Original Suspense Novel: "ℬ𝓁𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇" EP37

There were forty-seven people in total. But when I counted, the names on that wall—" she took a deep breath, "—there were forty-eight. One extra. "What was the extra one's name?" "Chen Mo." The room was so quiet you could only hear the crackling of the fireplace. Chen Mo closed his eyes for a moment. Eighteen years ago, forty-seven people from Fog Valley Village disappeared collectively, but there were forty-eight names on the wall—he wasn't on the missing list, yet he was inscribed on that wall, like someone already dead. "Are you saying," Old Zhou's voice came from the corner, "that Chen Mo is 'alive' in the official records, but 'dead' in Fog Valley Village's records?" "Yes," Shen Yuehua said. "That's why I've been investigating this. I thought Chen Mo was a child who died young, and the villagers inscribed his name on the wall as a memorial. I didn't expect—" She looked at Chen Mo, a complex emotion in her eyes. "I didn't expect you to be alive." "And standing here," Chen Mo said, his voice very calm, "invited as a guest to a seminar on 'psychology.'" He turned to Lin Jing. "Professor Lin, it's your turn. What's the connection between your 'Neihu Serial Disappearances' and Fog Valley?" Lin Jing didn't deny it. She closed her notebook and looked up, her gaze almost unsettlingly calm. "The three victims of the Neihu Serial Disappearances," she said, "were all residents who had moved out of Fog Valley. After they left the village, (To be continued)