South America.
An unknown town welcomed a group of special visitors today.
According to the address provided by Wayne, Hao Ren and the rest came to the place first and settled down in a small hotel in the town. They chose a family-style hotel in the countryside to avoid trouble with their identities.
Wayne Walter had returned to his family to deal with some matters. According to the agreement, the vampire patriarch would come to the town to meet Vivian in two days. Before that, Hao Ren and the rest could move around freely. So, after finding a place to stay and familiarizing themselves with the hotel environment, Hao Ren and Vivian left the hotel and wandered around the town.
The atmosphere of the town reminded Hao Ren of the old streets and alleys in the Southern Suburbs. Though the style was completely different, the same atmosphere lingered in every street. It was the smell of time, the old houses and the narrow, old, old-fashioned streets that outlined the same thing. The town had a history of at least a hundred years. When Hao Ren and Vivian walked on the street, they saw old houses with traditional brick and tile structures, mottled and peeling walls, and town roads that were still in use. There was a cement road that could accommodate two cars side by side as the town's main road, and the entire town was built along this road. On both sides of the road, there were old houses scattered everywhere. Moss and mildew could be seen everywhere. In this historical building, modern street lights and billboards were inlaid in a way that was out of place. Although he knew that the town could not have anything to do with the ancient times, Hao Ren could not help but think that such a town was indeed a "place of seclusion for an ancient family."
A century-old town and an otherworldling family from the ancient times were equally old, equally forgotten, and equally incompatible with modern society.
"I didn't expect Hessiana to stay in Athens in the end." Hao Ren remembered the little bat who dragged Vivian's leg for a while before they left. He could not help but smile. "I thought she would come along no matter what, but you persuaded her to go back in the end."
Vivian felt a headache when she heard the name Hessiana. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "That child is getting more and more out of hand. I guess it was a mistake to let her stay at home last time. She's the kind of person who shines with a little sunshine. She's getting more and more unruly."
Hao Ren could not do anything about the relationship between Vivian and Hessiana. He just smiled gently and looked up at the sky.
Right above the two of them, a blue dot of light that resembled a shooting star flashed past.
The data terminal was scanning the entire town and the surrounding terrain in mid-air and sharing the observed scene with Hao Ren's mind. Hao Ren was now multitasking. In another virtual vision in his brain, he was looking down at the town from a height of hundreds of meters.
He saw that the town with a population of only a thousand people was located next to a black hill, surrounded by a large, uninhabited wilderness. The town was built along the gentle slope next to the hill. As night fell, the lights in the town lit up like a gorgeous necklace at the foot of the hill. At first glance, there was nothing unusual, whether it was the bare stone hill or the old town at the foot of the hill. But after a careful observation, Hao Ren found something strange about the layout of the town: all the buildings stopped abruptly halfway up the hill.
Although it was understandable that people did not build their houses on higher hillsides out of consideration of cost and convenience, the line where the houses stopped was too neat. This was even more so when the lights came on at night: there was a clear dividing line between light and darkness on the hillside. The artificial lights stopped uniformly on that line as if they were avoiding something.
But the place without lights was not empty: there were a few abandoned houses on the other side of the "dividing line". They were the "leftovers" of the town that extended to the hill. They looked like they had been abandoned for many years, as if they were thrown outside. There was no road in the town that extended between the houses. But between the abandoned houses, there were traces of roads left behind. After the MDT zoomed in, Hao Ren saw something like cement blocks and broken bricks scattered halfway up the hill.
Vivian did not pay attention to the image sent by the MDT. She just looked at the peaceful town thoughtfully. "The atmosphere here is a bit weird. I thought the territory of the Ancattero family would be a more gloomy place. After all, it is ruled by the otherworldlings, and that kind of thing happened a month ago."
"The otherworldlings must hide their tracks. You see, the Athens sanctuary is so big, but the city of Athens is still very lively," Hao Ren said casually. "And the Shades of Chaos don't attack humans."
"That's true," Vivian whispered. "I don't know how the Ancattero family hides. I can't find any traces of the mysterious realm, and I don't know where the entrance is hidden. It seems that we can only rely on the guide sent by Wayne. "
Hao Ren nodded and looked up at the end of the street. The town lights stretched up a slope, and the outline of the black hill not far away was reflected in the light. "There may be something in the north of the town. The abandoned houses there are very interesting. Should we go and have a look? Maybe it is the former property of the Ancattero family. "
"Go and have a look?" Vivian blinked. "But the guide from the Wayne family should be here in two days."
"We have nothing to do anyway," Hao Ren shrugged. "And there may be demon hunters in this town. They may also be coming for the Ancattero family. If we can find them in advance, we can avoid the mess in two days."
Usually, the otherworldlings would hide when they heard about the demon hunters. In fact, Hao Ren was the same at first. But now, his style had changed. Since he had encountered the demon hunters many times and had been through a lot of life-and-death situations, Hao Ren was more used to thinking of more proactive solutions. If necessary, he would even choose to take the initiative to contact the demon hunters to avoid falling into a passive position in the future. Even if he did not consider this, Hao Ren knew that he had nothing against the demon hunters. He was not an otherworldling like the vampires and werewolves. As an inspector, he was neutral from the beginning. It was just that he had adopted a bunch of demons, which made it a little awkward for him to meet the demon hunters.
Vivian had no objection to Hao Ren's decision. She was indifferent to the demon hunters. She nodded and followed Hao Ren to the end of the town.
Soon, under the cover of the night, they arrived at the hillside of the small black mountain. The road to the small town ended here.
A fence stood in front of Hao Ren. The fence extended to both sides and disappeared into the deep night. It made people wonder if the fence separated the entire town from the hilltop. On one side of the fence were the brightly lit buildings of the town, and on the other side, there was only a dark hillside. Looking towards the dark side, there were a few shadowy buildings in the night. They were the abandoned houses that the MDT had observed through its bird's-eye view.
At the end of the road was a rusty fence with a red sign on it that said "No Entry". Hao Ren stepped forward and shook the fence. There was a creaking sound of metal rubbing against each other. The gate had not been opened for many years. All the hinges were covered in rust.
Vivian looked around. After making sure there was no one around, she turned into a cloud of fog and bats and flew through the fence. Hao Ren, on the other hand, leaped up and jumped over the two-meter-high fence.
"We should have asked the locals," Hao Ren said to the swarm of bats. "Ask them why there is a fence at the end of the town. It's normal for outsiders to be curious about this."
"It's too late." Vivian emerged from the swarm of bats. "Let's talk about it tomorrow. I saw the abandoned houses you were talking about. Let's go... Hmm? "
Hao Ren was stunned. "What's wrong?"
Vivian frowned as she looked at one of the abandoned houses. "There's a breath of life over there."
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