Chapter 1 The Andrei Family

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The Andrei family, what Nangong Sanba called the "local tyrant family," has been rooted in this cold, snowy plain for more than three hundred years. They are wealthy and have a long history, with incredible industries and ancient foundations in Europe. However, few people in the world know of the family's existence: for more than three hundred years, the family has always followed the strict precepts handed down from ancient times: do not get too involved in the world, do not try to escape this snowy plain, and do not attract the attention of others. Their ancestors and every patriarch have firmly believed that this is the only way to maintain the family's wealth, and of course, their lives.

The mottled exterior walls of the castle record the family's ups and downs, while the elegant and luxurious interior decoration showcases their wealth and history. The castle has undergone multiple renovations and modernizations over the centuries, but the most important framework has never been changed. Obviously, every generation of this family knows what secrets are hidden beneath their castle: they dare not disturb the beasts in this cage too much.

In the late afternoon, Hao Ren saw some servants running around in the castle preparing dinner, which added a bit of life to the gloomy and depressing building. He was curious where the servants in this place came from: such a desolate and remote place, and also a gloomy and strange secluded castle, did not seem like a place where people could be easily recruited.

Nangong Sanba had already learned about the basic situation here and naturally took on the responsibility of explaining: "Most of the servants in the castle have been serving for generations. The Andrei family uses their wealth to support these people, allowing their descendants to receive professional servant education from an early age. In addition, they also recruit people from outside at high prices. But even so, some people still disappear here every few years: some die in accidents, and 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 were luxurious guest rooms with thick velvet carpets, decorated in a court-like style. The firewood in the fireplace crackled, and all kinds of furniture and appliances were readily available. However, the luxurious and comfortable room did not make people feel much at ease. From the moment he stepped into the castle, Hao Ren always felt an uncomfortable aura coming from under his feet. He asked the others and found that it was not an illusion.

Vivian had been in contact with angry spirits many times, and she could roughly judge the situation here: "The angry spirit should be in the basement of the castle, but it hasn't fully entered the material world. And to be honest... this building feels very strange."

Hao Ren glanced at Vivian: "It's very strange. This house looks like a prison from the outside."

Vivian shook her head, pushed open the window of the guest room, and looked at the dark courtyard of the castle. The two wings of the building had two rows of low, long houses extending out, forming a cage-like structure behind the castle. She looked at the gradually darkening sky outside, lost in thought: "I'm talking about other aspects... I feel like I've seen this place somewhere before."

"I don't know if you've seen it before, but I'm about to freeze to death," Becky hugged her arms and jumped around in the room, then slammed the window shut. "This place is really cold! Are you all monsters?"

Lily was lying in front of the fireplace, staring at the flames in a daze. Hearing this, she looked up and gave Becky a contemptuous look: "You can't stand such a temperature? I feel like this temperature is just right!"

Vivian clicked her tongue: "It's true that as soon as you get close to the Arctic Circle, you get the blessing of your ancestors. If you give her a sled now, she can probably run eighty miles."

Night gradually fell, but in this place already close to the Arctic Circle, the phenomenon of polar day and night could still affect the daily life here. The sun gradually moved to a position close to the horizon and no longer continued to sink, but stubbornly retained a wisp of weak and powerless sunlight on the earth. The castle did not brighten up under the sunlight, but became more gloomy due to the oblique and dim light.

Hao Ren had dinner in the guest room and decided to take a stroll in the corridor outside when he had nothing to do.

Outside the guest room was a straight corridor covered with a dark red carpet. The walls on both sides of the corridor were also hung with many portraits of people, but the portraits here were no longer full-length portraits, but portraits of people framed in oval frames. These rigid portraits looked very strange under the warm-toned lights. Hao Ren walked along the corridor, muttering to himself: he couldn't understand those local tyrants who hung portraits of people in the corridors of their homes. Was it because they thought their psychological quality was too good or something? The long corridor was already gloomy, and they had to hang two rows of zombie-faced ancestor headshots. Hanging headshots was fine, but they also had to add two dim light bulbs next to each headshot. It was so creepy to come out to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. If you happened to catch one of the lights having poor contact, you would be peeing all the way...

Outside the castle was the cold Siberian night wind of minus dozens of degrees, but the inside of the castle was still warm and pleasant. Hao Ren was wandering around in the corridor in a single shirt, and suddenly stopped.

He had been counting the portraits of the Andrei family ancestors he had passed, starting from the youngest generation (that is, the father of the current Andrei patriarch, Igor) and working his way up. Watching the faces from the Bolshevik era, the Alexander era, and the Catherine era cast cold glances at him from oval frames, he had unknowingly reached the end of the corridor.

On the wall directly opposite the corridor hung a strange portrait:

Unlike the oval frames on both sides of the corridor, this portrait was a full-length portrait, depicting a woman in a black dress, standing in front of a dark red rose background. However, the woman's face was shrouded in a layer of black veil.

The portraits of the Andrei ancestors on both sides of the corridor were marked with their names and the era they lived in in a unified format, but the strange full-length portrait of the woman below had only a simple word: вeдbma (witch).

This strange thing immediately aroused Hao Ren's interest. He began to study the portraits of the people on both sides and the introductory texts below the portraits, and finally confirmed that the white-bearded old man hanging on his left was the first traceable ancestor of the Andrei family, and the woman with her face covered hanging on the wall in front of him should not be a member of the Andrei family.

She was not a member of this family, she didn't even have a name, but was simply labeled as "witch," but was hung in the starting position ahead of all the Andrei ancestors.

Hao Ren was about to go back and call Vivian and the others to come and see the situation here, when he suddenly heard a commotion coming from somewhere.

The sound seemed to be coming from a room on a higher floor of the castle. Although it was quite weak due to the layers of thick walls, it could still be heard clearly. It sounded like someone was wailing, mixed with the crisp sound of smashing cups, plates, and bowls, and the huge sound of furniture falling over. The chaotic commotion lasted for a full few minutes before it subsided. Finally, Hao Ren vaguely heard the sound of heavy iron doors closing, and all the noise was cut off.

Hao Ren suddenly felt the aura of a stranger beside him. He immediately turned his head alertly, and was immediately startled: a white figure appeared behind him at some point, standing there like a wandering soul!

When he took a closer look, he realized that it was not a wandering soul, but a young girl in a white dress, as thin as a rail. The other party seemed to be seriously ill, with a pale face and unsteady steps. Even standing there, she couldn't help but sway. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at Hao Ren for a while, then suddenly lifted the long hair hanging in front of her face, revealing a strange smile: "You heard the sound upstairs, right?"

Hao Ren patted his chest, thinking that even though he had experienced interdimensional wars, he still felt chills when he encountered the current situation: these two kinds of terror were not the same style at all, and experience didn't seem to accumulate. Then he looked at the strange girl in front of him curiously: "Um... who are you?"

He didn't recognize the person in front of him, but judged from the other party's clothes that this should not be a servant in the castle.

The young girl didn't seem to hear Hao Ren's words. She just cocked her head and listened to the movement upstairs, with a strange smile on her face: "That's my brother... hee... the last male of the Andrei family. If he can't make it through this year, this prison will collapse!"

Then she suddenly looked up at Hao Ren: "Are you here to catch ghosts?"

"Um... sort of." Hao Ren felt a little flustered by the other party's pale eyes. He realized that the girl in front of him might have mental problems, and at this time he just wanted to perfunctorily say a few words and leave quickly.

"Hee--another one here to cheat my family's money..." The young girl giggled, "Okay, okay, it's all cursed stuff, you can all cheat it away... The witch won't spare us, and she won't spare you... Cheat it all away!"

Hao Ren perked up his ears: "Who exactly is the witch?"

But at this time, the girl's madness seemed to have broken out. She no longer paid attention to Hao Ren's questions, but muttered to herself and gradually drifted away. He could only hear intermittent sounds coming from her mouth: "...money is cheated from, and it will be cheated away... endless money, endless people... the prison is going to collapse, going to collapse, going to collapse..." (The novel "Unusual Biological Records" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Now open WeChat, click the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "Add Friends", search for the public account "qdread" and follow, hurry up!)