Chapter 3: Gathering at Mount Sealing (Part 2)

  "Hello, please show me your invitation." A man in a black suit smiled and stopped Zhang Fan. He was wearing a three-piece suit, standing straight, seemingly impervious to the cold, flawless in both appearance and demeanor.

  "Alright." Zhang Fan didn't say much, just smiled and handed over the invitation directly. He used Italian with a Sicilian accent, and his entire demeanor exuded politeness mixed with an air of haughty arrogance. - When acting, one must do it thoroughly; since he was pretending to be one of the attendees, he naturally had to put on a full display of that stale aristocratic air.

  Since he was able to stand firm in the profession of private detective, disguise was a basic skill. And makeup was Zhang Fan's strong point.

  He took the invitation with both hands, then checked it with a small device in his hand, and immediately bowed slightly before stepping back: "Please follow me."

  "Don't you need to wait here?" Looking at the man following him onto the helicopter, there was no one guarding the original location, Zhang Fan couldn't help but feel a bit strange. "What if other guests come?"

  "You are the last guest of this year." The man sat down opposite him, slightly bowed his head and replied politely: "The latest guest before you had arrived this morning."

  "It seems that everyone who rushed over to attend the party is in a hurry......" Zhang Fan smiled slightly in his heart. The charm of the female count, it's really surprisingly great.

  "If it's convenient for you, would you mind putting on this mask?" The man seemed to have pulled out a mask from nowhere. "It's the rule for attending the party."

  "Indian Chief?" Zhang Fan took the mask, and couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. His current makeup was a cool noble, what made him look like a chief with a head full of feathers? However, he just furrowed his brow and put on the mask directly. This was actually what he had been hoping for, as his current identity was not something that could be shown off in public anyway.

  The plane's flight distance was quite short and it arrived before long.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to our last companion, Chief Rizhakaka!" As Zhang Fan pushed open the door and walked in, he couldn't help but jump in fright. The grand hall of the castle was already filled with people standing in twos and threes, and as a bright female soprano voice rang out, everyone's eyes turned to look at the entrance. And this so-called Chief Rizhakaka was actually a rather famous legendary figure in Indian history.

  As a private detective, he was actually very unaccustomed to being stared at in public. However, seeing the people in the hall wearing strange masks, he thought of the mask on his face and his mood calmed down, striking a rather bizarre pose towards the people in the hall - this was a traditional Indian greeting, meaning to ask someone how they were doing.

  Apparently, there were not many people in the hall who understood this etiquette, but it could be seen that everyone had a good upbringing and roughly guessed his meaning, and they all raised their wine glasses to return the courtesy.

  "Welcome, the last partner!" said a stunning woman standing in the center of the hall, the only one not wearing a mask. It was undoubtedly the beautiful Countess Yekaterina. Zhang Fan noticed that when the countess looked at him, her eyes flashed with surprise.

  "This countess must know the identity of every guest!" Zhang Fan didn't miss that fleeting glimmer, and his heart sank slightly. But before he could continue to ponder, the countess continued in her passionate and sonorous soprano voice: "Now that all partners have arrived, I declare that this mountain confinement dance party has officially begun! Please let go of your worries and enjoy yourselves to the fullest!"

  As the countess spoke, the scene that had been slightly dull suddenly became lively. The elegant music started to play slowly and the waiters carrying wine and drinks began to shuttle back and forth non-stop.

  Many of the guests were already socialites, and at the countess's behest, more and more people began to twirl around the dance floor. Although they didn't know who their partner was, anyone who could appear in this setting, except for Zhang Fan, was probably a celebrity or socialite, and they were naturally good dancers. They were also thrilled to have such a relaxing opportunity, and the atmosphere gradually became more and more lively.

  Of course, all of this has nothing to do with Zhang Fan. He was never really interested in dancing - not that he couldn't dance, just that he didn't like it. At his core, he is a lazy person who would rather lie down than sit, and sit rather than stand. Dancing, an essential social activity in modern society, is something he avoids whenever possible.

  So he also directly took a cup of wine this time and sat down in a corner, looking around at the people in the hall with great interest.

  Although everyone in the hall except the countess was wearing a mask, covering their entire face, this of course couldn't stop Zhang Fan. —— A top-notch private detective must have keen observational skills and analytical ability as well as memory for information. So after just ten minutes, he had recognized at least ten people on the scene who he had either met before or seen in his data.

  After recognizing these people, Zhang Fan couldn't help but secretly sigh in admiration at the profound influence of the female countess. Among them, at least three had assets that could rank among the top twenty in the world, and two were actual leaders of several small countries in the Middle East and Africa, controlling the economic and political lifelines of these small countries. The remaining few were also influential figures on a global scale, belonging to the kind of people who could shake up the situation in a certain region with just a stomp of their foot.

  What he found most interesting, however, were the two men chatting while holding their drinks. One was wearing a Zorro mask, and the other was wearing a RoboCop helmet. But in reality, these two people's identities were exactly opposite to what their masks suggested - the one wearing the Zorro mask was actually the police chief of a very influential European country, while the one wearing the RoboCop helmet was actually the most notorious gang leader in that same country.

  These two people undoubtedly also recognized each other's identities. Judging from their expressions, the conversation between them was also filled with gunpowder smell.

  "I have no idea what the countess is thinking, bringing these two arch-enemies together to this party!" Zhang Fan thought with great interest. However, he didn't care at all and was just there to watch the show: none of this had anything to do with him, so he could just sit back and relax! Besides, since they were in the countess's castle, things wouldn't get out of hand.

  Just as the two people's eyes were getting wider and wider, and the wine in their hands was changing its tilt angle to splash onto each other's faces, their hands were both grabbed by someone and pulled into an armhold.

  "This is my old castle, and you are all my guests. If there's anything unpleasant to say, let's put it off until after these three days, shall we?" The clever smile and gentle words belonged to the beautiful Countess Yekaterina of that day——Of course, what she said was also inferred by Zhang Fan from her mouth shape.

  It's easy to imagine that when faced with such a charming and gentle request, 99% of men would change their minds. So the tense atmosphere between them dissipated immediately, although their movements were still somewhat stiff, at least they were no longer as tense as before. ——In fact, after fighting for over ten years, neither person had ever been able to gain the upper hand, and both knew how things would end.

  "What a bore!" Zhang Fan sighed and turned his head to look out the window. He had originally wanted to watch a full martial arts performance, but unexpectedly it was over just like that.

  This hall has a facade facing the main peak of the Alps, which is obviously transformed and used for viewing snow scenes. The entire hall facing the mountain peak, including the 45-degree sloping roof above, is made of large glass!

  The temperature difference between indoors and outdoors is quite large, and this glass can withstand such a large temperature difference without being damaged. It is undoubtedly made through special craftsmanship.

  At this time, the wind and snow have become more and more intense. In the midst of the raging blizzard, the majestic Alps Mountains have transformed into a hazy silhouette, as if shrouded by countless pure white spirits dancing in the air, appearing and disappearing. Such a breathtaking view is indeed a rare sight to behold.

  Slowly, the music also gradually relaxed, and people either sat or lay down in the hall to find a place to rest and appreciate this breathtaking beautiful snow scene.

  Beautiful scenery is indeed a treasure given by nature to humanity, but sometimes it's really only the wealthy who can enjoy it.