Fog Reawakened

This is a story that unfolds within the mist.

— Li Le

*

*

Zhang Zinian lay in the fog, dazed and muddled, his face tinged with a bluish-purple hue, unable to see anything anymore.

His head rested on a piece of dark, decaying wood, and he was slowly chewing a small section of a mushroom—no wider than two fingers and two inches long.

The mushroom was helping him resist the corrosive effects of the dense fog, keeping him from dying on the spot.

He guessed—the mushroom in his mouth had been fed to him by a female admirer.

He had no idea what was special about the mushroom, but he sensed it was something extraordinary.

Too many people had ventured into the mist in search of adventure—far more than just him and her.

“She truly loves me! If I get out, I must treat her well!” he thought, biting the mushroom with difficulty, as the icy mist gnawed at him, leaving him completely numb.

But he felt no fear, for he sensed, in some mysterious way, that she was always by his side.

…

Li Le stood nearby, pale and expressionless, biting into a mushroom the size of her palm, her gaze coldly fixed on the man.

She stood shrouded in fog, her features barely visible. Around her, the darkness was so dense one could not see their own hand, yet she appeared able to glimpse a small portion of her surroundings.

—Countless corpses, faces bluish-purple, eyes bulging, cold and lifeless.

It seemed in the dense mist, only Li Le and the man remained alive.

How had things come to this?

Li Le wondere