Chapter 180 All That's Solid Melts Into Air

Thanks to Vivian's godlike remark, the reputation between Hao Ren and Hesperides went directly from neutral-friendly to hateful—honestly, if Vivian hadn't been watching from the side, Hao Ren reckoned that this shrunken version of Vivian would have pounced on him to bite him. Looking at the eyes that saw him as a killer of parents, Hao Ren felt quite innocent. He just wanted to say one thing to Hesperides: this young lady, the reason you're not liked by Vivian is entirely because your behavior is abnormal, okay? If you were a little more stable, and didn't give Vivian psychological obstacles regarding her sexual orientation, the relationship between the two of you would definitely not be like this! Vivian is usually such a kind girl; she can even accept Lily, let alone a bat spirit descended from her own bloodline?

However, he really couldn't find a chance to say these words, because he wasn't sure who would pounce on him to bite him first after he said them: Vivian or Hesperides...

Speaking of the relationship between Hesperides and Vivian, Hao Ren also felt rather puzzled. The ethical relationships he was familiar with faced a huge logical challenge at this moment. Would you say these two are mother and daughter or sisters? According to Lily's logic, these two should be mother and daughter, after all, Hesperides is the "flesh that fell off Vivian's body," but Hao Ren felt that the bats Vivian creates are her own clones, and her clones cultivating into spirits are also derivative products of the clones—there is no process of inheritance or succession, so these two being sisters feels perfectly natural. After thinking about it for a long time, he suddenly remembered that he had heard his teacher talk about mitosis when he took biology class back then...

But regrettably, he couldn't remember the specific content of that class.

In the end, he decided not to say anything reckless about what kind of relationship these two had, because he really didn't want to be bitten by Vivian because of these cognitive problems. The latter clearly had an allergic reaction to the phrase "flesh that fell off the body"...

The group walked in a seemingly endless fog. They were completely surrounded by these strange mists, but there was only one path under their feet, so as long as they didn't recklessly wander around, they didn't have to worry about getting lost here. However, the scenery in this fog was not always the same. Hao Ren was sure that he had seen something fleeting in the fog at certain times. Sometimes it seemed to be pedestrians wearing ancient Greek costumes and driving livestock, and sometimes it was modern urbanites in suits and leather shoes hurrying by. These strange and absurd images appeared and disappeared in the distant fog, like mirages that made people curious and couldn't help but want to go and see what was going on. Hesperides reminded everyone not to deviate from the path under their feet: "Don't be fooled by the scenery in the fog. Once you step out, you can forget about coming back. This layer of fog is the masterpiece of the Shadow Masters. It contains the accumulated memories of Athens for three thousand and five hundred years. Once you step into it, you will be swept into a random segment of these three thousand and five hundred years of memories. I can't guarantee that I can find you—this layer of fog will never stop running."

Hao Ren clicked his tongue secretly. He didn't know how many bizarre and difficult-to-defend traps were protecting the Shadow Fortress in this city. He only knew that there was a reason why those powerful demon hunters had been unable to conquer this sanctuary for many years. What was even more incredible was that above this strange shadow plane, there was also a "real Athens" in the light. Countless humans lived under the sun, unaware that such a world was hidden in the shadows of their city!

As the group moved forward, the strange scenery in the fog appeared more and more frequently. Hao Ren saw a line of ancient soldiers holding shields and spears walking towards him, but before they reached him, they suddenly turned into a group of office workers in modern clothes. An old-fashioned car, only seen in the 1920s, rushed out of the fog with a piercing horn, passed through Izhaks's body like a phantom, and disappeared into the other side of the fog. There was even a team of German soldiers in World War II uniforms running up from behind the group. These memories from more recent years seemed clearer. Hao Ren could even see the starlight on the buttons of each Nazi soldier's uniform. Finally, ancient and modern buildings began to appear frequently on both sides of the road. More and more clear images appeared in the fog. Some of these images seemed to no longer be "memories." Their behavior was obviously different from the previous phantoms, and they were wandering around in the fog in a daze. Hesperides pointed to these phantoms and said in a regretful tone: "These are the unlucky ones who are lost in the traps. Some are alien species who have committed serious crimes and were thrown into the fog, some are poor worms who have provoked the 'gatekeepers,' and some are demon hunters who don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. No one can compete with three thousand and five hundred years of memories of a city. They will be 'digested' soon after entering the fog. The rest are just their incomplete images before death. I don't know how powerful you are, but don't easily challenge the defensive power of the shadow plane. This thing is not easy to deal with."

Hesperides repeatedly emphasized the terrible nature of these traps. Hao Ren knew that this girl had indeed inherited some kind factors from Vivian, so he smiled gratefully: "Thank you for the reminder, we will be careful..."

Hesperides snorted, turned her head away like a child in a tantrum, and ignored him. This action was not threatening at all, but it still made Hao Ren feel snubbed.

At this time, the surrounding fog suddenly dissipated, and the field of vision in front of the group suddenly widened.

"Well, here it is," Hesperides raised her chin and pointed to the scene below, "Welcome to another Athens, one of the few safe havens on this planet."

"Ooh—" Lily stretched her neck and looked into the distance, letting out a long sigh.

The group was now standing on a high platform on top of a building, from which they could overlook a fairly large area. The sky seemed to be shrouded in a layer of curtain, or stacked with never-ending dark clouds, dim and without sun and moon. Under this dim sky was a strange city completely different from the real Athens: all the buildings seemed to be moved out of historical paintings and were full of classical styles. Huge buildings piled up with rocks and bizarre sculptures were everywhere. The most common thing in the city was ancient Greek-style circular stone pillars and ridged houses, but in the middle of these houses, you could also see spire houses or castles that were out of tune with the surrounding styles—the latter felt out of place here, but it must be admitted that they could be called architectural treasures when taken out alone. Modern prefabricated buildings that are quickly piled up with industrialization and high technology cannot be compared with any house here. You can no longer see such finely carved beams and pillars, delicately painted doors, ingeniously combined stone slabs, and exquisitely designed reliefs that take painstaking efforts to design. Since there was no sunlight in the sky, artificial light sources could be seen everywhere in this city in the shadows. Bright lights could be seen on the tops of buildings and on both sides of the road, but it was unknown what the energy source of these lights was.

Looking at such a city, Hao Ren had the feeling of walking into the wrong timeline, and even walking into the wrong world line by the way: classical buildings from various eras and regions were piled up in a city, as if a impatient architect was eager to display all the perfect works in his mind and piled them up in a hurry. It was out of place everywhere, but the details were so gorgeous that it was overwhelming. He couldn't help but point to a foreign-style house closest to him: "This kind of house doesn't look like it's from more than three thousand years ago, right?"

"The sanctuary is not always closed, and occasionally there will be wandering families from other regions who move in here. Many houses of different eras and styles in the city have been accumulated in this way from generation to generation. And some people are very idle, and they will remodel their houses when they are bored. They will remodel a foreign house today, a castle tomorrow, and maybe they will just dig a hole in the ground to live in the day after tomorrow. Anyway, we have plenty of time and energy, and we have nothing to do."

"Where did the building materials come from?" Hao Ren asked curiously.

Hesperides had just made up her mind not to pay attention to Hao Ren, but before long, she seemed to have forgotten about it, and at this time, she began to answer any questions: "When the Shadow Fortress was built, the old seniors dragged two small mountains directly in, and then we also have relatively safe channels to get supplies from outside. No matter how capable the demon hunters are, they can't monitor the whole world. We dig stones from the depths of the ground or smuggle things, and they won't know."

Vivian looked at the city below but just frowned: "It really hasn't made any progress... It's just studying these flashy things."

Hao Ren coughed lightly and muttered in a low voice: "Ahem... you said you dreamed of living in a castle..."

Vivian's face suddenly turned red, and she began to poke Hao Ren's lower back hard.

Hao Ren felt that kind of look that saw him as a killer of parents again...