Synopsis:
In a quiet northern city in the mid-1990s, a factory worker begins seeing something terrifying in the mirror every morning. What starts as strange murmurs soon leads to a tragedy no one could have foreseen. Follow Mrs. Wang's story and uncover the dark secrets that linger behind the mountain. Subsequent chapters will reveal the eerie events piece by piece.
Chapter 1 – The Summer That Changed Everything
It was midsummer in a small northern city, the heat making the low mountain behind the factory shimmer in waves. The factory itself was a gray block at the base, flanked by barren slopes and a line of windbreak trees. Locals whispered that weasels often appeared there at night, sitting along the walls as if watching the workers leave. None of it was ever recorded in the factory logs.
Mrs. Wang worked in quality inspection. She was kind, quiet, and unremarkable. At noon, she carried her enamel bowl, chatting with colleagues as they walked back to the workshop. Life was ordinary, predictable… until that summer.
Aunt Zhang noticed the first signs. One morning, she greeted Mrs. Wang. Silence. Mrs. Wang walked past, her eyes unfocused. A few days later, she began murmuring to herself, words no one could make out. When someone asked if she was feeling unwell, she stared blankly and said, "Mind your own business," in a tone that was not her own.
Soon after, she stopped coming to work. Rumors spread: her husband had a lover. She had lost her mind. Some whispered about strange things behind the mountain.
Chapter 2 – The Terrifying Revelation
Twenty days later, the news arrived: Mrs. Wang had died. Colleagues went to pay respects. Her body lay in the living room, her face covered with a white cloth. Around her neck was a brightly colored floral scarf—too vivid, some thought, for mourning. No one asked why it was there.
Two months later, her husband appeared at the factory, in tears. After a few drinks, the office director relayed what he had revealed.
"Half a month before her death," he said, "every morning she stood in front of the mirror and screamed: 'My head is gone.'"
At first, she only stared, motionless. Then she recoiled, as if confronting a void. Another mirror. Another. Always the same result. She covered all mirrors in the house, but nothing calmed her. She cried daily, repeating the same words: "My head is gone." No one outside the family knew.
Chapter 3 – The Accident
On the day of the accident, she rode her electric scooter to buy groceries. Nearby, a construction site had stretched two steel rebars across the road at neck height. She did not slow down. Witnesses later said there was no sound. The impact was precise and fatal.
At her funeral, the mortician struggled to conceal the marks. Her husband tied the floral scarf around her neck. That explained why it had been there.
Afterward, speculation spread quietly. Perhaps the mirrors had shown the future. Perhaps her fate was already sealed. And the weasels behind the mountain were never mentioned again. Some said mirrors do not create what does not exist—they only reflect what is already missing.