Chapter 1 A Start

Under Vivian's lead, the group circled through a bizarre street in the Acropolis of Athens for a long time before finally arriving at a peculiar space known as the "Shadow Interlayer." In this space, the city appeared frozen in a strange state of bygone times. The modern buildings along the road had almost completely disappeared, replaced by stone structures and strange sculptures from centuries or millennia ago. Moreover, most of the stone buildings leaned towards the middle of the street from both sides at a strange angle, like rock beasts poised to pounce. At the end of this twisted street, Hao Ren saw a house that was out of place with its surroundings: it was an old corner house that looked somewhat dated but still retained a modern appearance, with red bricks and a blue roof. The basement floor had large glass windows and a storefront with a sign hanging on it, suggesting it was some kind of shop.

Vivian's "old friend" was standing in front of the shop, waiting for them. Her name was Hesperides—a somewhat strange name.

Hao Ren curiously took a few more glances at the black-clad woman. He was quite interested in the "old friend" that a strange, lone wolf vampire like Vivian could befriend. Hesperides appeared to be around thirty years old, dressed in a conservative and somber black dress. Her appearance was mature and beautiful, but a strange, gloomy aura made it difficult to focus on her face for too long. This woman with the peculiar aura had deep brown curly hair that almost reached her waist, but her forehead was wrapped with a strange, bejeweled band. The band was beautiful, but it was hard to imagine anyone wearing such an ancient style of jewelry these days: it looked like it had been taken from a religious mural.

"You seem to have made quite a few new friends," Hesperides said, also curiously sizing up the strangers Vivian had brought. A trace of vigilance flashed in her eyes. "Hmm… It's rare enough for you to make friends, let alone so many at once. What happened these past few years to make you change your ways?"

"Nothing much, just muddling through life," Vivian said dismissively, waving her hand as she walked towards the house. "I'm not here to chat today; I have serious business."

Hao Ren followed Vivian through the glass door behind Hesperides and found that the place was cluttered with what looked like very old junk. The entire ground floor did indeed look like a shop. Near the stairs, he could see a long counter, on which and on the shelves behind were placed old clocks, bizarre masks, faded wood carvings, and other odds and ends. Vivian frowned at the messy environment, the housewife instinct burning fiercely within her: "How can you be so messy… how is it that every time I see you, you're surrounded by a pile of garbage? What are you up to this time?"

"Now? Now I've opened an antique shop," Hesperides said, finding a few chairs from a corner of the room for everyone to sit down, while she sat behind the counter. "I need to find something to do, or I'll get rusty. Little girl over there, don't touch the things on the counter; that mask was worn by an Egyptian pharaoh."

Lily quickly put the scary-looking mask back and stuck her tongue out at Hao Ren. Vivian pointed at Hesperides and said, "Speaking of which, what name are you going by now? What should I call you these days?"

Hesperides spread her hands. "The name I'm using recently is Christine. I'll probably use it for a decade or two."

"Christine?" Vivian's eyebrows twitched. "Follower of Christ? Are you crazy for giving yourself such a name? What about your ancestors?"

"A name is just a code; my ancestors have been dead for who knows how many years, who cares about that?" Hesperides waved her hand. "And I reckon you'll end up calling me by my real name anyway. That's just how you are; your memory's terrible."

Lily had been restlessly looking around the strange antique shop's furnishings. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she pointed at Hesperides and exclaimed, "Ah, that's right! No wonder your name sounds so familiar! Isn't Hesperides the name of the goddess of dusk in Greek mythology?!"

Hao Ren was stunned when he heard this. Hesperides waved her hand dismissively. "That was a long time ago. Don't mention it. Now, if I want to visit Athena's temple for old times' sake, I have to buy a ticket to get in. Thinking about these things just adds to the sadness."

Lily immediately slid off her chair. "Wow! Is it really her?"

Hao Ren didn't know much about Greek mythology, but he should have realized what was going on by now. He stared blankly at the ordinary-looking, black-clad woman with a somewhat gloomy and negative aura. He suddenly realized that he was facing a real piece of living history, a figure who had truly walked out of mythology. Suddenly, a wave of emotions surged through him: to be fair, Vivian could also be considered a piece of living history, but this vampire who cooked, did the dishes, and cleaned the house every day really didn't inspire any sense of history. Raven 12345 was also a true goddess, but that screw-up who couldn't even boil noodles properly looked nothing like a goddess. But this woman in front of him, although not as ancient as Vivian or as powerful as Raven, did indeed give Hao Ren a bit of excitement from facing a historical figure. For one thing, look how long her name is…

Hao Ren had always felt that people with longer names were important figures. For example, Ximen Chuixue, Albert Einstein, Aristotle. Not to mention the most powerful person in his own house was Izhaks Goodman, and the least powerful, apart from Doudou, was Hao Ren. The person with the lowest combat power was even a single character, "Gun" (滚 – Get lost). This was enough to illustrate the problem of "name length equals combat power." Hao Ren even felt that his initial blind trust in Raven 12345 was highly likely based on that string of numbers…

Nangong Wuyue looked at Hesperides in disbelief. "I really didn't expect it… You're really the dusk goddess from mythology? Didn't they say that those 'gods' of your generation were all hunted down by the demon hunters…?"

"A very small number survived," Hesperides said, pointing at herself. "Those who were quick-witted, lucky, and not powerful enough to be targeted by the demon hunters. Although not many people possessed all three qualities, a small number still survived. Then they went into hiding and scattered around the world. Now I don't know how many are still alive. Anyway, I'm the only one in Greece. Speaking of… shouldn't you introduce yourselves?"

Only then did Hao Ren remember that he had been too busy curiously looking around and listening to Vivian and Hesperides to introduce himself. But before he could speak, Vivian stood up. "Let me do it—this is Hao Ren, the leader of our group. Just think of him as a human wizard. This is Izhaks, a demon… and this is Lily, a hus—sigh, a werewolf."

Lily immediately jumped up. "Why did you sigh! You sighed just now, didn't you?!"

Hesperides looked at Hao Ren in surprise, then back at Vivian. "Leader? You've actually joined a group? And as a follower? Have you finally become desperate enough to suck the blood of a crazy person?"

"Don't interrupt; it's none of your business," Vivian said, waving her hand forcefully. "I'm here to ask you about the ruins—what's going on with them? Is it confirmed to be a passage to the 'Ancient Kingdom'?"

"The ruins were found by that little girl Heissiana leading her people, but the Lucas family also got involved. Now the two families are squabbling, but they've had cooperation before, and with the current situation, it should only be a matter of time before they compromise," Hesperides explained. "The entrance to the ruins is in the Parthenon, a spatial distortion point that leads to the inside. But opening it requires two holy relics, which are currently in the hands of Heissiana and the Lucas family. If you want to take a look inside the ruins… you'll have to deal with those two families. As for the nature of the ruins… I'm not too sure, since I haven't been inside. But according to the excited descriptions of Heissiana's subordinates, you can see the still-functioning temple facilities inside, and the air is filled with the rich, primordial power that only existed in the age of mythology. It's hard not to think of the prophecy of the day of return."

Hao Ren became even more convinced that there was a gate to the Dream Plane in the ruins and couldn't help but lean forward a little. "How big are the ruins? Have you found any spatial rifts or similar structures that lead to some mysterious place? Have you met anyone inside?"

"You seem to know a lot about the ruins?" Hesperides looked at Hao Ren strangely. "But none of the things you mentioned seem to exist. The exact size of the ruins is still unclear, but no one has seen any spatial gates other than the entrance. As for other people, there's no need to mention them. Who could live there for ten thousand years? By eating rocks?"

Vivian's expression was a bit strange. "Heissiana… is actually going to meet that troublemaker…"

"What's wrong? Do you have a grudge against that vampire named Heissiana?" Hao Ren asked curiously.

Vivian opened her mouth as if to say something, but suddenly heard a flapping sound like a swarm of bats approaching outside the antique shop. Then a sharp and energetic voice came in, "Is that you, Lady Vivian? Is Lady Vivian really here!? I'm Heissiana! I've come to find you!"

(Continuing to ask for monthly votes and annual work votes. Annual work votes, the second point is very important, so I'll say it twice =.=)