The night fell, and the dilapidated and dirty streets of the slums were shrouded in thick darkness. The occasional dim light from a certain shabby house could not dispel the night at all, but made the place even more dead.
There was silence in all directions, except for the occasional barking of a dog or two. This lifeless place seemed to have been forgotten by the world.
The squirrel was still walking through the shabby alleys that were as complicated as a spider web, taking Hao Ren and Lily deeper into the slums.
Hao Ren felt like he was walking in a huge nest, and he was heading towards the most chaotic and filthy core hinterland of the nest. The ancient city in the Middle Ages that lacked planning was like a bloated diseased organ, and its outside had swollen.
to an astonishing scale, but internally, its oldest and most basic parts have begun to fester and rot, and the city's once prosperous neighborhoods have turned into slums one by one, a wasteland of garbage, sewage, rats and homeless people.
These parts are filled with beggars who have returned. These parts cannot bring any vitality and vitality to the city, but they cannot be separated from the city at all. The rulers are intoxicated by the sensuality and superficial glory, and at the same time are obsessed with ideological confinementism.
Blinded by the bloody excitement brought by the witch-hunting movement, it was completely ignored or even if it was noticed, it could not do anything about the decline of the city itself.
The age of myth is over, and the dominance of this world has finally returned to its indigenous people. However, these young indigenous people are not ready to start a new era at all. Human beings chose to be temporarily paralyzed by this sudden change.
, use ignorance and superstition to protect their minds, but sooner or later, the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution will bring two baptisms, burning away these bloated and festering cities and the gangrene and rot in the city.
But for Hao Ren, these are all things that have happened and are over. What he cares about now is only when he can reach the "contact point" mentioned by the squirrel.
"How long do we have to go?" he asked in an impatient tone.
The gray rat walking in front suddenly shrank his neck. The potion he had taken before was losing its potency. This decline seemed to have affected his spirit, making his will even weaker. He cowered: "Just ahead.
,Sir, it’s right in front…”
"There is only a dead end ahead." Lily's eyes glowed with golden light in the darkness. She glanced forward and bared her teeth.
"It's that dead end," Gray Mouse hurriedly explained. "Only the darkest corner is the safest. Witches never communicate with people in open places..."
"I hope you didn't lie to us," Hao Ren curled his lips, "Anyway, in my opinion, you are already a dead person."
The squirrel really didn't lie.
The three of them arrived at the end of the alley, and there were no more forked roads and paths ahead: Hao Ren had thought that those forked roads and paths would never end.
There is a shabby, moss-covered stone wall standing there. This stone wall may have been part of the clock tower many years ago, or it may have been a city wall. However, with the passage of time and the continuous expansion of the city, this wall belongs to
The magnificent building has been swallowed up and decomposed by subsequent buildings, and all that remains are these ruins in the old streets and alleys. The squirrel stepped forward and pulled away a few rags and dead vines hanging on the stone walls.
Some traces of potholes were exposed.
Those marks look like random graffiti by children. They are carved with hard stones on the outer skin of the stone wall that has become loose due to weathering. Even the most cautious and meticulous church personnel may not notice these things when they come to see them.
any doubt.
But the squirrel carefully pressed his hands on the graffiti-like lines, looking at him with a frightened expression, as if he was pressing his hands on a red-hot iron plate.
He only made slight contact with the wall, and then quickly backed away, trembling all over.
Hao Ren and Lily watched this scene curiously and did not interfere with any of the squirrel's actions. They were also particularly interested in the rumored miraculous medieval witchcraft.
The graffiti on the stone wall suddenly began to crawl.
Those lines seemed to have come to life all of a sudden. They struggled to twist and break away from the shackles of the stone wall, crawling around on the wall, and constantly secreted a dark oily substance, just like stirring paint, and soon these oily substances
It covered a part of the wall, and those lines gradually dissolved into the "black mud", and then the "black mud" slowly rose up, and the face of an angry middle-aged woman appeared on it.
"You damn mouse!" The middle-aged woman's face twisted and she made a frightening sharp voice, "You damn bedbug who deserves to have his heart ripped out by the devil! You brought two strangers!"
The gray rat was so frightened that he almost collapsed on the ground: "Mrs. Mary! Please listen to my explanation! They are not demon hunters, they are here to find..."
However, he stopped abruptly in the middle of his words. An unpleasant burning smell suddenly emerged from his whole body. Large areas of red blisters quickly appeared on the chinchilla's exposed skin. Red blisters appeared quickly.
It kept rising and falling, as if there was a blazing coal fire burning in his body. In just two or three seconds, the man fell to the ground and completely lost his voice.
Hao Ren never expected that "Mrs. Mary" would execute the traitor so decisively, and her method was so incredible.
He quickly thought about what he should say next and several points to pay attention to when dealing with witches. As expected, "Mrs. Mary" did not cut off the contact immediately after executing the gray rat. Her face was still on the stone wall.
And he let out a sneer: "Humph... of course I know they are not demon hunters, idiots."
Then she turned her gaze and looked at Hao Ren and Lily where the old god was present: "Then you two...the traitor who was in the way has shut up. We can safely talk among ourselves, who are you?"
Hao Ren glanced at the corpse of the gray rat: "Tsk, tsk, this guy died unjustly."
"This is necessary caution," Mrs. Mary let out a hoarse laugh. "I am very grateful to him for bringing you to me, but I don't want him to bring any other new 'guests'..."
Hao Ren asked curiously: "Are you sure we are not demon hunters?"
"If you are demon hunters, you should have burned the damn holy flame in front of me along the thread of witchcraft by now," Lady Mary showed an impatient expression to get to the point quickly. If you just came to talk to me
If you are chatting, I will not accompany you."
"I am a wizard passing by," Hao Ren nodded. "This person next to me is my friend, a young werewolf."
Lily immediately showed her fangs and ears in cooperation. If Hao Ren hadn't covered them in time, she would have even wanted to whimper.
"Wizards and werewolves..." Mrs. Mary showed an interested expression on her face, "This is a bit of an interesting combination. Werewolves and wizards haven't been together for many years... It seems that at least you are not enemies. Then come to me.
What's wrong with this poor witch?"
"I heard that you gathered a lot of people to rescue a captured witch?"
"Ah, that's just nonsense to play tricks on mice. There are no arrested witches at all. But if we don't say so, the idiots in the church will pay too much attention to us. Although those humans have no power, they are
It's really troublesome for them to gather together with holy water. What? That's all you want to say? Then it seems that you are no smarter than the mice..."
Hao Ren frowned, realizing that he really needed a better reason to find an excuse to sneak into this group of wizards. After thinking for a moment, he came up with an idea and went straight to the point: "Okay, the arrested witch was just a random comment by me.
One question, I have more important things to ask you, where are you?"
"You can say it now," Lady Mary said, looking wary of not welcoming strangers."
"What if this stranger brings news about the witcher?"
"ah"
After a scream, Mrs. Mary's face disappeared into the stone wall for an instant. It seemed that she subconsciously took a half step back due to panic. Then her face reappeared with huge shock on her face: "You
What did you say? Witcher?! You know what you said?!"
"No one would joke about this kind of topic," Hao Ren said with a serious look on his face, "How long have you been gathering here? A month? Or more? You are too slow to hear news from the outside world..."
The expression on Mrs. Mary's face changed rapidly, and at the same time, Hao Ren also noticed that another blurry image was shaking around her face made of "black mud". It seemed that other witches around her had heard the news and gathered around her, and
A heated discussion ensued.
"We have indeed neglected to collect information from the outside world recently, but the wilderness is severely blocked, so there is almost no news coming in," Mrs. Mary said as if she was explaining or telling Hao Ren something.
, "You said you brought news about the witcher, but what evidence is there?"
Hao Ren casually pulled out the holy silver dagger from his waist: "Do you think this can be used as evidence?"
The unique faint halo of the holy silver dagger was particularly obvious in the darkness. It shone slightly in Hao Ren's hand like a piece of condensed moonlight. The moment Mrs. Mary saw this thing, her tone changed: "This is their weapon.
...How did you get it?!"
"Then we'll have to discuss it in detail after we meet," Hao Ren shrugged and put away his dagger, "Fair trade is the long-term solution."
The witch opposite seemed to be hesitating. Hao Ren saw this and pushed her again: "You should know that it is not common for wizards to roam around with a demon hunter's weapon, and there is a werewolf beside me. No matter what you want to do,
Whatever, you will all need this power."
Lady Mary said gloomily: "But power beyond control is not a good thing."
"Then it's up to you to weigh it yourself. You and I both know what kind of era we are in now. In these days, the most important thing is to survive."
There was another long silence, and just when Hao Ren was about to give up, the face on the stone wall finally spoke.
"Leave from the west gate after nightfall tomorrow and follow the crow's guidance to a place where the moonlight cannot shine. I will wait for you there." (To be continued...) r