Chapter 18: Strange Diary (Part 1)

  Nothing at all.

  There's nothing in the bathroom!

  Of course, this bathroom is not just an empty room. The super luxurious water flow jet massage bathtub can be used as a small swimming pool and can accommodate ten or so people lying in it comfortably at the same time, without touching each other unless they want to. At the four corners of the bathtub stand four pure white marble statues, with fine craftsmanship and grandeur, absolutely the work of a master craftsman. However, these four valuable statues are only used to supply cold water or hot water for the bathtub! In the bathroom, there is a wall from top to bottom that is all mirrors. Under the marble floor, there are heating pipes buried, so that when people take a bath in the bathroom and step on it with their bare feet, they will feel a warm and comfortable feeling.

  In short, all the equipment that people generally think should be in a bathroom is here!

  But for Zhang Fan, these were not what he wanted. He didn't come in to take a bath! What was on his mind was something in the bathroom that could scare Long Yi half to death, not these sanitary ware, no matter how luxurious they were.

  Although he was disappointed, he also felt a slight relief in his heart. Although he didn't quite admit it, deep down inside, he still had an inexplicable fear of that terrible thing.

  Regrettably, Zhang Fan let out a sigh and exited the bathroom. Since what he wanted to see was gone, he could only continue his unfinished search from last time in the countess's room.

  First, Zhang Fan took a gentle glance around the entire room and decided to start searching from that enormous dresser. Women's trinkets were often placed on it, and for a woman of Countess Yekaterina's age, the dresser was second only to the bed in importance, with more time spent in front of it than appearing before others. Therefore, some important things might be placed on the dresser.

  However, at this time, the dresser had obviously undergone a thorough cleaning, with only some common cosmetics placed on it, and other miscellaneous items were gone. It looked like the dresser was somewhat bare, with only one large mirror looking a bit lonely. However, what struck Zhang Fan as strange was that there was still a beautifully decorated jewelry box left on the dresser.

  "Wow, so luxurious!" Although they were ordinary cosmetics, it was clear that they were all specially customized. The price of such things was not something that an ordinary family could afford. After a quick glance, Zhang Fan found that there was no clue to be found in these bottles and jars, and directly stretched out his hand to open the lid of the jewelry box.

  "No!" Suddenly, Zhang Fan's mind flashed a warning signal, and his hand stopped immediately. Although he couldn't say what the reason was, he instinctively felt that if he opened this jewelry box, something very bad would definitely happen!

  As a super-powered psychic, Zhang Fan's intuition had always been quite accurate, and this feeling had saved his life more than once. And when he carefully examined the box, even using air as a medium to detect it, his heart was filled with fear.

  That jewelry box had a trigger-activated explosive device installed, and as soon as the lid was opened, the explosive device would be activated, immediately triggering a violent explosion! Even if Zhang Fan were nearby when the explosion occurred, he might not have been able to escape unscathed.

  "This is clearly a trap! - No wonder nobody came here, if someone really came in and opened this jewelry box out of curiosity or greed, they would definitely be blown to pieces. It seems that this trap was set up specifically for people who come over to investigate."

  "It seems that you really want to put me to death!" Zhang Fan self-deprecatingly smiled. It appears that the opponent has given up on the possibility of controlling him spiritually like a dragon, and instead turned to eliminating him physically. He truly didn't know what he had that made them attach such importance to it! Was it just because he discovered the deaths of Muhammad and Xi Yada, and suspected the female count?

  "Whatever." After a careful search, the jewelry box didn't have anything either, just a simple trap. The dresser was also nothing special, Zhang Fan let out a silent sigh and turned his head to look elsewhere.

  Suddenly, a small bookshelf at the foot of the wall caught his eye. —— It was said to be small, but only in comparison to Countess Yekaterina's enormous bed and other furniture; in fact, this bookshelf would have been considered quite large if placed in an ordinary person's home. But for a place where even the bathtub was ten times larger than usual, a bookshelf that could hold only three thousand or so books wasn't small at all — it really couldn't be described as such.

  This bookshelf was placed in the Countess's bedroom, which was undoubtedly quite out of place. - Catherine, the Countess, would be the kind of person who loves to read? Therefore, seeing this situation, Zhang Fan's mind moved immediately, and his body floated towards the bookshelf.

  As expected, these books were placed here, and their greatest function was to show off. Those rows of books, judging from the decorations and paper color, most of them had a long history, some with purple calf leather covers, gold-stamped titles that made people feel its preciousness without even reading the book, while others were simple, unadorned manuscripts, not even with a title, simply personal diaries. However, the names signed below these personal diaries made one stand up in respect: Da Vinci, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire... Undoubtedly, these undecorated personal diaries would be treasures that could drive collectors crazy if they were put out.

  Zhang Fan looked at the fully packed bookshelf and couldn't help but sigh. So many books of all shapes and sizes, if he were to carefully read each one, it would take who knows how long.

  But not looking is not an option, who knows if there's a note revealing the truth between two pages of a certain book? Or even just a few marks on a page could be the key to unlocking this complex puzzle!

  "It's good that no one will come to disturb us for a while, so let's take our time and read slowly!" Zhang Fan sighed, sat down, and took out a book from the bookshelf. At this moment, the sky had already begun to show a faint brightness, and Zhang Fan's eyesight was originally astonishing, so it didn't seem like a struggle to read.

  It's easy to say that, but he knew very well that finding a clue in this pile of books was no easier than finding a needle in the ocean.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, several hours passed and he only looked at over a hundred books, without finding anything useful. - This result was achieved by browsing through them hastily. If he had really examined them carefully, he might not have even finished looking at a few books by now.

  However, these books are really all-encompassing. Religion, history, art, appreciation, mythology of various countries, customs and practices, astronomy and geography - everything is included. Zhang Fan even found an original copy of Darwin's "Origin of Species"! These books often have many annotations, showing that their owners were not just putting them on display for show. For example, this copy of the "Origin of Species" has a few sentences annotated: "Absurd. With such limited intelligence, they actually dare to deny the achievements of the Creator? However, it is indeed a difficult task to make these frogs at the bottom of the well understand how vast the sky is."

  "What a condescending attitude! Is the Countess not human?" This was Zhang Fan's feeling after seeing this note - disdain! However, it also made him slightly suspicious, had his previous guess been wrong, and did Countess Yekaterina actually like reading books?

  "What a tiring day!" Zhang Fan stretched his waist and shook his neck from side to side.

  "Huh, what's that?" Chu Yi suddenly noticed that the part of the bookshelf against the wall had a slightly different color from the surrounding area. This part of the wood was smoother than the other parts, as if someone had often stroked it. Of course, it was only an extremely subtle difference, and judging from the dust on the edge, no one had touched it for a long time. "According to the plot of third-rate novels, there should be a hidden compartment or something here, right?" Zhang Fan thought to himself with a hint of mockery. He certainly didn't believe this.

  But after thinking about it, Zhang Fan still took a deep breath and pressed down on that part with his hand!