The situation is more complicated | Officials withdraw from the group, doctors enter the arena

(1) Retreat

It all began with two faint alarms.

On October 14th and 15th, 2025, two urgent complaints from Mianyang, Sichuan, appeared on the People’s Daily’s “Leaders’ Messages Board.” The first was urgent: “Xiushui Town, Anzhou District, Mianyang City… factory pollution,… crops in Shihong Village are polluted and residents have difficulty breathing, hoping that the higher-level leaders will pay attention.” The second was more detailed, directly pointing to the “Chaoyang Phosphate Fertilizer Plant,” describing months of pollution, extensive damage to crops on August 13th, and the horrifying scene of “acrid smoke” causing breathing difficulties on the morning of October 9th, followed by “leaves falling off bamboo forests and trees” the next day.

These two whistles, which should have pierced the sky, were quickly cut off in reality. On the afternoon of October 20th, an article titled “Sichuan Mianyang: Two Complaints Reveal a Neglected Fatal Pollution” appeared on the internet. It was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, but after only causing a ripple of 680 clicks, the page turned into a line of cold red text: “This content cannot be viewed due to violations.”

The life of the article was extremely short, but a WeChat group QR code attached to it – “Concern about the pollution of Chaoyang Phosphate Fertilizer Plant in Mianyang, Sichuan” – unexpectedly triggered a chain reaction. Brother Nuts and his two friends, along with 10 new users who scanned the code before the article disappeared, formed a WeChat group of only 13 people. A small-scale drama, later humorously referred to by netizens as a “real-life Werewolf game,” began.

The plot of this first “game” was absurd and hurried. Several suspicious “Mianyang visitors” quickly appeared in the group. Among them, Xie Jun was particularly eye-catching. He first reprimanded the author in the comment section of the article in an official tone, saying “the internet is not beyond the law,” and after joining the group, he intimidated them with remarks like “Will forwarding this be monitored by the public security bureau?” and “Someone was administratively detained for forwarding something before.” This clumsy intimidation backfired and aroused suspicion. Interestingly, Xie Jun was the chairman of the People’s Congress of Xiushui Town, Anzhou District, Mianyang City, and his responsibilities included “ecological environmental protection.”

When Brother Nuts exposed his identity in the group, directly calling him “Chairman Xie,” this representative of the people, who should have been protecting the environment, chose complete silence and quietly withdrew from the group the next day.

(2) Advance

This public opinion response, in which local officials personally intervened and ultimately retreated in a panic, itself constituted a more dramatic story than the pollution incident. “When the pollution was exposed, relevant departments infiltrated a 13-person WeChat group to deal with public opinion.” This article detailed the beginning and end of the first “Werewolf game.” Before and after the article was deleted, nearly 200 netizens, with curiosity and a desire to watch the “big show,” poured into the new group – “Concern about how Mianyang, Sichuan, deals with public opinion .”

The stage was enlarged, and the audience was seated. A second wave of public opinion offensive and defensive warfare, larger in scale, more complex in roles, and more confusing in plot, was staged in this digital theater of more than 200 people. This time, the core of the event had quietly shifted: people were not only concerned about the polluted land, but also about the “players” who were trying to manipulate the narrative and erase the truth under the public eye.

Here, the stakes are higher, the players are more complex, and the game, which netizens humorously called the “real-life Werewolf game,” has also entered its advanced stage.

In this digital village of more than 200 people, night has fallen. In a fog composed of suspicion, irony, and performance, who are the worried civilians? Who are the werewolves sent to infiltrate? Who are the onlookers seeking excitement? When the truth itself becomes the most scarce resource, how can people distinguish friends from enemies, facts from lies?

The group was created on October 24th and was shut down on October 30th.

6 days and 7 nights, more than 200 people, tens of thousands of messages surging in the WeChat group.

Truth and falsehood are difficult to distinguish, seriousness and deconstruction, the glint of swords and shadows, murderous intent lurks everywhere.

A drama within a drama, hailed by netizens as the “real-life Werewolf game” of 2025.

For details, please click: “Doctor Who Infiltrates the WeChat Group ‘Concern about how Mianyang, Sichuan, deals with public opinion’, 6 days and 7 nights, and finally successfully blew up a group!”