Chapter 1: Homecoming

Chapter 1: Homecoming

Prologue

In 3 BCE, during the reign of Emperor Ai of Han, there was a great drought across the land.

In the area east of the Hangu Pass, a mysterious incident occurred.

The common people collectively fell into panic.

They abandoned their farms and threw down their hoes.

They all held wheat straws and called them the preparations for the Queen Mother of the West.

They insisted on delivering them to the imperial palace.

Some were disheveled, some were bare-armed and barefoot.

They traveled day and night, hurrying through roads and fields, passing them among themselves.

Local authorities arrested, suppressed, or beat them in an attempt to stop this but it was useless.

In the end, thousands of wheat stalks traveled through 26 prefectures and commanderies and were finally delivered to the capital.

They were placed before Emperor Ai of Han.

After that, the common people sang, danced, and chanted scriptures in lanes and fields to worship the Queen Mother of the West.

This continued until autumn that year when they finally woke up as if from a dream.

—From Volume 34 of the Zizhi Tongjian.

In 1518 CE, the “Dancing Plague” broke out in Strasbourg, France.

At first, a woman suddenly danced and reveled wildly in the street, drawing spectators.

Later, people gradually joined in and danced nonstop through the night.

One day later, the number of Dancers reached 34.

Three days later, the number of Dancers exceeded 400.

Local officials summoned doctors for advice but they had no solution.

Several doctors and even soldiers joined the dancing.

They danced for days only stopping when exhausted to death.

One month later, nearly half the city’s people had died from the frenzied dancing.

In 1960, the Scarecrow Incident occurred in Massachusetts, USA.

A Scarecrow appeared in the wheat fields of the New England Highlands.

Its creator was unknown.

Anyone who saw the Scarecrow’s eyes stood rigidly in place, looking dazed and stiff.

Those who saw affected people developed similar symptoms spreading outward.

Within one day, it spread throughout the entire state.

Later, the army and state police were deployed but the outcome was unclear.

In 2005, during lunch break, students at a middle school in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward collectively dreamed of red-eyed spiders, causing panic.

Afterward, students began showing symptoms like distorted limbs, slanted eyes and eyebrows, and tangled hands and feet.

Experts labeled this phenomenon as muscle spasm symptoms triggered by mass hysteria.

The next day, a gas explosion occurred at the school destroying multiple buildings.

Casualties were unclear and Survivors were unclear!

In 2030, the Crimson Moon Incident occurred!

————————————————

The deep red moon hung low above the dense ranks of city skyscrapers, swelling to occupy nearly half the sky.

A pitch-black loop train, its body flecked with rust in many places, sped through the city beneath the Red Moon’s gaze. Inside the car, passengers in assorted clothing either read newspapers or dozed under dim lights.

“Ding, Moon Terrace Station!”

Lu Xin jolted awake, grabbed his bag, and flowed out with the crowd onto the platform.

He walked past grimy, crumbling steps and a newspaper-strewn platform, emerging onto the city’s streets. Glaring neon lights cast an unsettling kaleidoscope over the streets and the people. Yet however vivid the street colors, the red moon overhead remained this world’s true backdrop.

Ever since the Crimson Moon Incident thirty years ago, the world had persisted this way.

Of course, Lu Xin knew no different; born after the Incident, this was his normal.

He shouldered his bag through a rain-dampened alley and entered a dilapidated Old Building. The elevator was broken again, forcing him to climb the stairs. At the fourth floor, Room 401, he unlocked the hefty door.

The hallway was silent and chilly, but indoors radiated soft warmth.

Father stewed meat in the kitchen, the pressure cooker hissing with savory steam.

Little Sister curled on the sofa snacking away while watching an ancient cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants.

Mother, elegant in a cream knit cardigan, stood by the window murmuring into a phone.

“Ninth Brother, you’re back!”

Noticing Lu Xin enter and unshoulder his bag, Little Sister beamed up sweetly.

“Was Little Seventeen good today? I brought back the teddy bear you wanted.”

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

“Ah! Thanks, big brother! I love it!”

Little Sister bounced gleefully, clutching the bear.

“You’re back?”

Mother glanced over, smiling slightly. “Rest a bit. Dinner’s almost ready.”

Lu Xin nodded, settling at the dining table.

…

…

Four place settings lay arranged with dishes of wilted greens. Rice cooled in bowls.

Yet, nobody made to sit.

Mother continued sweetly into the phone, “Sister Zhang, honestly, today was my fault. Don’t be upset. Yes, I admit this grey cardigan is outdated, but calling it ugly…? Exactly, that’s why I’m calling… You didn’t say so? No, no—I know you thought it deep down…”

“No, no misunderstanding at all… I merely request an apology… Swearing is uncivilized, you see…”

Father’s bone-chopping grew louder, his curses muffled but venomous: “Trash… Scum… Trespassing on private homes… Deserve death—ALL of them—! … Eat so damn much… Won’t chop clean… Won’t stew clean!”

Meanwhile, Little Seventeen sat cross-legged on the sofa, gleefully shredding the brown bear. Pinching with fingers, gnashing with small, pearly teeth, she detached its ears, eyes, then arms one-by-one. Her face glowed rapturously as limbs tore away from fluffy torso.

“Dinner will wait!”

Mother hung up gently. “Just a small conflict with neighbor Sister Zhang. I’ll go apologize properly.”

She plucked scissors from a drawer, then swept out elegantly, shutting the door behind her.

…

…

Lu Xin waited quietly at the table.

He considered himself fortunate. After the Crimson Moon Incident plunged the world into Chaos, countless died. Orphans like Lu Xin numbered beyond tally. Many vanished once grown. Yet he got adopted, got this warm home—an enviable blessing.

True, sometimes this family felt… a tad peculiar.

Still, within this crumbling, grimy Satellite City, their life felt whole.

Mother returned soon, relief illuminating her face. “Sister Zhang and I reconciled!”

Lu Xin noted a faint smear of still-glistening blood under her cardigan collar.

The family gathered to eat.

Little Seventeen held the shredded bear, now crudely restitched. Lopsided stuffing bulged through jagged seams. But she adored it more than ever.

Father took his seat, uncorking a bottle of unlabeled turbid liquor. Wolfing greens, he drained his cup in one gulp. The table’s sole non-vegetable dish was noticeably absent—Father relished chopping bones and stewing meat, but forbade anyone touching his pots or tasting his creations. Stained with blood splatters, his plastic apron attracted circling flies.

Outside, wailing sirens and chaotic shouts drew closer. Meaningless noise blurred into the haze.

CRACK!

Father slammed his cup. Bloodshot eyes glared at the window: “Bastards… Just fucking SHOUT! Won’t even let a man eat peacefully! Worthless Guard Bureau! Clueless imbeciles! Nosy trash neighbors! Always snooping on decent folk!”

“Don’t frighten the children, dear.”

Mother delicately picked at greens. Beneath the dismal lighting, her crimson lips blazed unnaturally.

Lu Xin remembered she wasn’t wearing lipstick.

“Damn the children, damn it, they all deserve to die!”

Father became even angrier, his fingers gripping the wine bottle tightly with veins bulging, and cursed: “Whore, you deserve to die too!”

“Yes, in your eyes, anyone deserves to die except you.”

Mother smiled elegantly and calmly: “Because in the end, you plan to keep collecting corpses, is that it? You love gathering corpses!”

As she spoke, she put down her bowl and chopsticks, smiled gently, and looked at Father: “Because when those people were alive, they lived better than you, they were more capable than you, so you especially hated seeing them alive; you enjoyed seeing them never able to speak again!”

“Shut up, shut up, you know?”

Father was indeed enraged by Mother. He suddenly smashed the wine bottle, rushed forward, and grabbed Mother by the neck.

“Giggle…”

Mother laughed very happily; even though her face was already turning purple from being choked, her smile remained elegant: “Use… useless…”

“Bang!”

Father finally couldn’t hold back; he began to attack with punches and kicks, making the dining room shake constantly.

“Wah… Father don’t hit Mother…”

Little Sister trembled with fright, hugging her bear tightly. Suddenly, her face twisted, and she giggled madly: “Fun, fun, so fun…”

While laughing, she suddenly turned and jumped up like a nimble spider, crawled to the ceiling, hooked her feet onto the chandelier, and somehow anchored herself there. Twisting her head around, she gazed down at the fighting below. Holding the toy bear in her mouth, she clapped her hands hard, moaning endlessly through her mouth, as if laughing and crying at once: “So fun…”

Father grew more and more furious; his body seemed to steadily expand. His muscles ripped through his shirt, baring a bluish back covered in stiff black hairs. His features warped and enlarged. Swinging his fists, he punched Mother down with force, blow after blow. Though Mother was battered and bruised, her voice stayed elegantly composed: “So nice, this look of helpless rage…”

Lu Xin held his rice, sitting beside the overturned dining table, slowly eating the grains from his bowl.

After the Crimson Moon Incident, having a warm family was rare…

Even though in his own home, family members had small flaws—quarreling or fighting sometimes—it was still home…

Outside the window, in a room directly facing the window of Lu Xin’s living room, it was set up as a simple studio.

A short-haired woman in a casual suit was observing Lu Xin’s room through a telescope.

Through the telescope’s lens, she could see that empty room where Lu Xin sat alone in a chair eating. Clearly, he was the only one sitting there, but the room seemed struck by an earthquake—tables and chairs overturned, the chandelier swayed endlessly, and white flower-like cracks sporadically appeared on the window glass, as if something had impacted it.

“Mental Aberrant Observer No. 13’s Telekinetic Power has appeared.”

Beside her, two young men in fine workwear—one calculated rapidly, the other recorded.

“What potential does he have for recruitment?”

“How great is the potential threat?”

“What is the specific ability?”

The short-haired woman shook her head and said: “It’s unclear now. He doesn’t show a strong mutant form early on like other Mental Aberrants—such as those who can enter others’ Dream Realm or accidentally release Mental Plague. He seems normal, able to work and return home routinely every day, even handling his job well. But his spirit occasionally becomes disordered.”

“Sounds very promising and easy to guide.”

Behind them, a man with an authoritative face said: “Have we tried sending a Dreamweaver into his Dream Realm for assessment?”

“Yes!”

The short-haired woman in the crimson suit nodded gently and said: “But after that Dreamweaver entered his Dream Realm, they never came out.”