Original Mystery Novel: 《ℬ𝓁𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇》 EP55

He didn't respond to the name, but he extended his hand, turning his left wrist over. In the light, there was a very faint, almost vanished old scar on his skin—identical to the mark on the little boy's wrist in the photograph. "I've been waiting for you," Old Zhou said, his voice finally breaking. "Waiting for you to remember. Waiting for you to make your own decision. Because this door—I can't close it." "You want me to close it?" Old Zhou looked up. In the firelight, his eyes held something Chen Mo had never seen before, something too fragile for a man who had endured sixteen years of solitary struggle. "I don't know," he said, his voice almost drowned out by the crackling fire. "I only know that if you don't close it, what's in that room will continue to consume the next person. It could be you, it could be Xu Ziqian, it could be anyone in this house." "What's in there?" Old Zhou was silent for a long time. "Go see for yourself," he said. "You have the key. You're more qualified than I am. Because during that ritual—they chose you. I stayed behind, just to take your place. You were the one who was supposed to go in." Chen Mo gripped the key tightly. "Alright," he said. He turned and walked down the stairs, this time, alone. --- Chapter Eight: Behind the Door He walked past the wine cellar, through the passage, and pushed open the waist-high wooden door. He didn't bring a candle this time, but a lamp was lit in the room—he didn't know who lit it, or when, but the lamp was on the corner of the table, dim (To be continued)