The Eye of the Mirror's Erosion

Protagonist: Chen Mo

Identity: A struggling supernatural fiction writer, which conveniently explains his later use of occult knowledge.

Personality: Rational, curious, and inquisitive, though even he can become vulnerable and struggle when faced with absolute terror.

Core transformation: During the “Mirror Erosion” incident, his left eye mutates after he locks eyes with an evil spirit in a mirror. From then on, he can glimpse both the world of the living and the world of the dead, and see through the illusions of demons and spirits. This is no blessing, but the beginning of a path where curse and power coexist.

Key supernatural figures, the source of terror:

The mirror spirit, “Painted Skin”: Born from the overwhelming resentment of Hong Shao, a celebrated opera performer in the early Republic of China who was skinned alive. It can strip away other people’s “skin,” taking their identities, fates, and fortunes to mend itself, and longs to return to the human world.

The old house’s earthbound spirit: Hidden in a battered wooden trunk in the attic is the soul of Xiao Shuanzi, a boy from the Republic of China era who knows the truth behind the house’s old case. He seeks help or issues warnings through dreams and by moving objects, making him a key source of clues.

Old Zhou, the “Night Watchman”: A taciturn, retired night watchman in the neighborhood, he is actually the inheritor of a folk tradition of magic that has protected this place for generations. He saw through everything long ago, watching coldly from the sidelines at first before becoming Chen Mo’s guide and putting him to the test.