Chapter 1
When Qiao woke up, he found himself curled up under a bridge. A cool breeze blew by, bringing a chill that made him involuntarily get goosebumps. He was covered in dirt and had no clothes on. There were obvious wounds on his body that were scabbing over. His hair was messy like a bird's nest, hanging long down in front of his chest.
Looking at his own dark, thin hands, the horrifying black grime under his long nails making him feel nauseous, he felt like he was dreaming. This was clearly not his own body. Qiao muttered to himself, "My God, who am I? Where am I?"
After a moment of mental blankness, he remembered that he was writing code at home when he developed a fever and went to bed to rest.
But how did I suddenly end up under a bridge after being in bed? I haven't been drinking, and I don't sleepwalk. Could it be a prank? Or am I dreaming?
He patted his face, feeling the real touch, and then, steeling himself, slapped it hard. The slight numbness and pain on his face brought him back to reality. The dream was too real, yet he hadn't woken up in time.
The hunger in his stomach told him that his body was hungry, so he decided to explore this dream more thoroughly. They say that what you think about during the day, you dream about at night. Shouldn't he be dreaming of becoming a rich man? Why is he dreaming of being a beggar?
This was a huge bridge, wider than any bridge I had ever seen before. A rumbling sound came from above, the sound of vehicles traveling on it.
He glanced at a dirty rag next to him, but couldn't be disgusted by it now. He picked it up and wrapped it around his waist. This guy was probably a homeless lunatic. He wasn't wearing clothes and had no sense of shame.
As he climbed out of the bridge, the buildings and scenery in front of him felt out of place. Everything seemed to be twice the size. Qiao could only suspect that it was because his body had shrunk, which made his field of vision smaller and shorter.
The buildings in sight are also unique in style, even the cars are different from those in the real world, and there are even flying vehicles overhead...
This dream even has a science fiction element, not bad, not bad, Qiao thought to himself, his brain is still very imaginative, it's just that he doesn't usually watch science fiction movies, and his mind was surprisingly clear in this dream.
This body must have been wandering for a long time, because even when it's barefoot, it doesn't feel any pain, and there must be a thick layer of calluses on its feet.
He nimbly navigated the obstacles, climbed to the water's edge under the bridge, and washed his hands. His hands were filthy, and he couldn't stand it. The thought of being so dirty that he was unrecognizable made him itch. But it was morning, and the water was still quite cold. He hesitated, wondering if he should take a cold shower.
He cleaned the dirt from under his fingernails and looked at his long nails. He realized that long nails felt a bit effeminate, and he didn't have any tools to cut them.
I washed my hands and then my face. After washing my face, I thought for a moment and decided to wash my whole body clean. Although the water was a bit cold, the temperature wasn't too low. Looking at the lush green trees, it must be early summer or the region must be in the tropics.
After washing for a long time, his original skin tone was finally barely visible. It was quite dark, probably from sun exposure, and his body was very thin, clearly caused by long-term malnutrition. He looked at his appearance in the water: wet black hair, thick eyebrows and big eyes, rough skin, but his eyes had an innocent and naive look, like the innocent and harmless eyes of an antelope.
The eyes are the windows to the soul. It is normal for a person with mental problems to have ignorant and pure eyes. When he tries to become more alert, his eyes change and reveal his harmonious, loving, gentle, kind, and seemingly useless but wise mind.
This face looks a bit like me when I was around 15 years old. It seems I really am dreaming. But when I was 15, I wasn't this miserable. My grandparents would give me all the good things to eat, and I never lacked nutrition. This body looks like it has been suffering from long-term malnutrition.
After washing for a while, she felt she was almost done, but her stomach was even hungrier. However, it wasn't too uncomfortable, perhaps because she was used to hunger. Qiao also felt a little sorry for the young mental patient in her dream.
Even in his sleep, he still had to find a way to eat to fill his stomach. Qiao sighed. Life is all about this mouth. If only we could survive without eating, how wonderful that would be. He had envied his cat more than once. It ate and slept, slept and ate, and had a good master who didn't have to worry about its survival.
Just as he was wondering how to get food without any money, he saw a mentally ill person, just as filthy as himself before he washed, running naked to the river to drink water. Qiao felt a surge of sympathy and embarrassment at the same time. The unhygienic behavior of drinking raw water and walking his bird in broad daylight was an eyesore, even in his dream.
The other person saw him too, but didn't greet him or pay him any attention. Instead, he scooped up some water from the river and started drinking. The other person looked middle-aged, with a thick beard that covered his face. Qiao asked, "You, don't you have any clothes to wear?"
Upon hearing his voice, the other person looked up and gave him a wary glance. Qiao felt a little uneasy under that gaze. Generally, when he saw mentally ill people or homeless people on the street, he would try to stay as far away as possible. Who knew if the other person would suddenly attack him or try to harm him?
He remembered that when he was in school, a female classmate was attacked and molested by a mentally ill man on her way home after evening self-study, causing quite a bit of panic at the school. He didn't know what happened after that, but the female classmate only dared to go home when her parents picked her up. After all, mentally ill people are not punished by law. If they hurt or kill you, you can only accept your bad luck.
Is this a gathering place for mentally ill people? That's why there are two mentally ill people gathered here by the river at once?
He simply couldn't stand the other person's shameless act of walking around with their penis. He looked around and found a tattered cloth, probably some old clothes that had been left there. He walked over and shook off the dirt, and there it was—a short-sleeved shirt, which looked like a woman's. But this shirt was way too big! It was almost two or three times the size of his old men's clothes. He held it up to his knees, just enough to cover his private parts.
He watched as the other person finished drinking the water and was about to leave, then loudly fed him twice. The other person turned around and looked at him. Qiao also crumpled his clothes into a ball and threw it to him, gesturing as he said, "Here are your clothes, put them on!"
To his surprise, the other party did not appreciate it. Instead, he clenched his fists, his expression turned fierce, and he roared angrily at him.
Qiao was a little scared when he saw this. The other person was obviously much stronger than him. He took a few steps back, his heart pounding with nervousness. He was filled with regret. He shouldn't have meddled. He didn't even have clothes to wear. Why should he care about other people's lives?
The naked psychopath noticed him backing away, which seemed to trigger his animalistic instinct to chase after him. Joe hurriedly ran away, but fortunately, the other man didn't continue chasing him. It seemed that he had intimidated Joe and made sure he wouldn't provoke him again, so he left.
Joe was also very frustrated. The other person was like an uncivilized savage. His behavior reminded him of the gorillas or baboons he used to watch on Animal World. He looked seriously ill.
A mentally ill person can do performance art without any psychological burden. He is not mentally ill now, and he still has a sense of shame. After the other person left, he went over and put on the knee-length women's short-sleeved shirt. The cuffs were flared and the neckline was a V-neck. The key point was that it was huge. He felt like a child wearing an adult's shirt. Are there such large women's clothes?
I'll just have to make do; having something to wear is better than having nothing at all.
The morning sun had already risen, and the temperature was starting to rise. He touched his hungry stomach, wondering if he would never wake up from this dream. The realism of it terrified him.
He crossed the green belt; the road was wide. Suddenly, a huge figure appeared in front of him. Joe looked up and made way for her. The giant was a woman, as big as a mountain, wearing light clothing. Joe felt she was over two meters tall. What was particularly striking was the thick body hair on her arms and legs, the same feeling he had seen in the news about humans regressing to their primal form. Her hair was silver, and she had a strong physique. Upon closer inspection, her eyes were green, and they seemed to have vertical pupils.
Like a lizard, Joe was terrified; he had never seen anyone like this before!
The man glanced at Qiao Ye, stopped, and seemed to find Qiao Ye strange, muttering something to him.
Qiao couldn't understand what language she was speaking, but she saw a set of sharp teeth. Then she looked around for a while, as if checking if anyone else was there, before tentatively reaching out to touch Qiao's neck.
The hand was as big as an A4 sheet of paper, or even bigger. Joe felt that the other person could easily snap his neck, so he dodged and ran away as fast as he could.
What kind of monster is this?! Joe's heart pounded violently.
As he continued walking, he discovered more and more of these monsters—men, women, old and young, in cars by the roadside, in parks—all tall, strong giants with green vertical pupils, standing two or three meters tall.
This dream is so sci-fi!
He walked cautiously, his heart pounding. Was this a land of giants? Was he an alien?
When he saw a giant leading a human over, Joe was stunned. The human was a man, wearing shorts, no shirt or shoes, with his hair neatly combed into pigtails, a bell around his neck, and a collar attached to a rope. Upon seeing Joe, the human excitedly shouted at him, while the giant holding the rope pulled him back...
This scene is so familiar, isn't it just like his colleague walking his dog? It's just that it's a giant walking a human, and Joe was also shocked.
Having been so frightened, Joe also felt a sense of absurd unreality.
He crouched in a secluded spot by the roadside, making sure he wouldn't expose himself, and then watched the giants coming and going with peace of mind. Every now and then, there were giants leading humans around, some clothed, some naked, some being carried, some standing on vehicles, some being led around, men and women, and even... eunuchs! He couldn't help but feel a slight pain in a certain part of his body.
He just wanted to wake up as soon as possible; it was terrifying. Although he envied his own cat, it didn't mean he really wanted to be a creature with the same social status as a cat.
Suddenly, a giant walked past him. Joe smelled the aroma of food and looked over. The giant was eating a steamed bun, a meat bun at that. Joe couldn't help but swallow. He was so hungry!
Perhaps sensing his unwavering gaze, the giant stopped in front of him...
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