A mist rose outside the window. By the time people inside the building noticed, the once bright and dazzling sunlight outside the floor-to-ceiling windows had vanished without a trace.
Thick grayish-white mist filled the sky beyond the glass. At first, it was only a thin, faint layer, but it grew denser and denser, soon darkening the daylight as well. Clearly, it was two or three in the afternoon, yet it looked like dusk was about to fall.
Tang Siqing paused beside a shelf near the floor-to-ceiling glass, pressed her Bluetooth earpiece to stop it, and disabled the noise-cancelling mode. Turning her head to look outside, four words suddenly popped into her mind: Mist Hour.
Mist Hour—most commonly, this refers to the twilight period between 5 and 7 PM, a concept rooted in Onmyōdō (the Way of Yin and Yang). It’s believed that during this time, supernatural occurrences are more likely, and both humans and spirits can appear in the same realm.
It was just an old story’s superstition, but at this moment, her heart involuntarily skipped a beat.
This was a medium-sized Supermarket on the outskirts of a third-tier city, far from the downtown area. Nearby were only a gas station, a few residential buildings, a Highway Overpass connecting to the city, and large stretches of undeveloped land and unfinished construction.
The only lively place nearby was the commercial complex where the Supermarket was located. The building was rectangular, with a maximum of three floors and a large footprint.
The Supermarket occupied a right-angled section on the left side of the first floor.
It was a weekday afternoon. There weren’t many people inside the commercial building, most were upstairs in the Shopping Mall and dining areas, so the Supermarket was nearly empty.
Both sides of the market had huge floor-to-ceiling windows. On clear days, the windows were spotless and the lighting was excellent, so when the weather changed, people inside the Supermarket noticed immediately.
“Wow, what a thick mist!”
“Yeah, how did it get so foggy all of a sudden? Just a moment ago, the sun was still out…”
“The weather forecast didn’t mention fog today, and at this time of year, West City has never had such a heavy fog.”
***
Amid the discussions in the Supermarket, the daylight outside the glass dimmed visibly, the gray-white mist thickened into deep gray, and everything outside was swallowed by the fog—visibility was only three or four steps.
It was a spectacle like nothing anyone there had ever seen in their lives.
Not far away, there was a harsh screech of brakes, tires scraping the ground in a piercing shriek. But clearly, the emergency brake hadn’t stopped something from happening; soon, the sound of metal colliding echoed through the thick mist.
Bang!
Quickly, a second, then a third crash followed…
That was from the direction of the Highway Overpass, right across from this building, with only a large Parking Lot and a green belt in between. The thick fog blocked sight, but not sound.
A car accident!
At that moment, nearly everyone inside the Supermarket gathered by the floor-to-ceiling windows. The loud screeching and crashing sounds echoed repeatedly, turning the confusion on everyone’s faces instantly to fear.
Tang Siqing frowned deeply. Judging by the noise, this wasn’t just a single car accident, but a massive chain collision!
What was going on? The mist had come quickly, but there was still some time. The cars on the Highway Overpass should have slowed down by now, so why did this happen?
It was as if—the cars on the Highway Overpass were trying to avoid something, swerving chaotically, which led to the chain crash…
After a series of metallic crashes, there came an even louder sound of something heavy hitting the ground, accompanied by the sickening crunch of metal being crushed and torn apart. Finally, with a huge boom, even through the thick mist, people inside the Supermarket saw a faint red glow rising in the fog.
Heavens! Did a car just fall off the Highway Overpass?!
Some people stood frozen in shock, while the quick-witted ones took out their phones to call the police and ambulance. Others called their families, asking about the situation on their end.
A few people debated whether they should cross the Parking Lot to check the Highway Overpass, but the nearest exit was a few hundred meters away, past the Parking Lot and green belt, and with the fog so thick, everyone felt uneasy and hesitated.
Tang Siqing saw that some were already calling the ambulance and police, so she started checking the news online.
Logically, when such a heavy fog suddenly appears, telecom companies and news platforms should quickly send out disaster alerts. But after searching, she found no warning about the fog on any platform.
Instead, a bespectacled young woman nearby noticed something on her phone—a Live Streamer’s video that had been playing.
The streamer was a local from West City, known for streaming food hunts. He was eating dessert in a small Sweet Shop in an alley. The shop was tiny, with few customers, and many seats were outdoors. As he ate, thick fog began to swirl around, growing denser in moments, and soon the scene on camera faded into the gray mist.
At first, the Live Streamer was surprised by the fog, but then he noticed something odd—his online viewer count was dropping rapidly, almost eighty percent gone in an instant.
He’d been streaming for a while, and his viewership was always steady. He’d never seen so many people leave all at once.
Before he could figure it out, a heavy thud sounded from the foggy alley behind him.
The sound was abrupt—a sharp smack, followed by a dull, strange noise, like something thick and alive had been smashed open. The streamer jumped in fright. With the mist so thick, he couldn’t see clearly, so he listened for a moment, and, egged on by the remaining viewers’ comments, decided to go check.
Because he was streaming, his phone was fixed on a stand on the table. Wanting a better shot, he didn’t take the phone with him, but adjusted the camera slightly and spoke a few words to the Sweet Shop staff off-camera, then got up and walked to the back.
The bespectacled girl in the Supermarket had kept the stream on because she saw the streamer get up and was curious.
The alley was just as foggy. The streamer had only taken a few steps before half his figure was swallowed by the mist. He seemed to peer toward where the heavy object had landed, muttered, “Weird, there’s nothing there,” then hesitated, glanced toward his phone, and chose to walk a few more steps further.
His figure quickly vanished completely into the fog. The live feed was eerily quiet, while the Supermarket was noisy with people making calls, so the girl turned her volume up to maximum. And just then, a bloodcurdling scream tore through the livestream.
The scream was hoarse and shrill, the kind made only in extreme terror, and quickly turned into agonized howling.
The bespectacled girl’s hand shook so hard she almost dropped her phone.
“What happened, what’s going on?”
“Are you watching—a livestream? Xicheng Road Roadman? I know that streamer! I’ve seen his streams! What happened to him?”
“No way, you still have the mood to watch livestreams? There’s been a huge traffic accident outside! Be human!”
***
The accused didn’t argue back. They all stared intently at the bespectacled girl’s phone.
They weren’t the only ones startled by the screams—the Sweet Shop’s staff and another customer also appeared on camera, hesitating whether to go see what had happened to the Live Streamer.
But the gray fog blocked everything. All they could see was a section of wall near the Sweet Shop. The two hesitated, pulling each other along as they took a few steps forward.
Suddenly, a blood-soaked hand shot out from the thick fog. In the next instant, the hand was yanked back, vanishing into the mist—as if its owner had been dragged away by some enormous force before they could step out, disappearing in a flash.
Everyone on camera jumped in fright. But at that crucial moment, the livestream froze, the video lagged, and then the feed went completely dead.
“Damn! Did you guys see that? Was—was that the streamer’s hand?”
“I don’t know! It was all bloody, I couldn’t even tell it was a hand…”
“What’s going on, is this really fog? Could it be some kind of toxic, corrosive gas?”
“The Supermarket’s entrance is an automatic glass door. If this fog is toxic, should we ask the staff to lock the doors?”
Someone doubted, “But even if it’s toxic, a hand shouldn’t look like that, right?”
Another worried, “The Supermarket connects to the Shopping Mall, and there are even more entrances over there. Even if we lock the Supermarket’s doors, it won’t keep the mist out…”
***
Tang Siqing stood not far from them. Although she hadn’t seen the livestream, she heard every word of their conversation.
Ever since the fog appeared, she’d felt an inexplicable sense of crisis and tension, like the suspicions stirred up by a certain strange encounter ten days ago were about to be answered—the worst possible answer.
She thought of something, steadied her racing heart, and started making calls.
With so many people calling the police and ambulance, the lines would surely be busy. Tang Siqing opened WeChat, randomly picked a chat, and dialed a voice call.
No ringtone—her call was immediately disconnected.
If the other party is on the phone, a WeChat voice call will auto-disconnect. Without hesitating, Tang Siqing tried another chat—again, the call was cut off.
She sent a message. It failed to send.
She closed WeChat, opened her contacts, and tried calling directly. Still, all she got was a busy tone.
Finally, even the web pages she’d just opened stopped loading.
Everyone else soon noticed this too. Some were talking to family, some had reached the ambulance or police, some were searching online for more news, but now—all communications were cut off.
The signal was gone, both network and mobile.
“How is this possible? Even the phones are dead!” People in the Supermarket grew more anxious, used to relying on their phones for everything. Now, without signal, they all felt blind and deaf.
Tang Siqing was anxious too, but she was also clear-headed: for all communications to vanish at once was completely abnormal.
With today’s tech, signal covers the globe. Even if West City was hit by a disaster worse than this fog, the signal wouldn’t just vanish instantly.
One abnormality might be a coincidence, but so many together…
“Hey, has anyone here seen the movie ‘The Mist’?” someone in the Supermarket, unable to get news, tried to strike up conversation. “No one? Our situation is just like that movie!”
Most had seen some disaster films, especially zombie movies, so some joined in the discussion, while those who hadn’t listened from the side.
Whether talking or listening, after the heated exchange, everyone felt a bit crazy. It was just a strange fog—how did they end up comparing it to sci-fi movies?
Rabies, vi…rus, those have been around for ages, and no one’s ever seen a real disease disaster like that…
Tang Siqing stayed silent, listening to the conversation while swiftly and efficiently loading boxes of chocolate, candy, energy bars, biscuits, and small cakes into her shopping cart from the shelves.
She picked only the largest packages. Soon, her cart, already piled high with food, bottled water, and drinks, was stacked even higher.
She glanced again at the thick fog outside the window. Just as she was about to push her cart to the checkout, several hands suddenly slammed heavily against the glass wall.
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