CH 2

Mad Dog: Chapter 2

Nightmare is so handsome that my legs are weak 

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Translated by Peri

The name of the movie is "Wang Tian" and the actor Jiang Qi played the character named 'Mu Xi’, a notorious teenage criminal who was born to be a cold-blooded degenerate.

The film describes Mu Xi's 25 years of life in a very gloomy and desolate way.

At the age of twenty-five, he was brought to justice by the law for having five lives at his hands.

The protagonist in the story, Mu Xi, found out that he was a 'monster' at the age of seven. Unlike other children, he was unpopular from birth. He has a dysfunctional family, from a cowardly mother to a gambling addict of a father. Debt collectors would knock on their door every day. This also caused Mu Xi's not only indifferent and cold depraved heart, but the desperate, sinister, and cruel side to him.

The first life Mu Xi had taken by his hands was his father. When he was fifteen years old, he watched a thriller and suspense film that stimulated him and gave him pleasure. Thus, he followed suit.

That night, when his father was drunk like always, he had an eager attitude to experiment. First, he strangled his father to death with a rough hemp rope and then used the Swiss Army Knife he bought from the convenience store in front of his school to poke several holes in his bloody body…

The film couldn’t show gory scenes to depict Mu Xi’s actions.  Most of them are implied occasionally through narration and other cinematic techniques. Some of the hero's cruel methods are described explicitly or implicitly.

More importantly, it relied on Jiang Qi to show multifarious facial expressions to convey the character’s emotions. Which he did, morphed into Mu Xi from his apathetic expressions to a cruel and sullen lunatic, showing a hint of a smile on his eyes and lips.

It seems that doing such an act made him extremely happy. Time elapsed and seasons changed, it was not until the bright summer sky turned winter white that Mu Xi completed his work.

The young man with fluffy hair looked at the mess and laughed softly. His voice was so rough that it made people shudder. Then his slender fingers were stained with blood which he slowly smeared on his face. The pale to transparent skin turned bright red, showing an almost ghostly appearance.

He was like a phantom from hell who came to seek one’s soul. Undeniably, he looked damn suitable in blood.

Zhiqi heard Meng Chunyu softly say f*ck' next to her in a trance and then sighed softly, "Oh my mother, this is the first time I have seen such a man who looks suitable in blood."

"Putting aside being a murder, he is so handsome that my legs are weak."

On the big screen, the camera gradually zoomed out, moving from Mu Xi's handsome face to show outside the house and towards the sky. The first forty-five minutes of the film showed Mu Xi's first half of his life, then followed by his never-ending life on the run.

In the process, the metamorphosis aspect in Mu Xi's body was completely stimulated by the killing and could not be suppressed. He couldn't control the desires that grew in his heart. He had a brilliant brain, but it was all filled with ugly thoughts – of committing crime, theft, and murder...

Mu Xi steals when he has no money. He kills when he is found. This made the whole city panic before he is caught by the police. It took nine years for him to be brought to justice.

Thereafter, in the scene he was being shot, he was in prison uniform and still looked like a teenager. The complexion on his delicate and thin face was unhealthy pale, but his eyes were clear. It gives the impression he had long accepted such an ending one day. Mu Xi looked magnanimous and even showed a slightly relieved smile.

His whole life was like a vine growing out of a swamp. It was poisonous, twisted, and crooked. He would rather live such a muddy life, which he views as wonderful.

When he was executed, it was outdoors. In the last scene of the movie, Mu Xi looked up at the sky and directly gazed at the sun without tears.

The movie was called 'Wangtian'1, precisely because Mu Xi will never cry when he sees the sun, nor will he feel dazzled.

Born as a freak.

The film ended with a desolate and strange 'dong dong dong' sound in the ending song.  The movie theater suddenly lit up, but the audience in the room stayed sitting in the same place and did not move.

Almost everyone was shocked, including Meng Chunyu, who initially disapproved of this 'convict male star'.

"My God..." Meng Chunyu rubbed her skin feeling goosebumps all over. She couldn't help but mutter, "Is this really a 21-year-old rookie actor? This acting is too scary! Damn, Director Shen Lei's vision is indeed vicious. I have to Baidu this Jiang Qi!" She said, taking out her mobile phone as if she had found a treasure.

However, when she turned her head, she realized that Zhixi who had not replied to her words was still staring at the screen in a daze, with tears strewn across her face.

"Xi, Qiqi?" Meng Chunyu froze for a moment, "Are you crying?"

She felt a little strange. Although this movie was wonderful to the extreme, it was a horror movie, so how could she cry?

Meng Chunyu asked tentatively, "Xiqi, are you crying in fear?"

"No." Zhiqi burst into laughter, took out a tissue from her bag, and wiped her eyes. The tears quickly drenched the tissue again and the sound from her covered lips murmured, "I just... It feels like a dream."

She never imagined that she would see Jiang Qi this way five years later. And he also presented such a visual feast. It's just that Zhiqi couldn't look at this movie as simply as other people.

For Meng Chunyu, Wangtian is just a wonderful movie. Once you’ve watched it, at best you would admire the director and his discovery of Jiang Qi, the 'treasure boy'.

But for Zhixi, she saw a lot about Jiang Qi's past in this movie and the scenes cut her heart like a knife.

She couldn't imagine how Jiang Qi became an actor and played the role after he was released from prison. What mentality did he have to make this movie?

As Meng Chunyu said before, there is no guy with blood on his body more suitable for it than Jiang Qi.

Ghostly, handsome, like a Rakshasa2....

This should be a peaceful age, who wants such an honor?

Zhiqi recalled the first time he saw Jiang Qi, he was bleeding.

────── ✧❀✧ ──────

That was after Jiang Qi rescued her, the boy ran a few kilometers with her behind his back and finally managed to find a supply station to contact the adults.

Zhiqi was already in a semi-dizzy trance at that time. She saw an adult in a daze and knowing that she was in a safe environment, she couldn't help fainting completely. Just before she lost consciousness, she still held Jiang Qi's hand firmly.

Zhiqi remembered very clearly that she had only one thought at the time—that she would see this boy after she woke up, so she did not dare to let him go.

When she woke up, she did see Jiang Qi as she wished, but it was Jiang Qi with blood on his lips.

The boy was kicked into the corner by a man. Jiang Qi was frowning and covering his stomach as if enduring pain. His face was gravely pale.

The adult who kicked him was Zhiqi's second uncle. He looked flushed and his thick neck and arms were pulled by two policemen. He yelled angrily

"F*ck! My niece was kidnapped and rescued by such a brat? Are you kidding? He must be an accomplice! Are you police investigating? Do you want me, a family member of the victim, to ask? You think I want to do something?!"

Zhiqi just woke up, her mind was still muddled when she saw the brutal scene in front of her. She immediately shouted out in fright, “Second uncle!"

The tape on her face has been removed, but the little girl's sweet and soft voice was hoarse and weak after a night of torture. She was as timid as a weak animal.

Hearing this, Jiang Qi in the corner couldn't help but look up at Zhiqi on the bed.

He saw the little girl with anxiety written all over her face. When the second uncle ran over to ask questions, she shook her head, "Little brother is not a bad person, he saved me! The second uncle, you can't hit people!"

Jiang Qi didn't bother to see if the second uncle would feel guilty or something after listening to her words. His glazed eyes stared straight at Zhiqi, seeing that the little girl was alive and every move was full of vitality.

The little boy lowered his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, okay, it was the second uncle who was wrong." The man who had just been violent and wanted to destroy the entire police station on the spot was acting like a docile sheep.

Coaxing the little girl in a soft voice, "Xiqi, tell the second uncle if anything is wrong with you? Is there any pain? Nurse sister checked you and said it shouldn’t hurt as much, but the second uncle is still a little worried.”

"No, I don't feel pain." Zhixi shook her head and after answering her second uncle's words, got up and got out of bed. Her legs hit the ground as she still felt weak from being tied up with ropes all night and the symptoms of blood blockage had not yet completely alleviated.

The second uncle was startled and said quickly, "Xiqi, what are you doing down there? Hurry up and rest for a while."

Zhiqi was still angry at him for beating people indiscriminately just now.

"Little brother, thank you for saving me." The girl stared at the boy with her big, clear, dark eyes, "What's your name?"

The boy raised his eyes and looked at Zhiqi in surprise. He couldn't help but ask softly, "Aren't you afraid of me?"

After a night of tossing and turning, Zhiqi's two braids have scattered making her look like a disheveled little madman. In contrast, her eyes were bright and her smile is lively.

She tilted her head, "I'm not afraid, why should I be afraid of you?"

Jiang Qi's throat couldn't help rolling. He shook his small hand on the ground and after a while, he said softly, "Jiang... Jiang Qi."

"Okay." Zhixi was still smiling, nodding forcefully, "I’ll remember."

She didn't know that for Jiang Qi, she was the first 'monster' he encountered.

Because when he was ten years old, there were only two kinds of people in Jiang Qi's life - those who hated him, or those who were afraid of him. The little boy wanted to turn the former into the latter.

He'd rather be like a mad dog than be bullied.

It was Zhi Qi's unexpected appearance that was like a light, giving him the first element of 'color' in his dark and barren life.

Jiang Qi knew that he was never a good person.  He was crazy. He just happens to save Zhiqi and he should not be worshipped by the little girl and treated gently.