But after expending a great deal of time and energy, it was all for naught.
And now, a real case of agelessness appeared before Kyle, appearing on his father.
This made Kyle have to wonder if his father had found the treasure that was the water of the Fountain of Youth—why had he recently ordered the search for witchcraft medicine, and then regained his vitality? There must be a connection!
"Recently, the old man went to this place."
The younger son, Hall, took out a map and pointed to a spot on it.
"This is a mountain the family bought more than ten years ago. There are several villas on it, which were used by the collateral branches of the family."
"However, more than ten years ago, due to a servant, the villa caught fire and several people died. That place was abandoned and sealed off… With the old man's physical condition back then, how could someone in a wheelchair go there for no reason?"
"This only shows that the place is no longer ordinary!"
The younger son, Hall, was very certain of this.
An abandoned mountain, an abandoned estate, an old man who was immobile and needed a wheelchair to walk, why would he suddenly go to that place?
There must be a reason for this.
From the mouths of his subordinates, Hall confirmed the information that the old man had been to that place and was very clear and certain of it.
Did the old man obtain some witchcraft artifact from there, or was there a Fountain of Youth in the mountain where the estate was located… This thought clearly appeared in the minds of the two brothers.
The two brothers exchanged glances, both feeling that they should go and take a look.
This was probably the only place that could resolve their doubts.
However, to prevent the old man from discovering their whereabouts, they probably couldn't bring too many people there.
...
That night, dark clouds rolled in the sky, emitting thunderous sounds, and raindrops of varying sizes fell from high above.
The chill in the mountains deepened under the accompaniment of the night rain.
And at this time, Kyle and Hall, the two brothers, in order not to be discovered by the old man, brought a small number of people and took advantage of the night to quietly explore here.
The abandoned estate, the burned buildings, coupled with the gloomy environment, made the two feel a little uneasy—staying up late to explore, all for a piece of information they had obtained from their subordinates, they had to do this.
Reality felt almost magical.
It had brought two billionaires, worth hundreds of millions, to this place in the middle of the night.
However, the old man's recovery of vitality was even more magical.
Although the actions of the two brothers were against common sense, they did not violate science. The old man's situation was harder to explain.
"It's so desolate here, why didn't the collateral branches of the family rebuild it? Instead, they let it fall into disrepair?"
Hall knew the reason, but the current environment indeed made him a little uneasy. He said this now not to get an answer, but just to add some human presence to the surroundings, so that it wouldn't be so quiet.
"Who would continue to live in a building where people died? They aren't short of money."
Kyle replied unceremoniously.
"If it weren't for the old man's influence watching us, we could have come in broad daylight and brought a large number of people, instead of being like this."
Hall grumbled.
"There's no other way. Our arrival must be kept from the old man. During the day, there are too many eyes and ears around us, and it's impossible to keep it a secret. We can only choose to come at night."
Kyle directed a few subordinates to search the area around the estate. The search had been going on for some time, but there were still no abnormal clues.
Let alone the Fountain of Youth or witchcraft items, there wasn't even a mouse.
Kyle saw a staircase ahead, which he didn't recall having searched.
So he directed another subordinate.
"Go search over there."
The subordinate carefully walked into the stairwell and looked around it, reporting, "There's a passage downwards."
A passage downwards?
Kyle didn't find anything unusual. A downward passage could lead to a basement or a cellar.
"Take the flashlight and go in to search."
Kyle gave the order.
Then he said to the subordinates around him, "You guys go and check the surroundings again, see if there's anything suspicious."
One minute passed.
Ten minutes passed.
Kyle's expression changed.
Because the subordinate who had entered the stairwell had not come out yet.
"Not good! There's something wrong with this stairwell!"
Kyle easily reached this conclusion.
It was normal for wealthy families to build basements and cellars.
But a normal basement or cellar would have a predictable size, and it wouldn't be possible for someone to be inside for ten minutes without coming out.
"Have you found anything unusual?"
Hall's heart was also beating with a little excitement.
Why had they suddenly come to this abandoned estate?
Wasn't it because the old man had regained his vitality and youth due to some unscientific phenomenon?
No matter how absurd this explanation was, at least they now knew that the world was not just about science, but also about some mysterious phenomena.
And now, they were about to explore what this mysterious phenomenon was.
Before coming, the brothers were most afraid of a fruitless effort, of working all night without finding anything unusual, which would prove that this clue was wrong.
This was the worst-case scenario.
Now, although one subordinate was missing, they had found the so-called anomaly, which confirmed that there was indeed some mysterious phenomenon here that was different from the mainstream worldview of the current world.
This was at least a gain, proving that the clue they had found and the direction of their efforts were not wrong.
"Bring the searchlight and flashlight, and go down to search together."
The two brothers called over more than a dozen people, who were usually their bodyguards. Now, armed with firearms, they could provide them with a sense of security.
More than a dozen people entered the stairwell like this.
It was a downward stairwell.
With fallen and collapsed plaster, walls stripped of their original white paint, and dust-covered steps, Kyle couldn't help but shiver.
He walked in the dark stairwell, and everything around him seemed silent. If it weren't for the group of people around him, and if they weren't all holding flashlights and lamps, Kyle would definitely not have gone down like this.
However, the darkness and the decay of the surroundings, although they might be frightening, were not a problem as long as there were enough people.
It was a simple principle.
Haunted houses were scary, but only when there were only two or three people.