Led by Vivian, the group spent a long time going around in circles through a strange street in the Acropolis of Athens before finally arriving at an unusual space known as the Shadow Interlayer. In this space, the city seemed frozen in the past. The modern buildings on either side of the road had almost completely vanished, replaced by stone structures and strange sculptures from hundreds or thousands of years ago. Most of the stone buildings leaned inward from both sides of the street at a peculiar angle, like rocky beasts poised to pounce. At the end of the horribly warped and uncanny street, Hao Ren saw a house that stood completely out of place: an old corner house that looked somewhat aged but still had a relatively modern appearance. It had red bricks, a blue roof, and two floors. The basement level had large glass display windows and a storefront with a sign hanging above it. It looked like some kind of shop.
The "old friend" Vivian was looking for was waiting for them outside the shop. Her name was Hesperis—a name that sounded somewhat strange.
Hao Ren curiously looked at the woman in black a few more times. He was quite interested in the "old friend" with whom even a strange, solitary Vampire like Vivian had managed to become acquainted. Hesperis looked to be around thirty. She wore a conservative, somber black dress. Her features were mature and beautiful, but a strange gloominess made it difficult to keep one's attention on her face for long. This peculiar woman had dark-brown curly hair that nearly reached her waist, yet a strange jeweled band was wrapped around her forehead. The band was beautiful, but it was hard to imagine anyone still wearing such an antiquated ornament these days. It looked