Original Suspense Novel: "ℬ𝓁𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇" EP48

"If you two don't come back in two hours, I'll bring people down to find you." "Okay." Chen Mo turned and walked towards the hidden door. Xu Ziqian followed behind him, with Lin Jing close on his heels. The three of them descended the stone steps. The steps underfoot were rough granite, carrying a damp chill. The light from the fireplace grew weaker as they descended, until only the candle lit by Lin Jing remained. The air in the wine cellar was cold and still. Oak barrels lined the walls, and Zhang Zhenyu's body, covered with a white sheet, lay quietly in a corner. Chen Mo paused slightly as he passed, but he didn't lift the sheet. He walked to the deepest part of the cellar. The back wall looked no different from the others—the same rough stone, the same dark hue. But when he held up the candle for a closer look, he saw a very fine crack in the stone wall, extending from the floor to about head height. A door. A door built into the wall. "The keyhole is on the right, at knee height," Xu Ziqian said. Chen Mo squatted down and handed the candle to Lin Jing. The candlelight illuminated an inconspicuous indentation in the corner of the wall. The rusty keyhole was hidden in the shadow of the stone, as if deliberately forgotten. He inserted the key. It fit perfectly. As he turned it, he heard a dull click from within the metal, like some mechanism being awakened. Then the crack in the wall widened, and the door slowly slid inward, silently. Behind the door was a narrower passage, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through. Air rushed out from within, carrying a scent Chen Mo couldn't immediately identify—dry dust, (To be continued)