The pizza shop was filled with a spicy smell. When I inhaled it into my nose, my entire respiratory tract felt hot and it was a subtle but insignificant pain.

Brother Xiong looked at Luca and said nonchalantly, "Don't talk about this in front of the guests. The castle is a good place. It has a history of more than 300 years, which is older than our grandfather's grandfather."

He made a joke, but unfortunately no one took it seriously.

Luka muttered, "Anyway, I feel uncomfortable when I get close to there." He looked at the guests he had picked up and discussed with a playful smile, "I have work to do this afternoon. Uncle, the guests have been picked up in Bana, and they are only a few kilometers away from the castle. You see..."

He rubbed the bottom of his nose, rubbing it red, "It's just right for the two of us, maybe we can get a ride?"

"That's nothing, but Luka," Brother Bear said seriously, "Don't forget, the nursing home where your grandmother is staying is cheap, and it was Sal who paid half of the fee for you."

Luka was embarrassed for a moment.

The conversation between the two attracted the attention of others.

Among the newcomers, the blonde woman was the most talkative and shouted out, "You seem to be talking about something we don't know. Castle? Is it the Winter Castle?"

Brother Bear glared at Luka sternly.

Luca tried to hide his mistake, and hesitantly explained: "Yes, well... the castle is built on a cliff, and my fear of heights makes me... feel pressured."

The blonde woman was skeptical.

"Your pizza." The boss held a pizza in one hand and chicken noodles in the other. "Your noodles."

The blonde woman picked up a pizza and asked: "Italian pizza? Italian?"

The boss shrugged: "French."

"Do you know the Castle of Winter?" The blonde woman deliberately glanced at Luca.

The young man was indeed fidgeting.

The boss's answer was casual: "Who in Bana doesn't know about the Winter Castle?"

"Have you been to that place?"

The boss said, "I'm not interested in it. Do you want to order anything else?"

"Two glasses of lemonade, thank you."

The boss brought out a pot of ice water and told them to do whatever they wanted.

The blonde woman took the initiative to talk to Jian Jing: "It sounds like you are going to the castle too?"

Kang Mucheng said, "We are here to attend the wedding."

"Oh, are you Melanie's friend or Sal's?" she asked.

"Saul is my classmate."

"Really? What do you think of him?" The blonde woman tossed her hair and looked like she was investigating. "I'm Melanie's sister. To be honest, I don't know anything about the man she's going to marry."

She complained to the man she was traveling with: "Honey, this is really terrible."

"Melanie has the right to choose her own husband." Her husband said, "Okay, let's attend this wedding happily."

The blonde woman showed an unhappy expression, but did not object, and lowered her head to eat lunch.

Jian Jing used a straw to stir the ice in the cup. She felt that she was a little confused. She asked a question and forgot it before she could answer it.

But she said nothing, just snatched the last piece of pizza from Si Yingjie.

Lunch was over.

Brother Xiong discussed with Luka for a few sentences, and finally agreed to take his sister and brother-in-law to the Winter Castle.

On the way, everyone introduced themselves to each other.

The blonde woman was called Kimberly, and the bride was called Melanie, and they were cousins. The man traveling with her was of course her husband, and they had only been married for a year.

Jian Jing asked, "Where are the bride's parents?"

"Poor Melanie, her parents died shortly after she was born." Cousin Jin said, "She has lived in our house since she was a little girl, and we are like real sisters, but I have never met her husband."

She emphasized the word "never" and cared a lot.

Kang Mucheng had to speak for his friend: "Leo is a good man, he is kind and responsible, and I believe they will be a very happy couple."

Cousin Jin blinked, revealing a skeptical expression.

Her husband said, "Anyway, he owns a castle, and money can solve many problems. This marriage will definitely not be too bad."

The road to the Winter Castle is not long. Leaving the town, turning onto the small road up the mountain, and driving for about ten minutes, you can see the gray castle standing on the cliff.

Jian Jing couldn't help but exclaimed, "Oh my God!"

This is too spectacular!

On the cliff in the distance, there is an amazing Gothic castle, with white-gray walls, typical high spires, straight and majestic lines, and intricate and exquisite decorations. Just a stone's throw away is the boundless sea.

However, this alone is not enough to make people marvel.

As the temperature drops, water vapor from the sea continues to condense on the surface of the castle, freezing it into clusters of crystal-like shells.

A large number of irregular sharp ice blocks covered the castle and the cliffs, like a cluster of huge white crystals, but because of the layers of opaque overlap, light could not penetrate, and blurred shadows overlapped on it, like twisted and stagnant black shadows. It

was beautiful, spectacular, and weird.

No wonder Luka said he was uncomfortable, he didn't lie.

The car went around the road and slowly left the weird scenery. Gradually, the front of the castle appeared in front of everyone.

It became ordinary.

The outer wall is old. Although the style is still gorgeous, the relief has faded and the color of the columns has faded. It is no longer the extravagance of the past. What remains is the weight of history.

In short, it is not as shocking and bizarre as the back.

Xiong Qiaozhi drove the car to the gate, pressed the doorbell, and the iron gate slowly opened, allowing them to drive in. Jian

Jing habitually observed the surrounding environment. In winter, the grass and trees withered, and there was thick snow on both sides of the road, piled up together, like a snow-white towel cake.

Some black dead branches and bird claws remained on the snow.

A young girl pushed the door open: "Uncle Qiaozhi, are there guests?"

"Little Mary." Xiong Qiaozhi pushed open the thick wooden door forcefully, "Is Leo at home?"

"As usual, in the study, we are not allowed to disturb." Mary replied, "But he told me that if guests come, let me take them to the room, everything is cleaned up."

George: "That's great, I bet the guests are tired."

He said to the five guests: "This is Mary, Leo hired her to help in the castle. She is a capable girl, you can ask her for anything."

Mary is a pretty girl with red hair and slightly freckled cheeks. She announced coldly: "There are many things to do in the castle, but few people - I hope you won't use me as a maid."

Taking off the coat, cousin Jin, who was about to hand it to her, withdrew her hand awkwardly.

Mary looked at Kang Mucheng and asked uncertainly: "Are you Leo's friend Kang?" The pronunciation was not standard, "Are they your friends?"

Kang Mucheng nodded.

"Your room is on the third floor," she said. "Follow me."

Then she turned and went upstairs, leaving Kimberly and her husband hanging there.

Si Yingjie commented in Chinese: "You have personality."

Jian Jing couldn't help laughing.

"Watch your step." Miss Mary's attitude was cold, but she did her job. "The stairs are more than a hundred years old. It's best not to trust them too much."

The stairs were steep, but the handrails and walls were full of beautiful reliefs. Under the dim wall lights, the statues flickered white and dark, with a unique beauty. On

the third floor, the view was slightly brighter. There was a stained glass window at the end of the corridor in front. The stained glass window was a typical angel pattern. The red, green, yellow, and blue light and shadows fell on the ground, gorgeous and colorful.

"Here are three guest rooms." Mary stopped, took a bunch of keys from her waist, and opened them one by one. "You are welcome to do whatever you want. The bedding is all new."

"Thank you very much." Kang Mucheng thanked him.

Mary's demeanor eased a little, nodded, and hurried downstairs to pick up the other two people.

Si Yingjie pushed open the doors one by one and took a quick look at the room: "They are all similar, just stay in the middle one."

Jian Jing was not polite: "Okay."

The area of ​​the guest room is not particularly large, about 30 square meters. In addition to the typical European four-poster bed, there is also a wardrobe, a chair, a desk, and a very typical and practical fireplace. A

real fireplace, with chopped oak wood arranged on the fire rack next to it, and a brick chimney on top. In the corner was a set of flintlocks, shovels and a small broom. An

exquisitely crafted fire fence was placed against the wall and could be used at any time.

Jian Jing resisted the urge to light it and give it a try.

On the wall next to the bed was an arched window, tightly closed, with an icy cliff outside. Looking down from this angle, the gray and white ice blocks intertwined, much like the sharp teeth of a sea monster.

She took off her coat - although the castle was old, it was equipped with a modern heater, and the warm air blew down from the hidden corners, so it was not too cold - opened the suitcase, and simply packed her clothes.

Then she went to the bathroom.

Even a beautiful woman needs to go to the bathroom, and are the toilets on airplanes for humans? !

The bathroom in the guest room is not big, and the tiles still retain the style of a hundred years ago. Fortunately, the bathroom facilities have been modernized, and the flush toilet and bathtub are brand new.

He took out his mobile phone. Good, there is internet.

Kang Mucheng posted a new message in the small group of three: [Take a rest first, dinner starts at seven o'clock.]

Si Yingjie sent an emoticon of a person sleeping

soundly. Jian Jing did the same.

The chat records of their group are basically this routine.

Kang Mucheng was too lazy to correct them.

After a long journey of more than ten hours, even a strong man could not endure it. The three of them were very tired and went to bed at the same time.

The bed was unexpectedly soft. The body sank into it, soft and comfortable, but it didn't take long before the overly soft mattress began to torture the spine.

Jian Jing didn't sleep well, always feeling uncomfortable. She was tortured beyond endurance, so she simply sat up and wanted to change the mattress.

But at this time, the watch showed 17:23.

She slept for more than three hours, but it seemed like she had stayed up all night again.

"Ah, so annoying!" She sat on the bed angrily for a while, and got out of bed unwillingly to wash.

The water was very hot, she washed her face, put on a facial mask, and put on a light makeup. She changed out of the comfortable and loose sportswear on the plane and changed into a more formal gray woolen dress, matched with a pair of short boots.

Her hair was messily tied up and she casually made a fluffy bun.

She put on bunny ear clips and was done.

She was worried that Si Yingjie and Kang Mucheng were still asleep, so she didn't knock on the door to call them, and went straight downstairs.

There was no Mary and George downstairs, nor was there any cousin Jin and brother-in-law Jin. There was only a man in a black suit sitting in the side room smoking a cigar.

The two of them met.

Jian Jing paused, thinking: What was the name of the male protagonist in that vampire movie? The guy with skin so pale that there was no blood at all.

"Japanese?" he asked.

Jian Jing: "Chinese."

"Sorry." He shrugged and changed to stiff Chinese, "I can't tell the difference."

Jian Jing said: "You can speak English."

He immediately switched languages ​​and it was much smoother: "You look like a Japanese female singer." Then he hummed a passage from "Riding on the Back of the Silver Dragon".

Jian Jing: "..."

People often say that she looks like Akina Nakamori, but this is a song by Miyuki Nakajima.

She reasonably suspected that this person was face-blind.