Under Hashimoto Maya's regretful gaze, everyone made their way carefully down the steep stairs to the bottom.
At the end stood a large glass-paneled door. Mrs. Kusaka walked over and was about to open it when she suddenly saw the scene inside through the glass. She recoiled in horror. "Honey!"
"What happened?" Jiang Xia walked over to her side, peered through the window, and looked surprised as well.
Inside stood rows upon rows of display racks reaching almost to the ceiling. The aisle between two racks faced the entrance directly.
That stretch of aisle was a vivid red. President Kusaka lay on his back on the floor in a bizarre Duck Sit-like posture, his upper body propped against a cabinet while his calves and thighs were bent and folded together.
Several shattered bottles of red wine lay scattered beside him. The wine had spilled across the dark floor, as bright red as blood.
"Ah!" Mouri Ran screamed in fright. But after crying out twice, she felt that something was off. Looking more closely, she hesitated. "Why is this blood so bright red... Wait, this isn't blood? President Kusaka isn't bleeding?"
"It really doesn't look like a pool of blood." As Jiang Xia spoke, he casually twisted the doorknob, only to find that the door was locked from the inside.
Startled back to her senses, Mrs. Kusaka searched through her pockets, took out a key, and handed it to Jiang Xia. "Th-this is the key to this Wine Cellar!"
Jiang Xia took it, inserted it into the keyhole, and turned it twice. With a click, the door opened. He pushed it open, stepped over the spreading red wine, then lowered his head to check President Kusaka. Shaking his head, he sighed. "His heart has already stopped."
That was a tactful