Original Suspense Novel: "Bℒ𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇" EP16

Chen Mo zoomed in on the photo. Indeed, the last loop of the noose knot was loose, with no signs of stress. There were no ligature marks on Zhang Zhenyu's neck either. "He wasn't strangled," Xu Ziqian put down his phone. "He was poisoned. The rope knot was just for show. The killer used a drug to incapacitate him, then administered a lethal poison, and finally tied the knot to stage the scene." He looked at Chen Mo, a smile playing on his lips that was hard to decipher. "So your knot theory was wrong from the start. This isn't a copycat of the 'Noose Killer'. This is someone else—someone very smart, very calm, and who knows all of us very well—" He didn't finish. Because just then, all the lights in the hall went out. Darkness descended, the fireplace's flames the last source of light, casting everyone's distorted shadows on the wall like puppets being pulled by ropes. Chen Mo heard someone gasp in the darkness. Then, Shen Yuehua's voice came from somewhere, trembling and desperate: "...The people from Fog Valley are back for us." The wind and snow howled outside the window. And Chen Mo knew, this night had only just begun. Chapter 4: A Long Night by the Fireplace The moment the lights went out, Chen Mo instinctively took a step back, pressing his back against the wall. This was a reflex from his training—in the dark, the most dangerous thing isn't not seeing the enemy, but losing your sense of space. The wall gave him direction, letting him know where his safe back was, and where he needed to face. (To be continued)