“What?” Robert Walker didn’t catch it and turned to ask, “Charles, what did you say?”

Charles was still struggling behind, dragging his bag as he walked, and retorted, “Say what? I didn’t say anything.”

Robert Walker frowned and said, “You didn’t say anything? I thought I just heard someone talking.”

Charles replied irritably, “Trying to scare me, huh? Move aside, hurry up and put your stuff down to rest…”

He pushed past Robert Walker and went straight upstairs, while Robert Walker opened doors and windows in the hall to let in some air. The hall was practically like a small plaza; Old Walker thought he could organize people to do square dancing here in the future.

The first floor of the castle’s main building was the tallest and most spacious, probably ten meters high—not like a residence, more like a government office building back home. There were three staircases leading to the second floor: spiral stone stairs on each side, and a straight staircase in the center of the hall, divided into four gentle landings, looking very grand!

Just as Charles stepped onto the second floor, his figure suddenly paused, then he slowly turned his head to look at Robert Walker, his expression terrified.

“What’s wrong?” Robert Walker asked, his heart tightening.

Charles stammered, “Just now, did you hear the words ‘Who’s here?’ The tone was really strange, right?”

Robert Walker swallowed and said, “I didn’t catch it clearly. Damn, Charles, don’t mess with me. You didn’t hear something too, did you?”

He hadn’t clearly heard the words earlier, just a vague, short phrase, and thought it was the wind or a door creaking. But now, hearing Charles say this, he felt maybe he hadn’t misheard after all, because that muffled tone really was odd—like a foreigner speaking Chinese, awkward and unnatural.

At that moment, the sun was setting behind the mountains, and the dim twilight barely shone into the castle, making the atmosphere a bit cold and eerie. The mountain wind blew through, and the windows Robert Walker had just opened swung back and forth, making a “creak, creak” sound, giving the castle a gradually uncanny vibe.

Charles seemed even more timid than Robert Walker, and with his luggage on his back, he hurriedly ran downstairs, asking, “Are we really going to stay here? Bro, someone just died here!”

Robert Walker said, “Didn’t you say you’ve seen more dead people than I’ve seen living ones?”

Charles whispered, “But a lot of people have died here! It’s been a century and a half—at its peak, the Roberts family had over two hundred people, all died here. Do the math, how many is that?”

Seeing this guy looking like he’d just seen a ghost, Robert Walker actually became bolder. He patted Charles on the shoulder and said, “Alright, buddy, let’s just stay here. The helicopter’s gone, and we didn’t buy a tent. If we don’t sleep here, where else can we go? Besides, maybe you just misheard earlier. Anyway, there’s nothing to be afraid of—there are no ghosts in this world, haha.”

Charles was timid but stubborn. Hearing Robert Walker say this, he sneered, “Who’s scared? I’m worried about you being scared! OK, since you’re not afraid, let’s stay here— you go first, we’ll stay on the second floor, there are guest rooms there.”

Robert Walker looked at him amused and asked, “What about the first floor?”

“The first floor is the council hall, game room, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and dining room. Who puts bedrooms and guest rooms on the first floor of a castle?” Charles replied irritably.

The castle was made entirely of stone, looking rough but solid. The stairs were also made of stone, but polished smooth. It was clear the Roberts family had put a lot of thought into building this castle.

At the turn of the stairs were a series of rooms. Robert Walker tried the keys and opened the two nearest ones. The water and electricity worked, but there were only floorboards, wooden beds, and tables and chairs—nothing else. The style was so simple it was almost bare.

However, the two rooms were quite clean. Charles said this was because, after Sir Roberts died, the British and New Zealand funeral delegations had stayed here, and it had been less than a week since then, so of course the rooms were still tidy.

Robert Walker let Charles pick a room first, then took the other for himself. He used his dirty clothes to dust off the bed, then laid out bedding, set out fruit, food, and other daily necessities, and the bedroom immediately took shape.

Although the bedroom was very basic, because it was his own, Robert Walker still felt great about it—better even than the luxury apartments he’d rented in Beijing.

Dinner was prepared together. Charles had been a member of the New Zealand funeral delegation, so he was quite familiar with the castle. He found the kitchen on the first floor, threw out the old pots and pans, and replaced them with the new cookware they’d bought today, leaving the cooking to Robert Walker.

There was no natural gas in the castle, so they had to use an electric wok. Robert Walker first boiled a pack of macaroni, cooled it with cold water, then stir-fried it with rice sauce, carrots, onions, and diced ham.

He’d been away from home since junior high, so he’d been cooking for over ten years. While he couldn’t make fancy dishes, he was great at home-style cooking. The stir-fried noodles with meat sauce smelled delicious, and finally, he topped it with two fried eggs and a few cucumber strips, making the dish look, smell, and taste wonderful.

He also made a thick soup with tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggs. This was simple: chop the tomatoes as finely as possible, dice the cucumbers, sauté with scallions, add eggs, and make it into a soup.