Athens, one of the oldest cities on earth preserved and still in use. When human beings stumbled into the gate of civilization from the primitive age of slash-and-burn farming, when human beings no longer worried about food and clothing and beasts in the wilderness for the first time, when the earliest philosophers and wise men appeared among human beings, when human beings began to use words and mysterious Religious symbols to entrust their thinking and admiration of the world, city-states began to rise, and kingdoms began to be built. The earliest thinkers who broke away from the basic production poured their abundant brainpower on huge stones and well-designed vaults, using high walls, columns, vaults, and steps made of rocks to pile up cities that symbolize human power. Decorating their courtyards with reliefs and statues full of religious mystery, the building has evolved from a simple shelter from the wind and rain and resisting wild animals to various additional functions and even pure symbolic meanings. The ancient and glorious boulders The complex rose from the ground and quickly became one of the most incredible creations on the planet.
However, the city is not a symbol of glory exclusive to human beings. On this planet, there is another group of creatures that coexist with human beings. Although they have lost their figures, they still have been active in the history of this planet. Human history books will not remember them, but another history book made of stone and wood will not forget all this: the city.
The older the city, the more traces of the ancients it left behind. The oldest cities have even been completely integrated with the creatures in the shadows and cannot be separated. These cities are not only the homes of humans, but also the territory of many dark creatures. —No matter how much the witcher and the church reject this. They must also admit that there are still a large number of lairs on this planet that are occupied by aliens. These lairs have been built by aliens from the beginning, and they will never back down on this. In an era when various myths, legends and historical records were chaotic and intertwined, a small number of aliens lived with humans completely openly. And built these magnificent ancient cities. Compared with most barbaric aliens who have absolute brutal rule over human beings, these powerful creatures that regard human beings as domestic animals are already considered as "moderates", so they are regarded by the people on earth. Worship as a guardian deity. Even the existence of the entire city is dedicated to enshrining a powerful and benevolent "god". This situation lasted for thousands of years, until humans broke free from this captive situation with the help of demon hunters. Only half the founders of these cities were banished into the shadows.
No one now believes that supernatural beings ever lived in the crumbling temples of the city.
But as mentioned earlier, these cities have been home to aliens from the beginning, who have built it, maintained it, and even fought for it. Even though these aliens were forced to retreat into the shadows, they never really left the city. They just rebuilt the fortress and hid it in a corner that humans cannot detect.
A group of people is slowly approaching an entrance of this fortress.
Hao Ren and his group recovered enough energy in the hotel where they stayed, and today they followed Vivienne to find a strange creature who is said to have survived from the age of mythology. He was one of Vivienne's few acquaintances. She lives in the oldest area of the city, and it has been a long time since everyone got off the bus.
"Are you sure the person we're looking for is in this direction?" Hao Ren looked up again at the familiar old streets around him. Questioning Vivian's sense of direction for the third time, "If it's correct, we have seen this stone wall for the third time."
"Just walk like this, go around in circles," Vivienne nodded, "Athens is a very special place, and many survivors of different types make their homes here, but they need to use special methods to find them—the hunting of demon hunters here has always been The daredevils who never stopped and couldn't hide themselves are long dead."
Hao Ren could only nod his head, and continued to follow Vivienne around the oldest streets of the Acropolis, unknowingly getting closer and closer to the ancient depths of the city. He occasionally looked up boredly to look around. See those old buildings that can no longer tell whether they are historical relics or imitated and restored by modern people. A strange illusion that transcends time will spontaneously arise. He felt as if he was walking in the middle of a slideshow arranged backwards along human history, and the further he went, the more he saw the scenery of the past.
On the earth, the authentic ancient cities in the true sense no longer exist. Even the city of Athens is an advanced city that has been repainted and packaged by modern civilization. When a group of people strolled in the bustling urban area, what they saw most were skyscrapers and bustling shopping malls that were no different from other modern cities. This once disappointed Lily who was very excited. However, after everyone followed Vivienne along the way, slowly left the newly established urban area, and entered some relatively primitive areas of Athens, they finally got their wish to see the ancient Greek-style stone pillars and sculptures—whether it is the real historical The relics are still imitations restored by later generations. These things are intertwined and inlaid in the cracks of the new buildings in the city, which makes people unable to help but have a heavy sense of history.
And the more you go to the older area of the Acropolis, the stronger the sense of history. In the end, the retro-style houses simply become the most important buildings on both sides, and the exquisite sculptures are almost completely Instead of impetuous neon signboards and modern signs such as station signs, and as Vivienne led the crowd to the depths of the street, this change became more and more profound, until finally Hao Ren finally gave birth to a trace of disobedience. feeling.
He looked at the streets on both sides, which were vaguely familiar, as if he had passed by here two or three times an hour ago, but if he looked closely, he would find that the scene on both sides of the street was changing in detail, the street lights disappeared, The colorful signboards of the store are fading, the concrete floor on the road has turned into a neat and flat stone slab at some point, and the sun that should have been hanging in the east in the sky has moved to the west at some point.
Lily, a nervous girl, was a little strange: "Hey, the atmosphere around me seems to be not right, there are fewer and fewer passers-by."
Even though this is a relatively old block, it is by no means a desolate area. When everyone first came to this area, there were still many pedestrians around, but the flow of people on both sides of the road became less and less. This change was subtle, and Lily didn't realize that something was wrong until there were so few pedestrians on the road that it was unnatural. Hao Ren looked at the increasingly weird scene around him, and found that even the existing pedestrians on the road were a little weird: they walked aimlessly on the road like walking dead, and they couldn't see anyone talking to each other, nor could they talk to each other. I don't see anyone stopping and doing their own things casually. They seem to be a "landscape" deliberately set up by someone, just to ensure that this street will not be too weird.
"We are already close to the shadow interlayer, please be careful going forward," Vivienne slowed down, "Don't open any doors on the side of the road, let alone go into any corner where the sun can't shine , don’t talk to any passers-by, and most importantly—don’t overstep my steps. This is a maze from the beginning, and if you take a wrong fork, you will fall into the trap of the shadow world.”
In the end, she specifically reminded Y'zaks: "Be careful, big man, these shadow interlayers were created by the strongest aliens for thousands of years, even you may be trapped in it."
Y'zaks nodded cautiously, while Hao Ren felt a little hairy on his body: "I'll go...you're doing it like a ghost movie..."
"All the aliens that have survived until now are divided into two types. One is a solo party like me, and the other is a group. The latter must have some skills to form a family under the current situation," Vivienne smiled. He said, "This place is one of the few remaining settlements. It has been in operation for thousands of years. The layers of defense methods are not a joke. Even the demon hunters can't do anything about this place. Well, at least temporarily. "
People continue to walk through this street that seems to be going around in circles, but the surrounding scenery is changing every moment. Every time you take a step, the buildings and decorations on both sides of the road will be so insignificant A little bit of change, and this change is becoming more and more obvious, it seems that as it gets closer to a certain "shadow interlayer", this street no longer conceals its abnormalities. Hao Ren noticed that the modern buildings on both sides of the road had disappeared completely at some point, and houses made of stones were protruding from both sides at weird angles, as if these cold stones were looking at them curiously. Everyone is average. Between the buildings there are still occasional signs and road signs with a touch of modernity, but they are all faded and as eerie as black-and-white photographs. Hao Ren turned his head to look at the direction he came from. He saw a mist and could no longer find the previous intersection.
The crowd finally stopped in front of a strange shop, the last remaining "modern house" on the street.
A beautiful woman in black with a gloomy expression stood in front of the door and waited for them. She smiled at Vivienne: "Long time no see, Your Excellency the Countess."
"It's really hard to find your place," Vivienne went forward, "Hesperis."
(Double monthly tickets have already started! Those who have monthly tickets should hurry up! Also, if you have time, please help to vote for the annual work. Anyway, it doesn’t cost money, just vote for a little... It is the annual work, not the annual author.) (To be completed continued~^~)