Mystery Novel: ℬ𝓁𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇 EP7

And Zhang Zhenyu—he barely ate, just kept pouring wine for others, a smile always on his face. But Chen Mo noticed that whenever he poured, the wine bottle's label always faced himself. That's the habit of someone professionally trained, accustomed to hiding information. At 12:17 AM, a scream shattered the silence. Chen Mo was the first to rush out of the room. The corridor lights were dim, and he judged the direction by the sound, quickly moving to the first-floor lobby. The fire in the fireplace had mostly died down, leaving only glowing embers. Shen Yuehua stood at the bottom of the stairs, her face pale, her fingers trembling as she pointed towards the fireplace. "There... behind the fireplace... there's something..." Chen Mo approached. To the right of the fireplace was a hidden door that had been closed, now half-open, revealing a stone staircase leading down. A smell of rust wafted through the air. Without hesitation, he took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and descended the stone steps. Below was a wine cellar about ten pings in size, with oak barrels lined up against the wall. In the center of the floor lay a person. It was Zhang Zhenyu. He was lying on his back, his hands tied behind him, a red hemp rope looped around his neck, tied in three knots—the first a square knot, the second a clove hitch, and the third a pattern Chen Mo had seen countless times in case files: a noose knot, the standard technique of the Rope Killer. But what made Chen Mo's blood run cold was the state of Zhang Zhenyu's eyes. They were open, his pupils extremely dilated, but the expression remaining in his eyes wasn't fear, but a kind of serene ecstasy. Chen Mo had seen that expression once before. (To be continued)