Chapter 17 A Long Time

Three hundred years was a long time for short-lived humans. Families rose and fell during those three centuries, and inheritances were twisted and altered. For these short-lived species, it was almost impossible to predict what would happen after a hundred years.

Three hundred years ago, two ordinary people waiting to die in Siberian exile were caught up in a supernatural event, which ushered in completely different fates. They both received a gift from a witch. One of them obtained amazing wealth from it but was also targeted by an angry spirit because of the gift, which tortured his entire family for three centuries with a curse. What about the other person and his descendants during these three centuries?

Perhaps only by seeing the last member of the Legikh family in St. Petersburg would it be possible to know for sure.

Andrei Castle welcomed an unprecedentedly peaceful day. For the first time since the castle was built, there were no strange winds or endless murmurs echoing around. The poor people living here could finally sleep soundly.

The next day, Hao Ren and the others were about to set off for St. Petersburg—it would be a swift journey, but the Igor family still came to the castle hall to see them off. Hao Ren saw that Anna looked better than yesterday, and behind Anna stood a pale and thin young man with shifty eyes and a face more innocent than his actual age. This was Akim, the only male in the new generation of the Andrei family.

"Looks like you slept well last night," Nangong Sanba said, looking at Igor's face, teasingly. "How does it feel to have a good night's sleep?"

Igor stroked his slightly bulging belly, smiling contentedly, "Ah ha, it's been decades since I felt this way. I remember the last night I didn't have a nightmare was the day before my sixth birthday."

"We'll go check on the situation of that August, and we'll get the other stone no matter what," Vivian said, looking at Igor. "We'll probably be back soon. In the meantime, take care of the castle—especially the underground palace. The evil spirit has left, but behind that iron gate is still an incomprehensible alien space. Ordinary people can easily get lost if they rashly enter, so send some people to guard the entrance."

Igor was still a little nervous when he looked at Vivian. The stories about the witch passed down from generation to generation had put a lot of pressure on him. He clutched the buttons on his chest and bowed slightly, "Yes, according to the witch's instructions..."

"Relax," Vivian sighed, "Don't be so restrained. I have no intention of taking over anything in this castle... The Andrei family is free, and don't be trapped by the legend of the witch in the future. I'm sorry, it was my negligence when I set up the seal that caused you to be entangled for hundreds of years."

"But it was also the gold you left behind that gave the Andrei family the initial capital to develop to this day, and without the protection of the witch, it would be difficult for anyone to survive in this frozen land—including my ancestors," Igor said with a smile. "Everything is an equal exchange. I know very well that the wealth owned by the Andrei family is something that many people are willing to exchange half their lives for. Enjoying such wealth will inevitably cost something."

Igor said that, but when Vivian mentioned "the Andrei family is free" just now, he couldn't help but show a relieved expression on his face. This was human nature. No one would like to have a master suddenly appear out of thin air: even if that master was the witch passed down from the family ancestors.

Of course, if Vivian just wanted the Andrei family to provide some help within their capabilities, he would be quite happy to do so.

"Well, there's something I have to explain," Hao Ren raised his hand, "Vivian is not interested in your family's property or commanding your family's manpower, but there is an alien space in your basement, and we need to use that place. It involves things in the supernatural realm."

"Of course, I'm happy to guard her underground palace for the witch," Igor chuckled, "Even my family and this castle are willing to follow her orders at any time."

He agreed quite readily: because there was nothing worth hesitating about at all. Anyway, no one had been able to enter the underground palace for hundreds of years, and even if the evil spirit was driven away now, it was not a good place. He couldn't wait for a group of experts to help him take care of such a hot potato. As for the whole family being at their disposal, it must be just polite words. Looking at the faces of Hao Ren and his gang, they didn't look like they were going to unify the world...

"Let Anna rest well, and we'll try to come back within a day or two. I hope she can sort out the knowledge about 'Tarnagurs' by then." Vivian finally turned to Anna and said with a smile. The expression of that mad miss was still a little confused. The murmurs of the evil spirit had left her mind, but so many years of madness had still left some shadows on her spirit. She still needed some time to fully recover. But now she could still communicate with people normally. Anna nodded to Vivian. Facing this witch who had only appeared in family legends, she seemed more calm than Igor.

"It's still a long way to St. Petersburg from here," Igor saw Hao Ren and the others turning to leave, and quickly shouted from behind, "I can arrange a flight..."

Hao Ren waved his hand without looking back, and then the group disappeared directly into the teleportation light curtain.

Igor and the servants in the castle looked at this incredible scene in astonishment. After a long while, Anna murmured to herself, "This... this is the witch?"

Igor thought for a while, and then suddenly fainted again.

Hao Ren and the others appeared in a suburb far away from the city. Being teleported directly from the warm castle hall to the cold wilderness made everyone shiver. Lily sniffed in the cold wind, "The smell of being away from people!"

"August is an eccentric and reclusive man who hates crowds," Nangong Sanba looked up at a certain direction in the wilderness. "He lives in an old house far away from people. I suspect he has lived in it for half his life and plans to continue living there. Last time I saw him, I briefly talked about his situation. Like the members of the Andrei family, he is also plagued by constant nightmares and mental disturbances, but obviously different from the influence of the angry spirit, he is simply trapped by dreams. I should have talked to him more last time, maybe I could have discovered these truths sooner."

"It's a good thing you didn't talk to him more," Nangong Wuyue glanced at her elder brother. "You didn't know the Landlord and the others back then. With your combat power, you would have died long ago if you had really encountered the angry spirit."

Nangong Sanba shrugged, "That's true."

The data terminal's vague teleportation landing point was more accurate this time. Under the leadership of Nangong Sanba, Hao Ren and the others quickly found the old house where August lived. This last descendant of the "Legikh family" lived in seclusion. His large wooden house was several kilometers away from the nearest town building: this was still under the jurisdiction of St. Petersburg, but to be honest, Hao Ren felt that this place was almost a wilderness.

The wooden house was surrounded by overgrown thorns and cold-resistant bushes, which made people suspect that it had even been abandoned for many years, but there was still a wide road leading to the front door of the wooden house among these plants, which finally convinced people that someone still lived here.

Nangong Sanba stepped forward and vigorously patted the decaying door, but after a long time there was no movement inside.

"He's out," Lily sniffed, sniffing around the door. "He just left not long ago, probably just went to town to buy something."

Vivian folded her arms and looked at the old house, shrugging indifferently, "Then let's wait... Anyway, we've waited for three hundred years."

Lily raised her eyes to look at her, "You have the nerve to say that—you slept through most of the three hundred years, okay? And even when you woke up, you didn't remember him."

Vivian: "..."

Hao Ren took this opportunity to ask Nangong Sanba about August, "Does this person have any hobbies? Or any other personal characteristics that we can cater to?"

From Nangong Sanba's few words, Hao Ren had already deduced the general image of that August: old-fashioned, eccentric, difficult to communicate with, and very neurotic from being tortured by evil spirits. It would be very difficult to negotiate with such a guy, and plus the other party's inheritance was obviously incomparable to the Andrei family, the word "witch" probably wouldn't be of any use, so it was best to ask about the other party's personality preferences and be a little prepared.

Nangong Sanba thought for a while, and curled his lips, "This person is staunch."

Hao Ren and the others immediately looked at each other in dismay. This was not easy to handle—it would be easier to deal with a guy who had all the seven emotions and six desires and was full of deception, but staunch... To be honest, Hao Ren was really reluctant to deal with this kind of person, the difficulty was too high.

"Okay, leave this matter to me," Nangong Sanba didn't let the others discuss it, but smiled and took out a large bag of things from his big box, "I've already prepared it, after all, I've been in contact with him, and the gifts are ready-made."

Hao Ren looked at the large gift package of Chinese herbal medicine in Nangong Sanba's hand and felt confused, "...This is your preparation? Didn't you say that person is staunch? Why prepare so many gifts?"

Nangong Sanba nodded, "Yes, that person has anal fissures."

Hao Ren felt that at least one of him and Nangong Sanba was a moron...