Chapter 3: Gathering at Mount Sealing (Part 2)

  No matter how beautiful the scenery is, it will be boring after a long time. Zhang Fan faced the Alps main peak where the jade dragon was dancing every day, and had no interest in the program arranged by the countess, and felt a bit bored after only two days.

  As for the identities of the people at the gathering, he had figured it out clearly on the first day. Apart from the dozen or so people he recognized from the start, most of the others were either descendants of so-called nobility or second-generation ancestors with illustrious family backgrounds. The private lives of these people were naturally quite messy, but in other aspects, they were almost as blank as a sheet of paper. —— These people, apart from indulging in pleasures, seemed to have no other skills.

  Those with considerable influence, after two days of investigation, Zhang Fan gradually ruled out their suspicions. Of course, some had to be eliminated because this kind of person wouldn't even think about hosting an event themselves. However, if they were really involved in the kidnapping of Professor Ouyang, they shouldn't have or didn't have time to appear at the Countess's party at that time.

  In these two days, Zhang Fan even carefully searched every room in the ancient castle that could be seen. Although many doors were equipped with quite modern and precise door locks, of course, this was not difficult for Zhang Fan.

  Actually, he still had one move that hadn't been used yet - his superpower. However, this ability was quite exhausting and also quite unethical, so unless the target was confirmed, Zhang Fan didn't want to use it - Zhang Fan always felt a sense of guilt about his ability to probe into other people's thoughts. He believed that having absolute freedom spiritually was one of the few true equalities that humans could enjoy universally, and his own ability was undoubtedly a challenge to this equality.

  But when it comes down to it, Zhang Fan will still use it without hesitation. He's not a stubborn person, and although this ability isn't very moral, if it can achieve his goals, sometimes he has to resort to using it - as long as he doesn't overdo it.

  So this time when he couldn't determine what was going on, Zhang Fan didn't want to use his own abilities to probe for information.

  After two days of searching without any result, he finally decided to go down the mountain early tomorrow. As for what that woman said, he had simply taken it as a joke.

  This woman suddenly appeared, and it's hard to tell whether she's a friend or foe. Maybe she just wanted to play a joke on him, or maybe he was just an unwitting participant in some other unrelated event. To be honest, if it was a joke, he wouldn't mind if this kind of joke happened a few more times. Although the past two days have been really boring, thinking about the unparalleled pleasure before makes the boredom of the next two days not so hard to bear.

  "I'll leave at dawn tomorrow!" Zhang Fan decided as he walked out of his room to the dining hall for a meal. Anyway, relying on his skills, he didn't need to bid farewell to the countess to head down the mountain. — Although the heavy snow had blocked all the roads, with his skiing skills and physical fitness, going down the mountain shouldn't be a problem.

  From the moment the countess first saw her own expression, Zhang Fan knew that this woman was suspicious of herself. However, for some reason, the countess seemed to have intentionally avoided meeting him these past two days, even if they bumped into each other on the road, she would only nod slightly. Zhang Fan had a guilty conscience and naturally didn't want the other party to come looking for him.

  So this time he left without saying goodbye. Since the other party didn't want to make it clear, he was happy to pretend not to know.

  Dinner was undoubtedly sumptuous, and the guests arrived in full force. This was also one of the rules set by the Countess's gathering: everyone had to go to the dining hall for meals, which could create a harmonious atmosphere. Of course, if you didn't want to eat, you didn't have to appear in the dining hall.

  These past two days, every time he sat down at the dinner table, Zhang Fan felt that something was off. However, after careful consideration, he couldn't pinpoint where the discomfort came from and could only attribute this feeling to his own inadaptability to such formalities. This was also one of the reasons why he made up his mind to leave as soon as possible - even eating a meal made him feel uneasy, so it was better to leave early.

  After sitting down, Zhang Fan's feeling of unease grew stronger. This time, he could clearly feel that this unease was absolutely not caused by the tedious formalities! Something must have happened on the scene to trigger his vigilance!

  He took another careful look at the people and environment around him, but Zhang Fan still shook his head. Everything seemed normal, with nothing particularly eye-catching. But his own feelings were absolutely not unfounded. As a superpowered individual, especially since part of his powers lay in his mind, Zhang Fan was quite confident in his instincts, and this keen sense had saved him several times before.

  "Tonight's turnout is indeed impressive..." muttered a person sitting next to him, wearing an Indian turban and mask, for some reason. In fact, over the past two days, there have been several people who did not show up for meals due to various reasons, and today was truly the most complete gathering since the Countess announced the start of the party. ——Even so, there were still two people missing.

  There are still two people who haven't shown up! As soon as he thought of this, Zhang Fan's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he finally knew where that uncomfortable feeling came from!

  There are two people who control nearly a tenth of the economic pulse of the Middle East and Africa with their two hands, and they have not appeared again since they met for the first time at the beginning!

  If it were only once or twice, it could be explained - this "busy" character's eating habits are always a bit abnormal, and occasionally missing a meal or two is understandable. After all, the service in this castle, apart from food, is all-encompassing, and the rich and hospitable Countess has prepared almost every entertainment activity that can be enjoyed under these conditions. But not appearing for two consecutive days is quite abnormal!

  It's unlikely for a person to go two days without eating! Entertainment can't replace food to fill the stomach.

  Moreover, as a guest, not showing up for a long time at the host's event is absolutely impolite. As two internationally renowned celebrities, it is impossible to overlook this point.

  What have these two people gone and done?

  As soon as he noticed this, Zhang Fan immediately got up from his seat. Although he had already made up his mind to leave, it was a decision made without finding anything wrong in the first place. At this moment, he almost instinctively felt that there must be a problem here! Maybe this is the key to the whole thing!

  ————————————

  These two people have indeed disappeared!

  Zhang Fan lay on the bed, his eyes staring at the ceiling. He seemed to be in a daze, but in fact, his brain was constantly turning. He had just searched all the possible places where the two people might go, but he didn't find any trace of them.

  Two hours of searching had at least confirmed one thing for him: these two people had vanished, and it was impossible that they were still in this ancient castle.

  "Is it that they have something to do, so they took their leave first?" This thought had just risen in his mind when Zhang Fan immediately vetoed it. For the past two days, he had been paying attention and found that the helicopter that brought him up was still in its original place - he had just gone to take a look, and even the snow on the wings was thick, if it were to start moving, it would definitely make a big noise, he couldn't have missed it.

  But these two people are usually well-fed and live a good life, if they also had the same idea as Zhang Fan originally, leaving without saying goodbye and going down the mountain directly, he would not believe it even if he was beaten to death. If even these two people can go down the mountain with their own strength in the face of heavy snow and strong winds, then human genetics and physical modification capabilities have indeed evolved to the level of Martians.

  It was forgotten to mention one sentence, at the Countess's party, participants were not allowed to bring followers up the mountain. This, of course, was also to reflect "equality".

  But these two people were neither in the ancient castle nor could they go down the mountain alone, so where did they go? Is it really like what the old legends said, being transformed into thumb-sized little people by the elves in the ancient castle and taken away by mice?

  "Have they gone out to see the snowy scenery around here?" Zhang Fanming knew how absurd this idea was, but still turned his head towards the window.

  The countess had undoubtedly gone to a lot of trouble to make her guests feel comfortable in the decoration of the old castle. Although this guest room did not have an entire wall and ceiling made of glass like that grand hall, it also had a very large floor-to-ceiling window, so that the guests staying inside could lie on the bed without any obstruction and enjoy the magnificent snow view of the main peak of the Alps opposite.

  Of course, the floor-to-ceiling window is double-layered. Through a button beside the bed, the inner layer can be easily pulled down, so that the entire window becomes opaque again and merges with the wall.

  "In this kind of weather, if we really went out, I'd probably freeze to death...” Zhang Fan scratched his hair, feeling somewhat amused by his previous thoughts. Moreover, due to regional and political reasons, the two had never been on good terms, so it was not surprising that they would run out to duel, but going on a trip together? That's like a crazy person talking nonsense."