”

“He sounds promising and easy to guide!”

Behind their backs, a man with a slightly stern look said,

“Have we ever tried asking a dream maker to enter his dream world to assess him?”

“Yes!”

The red-suited woman with short hair nodded her head lightly, and said,

“But the dream maker we sent never came back after entering his dreams!” 

Translated by: Listless

Edited by: Summit