Athens, one of the oldest historic cities on earth that has been preserved and is still in use. When human beings stumbled all the way from the primitive era of slash-and-burn farming to the door of civilization, when human beings stopped worrying about food and clothing and the 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 and strange religious symbols to express their thoughts and amazements about the world, city-states began to rise and kingdoms began to be built. The earliest thinkers who were detached from basic production poured their abundant brainpower into huge stones and elaborate vaults, built cities symbolizing human power with high walls, columns, vaults, and stairs made of rock, and decorated their courtyards with reliefs and statues full of religious mysteries. And quickly became one of the most incredible products 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 coexisting with human beings, although they have been actively or forced to hide in the shadows, and even completely erased from the current human cognition, but they are still active in the history of this planet, and the history books of mankind will not remember them, but another history book made of stone and wood will not forget this qiē: the city.

The older the cities, the more they have left traces of the Ancients, and the oldest cities have become completely integrated and inseparable from the creatures of the shadows, which are not only home to humanity, but also the territory of many dark creatures, no matter how much the witchers and the Church reject this. They must also admit that there are still a large number of nests on the planet that have been inhabited by aliens, and these nests have been built by aliens from the very beginning. And they won't back down on it. In an age when myths, legends, and historical records are confusing and intertwined, a small number of aliens live with humans completely openly. And built these magnificent ancient cities, compared to most of the barbaric aliens who hold absolute brutal rule over humans, these powerful creatures who regard humans as animals are already rare "moderates", so they are worshipped by earthlings as protective gods, and even the entire meaning of the city's existence is to worship a powerful and benevolent "god", this situation lasted for thousands of years, until humans broke free from this captive situation with the help of witchers, Half of the founders of these cities were banished into the shadows.

No one now believes that the crumbling temples of the city were once inhabited by supernatural beings.

But as mentioned earlier, these cities have been home to certain anomalies since the beginning. They had built it with their own hands, maintained it, and even fought for it, and these aliens never really left the city even when they were forced to retreat into the shadows, they just rebuilt the fortress and hid it in a corner that humans could not detect.

A group of people was slowly approaching one of the entrances to the fortress.

Hao Ren and his party recuperated in the hotel where they stayed, and today they set out with Vivien to find an alien who is said to have survived from the age of mythology, one of Vivian's few acquaintances, and she lives in the oldest part of the city. It's been a long time since everyone got out of the car.

"Are you sure the person we're looking for is in this direction?" Hao Ren looked up at the familiar old streets around him again, and questioned Vivien's sense of direction for the third time, "If that's right, we've seen this stone wall for the third time." ”

"That's it, go in circles." Vivien nodded, "Athens is a very special place, and there are many alien survivors who have made their homes here. However, it will take a special method to find them - the witchers have never stopped hunting for this place, and the daredevils who don't hide themselves are long dead. ”

Hao Ren could only nod. Continue to follow Vivien around the oldest streets of the Acropolis, and before you know it, get closer and closer to the city's even more ancient depths. He occasionally looked up boredly. When you see those old buildings that are no longer distinguishable from historical relics or modern people who have imitated and restored them, you will suddenly have a strange illusion that has transcended time. He felt as if he was walking in the middle of a slide that followed the history of mankind backwards, and the further he went, the more he saw the scenery of the past.

On earth, the true authentic ancient city is no longer there, even the city of Athens is also an advanced city that has been repainted and packaged by modern civilization, and the most people who wander through the bustling city are the skyscrapers and bustling shopping streets that are indistinguishable from other modern cities, which once disappointed the enthusiastic Lily. However, after Vivien slowly left the newly established city and entered some of the more primitive areas of the city, they finally got their wish to see the ancient Greek-style stone columns and sculptures - whether they are real historical relics or imitations restored by later generations, these things are intertwined and embedded in the cracks of the city's new buildings, and people can't help but feel a thick sense of history.

The more you move into the older parts of the Acropolis, the more this sense of history becomes stronger, and eventually the retro-style houses become the main buildings on either side, and the elaborate sculptures almost completely replace the impetuous neon signs and modern signs such as station signs, and as Vivien leads the group deeper into the streets, this change goes deeper and deeper, until finally Hao Ren finally has a sense of disobedience.

He looked at the street on both sides, which was vaguely familiar, as if he had passed 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 were gone, the colorful signboards of the shops were fading, the concrete floor on the road had turned into neat and smooth stone slabs, and the sun that was supposed to be hanging in the east did not know when it had moved to the west.

Lily, a nervous girl, was a little strange: "Eh, the atmosphere around me doesn't seem to be right, and there are fewer and fewer passers-by." ”

Even though this is a relatively old neighborhood, it is by no means a desolate area, and when people first come to this area, they can still see a lot of pedestrians around, but at some point, the flow of people on both sides of the road seems to be less and less, and this change is subtle, until the pedestrians on the road are unnaturally few, and Lily realizes that something is wrong. Hao Ren looked strangely at the increasingly strange scene around him, and found that even the pedestrians on the road were a little strange: they were walking aimlessly on the road like walking corpses, and they couldn't see anyone talking to each other, and they couldn't see anyone stopping to do their own thing, they were like someone deliberately laying out a "landscape" just to make sure that the street was not too weird.

"We're already close to the shadows, be careful any further," Vivien slowed, "don't push open any door on the side of the road, don't go around any corner where the sun doesn't shine, don't talk to any passers-by, and most importantly - don't overtake me." It starts out as a labyrinth, and if you take a wrong fork in the road, you'll fall into the trap of the shadow world. ”

Finally, she also reminded Itzax: "Big man, you should also pay attention, these shadow layers are the strongest outliers that have been shaped over thousands of years, and even you may be trapped in them." ”

Yizax nodded cautiously, and Hao Ren felt a little hairy on his body: "I'll go...... You guys are like a ghost movie......"

"All the outliers who have survived to this day are divided into two kinds, one is a lone traveler like me, and the other is a group, and the latter must have some way to form a family in the current situation," Vivien chuckled, "This place is one of the few remaining settlements, it has been in business for thousands of years, and the layers of defense are no joke, and the witchers can't do anything about this place." Well, at least not for the time being. ”

The crowd continues to walk through the alley that seems to be in circles, but the scenery around them changes from moment to moment, and with each step you take a step, the buildings and decorations on both sides of the road change a little bit that is becoming more and more apparent, as if the street no longer conceals its anomaly as you get closer to some "shadow layer". Hao Ren noticed that the modern buildings on both sides of the road had completely disappeared at some point, and the houses made of stone were leaning out from both sides at a strange angle, as if these cold stones were looking at everyone curiously. There are still occasional signs and signposts with a slight modern feel to be seen between the buildings, but they are all faded and as weird as the black-and-white photographs. Hao Ren turned his head to look in the direction he came, he saw a mist, and he could no longer find the intersection before.

The crowd finally stopped in front of a strange shop, pù, the last remaining "modern house" on the street.

A beautiful woman dressed in black with a somewhat gloomy expression stood in front of the door waiting for them, and she smiled at Vivien: "Long time no see, Your Excellency Countess. ”

"You're hard to find," Vivien said, "Hesperith." ”

(The double commuter pass has already begun!) If you have a monthly pass, hurry up and smash it! In addition, if you have time, please help vote for the work of the year.,Anyway, don't need money.,Vote a little more...... It's the work of the year, not the author of the year. (To be continued......)