The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 281

Chapter 281: Vivian’s Fangirl

 

After being led in circles through a weird, old street in Athens, the group finally arrived at the Shadowy Divide, a peculiar spatial anomaly trapped in time. Most of the modern buildings had disappeared by then and were replaced by ancient, stone buildings as well as statues. Most of them slanted towards the centre of the road like hunting beasts ready to pounce. Hao Ren noticed at the end of the twisted street, stood a building that was vastly different from its surroundings. It looked rather old, but it bore the hallmarks of a modern two-storey, corner lot building with red bricks and blue tiles. The ground floor had a giant glass window and there was a signboard by the door, akin to a storefront.

The “old friend” whom Vivian was looking for was standing in front of the shop waiting for them. She called herself Hesperides, which was a rather odd-sounding name.

Hao Ren eyed the lady, who was clad in black for a moment. He was rather interested in this “old friend” that Vivian made despite her insular nature. Hesperides looked like a lady in her early thirties and she was wearing a rather conservative, dark dress. Her look was mature and attractive, but there was some sort of gloomy aura about her that made it hard for you to focus on her face too long. There was a peculiar ornament hanging across her forehead. It was beautiful but you’d be hard pressed to find another person wearing such an old fashioned piece of jewelry nowadays. It looked almost like it came out of a wall carving.

“You seemed to have made some new friends.” Hesperides was pleasantly surprised by the number of strangers that Vivian brought along. As she sized them up, the caution in her eyes flickered and disappeared. “Hmm… You having one friend was a rarity enough. To see you with so many… my, my, what actually did happen?”

“Not much, I’m just living life day by day.” Vivian shrugged and went into the shophouse. “I’m not here for idle chatter today.”

Hao Ren followed Vivian into Hesperides’ shop and noticed that the store was chock-full of old items. It appeared that the first floor was indeed a shop lot, and there was a long counter near the staircase. There were old clocks, weird-looking masks, worn-out wooden carvings and a whole lot of thingamajigs on the counter as well as nearby shelves. Vivian frowned at the messy scene, the housewife in her tingling almost to a boiling point. “This is so messy… Why are you always lugging trash around every time I see you? What are you up to now?”

“Now? I’m selling antiques of course,” Hesperides replied nonchalantly as she pulled out a few chairs for the group to sit. She herself was seated behind the counter. “I can’t be idling all the way. I need to have something to do or else I’ll rot away. That little girl over there, don’t touch the stuff on the counter. That mask was worn by a pharaoh before.”

Lily quickly placed the scary-looking mask back onto its stand as she stuck her tongue out at Hao Ren. “So, what do you go by, nowadays? What do I even call you?” Vivian said as she pointed at Hesperides.

“I go by Christine these days… I’ll probably use it for a good decade or two.” Hesperides shrugged.

“Christine?” Vivian frowned. “A follower of Christ? What’s gotten into you? How did you face your liege?”

“It’s just a name anyway and my liege has been dead for a long time, so who cares?” Hesperides shrugged her again. “And I guess you’ll be calling me by my real name soon, you and your horrible memory.”

Lily was staring at the antiques around the room before something struck her. Pointing at Hesperides, she exclaimed, “Ohhh!! No wonder your name’s so familiar! Isn’t Hesperides the name of the evening nymph in Greek mythology?”

Hao Ren was stunned by the news while Hesperides waved her hand. “That was a long, long time ago. Please don’t bring it up. Now, even I need to buy a ticket to visit Athena’s temple for nostalgia sake… This just makes me sad….”

Lily slid down her chair in excitement. “Oh! So, it is true?!”

Hao Ren was not well versed in Greek mythology but the revelation was surprising to him. He looked at the demure lady and noticed that she looked out of the ordinary. He then realised that he was looking at a living legend, someone who literally walked out of a myth and he was almost overwhelmed with awe. Conversely, Vivian was a living piece of history as well, but given her status as a housewife/nanny/chef, it was hard to invoke any sort of historical awe. Raven 12345 was a goddess too, but since when did that cup-noodle-slurping goddess ever acted like one? While Hesperides was not as ancient as Vivian or as powerful as Raven 12345, her very existance piqued his interest. In fact, look at the length of her name…

Hao Ren had always hypothesised that people with longer names were more often than not renowned people. Cue Ximen Cuixue, Albert Einstein, Aristotle and heck, the strongest combatant he had at home was called Y’zaks Goodman (count the characters). The weakest among the members of his house was Lil Pea, followed by Hao Ren himself. The weakest of them all was Rollie (spacing counts!). This almost proved his theory that “name length equated to combat strength.” Hao Ren kind of believed that his initial blind trust towards Raven 12345 was all down to the numbers in her name…

Wuyue just looked at Hesperides in disbelief. “I never thought.. that you’d be the ‘Daughter of the Evening’ from the myths… Didn’t people say that the ‘gods’ from your age all fell to the demon—”

“Some of us survived”—Hesperides pointed at herself—”especially those of us who could think fast. If not that, then it was either having enough good luck, or simply being weak enough to be ignored. While not many actually had all of the aformentioned traits, a few of us survived and hid ourselves from the world. I don’t even know how many of my kin are alive, but as far as I know… I’m the only one in Greece. Say… why don’t you all introduce yourselves?”

Hao Ren was so engrossed in looking at his surroundings as well as listening to the conversation between Vivian and Hesperides, that he forgot to introduce himself. Before he could speak however, Vivian stood up first. “Let me. This is Hao Ren, our leader. Just think of him as a human sorcerer or something. That is Y’zaks, a demon…. And the last of us, is Lily… a hus… sigh… werewolf.”

Lily almost jumped. “Why did you sigh?! You just sighed didn’t you?!”

Hesperides gave Hao Ren a surprised look and turned her attention back to Vivian. “Leader? You of all people teamed up with someone? And a follower to boot? Are you that famished that you don’t care who your Blood Thrall is any more?”

“Hush, it was my choice.” Vivian waved Hesperides off. “I came to find out more about the ruins that you talked about. How is it? Have you confirmed that it’s the pathway to the Old Kingdom?”

“The ruins were discovered by Hessiana and her group, but the Lucas Family had a hand in it. Now, both families are fighting for the rights to it. Those two families did work together before, and given the situation, they’ll probably come together soon enough,” Hesperides explained. The entry to the ruins is at the Parthenon, a spatial anomaly point will lead you into the inner sanctum of the ruins. To activate it however, you’ll need two holy relics that are currently in the hands of both Hessiana and the Lucas’. If you want to go to the ruins, you’ll need to link up with them. As for the ruins itself… I’m not sure, never been there before. But based on what Hessiana’s underling excitedly said, within the ruins, you can see some of the functioning temple facility. Additionally, the air is filled with Primordial Powers unique to the Mythological Era. All of this coincides with the prophecy of the Day of Return.”

Hao Ren believed the ruins contain a gate to The Plane of Dreams and asked, “How big is the temple? Are there dimensional rifts leading into a mysterious place? Did you see anyone in there?”

“You seem to be well versed with the ruins.” Hesperides was surprised. “But no, there was nothing of the sort. We don’t know how big the place is. No one saw anything but the entrance. Besides, who could live in there for 10,000 years? Would the person survive on rocks?”

Vivian felt rather uneasy. “Hessiana…. do we have to meet that annoying brat?”

“What’s wrong? You got beef with that vampire?” Hao Ren asked curiously.

Before Vivian could say anything, a massive swarming noise came from the outside as bats started gathering around. A sharp and energetic voice soon boomed. “Lady Vivian? Is Lady Vivian really here?! It’s Hessiana!!! I’ve come for you!!!”

Chapter 282: Hessiana

 

The moment Vivian heard the voice outside the shop, she instantly shivered. The next second, she dispersed into a large group of bats. Hundreds of small bats were flying everywhere like headless chickens, trying to find a place to hide. Some hid in the corner, some hid in the cracks between the door and its frame while another group hid in a royal spice box behind the counter. Before Hao Ren could react, Vivian had already hid in every corner of the room and disappeared out of sight. Shortly after, the antique shop’s glass door was rudely pushed open, and a short girl rushed in happily.

Hao Ren was immediately stunned when he saw the girl; this girl looked almost exactly the same as Vivian, even the details around their eyes were exactly the same like two peas in a pod. They looked almost like twins except for a few minor differences. The girl was shorter than Vivian, her hair was shorter, and the bright, cheerful expression on her face was not Vivian’s usual expression.

She was almost like a shrunken version of Vivian. Her proportions were reduced by 1/10, and she looked like she took some wrong medication.

Hesperides as usual kept a blank, stiff smile on her face. In contrast, everyone else in the house was flabbergasted when they saw the short girl. Lily jumped up and shouted, “Vivian has a sister?”

“Who are you?” The shrunken version of Vivian frowned as she looked around and asked, “Where’s my lady? I can sense that she’s here somewhere… She’s not hiding again, is she?”

“This is Hessiana.” Hesperides pointed to this somewhat nervy girl and introduced her to Hao Ren. “Call Vivian out. She won’t leave without seeing her.”

So, they had to collect Vivian’s bats from every corner. Some of them caught the bats in the corner of the walls while some caught the bats in a jar. Lily, with the help of her nose, was the fastest to collect lots of bats. She grabbed more than 100 bats from every corner at the very least. Hao Ren felt some movement in his clothes and even took out a few small bats from his sleeve as well as trouser pocket; God knows how Vivian could sneak into such places. After they found a large swarm of bats, they quickly roped in all of the bats together. Lily then waved a broom and yelled, “C’mon Battie, just come out or I’ll hit you!”

The group of bats had no choice and reluctantly formed themselves back into Vivian. She gave Hessiana an awkward smile and said, “It’s been a long time.”

“Lady Vivian, I miss you!” Hessiana said and swooped into Vivian’s arms. Hao Ren could swear to Raven 12345 that he just heard bones crunching due to the friction. The sudden swoop would have crushed Vivian’s chest if not for her extraordinary physique. Nangong Wuyue could not resist asking, “Vivian, why don’t you introduce us? Is this your sister?”

Vivian was trying hard to get Hessiana off her body. When it seemed that Vivian was about to free herself from the girl, she was interrupted by Nangong Wuyue’s question, and all her previous efforts were wasted. She had to wring the girl’s ears really hard to make her go. “Go away, don’t be crazy… That’s why I don’t want to see you, okay? If you don’t go away, I’ll really get angry…”

Hessiana reluctantly released Vivian’s arm and sighed regrettably. “Ah… it kind of feels like I’m home again.”

Then, she turned to Hao Ren and the rest, looking curiously at this group of people who seemed to be very close with Vivian. She quickly pulled herself together and became serious. Then, she politely and gently bowed before them as she said, “Nice to meet you all. I am the matriarch of the Hessiana Clan, Hessiana Ancestor. Since you are all able to come here… you appear to be people that Vivian and Hesperides trust. As such, I shall not treat you like outsiders. I hope you all have a good time in this fortress.”

Hessiana switched manners like switching shapes. It was so quick that it left Hao Ren in a daze. However, he still managed to quickly react and say, “Oh, oh, hi… I am Vivian’s friend, just call me Hao Ren. As for our race… we are human beings. According to your world, we are human wizards. The people next to me are…”

Hao Ren introduced them one by one. The identity he gave Becky was also the human wizard. This identity seemed to be very useful in their situation. A moment later, Hessiana curiously looked at Nangong Wuyue, the self-proclaimed “siren of dry land” and inquired about some of the rumours she had heard of regarding sirens. Hao Ren took this opportunity to seize Vivian and ask, “Who is this? Your sister? It sounds like the two of you share the same surname.”

“No. Her situation is more complicated,” Vivian said with a very bizarre expression. “Do you remember me telling you that the bats I summon become living, independent life once they’re not mind-controlled anymore? As long as they can find energy in time to replenish themselves, they will never dissipate.”

Hao Ren’s expression was elusive as he asked, “So, this strange girl is…”

“I forget things once in a while.” Vivian covered her face with her hands as if it was an unbearable memory. “There was a bat that I released but totally forgot about. I only remembered it after 1,000 years. In the end, when I found it, it had already turned into human form. She’s that bat.” Vivian pointed to Hessiana and said, “Maybe due to the malnutrition and lack of care when she was young, her brain is a bit abnormal. She gets even more abnormal when she sees me. I have been avoiding her for years. Of course, I’m not hiding from her all the time, sometimes she just slips from my mind…”

Hao Ren was so surprised that Vivian could be so forgetful. She had to be the only girl in the world to have such a poor memory. On top of that, a lost bat from her could turn into a vampire and even become the matriarch of an entire vampire clan. Perhaps it was just Vivian alone who was having bad luck. Anything else related to her had better prospects than her.

At this time, Hessiana, who had split from Vivian and turned into human form, finished her conversation with Nangong Wuyue. She gazed at the people around her with a strange look and said, “Lady Vivian has begun to make friends… And I don’t know any one of them. Why do I feel like I’m being abandoned?”

Vivian hurriedly nodded and said, “Right, you are being abandoned.”

Hessiana was at a lost for words.

Lily could not help but pat her on her arm and said, “Don’t say that. After all, she’s a piece of meat that fell from you.”

“…You make me want to bite you.”

Meanwhile, Hao Ren realised that even though Vivian had been wandering around the world (in the true sense of travelling on a budget), she had her own empire: take Hessiana and the vampire family behind her. If Vivian wanted to find someone to support her, they would definitely take good care of her like an ancestor without protest. Therefore, Hao Ren was a little curious and asked, “Vivian, so you’re not homeless after all… Why didn’t you settle down in Athens like the rest of them?”

“I don’t like this kind of noisy environment. There are a lot of families living in the city, they have to worry about the attack of demon hunters, and they’re constantly infighting. There will always be people making their life difficult. Besides, people are just annoying regardless of whether they’re acquaintances or enemies.” Vivian sighed and continued, “Plus, I’ll make everybody unlucky or even cause them go bankrupt, so I rather live alone.”

Hao Ren was startled and thought Vivian’s bad luck was not just a debuff¹. Apparently, it also had a halo effect. Think about it, when she traded spices with Egypt and Rome, she caused several Blood Clan members to go bankrupt. She also destroyed two generations of Egyptian dynasties (whether this one is true or not, let’s just put all the blame on her). When he thought of these things, he suddenly got a little terrified and asked, “Wait, then, why haven’t I gone bankrupt? And when I signed a contract with the new boss, my income actually increased?”

Vivian rolled her eyes at Hao Ren and said, “You’ve got a powerful backing and my bad luck isn’t that horrible. Just renting out a house is not going to make you bankrupt. But I’m not sure what will happen if I become more powerful than your backing… I have weird luck in making money.”

Hao Ren considered finding a chance to study what was wrong with Vivian’s luck. He felt like he was being proactive in doing so! From now on, whenever he was unhappy with anybody, he could directly send Vivian to stay in their house for a couple of days. He would probably get twice the results with half the effort…

Hessiana was not happy to see Vivian busy talking with others. So, she kept pulling on Vivian’s arm to drag Vivian to her side. She then asked, “Lady Vivian, are you here for something important? Or, did you just want to see me? Ah, this makes me blush…”

“I heard you found a relic.” Vivian went straight to the point and said, “I’ve come for it.”

Hessiana immediately looked disappointed and said, “Oh, the ruins… Since you’ve asked for that, fine. But the Lucas Family… This is a bit troublesome.”

Vivian raised her eyebrow and asked, “Are they still as stubborn as they used to be?”

“They changed their patriarch. The new one is the younger brother of the old patriarch, and he’s more stupid than the old one,” Hessiana said disdainfully. “Extremely hard-headed. No matter which way you try to deal with them; violent or nonviolent, no means no.”

It seemed like entering the ruins was not going to be easy.

Chapter 283: The Gatekeeper of the Fortress

 

The world of the unusual creatures was as complex as human society. They also had infighting and factional rivalry, more than humans in fact. Even in today’s precarious situation, many of the unusual creatures could not cooperate openly; this was probably related to the long history of most of their families. Their family history had begun from the Mythological Era, and many of their friction or feuds accumulated over thousands of years. Even if two families were free from estrangement, they were bound by ancient traditions passed down for thousands of years. As such, they could not fully cooperate. This was why such powerful creatures were able to be broken down by hunters and the Church. They had too many races and factions, which were not united.

In this ancient and mysterious European city, there were several powerful families of unusual creatures; more than 10 small and weak ones lived in the city as well. As a whole, they were in a mutually supportive partnership, but only when confronted with a common threat like the hunters. Beyond this premise, these families in the city of Athens always had various forms of infighting. Of course, they were not too foolish. Every patriarch or matriarch of the clan would control the battles so that they were kept in a certain range. They were often competing for territory or leadership in the city. In the event of a special major discovery―such as the relics they discovered this time around―they would fight for the greatest distribution of benefits.

“What’s the most powerful family here, now?” Vivian frowned and looked at Hessiana. She had not been in the city for a long time, and even though she was there hundreds of years ago, she just passed by in a hurry. This lone weirdo vampire had never paid any attention to the battle of power between these families, so she had no idea about the situation in Athens.

Hessiana snapped her fingers and answered, “The most powerful family is of course the Lucas Family. After all, they are the oldest blood clan members here. They are followed by the shadelings, which are Bethanos and his people, then my family. My family’s power is about the same as Bethanos’ but, he is older than me in terms of seniority. And then, there are some other hopeless guys. Even if they have any idea regarding this discovery, they’ll just have to wait till we finish our stuff.”

“Bethanos that old man is still alive?” Vivian said and grinned. “Now that the relics are under the control of the Lucas Family and your family, won’t Bethanos create any trouble?”

“I found the relics, but I got some help from the Lucas Family when I opened the door. So, the entrance was split between us. Bethanos, of course, wanted to have a finger in the pie, but with the nature of the shadelings… Haha, you know if they interfere in this, they won’t just take ‘a little’ advantage of it. Hence, the old fogey of Lucas Family and I temporarily suppressed those guys, but certainly not for long. They’ll eventually break into the relic by force.”

“How’s your relationship with the Lucas Family?” Vivian asked curiously. “Aren’t the two of you already cooperating? Why did you say that they won’t cooperate without the use of violence or something…”

Hessiana was furious as she talked about this. “That’s what I wanted to say! They bully me just because they’re older than me! Both of us are supposed to control the entrance to the ruins, but its so obvious that they act like they own the place! And with the Lucas Family’s creed of ‘blood supremacy’, they won’t allow anyone who doesn’t belong to the Blood Clan to enter the ruins. They’re willing to divide it equally with me for the time being because I belong to the Blood Clan. I was also the first person to discover the entrance―they’re just not thick-skinned enough to take the credit.”

At the end of her sentence, Hessiana glanced at Hao Ren and the rest of them. The meaning was obvious: they did not belong to the Blood Clan and the Lucas Family would not allow them to meddle with the relic.

“They did invite me,” Hesperides said with a subtle smile. “I don’t belong to the Blood Clan, but as I possess more seniority over them, the patriarch of the family needs to bow before me respectfully whenever he sees me. And the entrance to the relic is near the Parthenon, which is strictly my family’s territory… Although the Olympus Family has disintegrated, as long as I, the heir, am still in Greece, they will have to inform me about the relics here. This is the way of the Lucas Family: stubborn, prideful and arrogant, but in this age, they ultimately abide by the gentlemanly manners and etiquette of the old days. If you really want to go to the relic, you’ll need to do it from this aspect: Vivian’s seniority is of great weight in front of the Lucas Family. Vivian, if you make the request, they’ll think about it.”

Vivian nodded as if she had some ideas in her mind. From this conversation, Hao Ren knew something about some of the city’s main forces and what kind of people the Lucas Family were. He had a hunch that the Lucas Family would consist of so-called “ancient and pure” vampires. They were arrogant enough and cold enough to be hated, but at the same time, they maintained a subtle amount of courtesy and strict etiquette. It was difficult to like them, but they always felt good about themselves. For Hao Ren, although such a group of “people” would be very troublesome, he had to admit that they were in line with his original image of the vampire. Vivian and Hessiana; these two funny ladies were unable to convince him that they were the normal ones in the vampire clan…

“If you want to meet that old fogey from the Lucas Family, I’ll arrange it for you,” Hessiana said.

Vivian and Hao Ren exchanged glances, nodding. Therefore, Hessiana immediately snapped her fingers and layers of black phantoms appeared in the air. After the phantoms dispersed, a tall, skinny man in a black windbreaker appeared in front of them. The pale vampire was most likely Hessiana’s servant. He glanced silently at everyone, after which he pressed his right hand to his left chest and bowed deeply before his mistress. “Your orders, my lady?”

“Go and inform the old fogey of the Lucas Family that the ‘Countess of the Crimson Moon’ requests to see him. Remember, say it with a tough tone and act a little superior to them. You’re passing on a message for the oldest elder in the world. We have to get the upper hand. Hmm, don’t say ‘requests to see him’, just say ‘wants to see him’. It’s ‘Lady Vivian wants to see him.’ Got it?”

The male vampire bowed again and asked with a soft as well as calm voice, “My lady, what if they are not happy about it and want to kill me?”

Hessiana thought about it and said, “Then, run as fast as you can. Usually in this case, they won’t bother to kill you.”

The male vampire nodded gravely. He then scattered into a large swarm of bats and flew out of the window. This astonished Hao Ren. “Is that okay?” he asked.

Hessiana threw back her shoulders proudly and said, “The Hessiana Family is the most famous adaptive faction in the Blood Clan!”

Lily poked Vivian’s arm and said,”…She is indeed a piece of meat that fell from you.”

“I’ll really bite you if you say that again!”

“Go ahead and do it. Trying to fight with me with your teeth? I’m not afraid of you!”

They gave Hao Ren a headache. “Can’t you two be quiet now? We’re talking business here!”

At this time, a strange ringing of the bell came from nowhere. It was not very loud but it sounded as if it was ringing directly in their minds―like the bell ringing on the other side of the River Styx, summoning the souls. Hao Ren even had the illusion that layers of mist dissipated with the ringing sound of the bell. Hesperides stood up and said, “You guys continue to chat, I’m going to entertain some guests.”

As she spoke, her figure faded gradually and eventually became a vague shadow. If you did not look at it closely, you could hardly see its outline. At the same time, the door of the antique shop was pushed open, but the one who walked in was also such a vague and transparent shadow. Hao Ren looked at the shadow curiously and found that the person who came in dressed like a modern man. He wore a suit and leather shoes, which did not fit in with the strange atmosphere of the antique shop as well as the view of the Shadowy Divide outside.

This figure seemed completely unaware of the group of people in the shop. He went straight to the counter and talked to the shadow of Hesperides.

“It’s a scene of the real world.” Hessiana noticed the curious look on Hao Ren’s face and explained, “This place is actually the intersection of the Shadowy Divide and the real world, and Hesperides’ shop exists between them. When the bell rings, she’s able to travel between the real world and the world of shadows without being affected by the Shadowy Divide. Besides, this place is also one of the entrances into the deeper part of the world of shadows. If you want to go deeper, you have to get her approval here, so she’s also known as the Gatekeeper of the Fortress―but she doesn’t seem to like that name.”

“Err… That’s kind of amazing.” Hao Ren admired it from the bottom of his heart.

The world of magic and the occult arts… It was truly amazing.

Chapter 284: Going Deeper

 

Vivian decided to meet the Lucas Family first. Even though she had little interest in other unusual creatures, especially the old-fashioned, arrogant, xenophobic and obsessive man in the Lucas Family, they had to deal with the die-hards if they wanted to get into the ruins. She had several contacts with the former patriarch of the Lucas Clan and seen his younger brother, who was now the current patriarch of the Lucas Family. Therefore, she felt like she could be somewhat persuasive.

In addition to his attention to the relic, Hao Ren was now curious about the state of the unusual creatures in the city. He wondered how many “shelters” were there in the world. However, Hessiana did not tell them much. “Honestly… It’s not that I don’t believe you. I have no idea too. When we started building these shelters, it was during the collapse of the Mythological Era. At that time, the surviving unusual creatures in the world had been separated by demon hunters and intercommunication was completely interrupted. This situation lasted more than 1,000 years. And, were met with the hanging of witches by the human church before we could even settle down in our various shelters. It was all a mess and we were too afraid to go out. On one hand, staying in the shelter gave us security, but on the other hand, we could not keep up with information of the outside world like the rest. Of course, such a situation did not last forever. We then slowly started to reach out to the outside world, but the number of other settlements we could contact was far less than expected. Many shelters were speculated to be completely closed to outsiders and no one knew whether they had been destroyed or not. It is said that there are several settlements in the depths of the mantle and the deep crust of the North and South poles. But, how will we even find them?”

All this while, people on Earth thought they had ruled the planet completely. People thought they knew most of the secrets of the planet. But now, Hao Ren realised that there were still too many places in the world that human beings had yet to discover. These obscure and muddled historical facts were very different from the chapters that humans kept in the library. The vast majority of humans on Earth would have never imagine that there were still so many secrets about the planet—and these secrets had been slowly creeping in the shadows until the present day.

Because of the constant blockade from the demon hunters and the Church, the unusual creatures in the world had to be extremely low-key. It was difficult for them to openly seek out their own people or find clues to other shelters. Hessiana called the period between the end of the Mythological Era to the end of the witch hunt as the “severe winter”. After the end of the severe winter, shelters that gradually recovered and reached out to the outside world could still be contacted. However, there were more shelters that did not reopen after they settled down. Even the most senior of elders were simply aware of the existence of these fortress. No one knew how to open these fortresses from the outside or how to contact the survivors inside. Additionally, no one knew if these fortresses had been infiltrated by demon hunters. Everything was shrouded in a dense fog and everyone was clueless.

With his growing understanding of the creatures’ current situation on Earth, Hao Ren felt that the still waters on Earth ran deep. His original impression of the human world was ordinary, peaceful and even a little boring. But this had been overturned. The shadows of the past that stirred in the dark were hidden everywhere in the world, in areas beyond the reach of ordinary humans. The Fortress of Shadows in Athens was one of the representatives of this phenomena: could anyone have imagined that there were actually two version of Athens?

Another city was hidden in the shadows of the real Athens and it was properly preserved in another layer of space by the Shadowy Divide. Vivian had led all of them through the strange streets to Hesperides’ antique shop. It lay between the two paralled worlds, and the layer of thick fog across the street was just the first layer of protection in the Shadowy Divide. They were far from touching the real wall of the sanctuary. Hesperides was like a gatekeeper—she guarded the nodes of the Shadowy Divide with other strong and senior elders. Only those who gained permission could pass through a deeper shadow and reach another city.

Hessiana invited everyone to “another city of Athens” in the shadows. Vivian was a little hesitant, but everyone else was happy to go.

It was never too troublesome to join in a fun thing and Lily jumped around, insisting to go. How could one expect these people to stay quietly in the hotel?

Hesperides finished her work in the real world within a few minutes and reappeared before them along with the same, strange bell. Hessiana happily jumped up at once and loudly said, “Can you please help them open the door to the deeper space… and give each of them an imprint so that they can move freely from level one to level three.”

Hesperides nodded, lifted a finger and softly recited a very strange spell. Hao Ren did not feel any change in his body after the casting process was over. Hessiana explained, “For outsiders to enter the Fortress of Shadows, they must be guided by the gatekeeper. All of you have been imprinted. With this imprint, you can move freely from level one to three in the Fortress of Shadows—it basically means that you guys can move freely in 70% of the places in the Fortress of Shadows. Forbidden areas will be guarded, so don’t worry about it. Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

“Hesperides, see you later,” Vivian said goodbye to her old friend. Hesperides walked back to the counter and waved her hand.

After they left the strange antique shop, Hao Ren found that the scene outside the shop changed again: This time, even the pavements on both sides of the road were gone. There was only boundless thick fog outside and a blurred path extended forward into the thick fog. No one could see the end of the path.

He looked back to discover that Hesperides’ antique shop had unsurprisingly vanished in the thick fog, leaving only a lone glass door. There was nothing around the door; it was eerie.

“You said Hesperides was an eccentric person. I think she’s fine,” he turned around and said. “Just a little gloomy.”

Vivian smiled and said, “She just happens to be normal today.”

“Huh?”

“It’s safer inside the Fortress of Shadows.” Hessiana led the way, jumping around happily as she walked. It was weird to look at Hessiana, who looked exactly like Vivian, but behaved like Lily. “This city isn’t the same as other places. The demon hunters have been trying to find a way to break through the Shadowy Divide. They have spies all over the city and you could be targeted anytime when you’re out there. My territory’s in the Fortress of Shadows, which is much more comfortable than staying in the hotel. After two days, we’ll go straight to the ruins from the Fortress of Shadows. The route is safer.”

Vivian seemed dissatisfied with Hessiana’s involvement in the Day of Return. “How can you be interested in the Day of Return, such a stupid thing?”

“I’m not interested in the Day of Return. I came out of you, so for me, return means returning back to your body. I don’t want to return to any other strange place,” Hessiana said with a bright smile on her face. However, it gave Vivian goosebumps. And then, Hessiana continued explaining, “I’m interested in the bizarre… umm, environment in the ruins. Anyway, you’ll be full of energy when you’re inside it. It refreshes your mind and clears your eyes. Not to mention, it also cured an old vampire’s lumbar disc protrusion. Who wouldn’t like such a good thing? My Lady Vivian, you have to try it too. The air inside is filled with magic. It’s making me drool.”

Hao Ren and Vivian looked at each other when they heard this and asked, “Wait, are the effects that exaggerated?”

“There’s plenty of magic in The Plane of Dreams, but it’s nothing like the situation Hessiana just desribed.” Y’zaks whispered beside them, sharing Hao Ren and Vivian’s doubts.

“It’s no exaggeration.” Hessiana did not know what they were talking about. She thought everyone could not believe how beautiful she was. She swung her hands to increase her persuasiveness as she continued her description, “The energy in the ruins is abundant and even something like auroras can be seen in the air. They are magic clouds and mist…”

“It’s not like The Plane of Dreams,” Hao Ren was very surprised, whispering to Vivian. “This relic may lead somewhere else …”

Nangong Wuyue also moved closer to them and whispered, “Or, it’s not connected anywhere. Instead, there’s a radioactive energy source inside?”

“What are you whispering about?” Hessiana noticed that Vivian was chatting intimately with the others in a low voice, but ignoring her. She immediately looked unhappy and said, “Lady Vivian, you can’t treat me this way. No matter what, I—”

Vivian glared at Hessiana and said, “I’ll only talk to you if you behave yourself when you see me!”

Hao Ren did not expect the relationship between the “mother and daughter” to be so disharmonious. He touched Vivian’s arm and said,”Why do you dislike her so much? I think this girl is all right except for her slight playfulness. And no matter what, she has a very close relationship with you.”

Vivian looked at Hao Ren with a fake smile and said, “Imagine if one day you lose a hair, and that hair turns into a man who looks exactly like you. Then, this man follows you and sticks to you wherever you go. On top of that, his biggest wish is to return back to your body…”

Hao Ren’s face turned green and said, “Stop! I’m not going to talk about this anymore, okay?”

Vivian covered her face. She turned her head and said, “So, I would rather wander outside than take a step closer to this city, even if I don’t have to worry about food here.”

Hessiana heard this and felt sorry for Vivian. “Lady Vivian, you still don’t have enough food to eat?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Vivian, pointing to Hao Ren. “He takes good care of me now and I have one more reason to stay away from you.”

Hao Ren broke out in a cold sweat. He could obviously feel Hessiana staring at him as if he had killed her mother…

Chapter 285: City in the Shadows

 

Vivian’s words were like a magical spell. Hao Ren and Hessiana quickly turned from neutral and friendly to something of a short fuse. If Vivian had not been beside Hao Ren, the miniature version of herself would have attacked him. Hao Ren looked haplessly at Hessiana’s glaring eyes. He wanted to tell Hessiana: Vivian did not want to see her because of her unruly behaviour. If she had been behaving and refraining herself from causing any sexual disorientation in Vivian, the two of them would not have come to this point in their relationship! Vivian was kind; she had already buried the hatchet with Lily and it would be more so with the bat—her own kind.

In all honesty, he did not get the chance to tell her this; he was not sure whether Vivian or Hessiana would bite him first if actually said it?

Hao Ren got a little confused about the relationship between Hessiana and Vivian. His perspective of family relationship was being greatly challenged; were they mother-daughter or cousins? Lily’s logic told her they were mother and daughter. After all, Hessiana was the “meat that fell off Vivian’s body”. But Hao Ren felt that there was no succession process taking place; the summoned bats were Vivian’s clones and when her clones gained sentience, they became a derivative of the original. So without a doubt, they were cousins. He also remembered mitosis, which he had learned in biology class during his school years.

But unfortunately, he could not really tell what it was.

He decided not to care about what they were. Plus, he did not want to be a big mouth and end up being bitten by Vivian just because of his cognitive ignorance. He knew Vivian was mentally allergic to “the meat that fell off her body”.

Fog engulfed their entire surroundings. Visibility was very poor. But, there was only one way, and that was to move forward. As long as they did not stray from the path, they were not going to get lost. However, there was something more than a densed fog; Hao Ren was almost certain that he saw something moving and disappearing very quickly in the fog. At times, he would see people in ancient Greek customes herding livestock, and other times, he would see people in modern suits moving about in a hurry. These strange visions occured on and off in the deepest part of the fog, like a mirage calling out to thirsty travellers in the desert. Hessiana quickly warned them not to stray from their path under their feet. “Don’t ever get distracted by the foggy scenery. One misstep and you’re stuck. The fog is a masterpiece of the Shadow Masters; it contains 3,500 years worth of memory sediments in Athens. Once you step into it, you’ll be trapped in a random piece of memory, with no chance to escape I’m afraid. The fog doesn’t go away, it stays there forever.”

Hao Ren was filled with wonder and fear at the same time. He had no idea what kind of strange traps, or how many of them guarded the Fortress of Shadows, which lay ahead. All he knew was, there were reasons why the all-powerful demon hunters had failed to take down this sanctuary all these years. Even more incredible was the “real” Athens actually existing alongside the shadow world; people living under the sun not realising that in the shadow of the city, an entirely different world existed!

As they went further, the strange visions in the fog appeared even more frequently. Hao Ren saw a group of spear-wielding ancient soldiers walking in his direction, but as they approached, the soldiers suddenly turned into present day workers in suits; a 1920s car blasting its horn emerged from the densed fog, running through Y’zaks and disappearing at the other end of the fog; there was even a group of Nazi German soldiers behind them. This more-recent-memory was a lot more vivid as Hao Ren could see the light reflections on the buttons of the Nazi soldiers’ uniform. As they went farther, more old and modern buildings lined both sides of the road. Clearer images surfaced and some of them were obviously not memories. Their behaviours were clearly different from the visions they saw; they seemed to be lost in the fog. Hessiana pointed at these phantoms and lamented. “Those are the hapless ones, trapped; some are otherworldly criminals who were thrown into the fog; some are wretched souls who offended the guards and some are naive demon hunters. No one can fight the 3,500-year-old memories of this city. Anyone who gets trapped in the fog will be consumed by it and what’s left will be broken images of the moments before their death. I don’t know how good you guys are, but my advice is, don’t try anything stupid and don’t challenge the defenses of the Shadowy Divide, those things are nasty.”

Hessiana made it clear to emphasise the danger of these traps. Hao Ren knew it; this girl obviously inherited her temperament from Vivian. So he smiled and said, “Thank you for the reminder, we’ll be careful…”

Hessiana sneered at him and turned her head away, like a child throwing a tantrum. Hao Ren was given a cold shoulder but it caused him no harm.

Suddenly, the fog subsided and visibility was restored.

“Here it is.” Hessiana pointed down at the scenery beneath them. “Welcome to the other Athens—one of the safest places on this planet.”

“Whoa…” exclaiming in awe, Lily raised her neck and looked into the distance.

They were standing on the platform of a building, overlooking the city. The sky was gloomy like it was covered by a layer of curtain or a sea of clouds; it totally obscured the sun and the moon. Under the gloomy sky lay a strange city completely different from the actual Athens: the city was built up of classical architecture straight out of historical paintings. Buildings were built using stones and oddly shaped sculptures were everywhere, most of which were circular, ancient Greek columns as well as ridged houses. But there were also steeple-styled houses and castles, which looked out of place, giving the impression that this place was neither a fish nor fowl. But undeniably, the architecture in its own was valuable. No industrial architecture or technological building techniques of today could compare to them. There was no comparison because you would not find meticulously carved columns, beautifully painted doors, ingeniously lain slates and painstakingly carved reliefs in any other place. As the sky was void of sunlight and moonlight, man-made light sources were everywhere—on bthe uildings and in the streets. However, where they got the energy from was a mystery.

Looking at the city, Hao Ren felt like he was in a wrong timeline, even a wrong world: the city was full of classical architecture of different eras and regions. It was as if the city’s architect could not wait to show off all his creations at once. The buildings were totally out of place yet, the everything was so detailed. Hao Ren pointed to a mansion near him. “This mansion doesn’t look like it was built 3,000 years ago.”

“It’s just a sanctuary, not something permanent. Sometimes wanderers from other places would check in. Houses of different styles and eras in the city are passed down from generation to generation. There were people who got bored and had nothing else to do, so they would alter the houses; a mansion today, a castle tomorrow. Some would even dig a hole and live underground the next day. What we have is time and energy, but nothing to do.

“Where did they get the materials from?” Hao Ren asked curiously.

Till a moment ago, Hessiana had refused to talk with Hao Ren, but she had since forgotten about the grudge she held against him. She responded, “The elders hauled in two hills to build the Fortress of Shadows. We also found a safer way to bring in materials. We mined for stones and moved things underground; the demon hunters didn’t know. They couldn’t possibly monitor the whole world all the time.”

Vivian looked down at the city and frowned. “Such an ignorant bunch… This is flashy and impractical.”

Hao Ren hemmed and murmured to her, “Ehem, didn’t you say it was your dream to stay in a castle?”

Vivian blushed and she jabbed him before glaring at him.

Chapter 286: The Sanctuary of Otherworldlings

 

Hao Ren looked back to where they came from and the path in the fog had disappeared. In its place was a layer of black mirror with a ripple effect across it, like a painting in the air stretching out of a building. It was ten metres wide or so and a black band, which looked like it was drawn with oil paint floated around the edges. He was curious. He touched it but his hand felt nothing. But when he poked his head through the mirror, he saw that the path was still there. Hessiana spoke snappily from behind, “If you want to go home, use this mirror and just follow the path. You guys have a marking; as long you you don’t wander into the fog, you’ll be safe. There’s an ancient one guarding the entrance and the exit between the Shadowy Divide and the real world, just give him a heads-up then you’ll be free to come and go. However, you’re not allowed to bring anyone in. Your marking is meant only for you. Outsiders who trespass the second level of the shadow space will surely die.”

This pseudo-mirror was the gateway between the Fortress of Shadows and the outside world. There was more than one psuedo-mirror around the city, with powerful guards manning both sides of the gateways. The one here before Hao Ren was a smaller one. The bigger gateways had tight security and were specifically used for moving large cargo and materials. Those were non-accessible to visitors. Soon after, Hessiana began to lead everyone off the platform. On their way, there was an old tree at the end of the platform and Hao Ren could not help but look at it curiously: the old tree appeared somewhat different from a normal tree; it had a severely wrinkled and twisted bark like the face of an old man.

“What’s wrong with me?” the old tree suddenly spoke as Hao Ren studied it. As the wrinkled bark moved, it produced a series of cracking sounds and a pair of dark brown eyes appeared beneath the thick bark. “I see you stranger, you’re an outsider. But since you’re with Hessiana, I guess I can trust you. But don’t create trouble in the city or I’ll turn you into fertiliser.”

“This is the old tree, Grandalr, the guard of the gateway. It came to the city 100 years ago.” Hessiana smiled politely at the old tree before making the introduction. “Each gateway is guarded by two guards; one in the real world and one in the Fortress of Shadows. Hesperides guards the real world side of the gateway while Grandalr is responsible for the shadow side. Don’t underestimate Grandalr’s capabilities, all the plants in this city follow his order. While he’s here, he also monitors all the streets in the city. He is the ancient one who’s lived since the Mythological Era. He is one of the most experienced seniors in the city.”

Grandalr swung its crown reservedly as though it was flattered by the compliment about its age and experience. Vivian took a walk around the old tree, then she came to a realisation. “I think I’ve seen you before. Wait a minute, you’re the one I planted with my own hands! Now I remember—where are the fruits that you’ve promised me?”

Grandalr was stunned and took a second look at Vivian. It started to tremble furiously. “My-My Lady!”

Vivian could not have cared less about its reaction. She grabbed its branch and started to shake it. “Have you borne? Where’s the promised fruit?”

Leaves and dead branches rained down as Grandalr’s voice shivered. “Wait… wait… this is all a misunderstanding! I’m not a fruit tree! I told you I wasn’t the one! I explained myself when I was still learning how to speak. I’m a sentient, tree warrior!”

Vivian let go of the tree in disappointment. “Dang it, I know. I was just pissed. It took me a few precious years to only realise that I had gotten the wrong sapling…”

Hao Ren was bewildered. “What’s going on?”

“I brought it here from the garden of Ymir.” Vivian was upset. “I once dropped by the garden and found a very tasty fruit, so I took a branch and planted it myself. But apparently, I got the wrong one; years of effort came to nothing but a barren tree. The one that actually bore fuits was its second uncle. Tsk, I waited eagerly under the wrong tree for years, watering and fertilising everyday not knowing that it was barren.”

Hessiana looked on, astonished. Suddenly, something suddenly crossed her mind and she now realised what was going on with Grandalr. “I’ve been wondering why you would act stupid whenever I mentioned Vivian. So, this is why… and to think that I looked up to you as my senior!”

Grandalr shook its crown and said, “So what? I’m still your senior by virtue of age! You have to respect your senior and be humble. Don’t forget the glorious days of the past even though times are bad now. If we live only for the purpose of surviving, what difference have we from the night birds on the third twig of my eastern bough?”

To make it look more convincing, Grandalr spread open its branches and revealed a nest of birds.

Hessina did not say anything. She just forced a smile and nodded. Meanwhile, Vivian gave the old tree a glance before she lamented. “Forget it, you just stay alive. Those in Northern Europe did not survive, you’re the only one left who can still remember their faces.”

Grandalr was silent for a moment before slowly lowering its branches. “Yes, My Lady.”

As they left they waved goodbye to the thousand-year-old guard, before disappearing with Hessiana into the peculiar city in the shadow. They walked through the streets, which were laid with medieval-style slates and passed spooky old houses in total dilapidation. They occasionally bumped into pedestrians who looked just like any other humans but were in fact otherworldings. Most residents in the city were of the Blood Clan, a third of the population were sapiens called Shadelings while the rest were miscellaneous races who formed an insignificant number.

The so-called peace in the city was created by the ostrich strategy—pretend that others did not exist. Where there was no interaction, there would be no war.

Hao Ren also noticed something else; although the city in the shadows was big, it had few residents. Walking along the thoroughfare, one could hardly see pedestrians. In this case, he had only seen 10. As big as the houses were, they looked haunted and most had no more than a 10 % occupancy rate. He used to imagine that the sanctuary of otherworldlings would be a bustling place filled with hotheaded vampires and little demons roaming the streets. But what he saw was the opposite; it was deserted like a ghost town. There may be people there but it could hardly be described as populous.

“The city only has a population of approximately 10,000 people. To put it into perspective, if this place is as big as the real Athens, it only has a fraction of the population,” Hessina explained. “The residents seldom come out and show their faces because they’re kind of disappointed with the current state of affairs. So, they hibernate. If they see that the situation hasn’t changed after they wake up a few hundred years later, they’ll go back to sleep again. Some of them have even been sleeping for 2,000 years, much longer than the time I’ve been in this city.”

“You’re not the pioneer resident of this city?” Nangong Wuyue was kind of curious.

“No.” Hessiana shook her head. “Lady Vivian brought me here about 1,800… no, probably about 1,700 years ago. The city was in a lockdown and Hesperides had made an exception by allowing me in with Lady Vivian as a guarantor. I was alone back then and from there on, I began to have my own family.”

Vivian nodded. “Yeah, because she had been bothering me, so much so that I had no choice but to send her here. Honestly, times were bad back then. I even had problems feeding myself. Sending her to a safer place was the best thing I could do—she was still an innocent kid and it was too dangerous to stay in the wild with me.”

Lily was a straight talker. “But it seems like you still have problems feeding yourself in not-so-bad times!”

Hao Ren quickly dragged the husky behind him. “She’s been a bit off lately.”

They finally arrived at the deepest part of the city—the new section where things were pretty well-organised. Hessiana was visibly happier to be here. She pointed to mansion with a pointed roof and said, “This is it! I live here. All houses with the same insignia belong to Hessianite Family—welcome to my home!”

It was a big house; its roof was black and its walls were grey. Despite being meticulously renovated, it still appeared like a haunted house from the outside. But never mind the slightly depressing style, the fine details on the building were splendorous. Hao Ren quickly noticed the insignia Hessiana mentioned: the family insignia was displayed at the most prominent section of the exterior wall. On an eight-metre long banner was an extremely large selfie photo of Vivian; unlike the short hairstyle that Hessiana wore, the Vivian-lookalike in the photo sported a long hairstyle. The degree of similarity—99.9% . That was her family insignia. The moment Vivian saw this, she could not help covering her face and turning away. “This is exactly why I don’t like being here… She’s very annoying.”