The Seven-Day Mystery: Countdown to Judgment

[When death becomes a bargaining chip in solving a mystery, would you wager your life to uncover the truth?] When Lu Chen received the last message from his missing sister, the phone screen was flashing a blood-red countdown: 7:00:00. The moment he stepped into the isolated island’s ancient castle, the iron gate slammed shut. Static crackled from an old radio: “Welcome to the 307th trial. Find the killer, or everyone will be buried here.” In the sealed dining room, seven wax figures represented seven participants, with their knives and forks arranged in an inverted cross. On an X-ray in an abandoned hospital, the outline of an opera house burned down ten years ago appeared behind the victim. When the ship’s log in a cruise ship cabin turned to its final page, Lu Chen found his sister’s earring in a hidden compartment, stained with fresh blood. Every puzzle concealed traces of his sister, and every victim was connected to the fire ten years ago that had claimed thirty-seven lives. His partner, Lin Jingzhe, would stare pensively at the burn scar on his wrist late at night. The mysterious doctor Su Wangyan’s pocket watch was forever stopped at the moment the fire alarm sounded. And the electronic voice of Judge X had the same vocal print as the voice message his sister left before she disappeared! “At midnight on the seventh day, all lies will be consumed by flames.” When Lu Chen found thirty-seven numbered corpses in a secret passage beneath the castle, the countdown suddenly hit zero. Children’s laughter came over the speakers. The notebook in his hand opened by itself, though there was no wind, and a line of bloody writing had appeared on the last page: Did you think you were a player? No, you’re the tenth sacrifice. The next puzzle is about to begin, and this time, he is the one on trial.