Hao Ren had a light bulb moment when hearing what Nangong Sanba had said. Turning to Vivian, he asked, "Do you know anyone else who might have information about this kind of shadow?"
"At least those who have survived since the Mythological Era know." Vivian thought for a moment. "Maybe I can ask Hesperides."
Hao Ren nodded quickly. "Do it now. I suppose you have given her a phone, right?"
"Argh, long-distance call again." Vivian, who was a miser, let out a sigh before taking out her cell and making the call. Since they last visited the Athens' sanctuary, Vivian had not contacted the nymph of the evening, but she left Hesperides a modern communication gadget so that in case of emergency they could call each other. Now that came in handy.
Vivian raised her head, bewildered. "She didn't answer the call."
"Do you know other ancients?" Lily asked.
"I only have her mobile phone number," Vivian searched through her contact list in her phone's address book, "other than Hessiana and a few juniors. There aren't many ancients in the Athens' sanctuary, and I am not familiar with others."
"Call again later," Hao Ren said. "Maybe you could leave a message to Hessiana so that she could inform Hesperides."
As soon as his voice trailed off, the cell in Vivian's hand rang. It was Hesperides.
"Hello," Vivian answered quickly, putting the phone on speaker so that everyone could hear it. "Hesperides?"
"Vivian, I didn't expect you to call me." Hesperides' voice sounded a bit tired, but hearing the voice of an old friend made her happy. "I was in a meeting, and the other guys asked to me put the cell on silent mode. They must have learned this from the humans."
Hao Ren was amazed by how modern the life of the ancients in the Athens' sanctuary. Vivian was a little curious. "Meeting? Oh, yes, you are one of the elders of the sanctuary. Let's not talk about this now. Let me ask you something. Do you know a monster that looks like a shadow?"
"Shadow?" Hesperides' voice rose a pitch higher. It was not sure if it was an illusion, but Hao Ren had sensed the tension in Hesperides' voice.
"It's a kind of parasitic in the shadow, to be precise. There have been two attacks here so far and that thing…" Vivian told of what she knew and described the form of the shadow. "That thing must be originating from our time. Do you have an impression of it?"
"You are talking about the Shade of Chaos!" Hesperides's tone of voice seemed wrong. "I didn't expect them to have escaped to your side. Who was attacked? What is the situation? Have you got it under control?"
"We've got it albeit with much trouble." Vivian had sensed Hesperides must have known something. "Did you say they escaped to my side? You mean the same thing has happened at your side?"
Hesperides lowered her voice as if she were in a public place and did not want people around her to hear what she said. "I and several ancients have just met to discuss this matter. I'm afraid there is a situation in the Ancattero family in South America. Are you interested in this matter too? If so, come to the Athens' sanctuary. The incident isn't as simple as it seems as many ancient families have sent their representatives."
Vivian had wanted to mention that she might have something to do with the shadows initially. After hearing what Hesperides had said, she held back. "Okay, we come to you now."
After hanging up, she murmured thoughtfully, "Ahh, it's the Ancattero family. I had remembered the name starting with 'A.'"
"Yeah, it's just the 'A' you had remembered. Can you stop talking about that now?" Hao Ren said while waving his hand at Vivian. "We should go to Athens immediately. Y'zaks, you two have seen the shadow, so I need you and your daughter to come with me. The others stay home. Lily, you don't have to raise your hand, I will bring you too."
Hao Ren, Vivian, Lily, Y'zaks, and Y'lisabet stepped into the portal. The MDT had the coordinates of Athens, teleporting them to Hesperides side was so much easier this time.
They arrived at Hesperides' antique store, which was the front for the sanctuary, was closed. A strange fog shrouded the entire street, and there was not a single pedestrian on the road. It seemed Hesperides had cast a spell to keep the area quiet.
"That's quick!" Hesperides said, drawing Hao Ren's attention. The nymph of the evening, who seemed to have sensed someone coming into her magic monitoring zone, emerged from the thick fog in a yellow light and was amazed to see Vivian and the others. "I thought you would only arrive tomorrow."
Vivian went up and greeted her old friend. "We used the portal. How is the situation in the sanctuary? Is it serious?"
Hesperides's brows knit together and nodded. "It's complicated. Come in first. Two more ancients have arrived, they are having a second round of discussions."
While saying, she opened a unique passage leading to the Shadowy Divide, but she stopped everyone from entering. "Wait a minute; I have to check the shadows of you all."
Hesperides carefully examined the shadows of everyone, as if it was a quarantine protocol during an infectious viral outbreak. Vivian could not help but ask, "Has the shadow infiltrated the sanctuary?"
"It almost made it through but was exterminated in the Shadowy Divide," Hesperides said casually. "Okay, all cleared to go."
Under the guidance of Hesperides, they crossed the heavily guarded Shadowy Divide before arriving at the familiar Athens' sanctuary after a long walk.
The mysterious city in an alien dimension was attacked by demon hunters a year ago and severely damaged, traces of the war could still be seen today. The Bethanos Shadowy Castle on the other side of the city was still in ruins as the crazy forces of Hessiana had utterly destroyed the place with an air strike. No one cared to rebuild the castle since the sanctuary successfully drove the shadows out. In the partially-destroyed area around the old home of the Bethanos family, some new flags were flying. Hao Ren had never seen the flags, but he knew what they meant.
The factions in the sanctuary had completed a significant shake-up and territorial delineation.
Hao Ren and his entourage did not have much opportunity to take a good look at the reconstruction of the sanctuary as Hesperides had hurriedly brought them into a large assembly hall in the middle of the city.
"This assembly hall was rebuilt after the attack of the demon hunters." Hesperus briefed them on the location of the meeting today. "The rebellion of Bethanos reminded several families of the seriousness of the factionalism in the sanctuary. In a sense, the reconstruction of this assembly hall had at least formally re-established the relations between the various families. The patriarchs of several large families are here today, as well as representatives from other sanctuaries. Vivian, some of them are your old friend."
Vivien scratched her head. "Oh, yeah? I couldn't remember most of them."
Hesperides knew that Vivian had a problem with her memory, so she did not say much but proceed to open the door of the assembly hall.
Hao Ren heard a voice talking loudly as soon as the door opened. "…you must go and check out the situation, the Ancattero family's incident must have something to do with the demon hunter!"
Hao Ren and Vivian looked at each other instinctively and stepped into the hall immediately.
The semi-circular hall was brightly lit, grand and spacious, but only a dozen people were sitting at the round table in the center. When Hao Ren and Vivian went in, a happy-sounding voice was heard coming from among the people at the meeting. "Vivian! You've come to see me!"
Vivian was startled and stepped back instinctively. "Oops! I've almost forgotten that his kid is one of the patriarchs."