"Count Brooke's aunt?"

"Yes," Han Mengyao said, still feeling a mix of emotions as she recalled the incident.

"I heard from Lady Alice that Earl Brooke has a crazy aunt who has been confined to her room for many years."

As she spoke, Han Mengyao turned to look at the dressing table beside her:

"It is said that the lady was the most beloved youngest daughter of the former Earl. She was briefly married and returned to live in Lanruer Castle after her husband's death."

Lady Alice had never seen her since she married into the family; she only heard that the lady was terrified of anything that reflected light, so there were no mirrors in her room.

Guided by Han Mengyao, everyone then discovered that the dressing table, which was filled with jewelry decorations, actually had no mirror!

Moreover, Ji Qian recalled that even the windows in the room were covered with a thin veil, which she had originally thought was a special custom of the Middle Ages.

My goodness, this gave me goosebumps!

[Is it safe for Sister Meng to live here?]

[What? There's a crazy woman here? This castle is terrifying!]

[A must-have element in Western horror movies has appeared; Sister Meng is in danger!]

[This level of danger is on a completely different level compared to the previous old house!]

"Sister Meng, how about I switch rooms with you?"

Ji Qian clearly shared the same concerns, so she offered to switch rooms with Han Mengyao.

Han Mengyao's view on this is quite optimistic:

"It's alright, you've already made the arrangements, and that lady should protect me too,"

At this point, Han Mengyao put on her signature expression, and that sweet smile sent chills down Ji Qian's spine:

"After all, I haven't agreed to help her yet, so she'll definitely come back to me."

Although she didn't know why Han Mengyao was so insistent on this matter, Ji Qian still chose to respect her decision.

After arranging everyone's rooms, Ji Qian and her team were finally able to officially begin the search.

Because of what happened last night, although Ji Qian said that they could investigate in pairs, the others still chose to stay by her side first to familiarize themselves with the environment.

Even before leaving the banquet hall, Ji Qian had already decided to distribute the resources she had looted from the armory the night before to everyone.

Lacking combat experience, both Ying Xu and Han Mengyao chose small, portable daggers as their personal weapons.

Xu Qi, who had tried live-fire shooting for filming, wanted to choose a rifle, but after trying it twice, he had no choice but to give up and instead picked up the pistol next to him.

Mi Yesi had her eye on a beautifully crafted leather whip, but Han Mengyao quickly dissuaded her, saying it might attract perverted fans.

Finally, Mi Yesi turned around and picked up the rake that no one had touched in the corner: "This one will do! I've used this since I was a child, at least it's still easy for me to use."

[Is Mi Yesi... from a rural area?]

What's wrong? Do you look down on people from rural areas?!

No, no, I just thought Mi Yesi was dressed in designer brands and assumed she was from a wealthy family.

[Being from the countryside doesn't mean you're poor. Our Mimi is the village's richest little princess!]

Yes, Mimi's dad owns several mountains and many farms and such.

[Furthermore, Mimi's agency was specially set up by her father, just to prevent her from being scammed.]

Unfortunately, she was repeatedly tricked by her manager into creating fake on-screen couples, which resulted in a lot of negative press.

Sigh, I wonder what kind of agent they'll get this time. If Mimi were a little smarter, it would be perfect.

[What nonsense are you talking about? Our Mimi is the first college student in Mijia Village!]

[Yes, yes! Although Mimi only scored 350 on the college entrance exam, she's still considered the smartest person in Mijia Village.]

[Miyesi: There's really no need to report your college entrance exam scores!]

Surprisingly, Wang Yingying also had live-fire shooting experience, so she became one of only three people present to choose a pistol.

In addition to the sickle on her back, Ji Qian also picked up a pistol. She also specially loaded several grenades and smoke grenades, explaining that this was to be prepared for any eventuality.

Director Liu did not trust Ji Qian's statement, but he had no choice but to repeatedly warn Ji Qian not to use it indoors.

To prevent these weapons from failing at a crucial moment, Ji Qian carefully touched them again before leaving the house, talking to them as she did so.

Because of her overly lewd actions and tone, Ji Qian was relegated to a blind spot by Director Liu while performing this activity, which immediately drew a barrage of complaints from the online audience.

Ji Qian originally wanted to search the corridor where the incident occurred last night, but she was stopped by workers hired by the program crew as soon as she got close.

It turned out that the circuits and windows that had been damaged by the explosion the previous night were being urgently repaired.

Left with no other choice, Ji Qian turned around and walked down to the living room.

A huge portrait hangs at the corner of the first-floor staircase.

A handsome man dressed in medieval noble attire stands in front of a red leather armchair, holding a sword. Behind him are layers of red velvet fabric, and a huge crystal chandelier hangs overhead.

The whole scene should have looked magnificent and solemn, but for some reason, Ji Qian felt a sense of unease from it.

Ji Qian realized that she had no recollection of the painting until she went downstairs just now, when she was surprised to find that there was a portrait there.

Ji Qian subconsciously turned to ask the others behind her, but all she got were ambiguous answers like "I think so" or "But I don't remember."

"This painting seems a bit strange, why don't we take it down and take a look?"

As Ji Qian spoke, she reached out to take the portrait down from the wall, but just as she touched the frame, she heard a familiar roar coming from afar:

"Don't touch it!!!!"

Director Liu suddenly used a sliding tackle to rush towards Ji Qian with lightning speed.

Before he could catch his breath, Director Liu forced himself to sit up and carefully removed Ji Qian's hand from the picture frame.

As soon as Ji Qian's hand left the frame, the assistant director appeared out of nowhere, holding a rag and a spray bottle, carefully cleaning the places Ji Qian had touched.

"Director Liu, what are you doing? Didn't you say we could investigate freely?!"

Seeing that she was being disliked so much, Ji Qian couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, and subconsciously tightened her grip on Director Liu's hand.

Director Liu, having just recovered from his initial shock, was then subjected to physical torture by Ji Qian. He quickly begged for mercy, unable to withstand it any longer.

"Teacher Ji, please let me explain. It's not directed at you, but this painting has special historical significance and is different from the other things in the castle."

It was originally kept in a museum collection, but the local government made a special exception and lent it to us after hearing we were there to film it. You really can't just touch it!

"Special" historical significance?

Upon hearing Han Mengyao's question, Director Liu quickly seized the opportunity to break free from Ji Qian, took two steps back, stood in front of the portrait, and loudly introduced it to everyone:

"The man in this portrait is the last Earl of Lanruel mentioned in the previous documents—Mr. Leslie Balabala Brooke!"

"It's Balzac Brook, Director Liu, you didn't even remember the homeowner's name?"

Ying Xu couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.