Today marked the twelfth year since Gao Yang crossed over.
Before the crossing, Gao Yang was an orphan. He had just spent his sixth birthday at the orphanage. That night, after eating a cupcake the matron had bought him, he tucked himself into bed, fully content. Before drifting off, he made a wish: he hoped to find his mom and dad. Then, in a haze of drowsiness, he fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting at a dining table. A bowl of steaming noodles sat before him. A strand of noodle was currently dangling from his mouth, swinging slightly in the air.
The living room of the old house was bathed in soft, morning light. Across the table sat a middle-aged couple he didn't know. At the head of the table, back against the door, sat a kind-looking old lady. Beside him sat a little girl with large, doe-like eyes, roughly four or five years old.
"Don't just stare into space, hurry up and eat. You don't want to be late for school," the woman urged. She was in her thirties, and despite wearing plain pajamas and no makeup, her beauty was undeniable.
"Need a ride, son?" the man asked with a grin, a toothpick dangling from his lips. He was tall and sturdy, though sporting a slight dad-bod and a receding hairline—faint traces of his youthful handsomeness still lingered in his features.
"No! Daddy has to take me to kindergarten!" the little girl shouted indignantly, burying her face in a bowl of millet porridge.
"Ho ho, how about he drops off your brother first, and then takes you? Hmm?" The grandmother smiled warmly, reaching out to gently pat the little girl's head.
Gao Yang's jaw dropped. Plop. The noodle fell from his mouth onto the table.
He was six years old that year. He didn't understand what "transmigration" meant, nor did he know what a "parallel universe" was.
He thought he was still dreaming. But he never expected the dream to last twelve years.
Fast forward to the present. Gao Yang had long adapted to this new world and had fully merged with his host's identity. He was Gao Yang, 18 years old, a high school senior living in a warm, five-person household. He had a kind grandmother, parents who were loving (despite the occasional bickering), and a quirky, spirited little sister.
He lived a good life. Like most of his peers, he buried his head in books preparing for the Gaokao (College Entrance Exams). Occasionally, he would daydream about the future: which university to attend, what job to take, who to marry, how many kids to have...
In short, Gao Yang's six-year-old wish had come true. He had "found" a mom and dad, with a bonus grandma and sister included.
He was happy. He wanted for nothing.
Until his eighteenth birthday. That was the day everything changed.
After evening study hall, Gao Yang was cycling home. As he passed a dark stretch of road, a black shadow suddenly darted out from an alley, knocking Gao Yang and his bike to the ground.
Gao Yang took a tumble but wasn't seriously hurt. He hissed in pain as he stood up, finally getting a good look at the person who had hit him. Under the dim, sickly yellow streetlamp stood a short, middle-aged man. He was emaciated, his face ghastly pale, his expression one of pure terror. He was wearing a tattered hospital gown, stained with blood.
"Sir, are you oka—"
"Run!" The man grabbed Gao Yang by the shoulders with a terrifying grip. "Monsters! There are monsters everywhere! Run! Get out of here!"
The man's voice carried the metallic stench of despair. "Don't trust anyone..."
BANG!
Before the man could finish, a bullet punched through his temple. It shattered his skull and exited the other side, instantly blooming into a rose of blood.
Hiss— A thick mist of blood, mixed with a pungent, iron tang, sprayed into Gao Yang's face.
The hands gripping Gao Yang's shoulders slowly loosened. The look of horror on the man's face was frozen in time; his protruding eyes ceased to move, etched forever with despair, confusion, and unwillingness.
Two seconds later, the corpse collapsed heavily to the ground.
Gao Yang was stunned.
He stood rooted to the spot. The spreading pool of blood quickly soaked his shoes, feeling sticky and wet. The slight ringing in his ears caused by the gunshot was gradually drowned out by the thundering of his own heart: Thump, thump, thump-thump-thump...
"Kid, are you hurt?!"
"Don't be afraid, you're safe now!"
"Close your eyes, don't look down..."
Several police officers rushed over. One of them pulled Gao Yang into an embrace, covering his eyes with a hand.
The next day, Gao Yang was on the local headlines: "Escaped Mental Patient Kills Two Nurses, Gunned Down After Taking High School Student Hostage."
Gao Yang took a day off to rest at home.
He was indeed traumatized. Witnessing a life being brutally extinguished at close range was something no ordinary person could handle. Moreover, the incident with the mental patient was riddled with suspicious points. It felt wrong, though he couldn't immediately put his finger on why.
That night, Gao Yang took a sleeping pill.
After drifting off, he dreamed.
The memories of the original host prior to age six had mostly been digested by Gao Yang upon his arrival, but some vague fragments seemed to have been forgotten.
In the dream, Gao Yang returned to a late summer night when he was four years old.
He had eaten too much watermelon and woken up with a bursting bladder. As he passed his grandparents' room on his way to the bathroom, he heard a strange rustling sound.
Curious, Gao Yang pricked up his ears and pressed them against the cold door. The sound became clearer, and far stranger.
He had never heard a noise like it. It sounded like the whimpering of a wild beast, yet also like the mournful cry of a deep-sea whale. It sounded painful, yet mixed with a twisted sort of excitement. Listening closer, beneath the cries lay a rough, muffled tearing sound.
Gao Yang felt his blood run cold.
He had just heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood from his kindergarten teacher. He thought, could a Big Bad Wolf have snuck into the house and eaten Grandma and Grandpa?
Gao Yang's heart hammered in his chest, but he summoned his courage and gently pushed the door open.
Through the crack in the door, he saw it.
Terrified out of his wits, he turned and fled back to his room, burying his head under the covers, completely forgetting to use the bathroom.
The next morning, Gao Yang wet the bed. He thought it had just been a nightmare. But then, his mother pushed open the door, hugging Gao Yang tightly as she wept. "Gao Yang... Grandpa is gone."
When Gao Yang followed his mother out of the room, Grandpa's body was just being carried away on a stretcher by paramedics, covered by a white sheet. By the time the funeral was held, Grandpa had already been reduced to a box of ashes.
From start to finish, neither Gao Yang nor his sister got to see Grandpa one last time.
Thinking back on it now, there were so many suspicious details.
Grandpa loved Gao Yang and his sister the most. They were his closest kin—why were they denied a final look?
If his memory served him right, the shape of Grandpa's body under that white sheet... the upper body looked strange. It looked as if one hand was missing/incomplete.
Didn't Grandpa die of a heart attack? Why would he be missing a hand?
In the dream, Gao Yang stared at the corpse on the white stretcher, baffled.
Suddenly, the corpse sat up!
The white sheet slid down. It was the madman from the alley. His eyes had been gouged out, leaving two deep, bloody hollows. Viscous black blood sprayed from his seven orifices. He reached out with blood-drenched hands and strangled Gao Yang by the shoulders.
—Monsters! Monsters everywhere! Run! Get out of here!
—Don't trust anyone!
...
"Ah!"
Gao Yang jerked awake from the nightmare.
It was 10:00 AM. The sunlight was perfect. An April breeze lifted the curtains, revealing the hustle and bustle of the city outside.
"Big bro, bad dream?" His sister was sitting on the edge of his bed, tilting her head and blinking her big eyes at him.
Gao Yang paused. "Why are you in my room?"
She shot him a look of disdain. "The sun is burning a hole in your butt. Mom told me to wake you up!"
"Oh. Okay. Got it."
His sister left the room.
Gao Yang was still a bit dazed. He rolled out of bed and downed a large glass of water.
Just then, his phone buzzed. Gao Yang casually opened WeChat.
Pfffft—
He sprayed the water everywhere.