Prepare to venture to venture to the darkest most haunted locations once again.

About 4 o'clock in the morning it felt like the hand of God touched the castle.

The whole thing just shook. Brace yourself for a

supernatural journey unlike any other. It felt like there were other guests go

staying with us that we could not see.

Listen to Haunted Road season five on the I Heart Radio app, Apple

Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky.

Listener discretion advised. In 1271, the Italian explorer Marco Polo set off for China from his home in Venice at the age of 17.

You've probably heard of Marco Polo. On his adventures he encountered all manner of marvels, islands replete with rare spices, sumptuous

courts, even testimony about strange, huge, and exotic serpents with long jagged mouths, or, as we might

know them, crocodiles.

After Marco Polo had spent nearly 20 years in the court of the Chinese emperor, he finally

decided to return home.

But there was no chance he could go back the way he came.

An unexpected war had flared up in the very center of Asia,

where trade caravans passed between the eastern and western parts of the continent.

Marco Polo had no choice but to sail around Asia to reach Persia in order to ultimately get back to Venice. He commanded 14

ships that allowed him to avoid the perils of trekking through the mountains and after a few years Markopolo finally

docked at the Persian port city of Hormuz. As with every location he found himself in, he began listening for news that might prove

helpful for the rest of his journey. It turned out that the wars still raged in Central Asia, but there was more.

Marco Polo was a collector of legends and stories, and there was one story from the war that captivated him.

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