War Photographer's Notebook

"We've heard of it," said the Katenka sisters with the little fox in their arms.

Seeing that Wei Ran and Sui Sui were all looking at them, Anfisa simply switched to Russian and explained, "In Austrian folklore, Krampus is a half-goat, half-demon monster, and he exists in opposition to Santa Claus."

Anfiya pointed to the fireplace in the room and added, "Santa Claus came into the room with candies and gifts to reward the good children. Krampus whipped the bad children with birch branches, then took them back to the cave and ate them. "

"December 12th is Krampus Night every year," Anfisa added.

"Isn't that Saint Nicholas' day?"

Sui Sui, who was half of Maozi's blood, muttered, and immediately realized that Saint Nicholas is not Santa Claus, and this Krampus is really the opposite of Santa Claus.

Of course, there is still a difference between this Saint Nicholas and the Santa Claus in the current sense. The former is more of a religious image, while the latter, the bearded old man who pretends to be a reindeer and wears red clothes all over the world drilling chimneys, is actually It's all about Coca-Cola's image.

From this point, it can be seen to some extent that Fat House Happy Water is more popular than drowsy religion.

Seeing that Wei Ran and the others had begun to diverge their thinking, Leia, who could not understand Russian, could only knock on the glass, and said with some anxiety, "Anyway, the ghost that was seen by many people has Krampus He looks like a goat, with the horns of a goat, a body covered with long black hair, and a thick chain in his hand.”

Having said that, Leya pointed to the city wall outside the window again, "The few times he was seen, he appeared on the city wall, and was even photographed."

"Been photographed?" Wei Ran raised his eyebrows, "Can you still find the photos at that time?"

"Come with me"

Leya led Wei Ran and others out of the room, climbed up the stairs to the fourth floor, and went straight into a room with a view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the open-air hot spring pool on the second floor.

After a while of rummaging through the cabinet, Leya found a kraft paper file bag from the cabinet, and pulled out two color photos from the file bag.

In the first photo, one could clearly see a black figure standing on top of the snow-covered city wall outside the window.

Although the specific appearance of this figure cannot be clearly seen from this photo, against the background of the snow, one can indeed see a pair of particularly conspicuous and thick horns, as well as a pair of eyes that seem to be glowing green.

Look at the time in the lower left corner of the photo. This photo was taken in January 2006. Subconsciously flip to the back of the photo. There is also a room number of "1" written on it, as well as a German name called Lucas and a string phone number.

“My dad and I went to inspect the city walls the morning after Mr. Lucas, the skier, took this picture.”

Leya looked out the window and said, "But there are no footprints on the city wall, nothing, and we asked the police to analyze it secretly. According to the angle and distance analysis in the photo, this figure is probably at least two meters long."

"How did he disappear?" Wei Ran asked, shaking the photo.

"He jumped off the wall and disappeared."

...

Leya's tone was full of doubts, "The location where the photo was taken, the city wall is 37 meters away from the ground outside, even if it is more than 20 meters away from the ground inside the castle, and most importantly, we didn't find any footprints at all. .”

"No footprints?"

Wei Ran muttered to himself, and looked down at the second photo. In this photo, there was still a black figure, but it was different from the previous one. In the arms of this black figure, it seemed that there was still a woman in a white dress restrained. .

It's just that this photo doesn't have the time it was taken, and there's nothing written on the back of the photo.

"This picture was taken by my father"

Leia paused, and said with difficulty, "Although the person in the monster's arms is not me, the dress is mine. It should have been placed in the closet of my apartment in Brussels, Belgium. But after taking the photo The next day, it hung on the star we just saw
olive tree.

And then... and shortly after that, my dad died in a car accident on the way down. "

Returning the photo to Leiya, Wei Ran thought for a while and said, "Leiya, take us to the city wall to have a look."

"Come with me"

Leya put away the photos, left the room with Wei Ran and others, went downstairs and walked along a corridor, familiarly walking up to the five or six meter wide city wall.

Looking outside the parapet wall, which was obviously cleaned not long ago, the city wall is indeed at least 30 meters straight up and down, and it is so bare that there is no place to focus on it.

In other words, as far as the outer wall of the city wall is concerned, even if you find a monkey from Mount Emei and let it lean on a pair of crutches bought with a bicycle, you will probably fall to your death if you want to climb down.

"Leiya, is there a basement or a secret passage here?" Anfeiya first asked the question that Ji Ran and Sui Sui asked each other about Yayuan Shaoyue Shanding's bathroom and Chuanwen Liangkou.

"There is indeed an underground wine cellar." Xiao Ya paused, "but the only entrance is inside the church, and..."

"And what?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"And the door of the church is locked, and only Mr. Dominique has the key." Leya spread her hands, "No one can enter the church, let alone the cellar."

"Where are the cemeteries of Mr. Timov and Mrs. Sophie?" Wei Ran asked, changing the subject.

"There"

Leia raised her finger to the rose field outside the castle, "It's right next to the windmill, where Mr. Timov, Mrs. Sophie, and their daughter Qiqi are buried."

"Wait, what did you just say their daughter's name is?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"Qiqi, what's wrong?"

Leya repeated, "Qiqi Cape, I heard Mr. Dominique say this, but unfortunately, it is said that she passed away in an accident a long time ago, and was buried in her favorite place. next to the windmill."

Leya pointed to the windmill in the distance again, "It is said that there used to be a house next to the windmill, and Mr. Timov's mother used to grow up in that house. But then the Germans burned it down. All that remained was the stone base of the windmill, which Dominique helped rebuild.

Moreover, it is also the place where Mr. Timov's family comes to vacation and camp every year. It is said that their daughter also likes it very much. "

Seemingly worried that Wei Ran and others would not believe it, Leiya pointed to her feet again, "If you are interested, you can go to the collection room to find the photos left by Mr. Timov's family and his diary. Memories about that windmill.”

"We'll check it out sometime"

Wei Ran turned around and walked back and said, "Leiya, please arrange the room for us, we will stay here tonight."

"I'm catching ghosts tonight!"

Sui Sui patted Beria, who was walking between her and Wei Ran, her face was clearly full of anticipation, who was not a big deal when watching the excitement.

Love the War Photographer's Handbook