Hao Ren looked back at the direction where they came from. The path in the thick fog had disappeared, leaving only a layer of black mirror rippling like water. This round 'mirror' extended from the building as if it was drawn in space. It was more than ten meters wide, and its edge was covered with tiny black strips. It looked like oil paint. He reached out and touched it curiously, but he did not feel anything. He poked his head in and found that the path was still on the other side of the 'mirror'. Hessiana said grumpily, "If you want to go back, you can leave through this mirror. Just follow the path. You have the mark on you. As long as you don't go into the thick fog, you'll be fine. There's an Ancient guarding the entrance and exit between the Shadowy Divide and the real world. Just tell them and you'll be able to enter and exit this place freely. But don't bring anyone in. Your mark only works on yourself. Outsiders will die once they enter the second layer of the Shadowy Divide. "
These mirror-like things were the passageways of the Citadel of Shadows to the outside world. They were distributed throughout the city, and there were powerful guards at both ends of the passageways. The one in front of Hao Ren was one of the smaller ones. In the more heavily guarded parts of the city, there were large entrances and exits for large quantities of goods and materials. But that was not a place where visitors could simply set foot in. Hessiana led them away from the platform. At the end of the platform, they saw a tall, ancient tree. Hao Ren could not help but look at the tree a few more times. This tree was different from ordinary trees. Its mottled, wrinkled bark was tangled together, giving the impression of an old face.
"What's so strange about me?" While Hao Ren was observing, the ancient tree actually spoke. The wrinkles on the trunk shook, and a pair of dark brown eyes appeared under the thick bark. The sound of wood rubbing against each other rang out from the depths of the trunk. "Hmm... I don't know this guy, an outsider... But with Hessiana's guidance, he should be trustworthy. Don't make trouble in the city, or you will become fertilizer. "
"This is the ancient tree, Grandalr, the guardian of this gate. It came to this city 100 years ago." Hessiana bowed slightly to the ancient tree and introduced it to Hao Ren. "Every passage has two gatekeepers, one in the real world and one in the Fortress of Shadows. Hesperides guards the real side of the passage, and Grandalr guards the shadow side. Don't underestimate the power of Grandalr. All the plants in this city obey his command. Although he's guarding the gate here, he also monitors the streets of the other districts. Besides, he's an Ancient who has lived since the Mythological Era. In terms of age, he's one of the most senior elders in this city. "
The ancient tree, Grandalr, swayed its canopy reservedly as if it liked the compliment about its age and qualifications. However, after Vivian walked around it, she suddenly said thoughtfully, "I think I've seen you before... Wait a minute, I was the one who planted you! I remember now. Where are the fruits? "
Grandalr's canopy trembled. It looked at Vivian, and the whole tree started to vibrate. "Mistress... Mistress!"
Vivian did not care. She grabbed Grandalr's trunk and shook it. "Are there any fruits? Are there any fruits? Where are the fruits? "
Leaves and twigs fell from Grandalr's trunk, and its voice trembled. "Wait... Wait... This is a misunderstanding! I'm not a fruit tree! I've told you that I'm not a fruit tree! I've explained it to you when I first learned how to speak! I'm a battle-type Ent! "
Vivian let go of her hand in disappointment. "Pfft, I know. I'm just upset. It took me years to realize that I took the wrong sapling..."
Hao Ren was puzzled. "What's going on?"
"I brought it out from Ymir's garden," Vivian complained. "I once went to Ymir and found a delicious fruit, so I went to the orchard to cut a branch and planted it myself. But I took the wrong one. After taking care of it for years, I found out that it was a tree person that didn't bear fruit. The one that bore fruit was its second uncle. Tsk, I've been foolishly happy under a broken tree for years. I even watered and fertilized it every day, but it didn't bear any fruit. "
Hessiana was dumbstruck. Suddenly, she looked at Grandalr with a look of realization. "Ah, I was wondering why you would pretend to be asleep every time I mentioned Lady Vivian. So that's why... I've always worshipped you as a senior!"
Grandalr's canopy trembled. "So what? In terms of age, I'm your senior! Remember to respect your elders. No matter how difficult the situation is, you can't forget your past glory. If you only live to drag out an ignoble existence, then what's the difference between you and the nest of Shadow Nightsparrows on the third fork of the tree in the east! "
Grandalr said as he spread his branches to prove that there was really a nest of birds living on the third fork on the east side of the tree to enhance his persuasiveness.
Hessiana was speechless. She could only smile and nod. Vivian, on the other hand, looked at the ancient tree with a sigh and said, "Forget it. Live well... Live longer. The northern Europeans have all been killed. You're the only tree left that still remembers what they look like."
Grandalr was silent for a moment. It slightly lowered all its branches and said, "Yes, Mistress."
They bid farewell to the ancient guardian tree that had been around for thousands of years and followed Hessiana as they strolled through the strange city in the shadow. They passed through medieval-style stone streets and mottled, gloomy old houses with dim lights. Occasionally, they passed by some pedestrians who looked no different from ordinary people but were actually aliens. Most of the residents in the city were the Blood Clan, one-third of them were humanoid creatures called shadelings, and the rest were mostly miscellaneous races. There was also a small number of werewolves in the city. They were in an awkward situation here. After all, the city was ruled by their enemy. But due to the current situation, this small group of werewolves still maintained a relatively peaceful relationship with the Blood Clan in the city.
The so-called peace was to pretend that the other party did not exist. Naturally, they would not fight if they did not see each other.
Hao Ren noticed that although the shadow city was quite large, the number of residents was pitifully small. There were less than ten people at the end of the main road. Most of the huge and majestic ancient houses were gloomy and cold like haunted houses. The real residents might not even occupy one-tenth of the rooms. Originally, he thought that there would be a lively scene in the Otherworldling Shelter, with vampires and Imps rubbing shoulders on the road. But in fact … it was as quiet as a ghost town. There were people living here, but it was definitely not a place with any people.
"There are actually only tens of thousands of residents in the city. Think about it, it's as big as the real Athens, but there are only tens of thousands of residents." Hessiana introduced the current situation of the city. "And even among these tens of thousands of people, many don't show up at all. Too many people are disappointed with the current situation, so they just go back to sleep. They wake up once in a few hundred years to see the situation outside. When they find that the situation has not improved, they go back to sleep. Some even sleep for two thousand years... longer than the time I've stayed in this city. "
"Didn't you live here when the city was first built?" Nangong Wuyue asked curiously.
"No," Hessiana shook her head. "I was sent here by Lady Vivian 1,800... or maybe 1,700 years ago. The city was still sealed at that time, but with Vivian's guarantee, Hesperides made an exception and took me in. At that time, I was still alone. It was later that I formed my own family. "
Vivian nodded. "Well, she was so annoying that I had to leave her here. And to be honest, the situation was difficult at that time. I could not even feed myself. It was better to send her to a safer place. At that time, she was still a little girl who knew nothing. It was too dangerous for her to run around with me. "
Lily was an honest girl. "But when the situation was not difficult, it was also a problem for you to feed yourself!"
Hao Ren quickly pulled the husky behind him and said, "This girl is really... What kind of truth is that!"
Finally, they arrived at a new neighborhood deep in the city that looked more orderly. Hessiana was obviously in a good mood. She pointed to the largest spire in front of her and said, "This is the place! This is where I live. All the houses with the same emblem are the territory of the Hessianite Family. Welcome to my home ~ "
It was a black-roofed, grey-walled, well-decorated house that looked like a gloomy vampire. Although the style was depressing, the details were gorgeous. Hao Ren immediately saw the emblem that Hessiana was talking about: a huge family emblem hung in the most prominent place on the outer wall of the house. The seven-meter-long fabric was an oversized sticker of Vivian. It was not a shrunken version of Vivian with short hair, but a long-haired image that looked exactly like Vivian. The sticker was 99.9% accurate. This was the so-called family emblem. Vivian saw the scene and turned her head away. "That's why I don't want to come here... She's too annoying."
(Happy New Year, everyone! Since it's a festive occasion, I'll give you a few monthly tickets. Take advantage of the fact that it's double now.) And continue to reflexively ask for annual tickets. But it seems that the free tickets system has changed. If there are no free tickets, forget it. We don't want to spend money to buy tickets.)
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