MASG chapter 126

 

Xia Yu was clearly walking inside his own home, yet he realized for the first time that every detail of the house felt unfamiliar to him.

During the day, the house looked one way; at night, it looked another. The furniture and layout were slightly different from what he remembered, making everything feel cold and strange. It was as if he were an NPC active only within a specific environment. His nightly routine was to go to bed and sleep. Once he left the bed, the outside environment made him uncomfortable.

He wasn’t sure whether this discomfort came from the night itself or from his fear of his younger brother, Mo An.

Was Mo An really his younger brother? Xia Yu began to doubt this as well.

His dad had never mentioned having another child, so why did the whole family accept it so easily? Had he himself even accepted it? A subtle yet delicate sense of dissonance arose in Xia Yu’s mind, one that was impossible to ignore. He followed Mo An down the stairs and stepped onto the new carpet his mother had just bought. The family portrait on the wall seemed to stare at him, as if disapproving of his sneaking out of his room at night, as if he shouldn’t be walking here.

In the photo, Mom and Dad looked cold, and his sister’s smile didn’t seem genuine.

No, impossible. Xia Yu shook his head and looked at the photo again. His warm family members were all back; not a single person had changed. At that moment, Mo An had already left the house. Xia Yu gathered his courage and followed him outside.

So, this is what it looks like outside at night? It was Xia Yu’s first time going out at night. At first, he couldn’t see the moon, but when he turned his head, it appeared, hanging brightly in the sky and emitting a gentle, cool light. A refreshing breeze blew along the coastline. The sound of the waves was the same as usual: lulling and sleep-inducing. The only thing keeping Xia Yu awake was the sound of Mo An’s footsteps.

Crunch, crunch, crunch — he was stepping on the grass.

Where was he going? Xia Yu snuck along behind him, afraid of losing him, but also afraid of being discovered. When he stepped onto the grass, its soft blades and soil swallowed his footsteps. Under the moonlight, Xia Yu saw his brother heading toward the fish pond.

Why was he going to the fish pond? Xia Yu wondered as he followed.

But he couldn’t get any closer. There was nothing to hide behind, and if he got any closer, he would definitely be discovered. Xia Yu could only crouch down and shrink his body as much as possible. He watched from afar as Mo An walked to the side of the pond.

He isn’t going to swim in the pond, is he? Xia Yu thought. The pond was full of saltwater fish, all of which were carnivorous. It would be very dangerous to go in—you might even get chunks of flesh bitten off. The next moment, his question was answered. He saw Mo An take off his shoes and walk eagerly to the edge of the pond, where he sat down immediately.

Ripples began to form on the surface of the water. The fish below became panicked and scattered in all directions. Mo An dangled his legs in the seawater. After a few seconds, he slid in without hesitation.

My God! What is he doing? Xia Yu opened his mouth anxiously, but no sound came out. Just as he was about to stand up, a wave of dizziness hit him. His vision went black, and he collapsed onto the lawn without realizing it.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw that one of his arms was resting on Mo An’s shoulder. Their gazes met, and Xia Yu noticed that Mo An’s eyes had turned completely black, with no trace of white visible. The sight made Xia Yu shiver immediately.

“Brother, were you sleepwalking?” Mo An asked, sealing Xia Yu’s “accident” with a single sentence.

What? Only then did Xia Yu notice that other people were around—his parents and sister were there, worry written all over their faces. When Xia Li saw him wake up, she immediately brought over a cup of milk that she had warmed up earlier. “It must be the pressure from studying too much. Tomorrow, I’ll go to school and talk to the teacher. This month, Xia Yu won’t do any homework.”

“Brother, how do you feel? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” Xia Xiaoxiao was so anxious that tears were about to spill out.

“Me? What’s wrong with me?” Xia Yu was completely confused. Then he realized that Mo An was still carrying him horizontally. He was slightly startled. What was going on? Hadn’t Mo An just gone to the fish pond? Why did it turn into him sleepwalking?

“You just sleepwalked. You were muddled and walked all the way to the fish pond. It was dangerous. I was too excited tonight, couldn’t sleep, and happened to see you faint when I went outside. You really scared us to death.” Mo An could only lie, and his stomach still wasn’t full.

He had just wiped out a third of the saltwater fish in the pond. But every time he surfaced to breathe, he thought he saw someone lying on the ground. Mo An had no choice but to stop eating, hurry ashore, and take a look. He found that Xia Yu had followed him and was close to the pond. In a moment of panic, Mo An went upstairs to change clothes first, then rushed back down. Who would have thought that the footsteps would wake Xia Xiaoxiao? Things ended up leading to this cover story.

Sorry, xla. I’ll make it up to you when we return to the real world together. Mo An hid his shock and tried to appear calm. Still, lying to Xia Yu made him feel guilty and uncomfortable. He had actually tricked him—he really was a bad fish.

“I… sleepwalked?” Xia Yu was still dazed, slowly accepting this completely different ending.

Zhang Mingqiao brought an electronic thermometer and lightly touched Xia Yu’s forehead. “Good thing Mo An and Xia Xiaoxiao were there. Don’t know if you froze outside, don’t catch a fever… better take leave tomorrow and the day after. The pressure of senior year is too much. Rest for a few days.”

The thermometer touched Xia Yu’s forehead and immediately made three beeping sounds.

Zhang Mingqiao glanced at the number. “Good, no fever… But how did you suddenly start sleepwalking?”

“I… I really sleepwalked?” Xia Yu still couldn’t quite believe it because he didn’t remember ever having this problem.

“Yes, you really did sleepwalk. Brother, if you’re not feeling well or if the psychological pressure is too much, you have to tell us. Don’t bottle it up by yourself.” Xia Xiaoxiao didn’t doubt it at all. She kept massaging Xia Yu’s calves and occasionally rubbing his fingers. “Let’s leave. We won’t miss out on anything in these few days of studying. I’ll take tomorrow off too. I’ll stay home with you. If you don’t go to school, I won’t either.”

“Isn’t that… not very good?” Xia Yu laughed helplessly. “If you want to take leave, just say so.”

“How could that be? I’m worried about you.” Xia Xiaoxiao pinched him. “As soon as it’s light out, I’ll call the teacher.”

“All right, then. We’ll take two days off. I might really be too tired, so I keep overthinking.” Since the whole family said so, Xia Yu could only choose to believe it. Besides, he had always been an atheist and a materialist and had always been skeptical of the scenes that appeared in his mind.

The hallucinations at the swimming venue were fake. The fish gills on Mo An’s neck were fake. Mo An going to the fish pond wasn’t real, either—it was just sleepwalking. Xia Yu drank the hot milk his mom had prepared and raised his hand to rub his temples. Yes, he really had been very tired lately. School exams felt endless—finish one today, and there’s another tomorrow.

Judging by their grades, taking two or three days off shouldn’t be a problem for them. If necessary, they could invite Chen Minghao over to do homework together. Xia Yu was quick to accept. In less than a minute, he formed a coherent line of reasoning. “All right, Mo An, you can let go of me now. Let me sit by myself.”

“Are you sure that’s okay, you sitting on the sofa alone?” Mo An still didn’t let go, acting like a clueless kid who won’t let go of Xia Yu.

“What are you talking about? Sitting on the sofa alone isn’t difficult. Don’t worry.” Xia Yu patted his hand. He had to admit that Mo An’s embrace was quite comfortable. Once you lay in it, it was easy to get lazy. He half lay, half leaned against the sofa. Soft cushions were beside him, and his family was all around him. Everything was the same as before.

However, when Xia Yu smiled at Mo An, his smile froze for a moment. The room suddenly felt airtight, and a strange sensation filled his chest once again.

He saw something on his brother’s ear—something that absolutely should not have been there. It was a tiny, white grain of salt, extremely inconspicuous. Because it was so inconspicuous, it remained on Mo An’s ear, instantly confirming that what he had seen earlier was not a hallucination but reality. Panicking, Xia Yu hugged the cushion with both hands. A thought gradually surfaced: My younger brother might not be human.

Mo An had gone to the fish pond. Absolutely.

The next day, all three children in the family took the day off.

This kept the two adults extremely busy. The couple worked from home and didn’t dare go anywhere. Zhang Mingqiao researched nutritional meals seriously. Xia Li bought books on psychological counseling for high school seniors. They both knew that this year would be difficult, and as parents, they had to be prepared.

Having one child prepare for the college entrance exam was hard enough. This family had three!

To help the kids relax, Zhang Mingqiao arranged a fishing trip on the second day of their vacation and went with them. Xia Yu and Xia Xiaoxiao were both very happy—it had always been their favorite activity since childhood. However, Mo An, being a mermaid, wasn’t interested at all and chose to stay home that day.

After they set sail, Mo An couldn’t wait and ran to find Lao Gui.

“This is bad!” As soon as Mo An saw Lao Gui, he shouted. “I must have been discovered!”

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t touch my stuff!” Lao Gui was weaving flower baskets. “If you have something to say, say it slowly.”

Mo An snapped to attention and only then noticed that there were many more straw-woven flower baskets on Lao Gui’s table. On Penghu Island, green plants were the least scarce. “What are you doing this for?”

“What I’m doing is none of your business. You talk.” Lao Gui lowered his head and continued weaving.

“Fine. I think this is really bad.” Mo An scratched his head anxiously. “Xia Yu must have discovered something. He definitely saw something that night. The past two days, he’s been cold and distant toward me. I was clearly already able to go sleep in his room… What should I do now? If I haven’t found the anchor point yet, but make him remember everything first, will Nuwa make a move?”

“Actually, I think it might not necessarily be a bad thing for him to remember.” Lao Gui was unusually calm. “Mo An, get ready. I think it’s almost time to leave.”

“Why?” Mo An’s instinctive reaction was to ask back.

“Because this world has already started to collapse because of us. Haven’t you noticed? Sometimes, this world can’t even maintain basic operations.” Lao Gui said heavily. “Sometimes the moon disappears for a moment. Sometimes the waves scatter for no reason. I don’t even need to change the water in the fish pond because it resets every morning. People in cars will change direction for no reason. The virtual world is almost done for. We have to speed up.”

“Really?” Mo An actually felt a faint sense of reluctance. “Wait—what did you say? The sea surface will have problems, too?”

“Yes, but the probability isn’t high,” Lao Gui said. “If you’re worried about Xia Yu, I can take a speedboat, and we can secretly catch up to them. But my intuition has always been accurate—that’s why I’m called ‘Crow Mouth.'[mfn]“乌鸦嘴” (crow mouth) is a Chinese nickname for someone whose words often come true in the worst way—especially when they predict bad things.[/mfn] Mo An, this world won’t last more than a month. We’ve entered the countdown.”

Mo An was silent for a long time. When he finally lowered his head, he realized that he had unconsciously put on the holey clogs that Zhang Mingqiao had prepared for him.

Everything… was going to disappear? His home—at most, only one month left?