The city of innocence in the middle of the night is holding a grand carnival. The high-consumption crystal energy lanterns are lit up as if they don't need money, lighting up the night sky for half the city. In the southern half of the city, the men's district, the hotel district, the gaming district, the competitive area, the dining district and so on, the street lights illuminate half of the sky, making it difficult to distinguish between day and night. Large numbers of wealthy people hidden in cloaks or well-dressed in horse-drawn carriages stopped in different neighborhoods, large amounts of gold and mythril coins flowed from one hand to the other, and large quantities of food and wine disappeared from people's mouths. The cold winds of winter can't blow away the fragrance of perfume in the air, can't dispel the passion of fire in people's bodies, this is hell, but it's also heaven.

Compared to the southern neighborhoods, the northern neighborhoods are noticeably bleaker. The commercial districts in the north belong to high-end commercial districts, and it is impossible to be as crowded as the southern neighborhoods at any time, but although the flow of people here is small, the income and profits brought by each transaction are indeed countless times that of the southern blocks.

In a corner of the northern block, there is a neighborhood that is close to abandonment, a special area known as the First District, which represents the past history of the City of Innocence, lurks the darkness of the City of Innocence today, and also hides the countless secrets of the City of Innocence. Because, that was the only neighborhood of the City of Innocence when it was first built hundreds of years ago, and that was the oldest predecessor of the City of Innocence.

Four people wrapped in black cloaks quietly walked into the dark alley area through the night, and as soon as they entered the dark alley area, it was as if they had entered another world.

It's a dead world, and the thought comes to the mind of everyone who enters the Dark Alley for the first time. The light and bustle seem to be isolated from the Dark Alley area, and all that remains here is a dilapidated and withered place. As far as the eye can see, there are some low-rise houses all around, and the closer you get to the edge of the area, the more shabby and messy the houses become, and the most marginal area is even a bunch of simple shacks. The shacks were stacked with dry straw and dirty cotton wool. Walking along the shack, the integrity of the house gradually increased, and some figures appeared around. Some of them are like a bunch of walking corpses, with blank eyes. Wandering aimlessly through the streets of the Dark Alley District. There were many more, huddled in the shadow of the building, staring at the four in the dark corners.

"This area is the area where the City of Innocence was first built, and the very central location is the headquarters of the early Shadow Hand. After the Shadow Hand relocated here to establish the City of Innocence, felons from all over the world who had not yet been caught flocked to it. They are not members of the guild. The guild couldn't be open to them, but they couldn't leave, or they would die. So, they built their own houses on the outskirts of the guild, and during this time a large number of criminals died in the plundering and killing of each other, but the number of people alive continued to increase day by day, and finally it became the dark alley area you see now. In the lowest voice, Indulgence explained to the two girls of the party: "These are the lowest people in the city, and they have nothing, including courage and ability. So they can only struggle here, but they are the most vicious people in the city of innocence, and the criminals outside are as pure as saints compared to them. Don't look at them like they are now, but if you show a little weakness or let your guard down a little, they will be like hungry mosquitoes in the forest, and they will pounce on them without sucking your blood dry. The people here still retain the habits of the earliest cities of innocence, the habits that have been dubbed the Dark Hundred Years. For them, stealing, killing, robbing, and even cannibalism are all things that must be done in life. It's like we eat and sleep. ”

"Where did all these people come from?" asked Catherine in the same whisper, "they were born like this?"

"Most of them were born here. Just as it is difficult for the residents of the City of Innocence to live in other cities, it is also difficult for the residents of the Dark Alley District to live in other neighborhoods. Indulgence winked at Catherine: "You two maids are very lucky, there are more than 8,000 people in the dark alley, but they can get out." There doesn't have to be one a year. ”

"Seeing that these people are so hungry that they can't even walk steadily, it's hard to imagine that they will be as evil as you say. Catherine sighed deeply.

"It's just their disguise. Putting it in one direction, Nunu mouthed: "Do you see the child sitting in the center surrounded by a dozen people over there?" Sixteen years old, just an adult, he is already the leader of a medium-sized organization in the Dark Alley District. Do you know his record? At least sixty-seven lives were in his hands, and at least forty were eaten alive by them when they were hungry. ”

"They're smart. Enthusiastic and indifferent, he said, "So I can survive." ”

"Yes, they're smart. Never mess with someone you shouldn't mess with. Indulgence nodded, "So they can survive here very well." ”

As they spoke, the four of them quickly passed through one dilapidated chamber after another, oblivious to the tragic situation around them. The procession suddenly stopped without warning, and at the same time, in the dark night, a silver light flashed. The silver light turned into blood light in an instant, and after a soft sound, a severed hand fell to the ground, and in the faint light of the moonlight, a child less than ten years old staggered back with his right wrist spurting blood, leaned against the wall, grabbed a thick rope from the ground, and tightly strangled the broken wrist, barely stopping the wild blood spraying.

This was the first time Catherine had seen the weapon of her passion as an assassin, a slender bayonet with a thinner spine than an ordinary bayone, looking like a thin piece of paper, but with great lethality. The silver light of the sword flashed and disappeared, and the child whose right hand was cut off did not look at it enthusiastically, and continued to walk forward without stopping, Catherine and Vivien hesitated slightly, and left after their backs.

"I thought you were trying to say something. After a moment of silence, indulgence suddenly broke the dead silence: "I thought you, as a knight, were not used to seeing this kind of thing. ”

"You're actually saving him. Catherine was silent for a while before she whispered, "Listen to your introduction, even in the dark alley area, you must obey the first precept in your city, and crimes cannot be discovered." The kid tried to steal my money, but I found out, and my first instinct was to stop him. But I forgot that this is the City of Innocence, and that there are a lot of people around us who are hiding in the shadows, and if I stop him, it means that I have found him, so that even if you don't punish him, it will give the other residents an excuse to attack him. And I also figured out that if I stopped him, he would definitely attack me to save himself, and then he would lose not a hand, but his life. You cut off his hand first, so that the people around him have no reason to kill him publicly, so that he still has a chance to survive, right? ”

"It's just a punishment. Enthusiastically and dryly, he said, "No good intentions." ”

Indulged behind the enthusiasm, he stuck out his tongue at the girl of the adventure group, and grimaced at the back of the enthusiasm. Catherine could not laugh, she felt that she would not forget the child's face distorted by pain and strange eyes for a long time, and there was no pain, no hatred, only despair in the eyes. Such a look made Catherine sigh deeply: "So, I don't like this city more and more." ”

"Like it or not, there's always a reason for this city. Indulgent shrugged and said, "Now it's time to speed up and get out of those ubiquitous sights." ”

Catherine reached out and took Vivien in her arms, and disappeared into the dark streets with passion and indulgence.

The very center of the Dark Alley is the former headquarters of the Shadow Hand of the Thieves Guild, and it is the most stable and well-preserved area of the entire Dark Alley District, but it is not inhabited by many people, or rather, there is often no one here. It's not that the aftermath of the Hand of Shadows keeps people from entering, but because it is a gathering place for thieves and assassins, and countless traps and traps have been laid by countless generations in the past hundred years, and anyone who wants to operate here must be prepared to die at any time. No one wants to die needlessly, not even the numb walking corpses in the Dark Alley area, so people instinctively avoid this area, even after two hundred years.

"A small part of the traps here have been destroyed. Once in the area, the pace of indulgence and enthusiasm began to slow down, and the two men no longer stuck hand in hand, but searched separately for the dense traps: "But even after two hundred years, most of the traps are still valid." Two hundred years ago, people were very funny, they kept setting traps around them, adding traps to them, and as a result, they had to be very careful when they entered and exited, because no one knew if the traps they had laid a few days ago had been modified by other thieves. There have been tragedies of stupid people dying in their own traps, and it has been circulating in the guild for hundreds of years. ”

"Remember what you said in the Institute of the Weeping Cave, Vivien. Catherine followed closely in the footsteps of indulgence, not daring to make a mistake, but teased Vivien: "At that time, you said that no one would be idle to set so many dangerous traps for his own home, unless he wanted to commit suicide." ”

"I was wrong. Vivien rubbed her forehead and groaned, "At that time, I was still young, and I didn't know that the world was so big, and any magical person could appear. ”

"Be careful, you need to jump over here. At the door of a room, Indulgence stopped, pointed to the door and said, "Do you see the room opposite, just jump over, the first body is there, and that is the scene of the crime." ”

Catherine looked down at the distance of nearly three meters, and the corners of her mouth twitched and said, "When they came out and went in two hundred years ago, did they all use jumping?"

"Who knows. Indulgence shrugged irresponsibly and replied, "Maybe there were a bunch of rabbits living here at that time." (To be continued.) )

PS: Thank you for the support of a monthly pass after the hard work, thank you