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The Andrea family, also known as the 'nouveau riche family' in Nangong Sanba's words, had been rooted in this icy snowfield for more than 300 years. They were rich and had a long history. They had incredible industries and ancient roots in Europe. However, few people in the world knew of the existence of this family. For more than 300 years, this family had always followed the strict admonition passed down from ancient times. Not to get too involved in the world, not to try to escape from this snowfield, and not to attract the attention of others. Their ancestors and every patriarch believed that this was the only way to maintain the family's wealth and, of course, their own lives.
The mottled outer wall of the castle recorded the ups and downs of this family. The elegant and luxurious decoration of the castle showed their wealth and history. The castle had undergone many renovations and modernizations over the past hundreds of years, but the most important part of the framework had never been changed. Obviously, every generation of this family knew what kind of secrets were hidden under their castle: they dared not to disturb the beast in this cage.
When it was getting late, Hao Ren saw some servants running around in the castle to prepare dinner. This somewhat made the gloomy and depressing building a little more lively. He was curious about where the servants of this place came from: in such a desolate and remote place, and also in a gloomy and strange hidden castle, it really did not seem like it could be easily recruited.
Nangong Sanba had already understood the basic situation here, so he naturally took on the responsibility of explaining. "Most of the servants in the castle have served for generations. The Andrea family uses their own wealth to feed these people, so that their descendants receive professional servant education from an early age. In addition, they also hire people from outside at a high price. But even so, every few years, there will be some loss of people here: some die in accidents, some can't stand the atmosphere here and run away. But no matter what … rich people always have their own solutions. "
Hao Ren and the others were now staying in the 'VIP area' on the third floor of the castle. There was a luxurious guest room covered with a thick velvet carpet. The room was decorated in the style of a palace, and the firewood in the heater crackled. Apart from that, all kinds of furniture and electrical appliances were available. However, this luxurious and comfortable room did not make people feel at ease. From the moment he stepped into the castle, Hao Ren felt an uncomfortable aura coming from under his feet. He asked a few others and found that it was not an illusion.
Vivian had been in contact with the vengeful spirit many times, so she could roughly gauge the situation here. "The vengeful spirit should be under the castle, but it has not completely entered the material world. And to be honest … this building gives off a very strange feeling. "
Hao Ren glanced at Vivian. "It is strange. This house looks like a prison from the outside."
Vivian shook her head and opened the window of the guest room. She looked out at the dark courtyard of the castle. The two wings of the building had two rows of low longhouses that formed a sort of cage at the back of the castle. She looked at the gradually darkening sky thoughtfully. "I mean something else... I feel like I have seen this place somewhere."
"I don't know if you have seen it before. Anyway, I'm freezing to death." Becky jumped around in the room with her arms crossed and then slammed the window shut. "This place is so cold! Are you all monsters? "
Lily was lying in front of the fireplace, staring at the flame in a daze. When she heard that, she looked up and threw a contemptuous look at Becky. "You can't stand this little temperature? I think the temperature is very comfortable! "
Vivian smacked her lips. "You really get the blessing of the ancestors as soon as you get close to the Arctic Circle. If you give a sled at this time, you can probably run 80 miles."
Night gradually fell, but in this place that was close to the Arctic Circle, the phenomenon of polar day and polar night could still affect the daily routine here. The sun gradually moved to a position near the horizon and stopped sinking. Instead, it stubbornly left a weak ray of sunlight on the ground. The castle did not light up under this ray of sunlight. Instead, it looked gloomy because the light was slanted and dim.
Hao Ren had dinner in the guest room. Since he had nothing to do, he decided to take a stroll in the corridor outside.
Outside the guest room was a straight corridor covered with a dark red carpet. Similarly, there were many portraits hanging on both sides of the corridor. However, the portraits here were no longer full-body portraits. Instead, they were portraits of people mounted in oval frames. These rigid portraits looked very strange under the warm light. As Hao Ren walked along the corridor, he muttered to himself. He could not understand the rich people who hung portraits in the corridor at home. Did they think that he was too mentally strong or something? Such a long corridor was already gloomy enough, but they had to hang two rows of portraits of their ancestors with zombie faces. Not only that, but they also had to add two small light bulbs next to each portrait. How creepy would it be to go to the toilet in the middle of the night? If one of the light bulbs was not connected properly, it would be like walking and peeing all the way...
Outside the castle, the night wind was tens of degrees below zero in Siberia, but inside the castle, it was still warm and pleasant. Hao Ren wandered along the corridor in an unlined garment. Suddenly, he stopped.
He had been counting the portraits of the ancestors of the Andrea Family, from the youngest generation (that was, the father of the current patriarch, Igor) all the way up, looking at those faces from the Bolshevik period, the Alexander period, and the Catherine period coldly staring at him from the oval photo frames. Unknowingly, he had reached the end of the corridor.
There was a strange portrait hanging on the wall facing the corridor.
Unlike the oval photo frames on both sides of the corridor, this portrait was a full-body portrait. It depicted a woman in a black dress, standing in a dark red rose background. However, the woman's face was shrouded in a layer of black gauze.
The portraits of the Andrea Family ancestors on both sides of the corridor were labeled with their names and era in a uniform format, but there was only one simple word below this strange portrait of a woman: vēdēmā (witch).
This strange thing immediately aroused Hao Ren's interest. He began to study the portraits on both sides and the introductory text under the portraits. Finally, he confirmed that the white-bearded old man hanging on his left was the first ancestor of the Andrea Family, and the woman hanging on the wall in front of him with her face covered should not be a member of the Andrea Family.
She was not a member of this family, and she did not even have a name. She was simply labeled as a "witch", but she was hung in the starting position higher than all the ancestors of the Andrea Family.
Just as Hao Ren was about to go back and call Vivian and the others to see what was going on here, he suddenly heard a noise coming from somewhere.
The sound seemed to be coming from a room on a higher floor of the castle. Although it was quite faint due to the layers of thick walls, he could still hear it clearly. It sounded like someone was wailing, mixed with the crisp sound of smashing cups and plates, and the loud sound of furniture being overturned. There was also the noise of people shouting, dissuading, and screaming. The noise lasted for a few minutes before it subsided. Finally, Hao Ren vaguely heard the sound of the heavy iron door closing, and all the noise was cut off.
Hao Ren suddenly felt the presence of a stranger beside him. He immediately turned his head alertly, and was shocked: a white figure had appeared behind him out of nowhere, standing there like a ghost!
When he took a closer look, he found that it was not a ghost, but a young, skinny girl in a white dress. She seemed to be seriously ill. Her face was pale, and her footsteps were weak. Even when she stood there, she could not help but sway. She looked at Hao Ren for a while with her shoulders shrunk. Suddenly, she brushed aside her long hair and smiled strangely. "Did you hear the noise upstairs?"
Hao Ren patted his chest. Even though he had experienced the war in the otherworld, he still felt a chill down his spine in this situation. These two kinds of horrors were not the same at all. It seemed that experience did not add up. He then looked curiously at the strange girl in front of him. "Err... you are?"
He did not know the person in front of him, but judging from her attire, she was probably not a servant of the castle.
The young girl did not seem to hear what Hao Ren said. She just listened to the movement upstairs with a strange smile on her face. "That is my brother... hehe... the last male in the Andrea Family. If he does not survive this year, this prison will collapse!"
Then she suddenly looked up at Hao Ren. "Are you here to catch a ghost?"
"Err... sort of." Hao Ren felt a little creeped out by the girl's white eyes. He realized that the girl in front of him might have a mental problem. At this time, he just wanted to say something perfunctory and leave quickly.
"Hehe — you're here to cheat my money again …" The young girl giggled. "Well, well, they're all cursed things. You can cheat them all … The witch won't forgive us, nor will she forgive you … Let's cheat them all!"
Hao Ren's ears pricked up. "Who is the witch?"
But at this time, the girl in front of him seemed to have gone crazy. She no longer paid attention to Hao Ren's question. Instead, she walked away while muttering intermittently. Hao Ren could only hear her intermittent voice coming out of her mouth. "... Money is cheated, and it will be cheated away... Endless money, endless people will die... The prison is going to collapse, collapse, collapse..." (The novel "Records of Unusual Creatures" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform. At the same time, there will be a 100% lucky draw for everyone! Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign on the top right, "add friends", search for the public account "qdread" and follow it. Hurry up!)
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