Chapter 3: Gathering at Mount Sealing (Part 1)

  Zhang Fan had never seen this piece of paper before, but he recognized it at a glance.

  This is an invitation card, and it's a rather famous one.

  It's not because of the exquisite craftsmanship and high-quality materials used in the invitation that it has a reputation. In fact, this invitation is famous because of the person who sent it.

  Countess Yekaterina is a fairly well-known person - both in terms of her social connections and wealth, as well as her feminine charm.

  The origin of the title of Countess has always been a topic of debate. Some say she is a descendant of the original Russian nobility, with a hereditary title, while others claim that it is from the Austrian Empire era - but all this is irrelevant, because these countries have long since democratized and these noble titles are no longer noticed by anyone except those who deliberately show off: even if they were noticed, there would be no way to verify them, let alone investigate the ancestry of this Countess who shares a name with a famous Russian queen. That would be too much, especially when this Countess is also a woman of remarkable beauty.

  Matching the Countess's beauty and status was her wealth. No one knew where the Countess's money came from - she didn't accumulate it like other wealthy women by constantly marrying and divorcing rich men, nor did she get it by selling something for money; her money seemed to have come out of thin air, just as suddenly as the Countess herself appeared.

  These dubious riches, on the other hand, are even more likely to make people believe that she is a descendant of a certain generation of royal nobility: those riches are obviously the legacy or treasure left by her ancestors.

  The Countess has a considerable number of sponsorships around the world and also has a considerable number of industries. Her most famous industry is Catherine the Great Castle, located at the foot of the Alps in Grindelwald.

  This is an ancient castle with a history dating back to the time of William Tell. Originally, according to local law, these castles were not allowed to be rebuilt, only repaired. However, after the countess bought this castle, she used a series of modern tools to transform it into a unique building that combines ancient cultural and artistic atmosphere with modern convenience. This is probably another example of how money can work wonders.

  The social events organized by the Countess are diverse, but each one makes people who want to integrate into high society feel envious. —— Even someone claims that in European social circles, the Countess's face is even more important than the President of France. Being able to show up at her social events is almost more useful than being personally introduced by the Queen of England.

  Unfortunately, the Countess's events were all private affairs, and the invitations she sent out were extremely limited. As a result, there have been instances in social circles where people have sought after the Countess's event invitations at exorbitant prices - because the Countess's events only had a limited number of participants, and each invitation was anonymous. Moreover, as long as you could hold onto an invitation, no matter who you were, you would be able to attend, and it was guaranteed that you would be treated with utmost hospitality.

  However, those who generally receive invitations are either rich or noble. Although there are always people who cannot attend for various reasons each time, the matter of selling invitations has never happened before.

  One of the Countess's most famous activities is the annual winter ball held in the Alps at Catherine's estate.

  The Mountain Dance Party was a completely private gathering, with all the guests being personally invited by the Countess using her own private connections. Generally, they were people of considerable reputation internationally. The Countess had extensive personal connections within the upper echelons of European and indeed global society.

  It's called "Mountain Closure Dance Party" because there is a very strange rule for participating in this dance party: all participants are not allowed to leave without the host's permission.

  This was not because the countess had stationed troops with loaded guns on the border, ready to kill anyone who tried to leave, nor had she set up traps or electric fences around the castle - that would have been illegal detention. The countess had only restricted one thing: no vehicle could go up the mountain without the owner's permission. Since the entire area of several kilometers was her private property, there was basically no one who could raise any objections to what she said.

  At the same time, she also built a high-power signal jamming station in the castle, and all wireless communications would become ineffective as soon as they entered within ten kilometers of the castle, even the most advanced satellite phones.

  Because every year at this time there is a huge amount of snowfall in the Alps, so each participant unless not coming, came without the host's consent can't leave.

  Each guest who received the invitation was picked up by a helicopter at the foot of the mountain and then spent three days in seclusion with others in the castle. - This was undoubtedly a rather mysterious and attractive thing in the heart of the countess. In fact, this kind of thing is also very attractive in the social circle where nothing is done except to show off family and wealth. So the countess's invitation was the most precious one for the mountain closure dance party.

  However, the countess also made a rule that all participants in the dance party must wear a mask to conceal their identity. According to her words, those who come to attend the gathering are her friends, and among friends there is no distinction of status. At the same time, sometimes two people who may not be on good terms in reality can meet at the same time, and wearing masks can also reduce many awkwardness.

  This, of course, cannot serve as a secret. Because it can be said that as long as one can enter the Countess's ancient castle to attend her annual Mountain Closure Dance, it is almost enough to show off in the entire social circle for half a year. ——After half a year, of course, people think of ways to get an invitation for next year. A considerable number of people who received invitations couldn't wait to show them off even before they went up the mountain.

  However, the countess's taste is extremely picky. Her mountain-sealing dance party has been held for five years (five years ago she just bought this ancient castle), inviting thirty guests each year. According to those who have publicly revealed their identities, in the past five years, no one has been invited twice! This makes the invitation to this dance party even more precious. ——Those who do not want to reveal their identity, of course, have ways to make others unable to investigate.

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  Zhang Fan naturally had nothing to do with these upper-class people. He never looked up to those so-called aristocrats who clung to their family background and door plaques - in an era where a person's value was measured by their ability, the so-called aristocracy was just a title, and clinging to it was really laughable. The reason he knew about these things was simply because as a private detective, he had to understand the information that included such a character.

  He had never thought of attending the mysterious gathering of this female count, and naturally he would not receive such an invitation that was even sold at a sky-high price in high society. For three days in a row, he had to face a group of boring people, which was really uninteresting in his eyes, more wasteful than sitting in the office staring blankly.

  However, now he received an even more inexplicable invitation after a mysterious romantic encounter. The content of the invitation was to ask him to attend a gathering that seemed utterly absurd to him!

  It seems that life's encounters are indeed mysterious. Zhang Fan looked at the faint smoke rising in front of him and suddenly smiled.

  To go or not to go? He had no idea what the woman's background was, and whether this was a trap or not. If it was a trap, then going would be courting disaster. Although Countess Yekaterina's parties were famous, nobody could predict what would happen there. - If Countess Yekaterina herself was part of the conspiracy, then disappearing one or two people at her party wouldn't be a big deal. Besides, he wasn't even an official guest.

  "Go!" Zhang Fan took a deep drag on his cigarette, then threw the remaining butt directly into the fireplace. If you don't enter the tiger's lair, how can you catch the tiger's cub? The trail here has been cut off, and if I don't go, I'll have to start searching from scratch - it's not certain whether I'll be able to find any clues, and at the very least, it will take a lot of time. Even if I do find something, it may already be too late.

  Since the decision had been made, Zhang Fan immediately stood up, put on his clothes and left directly. Now it was already the afternoon of the 30th, but the Countess's reception staff were waiting at the foot of the mountain, if they didn't leave now, they would be late.