The Grammatical Investigator in Conan

"Here is..."

"Kunyang..."

Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi murmured, and they couldn't help but be shocked by the underground scene in front of them.

This is a bizarre world, with countless spikes hanging upside down in the sky, like stalactite pillars in a cave, but more than a hundred times larger.

What illuminates all of this is the light blue arc-like brilliance floating in the air, as gorgeous as the aurora, but strangely flickering.

Under such a glorious sky, searchlights seemed of little use.

At the foot of the mountain where the two of them were, there was a plain shrouded in light blue clouds.

Qin Zhibo looked at this scene and vaguely remembered the "Xin's Tombs" in the dreamland he had visited before. There were many similarities between here and there.

For example, the "sky" never changes between day and night, but the tombs of Xin are green and Kunyang is light blue.

…

Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi were not in a hurry to go down, but first waited on the hillside to observe the situation here.

Due to the shroud of light blue clouds, the telescope cannot see what is in the clouds, and can only see what is on the nearby plains.

Soon, Qin Zhibo found a group of livestock wandering in the dark fields of the plain.

These four-legged animals looked neither horses nor bison, but evil monsters with ugly flat faces on their heads.

On the backs of the furs of these animals, you can see some saddles with bronze craftsmanship, as if they are some kind of riding tools.

However, Qin Zhibo has not found the owner who is guarding them within the scope of his vision. It seems that they are free to graze.

Qin Zhibo checked the electronic map of the navigator again, but unfortunately, this place was regarded as a whole by the electronic map and was collectively called "Satuo".

Except for the uncertainty in the light blue clouds, most of the other places on the plain are deserted plains.

Qin Zhibo took out the real fragment of Paneste again, but the fragment did not show any reaction and was still the same as on the ground.

"It seems we can only move forward..."

While Qin Zhibo was observing, Koizumi Hongzi also took out the crystal ball and performed a divination.

Crystal Ball, who always knows everything, now plays the game of silence is golden, and Koizumi Hongzi refuses to answer no matter how much she asks.

"Hey! Tell us how to go next?"

The crystal ball was silent.

"If you don't say anything, I will smash you!"

Koizumi Anko raised the crystal ball high, as if she was going to smash it to the ground. Then the crystal ball quickly spoke in a high-pitched voice to save its life.

"Lord Anko! Please wait a moment!"

"It's not that I didn't tell you, it's that I really don't know... Do you think, how many magicians have been to that place since ancient times? I haven't made the crystal ball of the great magician Ibon, how can I know? How to get to Enkai?”

"But I can feel that there is a very powerful force hidden under the ground in this place. It is so powerful that it is unimaginable and terrifying~~"

"If you insist on going down, please put me where others can pick me up, thank you."

Crystal Ball's last words about calling him a "traitor" made Koizumi Hongzi so angry that she raised her hand to throw him to the ground.

But Koizumi Anko then thought about it and put the crystal ball back into the package with a smile.

The crystal ball screamed quickly, and the light blue light group ran wildly in the crystal ball wall.

"Lord Hongzi, let me out! I don't want to die together!"

"Woooooooo..."

The sound of the crystal ball disappeared into the backpack, as if the mouth was forcibly covered.

Koizumi Anko patted the dust on her palms and said without any care: "Forget it, this guy is unreliable, we have to find our own way."

Qin Zhibo nodded, he had known this result for a long time.

If the crystal ball was so useful, there would have been more than one great magician, Ebon, in history.

…

The two came down from the dark gray basalt hillside without vegetation and stood on the endless plain.

The vast plain is mostly fertile black soil mixed with gravel. There is nothing distinguishable on the land, except for the clouds and mist that glow blue and change shape from time to time.

In order to restore their strength and reduce their weight, Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi first ate some of the food they brought, such as compressed biscuits, chocolate, raisins, etc.

After eating, he hid a day's worth of supplies under the steep hillside and piled a small eye-catching pile of rocks to mark the location of the supplies.

After finishing the repairs, the two of them walked towards the place with the densest clouds and fog, because according to Qin Zhibo's observation, there must be something hidden there.

These clouds are like those created by the Allies' crack generator in Red Alert 2. They are always in a condensed state, probably to hide something important.

Perhaps it is the entrance to the legendary Enkai Abyss.

…

Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi walked on the deserted plain for three hours, and the time came to more than 6 o'clock.

Although it was dusk outside, there was no sign of darkness here, and the blue sky above was still bright.

But fortunately, the two of them had already reached the location where Qin Zhibo saw a group of livestock on the hillside. This location was not far from the area with the highest concentration of clouds and fog.

By this time, the livestock had disappeared, leaving only some weird footprints.

These huge and weird footprints don't look like hooves, hands, or feet. Strictly speaking, they don't look like claws.

Looking carefully, although this soil is very fertile black land, there is no vegetation growing there.

In other words, those four-legged livestock were not grazing just now, but probably some kind of hunting, hunting some invisible small animals on the plains.

They may be carnivores.

This made Qin Zhibo feel a little vigilant, and he must be careful about their existence next.

Continuing to move forward, Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi found some more incredible traces.

This is a wide road that extends straight towards the hillside entering Kunyang, and the other end of the road extends into dense clouds and mist.

Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi looked at each other, and they felt more and more that there was something strange here.

First of all, the saddles on the animals indicate that they have owners.

The second is this ancient road that has been artificially smoothed, which is also something that only advanced civilizations can do.

There are various signs that there are really "people" in this underground world.

At this time, Koizumi Hongzi found a shiny object half-rolled into the soil on the road.

"what is that?"

Qin Zhibo heard the sound and walked over, dug it out with a machete, and found that it was a metal coin similar to a badge.

It was cast from an unknown metal with a darker color and a luster between gold and copper. Both sides of the metal coin were engraved with horrifyingly complex patterns.

There is a bloated octopus head, a fat toad body, a giant snake head spitting out snakes...

The image on the metal coin reminded Qin Zhibo of Ben Niu's mention that his father had an amulet, and the pattern on it might be like this.

Qin Zhibo felt that it was not such a coincidence that he happened to pick up the amulet belonging to Ben Niu's father.

So it is more likely that this "talisman" itself is mass-produced.

Combined with the possibility that there is an advanced civilization here, perhaps the functional essence of this "talisman" is "currency".

Generally, when a country mints currency, it will choose an image that is of great significance to the country to be engraved on the currency, such as the famous British Queen's Penny.

But this place has these evil images engraved on coins with extremely high craftsmanship.

Choosing a brainwashing-like worship method shows the madness of this place.

…

Walking along the road into the clouds and mist, the world composed of desolation and silence finally ushered in some changes.

There were some trees, shrubs, and a small river surrounded by rocks.

Across the river in front of you, the avenue is connected to a basalt stone bridge over the river. Behind the stone bridge, you can vaguely see the shadow of a town in the clouds.

Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi glanced at each other. Neither of them spoke, but they both saw the answer in each other's eyes.

Pass!

After walking across the stone bridge, the town became more clearly visible in the clouds and mist.

Standing among the sparse vegetation by the river, the two of them carefully observed the town.

This place is not as lively and warm as Usa. Everything in front of you is filled with lifelessness and a weird sense of terror.

There are many ancient and dark stone buildings scattered in the town. No living creatures can be seen moving in the streets of light fog, until the checkerboard roads extend to more distant and invisible places.

Is this a dead city?

Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi are not sure, but they cannot rule out this possibility.

Because Running Bull said that the last time anyone saw an Indian ghost was decades ago.

If those so-called "Indian ghosts" are the underground civilization of Kunyang, they may have become extinct or have migrated to other places.

But if this is the case, how can we explain those saddled monsters on the plains.

Why should they abide by the rules of the herd if their owners have been gone for decades?

Where are they now?

All kinds of doubts lingered in Qin Zhibo's heart, making him dare not venture into this weird town to explore.

In addition, it is getting late outside now. Although there is no distinction between day and night here, the human body has its limits.

It’s time to find a place to rest…

The two of them walked along the river, trying to find a hidden place where they could not only ensure their own safety, but also observe the situation in the town.

As he walked, Qin Zhibo found that he had unknowingly walked out of the town.

Observing the plain here, you will find that this plain is not endless, but is blocked by clouds and fog, making it look unfathomable.

In fact, about the same distance in the other direction from the town, there are also towering mountains.

There is a dark crack between the mountains over there, like a pass leading to other dark spaces.

In the sky, several flying white birds flew past in the never-ending blue day, making Qin Zhibo even more certain that the biodiversity here is enough to accommodate the survival of a certain advanced civilization.

Continuing to walk forward, passing by a bush and thorn bushes that squirmed from time to time, the two saw a crumbling ancient building.

This ancient building is also made of stone, has no windows, and has only an indescribable door.

On the stone surface of the building, there are a large number of bas-reliefs carved on it, and the carvings are of many different scenes and creatures, such as the sea that should not be here.

These bas-reliefs seemed to be telling an ancient story to the people who came here, and Qin Zhibo happened to understand some of them.

That sea was their origin.

They came to this world with the octopus-headed gods, and have been living on the earth since the "Age of Stars", and even established a powerful civilization.

Later, the ancient continent of the primitive earth sank, so they no longer believed in the outside world and began to migrate to live underground.

This city full of deathly silence is their refuge.

In addition to introducing their origins, the reliefs also include some processes of civilization evolution, such as currency casting.

They used an extremely rare synthetic metal for coinage.

This metal also followed the octopus-headed god and the stars to the earth from outer space. The fish-men clan once used these metals to build statues of the octopus-headed god as a way to express their worship.

This special metal would produce magnetism for similar substances, causing unnecessary trouble, so their currency contained only a small amount of the metal.

While Qin Zhibo was concentrating on observing the bas-reliefs on the wall and piecing together ancient stories in his mind, Koizumi Hongzi tugged on his sleeve beside him.

"look……"

Koizumi Hongzi's voice was low and she motioned Qin Zhibo to look to the side.

Qin Zhibo followed them and discovered that those strange livestock seen on the plains had appeared in the bushes ten meters away from unknown time.

They stared at Qin Zhibo and Qin Zhibo with their ugly facial features as flat as a millstone.

This made Qin Zhibo's heart tighten. His body was stiff and he did not dare to move, but his hands had quietly touched the machete on the side of his thigh and the Colt Python revolver on his waist.

Koizumi Hongzi's fingertips also ignited a flame, ready for battle at any time.

The two sides' eyes met, and time seemed to freeze at this moment.

But ten seconds later, these animals turned their heads, turned their bodies as strong as cattle to the other side, and left quietly.

Qin Zhibo's eyes narrowed slightly, wondering in his mind whether he had mistakenly blamed them. They were indeed herbivores.

But no matter what, although this animal looks extremely ugly, it does not pose a threat to itself.

Qin Zhibo thought so now, but soon he didn't think so...

…

After the livestock left, Qin Zhibo and Koizumi Hongzi walked in through the open door.

There are no windows inside and it is very dark. You have to turn on the searchlight to see clearly.

Under the illumination of modern light sources, everything inside is clearly visible.

This place does not look like an ordinary residential building, but a temple similar to a ritual.

There are numerous water basins and fire basins of different shapes placed in the building, as well as the mysterious altar that is sunken downwards in the middle.

However, these utensils are now covered with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs, indicating that this place has been abandoned for a long time, older than the guest rooms in the "Indian House".

Qin Zhibo took a rough scan and came to a conclusion.

"This is very suitable as a shelter. Let's stay here tonight..."

As soon as he finished speaking, before Koizumi Hongzi could reply, there was a lot of noise outside the temple.