Mystery Novel: ℬ𝓁𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇 EP3

Each one was related to a major case, each carrying some kind of "unfinished business." And the name of the rural village, blacked out, sent a faint chill down the back of his neck. He thought of a case from six years ago. Back then, he was in the negotiation team at the Criminal Investigation Bureau when they received a report of a mass disappearance in a village called "Wugu" in the Nantou mountains—an entire village of over twenty households, vanished overnight without a trace. He was just a support role at the time and didn't delve deeply into the scene, but the last page of the case file included a photograph: tied to the old banyan tree at the village entrance was a red knot. The style of that knot was identical to the mark of the "Serial Knot Killer." And this was after the killer had already been apprehended. Chen Mo folded the list and put it back into the file bag. The snow outside was falling harder. He picked up his phone and dialed a number he hadn't called in three years. "Hello?" came a hoarse male voice from the other end. "Lao Zhou, it's me. Did you get the invitation?" Silence for a few seconds. "...Chen Mo? How did you--" "Snowy Manor, right?" "Damn it," Lao Zhou cursed. "I thought it was some kind of wellness seminar. Are you going too?" "I'm considering it." "Don't go." Lao Zhou's voice suddenly lowered. "I looked into the ownership of that manor. It's registered under an offshore company, and tracing it back led to a dissolved foundation. Do you know what that foundation was called?" "What?" "The 'Wugu Care Association.'" (To be continued)