Hulin

[Merit Award, Eighth Reality-Themed Online Writing Contest] Luo Qi, a successful urban professional in her thirties, receives devastating news one day: her mother, who had stayed behind in their hometown, has died suddenly in an accident. She has no choice but to put work on hold and return to the home she left many years ago.

The beautiful little town, nestled between forests and a lakeshore, has changed beyond recognition since she last saw it. As all sorts of people make their entrances one after another, what seemed like a simple accident becomes shrouded in mystery.

Behind those once-familiar faces lies another side.

The missing person, and the truth concealed beneath black soil and white snow, are about to come to light.

Should she cut her losses and leave, or plunge into the vortex of truth and fight to the bitter end?