Original Suspense Novel: 《ℬ𝓁𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇》 EP50

On the table lay an open notebook, a dried-up fountain pen, and a framed photograph. The walls were covered in papers. Dozens, hundreds—handwritten diary pages, hand-drawn maps, clippings, envelopes, photographs. Each one was pinned to the wall, densely covering every surface, like a frantic intelligence room. And at the center of all the papers—dead center on the front wall—was the largest photo, pinned with a red thread. It was a family portrait. A young man, a young woman, and a little boy, about five or six years old. The background was the old banyan tree in Foggy Village. The man's face was a young Zhang Zhenyu. The woman's face, Chen Mo recognized—it was Ayue's mother, a resident of Foggy Village. And the little boy's face— Chen Mo walked to the wall, reached out, and his fingertips lightly touched the photo. On the little boy's left wrist, there was a thin scar. He looked down at his own left wrist. Smooth skin. "The child in the photo," Xu Ziqian's voice came from behind him, so quiet it was almost inaudible, "isn't you." Chen Mo turned his head. "What?" "He isn't you." Xu Ziqian stood in the doorway, the firelight illuminating his face from the side, making the 'S' tattoo look like an old scar. "He's my brother. Three years older than me. He was the real 'key' to Foggy Village—but he's dead." "Dead?" "He wasn't sent away. He stayed." Xu Ziqian's voice was very calm, as if stating something unrelated to himself. "That night, in the village (To be continued)