The sun is high

"Let's play two Dragon Teeth cards."

When Xiuge actually heard these words from the mouths of these living people, he still inevitably felt a little surprised.

"Logically speaking, shouldn't I be the one to say this to others? Why would someone else ask me..."

He wanted to laugh, but this was obviously not a polite behavior, so he spread his hands and said sheepishly: "I'm sorry, of course I know about the Dragon Tooth Card, and I'm also very interested in it, but... I haven't had the chance to try it before. So I don’t have any deck.”

"Ha, who said writers can only lie down in front of their desks?"

The older Nils smiled at his brother: "Mr. Sugar can know the 'deck', which is better than most novices, especially those young ladies who want to teach them It’s just too hard to hit this thing.”

"Yes, and sometimes they even teach me that the patterns on the cards are too obscene..."

"Oh, it's really nasty."

The two brothers laughed as they talked. As the younger brother, Dietrich stretched out his hand to pull over a chair and invited Shuge to sit down: "In fact, many people were already talking about you before you came back. What did you say? Everything is available.”

Shuge was very fond of these two enthusiastic young people, so he asked: "What did they say?"

Dietrich took his deck of cards in his hand and said as he flipped through it: "The good ones are naturally good, the bad ones are naturally not pleasant to hear, just like that word, uh..."

Nils offers a timely reminder: “Polarization!”

"Yes, that's it!"

Dietrich nodded. He arranged the velvet cloth on the table, and then put the deck in place with his brother. Both parties couldn't wait to pull out seven cards from their respective decks and pinch them. In hand.

Xiuge noticed that compared to the cards played by ordinary people, the Dragon Teeth cards in the hands of the two brothers were extremely clean and delicate. Not only that, their cards even used magical images, which were like living creatures. The image of characters cycling through specific actions on the playing cards made Shuge feel a little confused.

"How's it going? Are you interested in giving it a try?"

Seeing Shuge staring at the patterns on the playing cards, Dietrich smiled and said: "Of course, those playing cards circulating on the market are not like this. The two sets we have cost a lot of money... Some time ago The masterpieces of Mr. 'Magic Painter Gerhard' are sold in limited quantities and have been certified by the Dragon Teeth Brand Association, making them truly authentic."

"No, you fight, I just watch."

Shuge shook his head: "I have just returned to the manor and am not too sure about the situation here, so I have some questions to ask you two."

"No problem, just tell me."

Dietrich tossed a gold coin, guessed heads and tails with Niels, and then decided the order in which they would play cards.

"When did you arrive? I mean... to the Manor Hotel."

"The afternoon before yesterday."

Nils pulled out a Dragon Tooth card and put it on the table: "We have always lived in the manor, so we came directly with the card when we received the notice. To be honest, for the two of us, living in the manor and here There is no difference.”

"Won't you get bored?"

Nils shrugged: "Maybe, but we are discussing some business matters, so it's not like we have nothing to do..."

"It's actually the same as usual, except that there are more guys around who like to talk."

Dietrich, who has a more lively personality, made an exaggerated expression of retching: "Listening to it too much will make you sick to your stomach."

Shuge recalled the buzzing voices when he just walked into the hotel lobby, and nodded with deep feeling. Although the Ernst family can indeed be regarded as the elite among the nobility, the shortcomings that its members should have. They haven't fallen behind at all, and these problems will always be more obvious in young people who are arrogant and arrogant. The two who focus on playing cards are really a minority among the minority.

However, Shuge finally remembered at this time that the father of the two brothers, Count Oliver, was also an anomaly among the Ernst family. As a genuine nobleman, this count was fond of the art field and was said to be an aristocrat. He is an outstanding poet and painter. Children raised by such a father may find it difficult to be interested in things like power and status.

"So was there anything else mentioned in the manor? All the younger generations were sent to the hotel to avoid the renovation of the mansion?"

Shuge questioned: "But I remember that the Winter Festival is coming soon. Why would you choose to carry out renovation projects at this time?"

Dietrich nodded and agreed: "It's really strange. I was still taking a nap at the time, but the housekeeper woke me up from the bed all of a sudden. Thinking about it now, it was as if they were eager to kick us out. However, the preparations in the hotel are very complete, at least I don’t think there is any problem. As for the ladies... they may have bigger opinions.”

"You have a big opinion? Are you dissatisfied with the environment?"

"No, they don't like the fact that there are rats here."

Hearing this, Xiuge's eyebrows raised slightly.

For others, the presence of rats in the house is definitely not a good thing, but for Shuge and the running rat Snitch, it is very good news. With the help of Snitch's ability, Those lives hidden in the gaps can be turned into weapons and spies at any time.

Nils once again played a card and expressed his objection to his brother's statement: "I would say it is impossible. No matter what, this is a place where we can accommodate and receive distinguished guests. If there are really mice running around, the family's There’s no place to put my face, and I didn’t find anything anyway.”

He turned to look at Shuge: "I've heard about you. You don't know much about the manor and the people here, right? Tell you secretly, I would rather quarrel with those arrogant guys with their noses pointing to the sky than To mess with our sensitive sisters...their tempers are as capricious as the weather in the Blacknest Mountains."

"Thank you for reminding."

"I seemed to have heard the housekeeper and some servants talking before, and they seemed to have talked about dealing with the rat infestation."

Dietrich added on the side: "But that should be normal prevention and control. When we were renovating the store in Leyland District, I had a few words with the workers, and they mentioned that as long as it's Older houses will always have this kind of problem. After all, rats on the plateau are not afraid of the cold, so once they are renovated, all these hidden dangers must be checked."

At this point, he lowered his voice: "There are too many old men at home. If two of them are accidentally scared to death by mice, it will be a big problem."

"play cards!"

Nils glared at his brother, could he just say that casually?

Xiuge knew that it would be difficult for him to ask anything more from these two brothers, so he nodded to them and thanked them, and then walked towards the other side.

This time, his target was a few women gathered on an elegant sofa in the corner of the hall.

Judging from the blood relationship of this body, they should all be considered his cousins.

Shuge noticed that they seemed to be paying attention to him before, so when he came to the sofa, he had already received several greetings.

"It seems that what the Niels brothers said is true. Their attitude towards me does seem to be friendly."

Shuge politely greeted the four young ladies in front of him. Before he could speak, one of the younger, thin girls wearing a long skirt took the initiative to speak: "Mr. Shuge, we We were discussing you before."

"We've heard some things about you. It's hard to imagine that someone could actually escape from Salem City... That experience must have been very thrilling, right?"

Following these words, several young ladies next to him also echoed, their voices chirping like a group of delicate birds jumping in a cage.

The questions they raised also revolved around the dangers Shuge might encounter when escaping from Salem City, as well as the experience of Walter's prince Havid in Salem City.

Obviously, in the eyes of these ladies, the experience of Salem City itself and its residents is not too important.

They paid more attention to a strange journey full of excitement and danger, as well as the tragic story that happened to Prince Havid.

Shuge discovered that even before he could interrupt to answer, they had already figured out many bizarre details. One of the older ladies even suggested a version she had heard of - Harvey Prince De's death was actually related to love killing.

This is pure nonsense.

Shuge felt that he had to strike hard.

"In fact, what happened in Salem City... may be closer to the version stated by the Legal Committee."

In a calm and composed tone, he spoke out what he knew about the tragic reality of Salem City: "The mud-like magical beasts summoned by weird magic rituals, huge explosions and sudden assassinations, in addition to In addition, there should be many cases of robbery and arson that have not been reported in the news. Coupled with the latest shelling, Salem City and its residents may have no way out."

This sentence is slightly more powerful.

The four ladies who were discussing something fell into silence. After a few seconds, the expressions on their faces came to life again. The quieter one among them asked in a low voice: "I heard... there was an assassination." Before the case occurred, some strange cases had already occurred in Salem City. It is said that a newspaper editor was eaten alive by swarms of rats in his office?"

"Hannah, you've read too many horror stories!"

The thin girl who spoke first obviously hated this kind of topic. She frowned and lectured: "It's just because you always look at these things on weekdays that you have been thinking wildly recently!"

"That happened, twice."

Xiuge added quietly beside him, successfully choking the other party.

But of course he would not tell these people that the person who created this horrible story was right in front of them.

The atmosphere of the conversation suddenly became a little awkward. She probably felt that she was losing face. The girl who had been embarrassed twice in a row quickly stood up. She squeezed a smile with difficulty, and then walked towards the elevator. Walking in the direction of her, the other two people on the sofa obviously had a better relationship with her, so they also chased after her.

Only the quiet girl named Hannah was left sitting blankly on the sofa.

Her dress is slightly simpler than that of ordinary noble ladies, and her body and face also have some scholarly temperament that the nobles lack.

Of course, it can also be said to be a nerdy temperament.

Seeing that Miss Hannah also wanted to leave, Shuge quickly stopped her: "Sorry, Miss Hannah, I have some questions. Could you please help me answer them?"

Hannah asked cautiously: "What's the problem?"

"You should have heard that I have created... uh, some works before."

Hearing this, Hannah's expression became more cautious, and her face even turned a little red, but she finally nodded: "I've heard of it."

"I don't want to continue writing that kind of works, so I am planning to make some attempts to expand into thriller and horror works. In other words, I am picking up materials."

Xiuge noticed that the other person's expression seemed to be relieved a lot and his eyes began to shine, so he hurriedly struck while the iron was hot: "I just heard someone mention that someone seemed to have noticed some unknown signs in the manor's hotel recently. Is this happening?”

"Well, the person they are talking about should be me."

Hannah nodded, and a trace of confusion and uneasiness appeared on her fair face: "It happened at noon yesterday, when I was taking a nap... Just when I was about to fall asleep, I heard a sound near my ear. "

"You mean the rat's voice?"

"Maybe? It's like something is running, and occasionally there is a faint cry."

Hannah recalled it carefully: "So I woke up at that time, but there was nothing in the room, everything was normal. I thought I heard it wrong, so I tried to fall asleep again, but soon, I heard it again That sound."

"Where did it come from?"

"I couldn't hear it clearly, and it always felt like it was against the wall of the bed... I even called the housekeeper and waiter for this, but they told me that the walls of this hotel are all solid, and it's impossible for mice to be able to get in Run inside."

Shuge nodded. The other party's description was consistent with the "inspection results" that Snitch had previously fed back to him - the basic structure of this manor hotel was very solid, and there were no gaps in the walls for walking through.

However, Hannah's narration did not end. She said with lingering fear: "That night, that sound appeared again. This time I heard it very clearly. The sound was not actually in the wall, but in the room. among."

"It's like... it's like there's an invisible person running around in the room. It's such a scary feeling."