"It seems that what Taoist Wang said is right. There is indeed an underground palace under this temple of prayer."
Without further delay, everyone walked into the underground stairs under the leadership of Yue Guanchao. As they walked, they could clearly see the blood dripping on the ground with the help of flashlights, extending towards the stairs into the darkness. It can be guessed that whether it was Gunizi or Stan. Hein must have walked into the underground palace.
After walking for about ten minutes, they had reached the bottom of the stairs, and the porch began to appear in front of everyone!
The position they were standing at was at the end of the porch. Looking back, they could see the stairs extending upwards, and looking forward, they could see the corridor extending forward. Most of these colorful arched corridors were embedded in the earth and stone tunnels, making use of both The arches and beams support the tunnel and add a touch of majesty and mystery to the tunnel.
Upon closer inspection, the tunnel is about two meters wide and four meters high. With the decorative beams included, the height is only enough for people to pass through, leaving no extra space.
Yue Guanchao looked at the ground and saw that the blood stains extended all the way in. Since Stein Hein and the others had already walked through this place, it was estimated that there were no hidden weapons or mechanisms, so he simply continued walking forward.
As they walked, their perception became more and more strange. The width of the tunnel was obviously increasing. In the past, they could only walk down two people side by side. After walking for a few minutes, they could already walk down four people side by side.
Realizing this, they completely lit up the flashlights and kerosene lamps in their hands, and then they could see clearly the structure of the tunnels. These tunnels were like trapezoids lying down, with the entrance being the narrowest place. , the further you go, the wider it becomes.
When you reach the end, you have arrived at the entrance of the underground palace. Under the light of a flashlight, you can already see the words "Pray for the God of God's Underground Palace" hanging on the top of the grotto.
Walking into it, the area of the underground palace is slightly smaller than that of the Temple of Prayer. Stone pillars as thick as water tanks are arranged throughout the space, dividing the space into a "dish"-shaped structure.
Under this underground palace structure, there is a huge copper bell placed in the central hall. This copper bell is shaped like a morning glory, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. The huge size is like a certain house or a single truck, suspended two meters in the air, appearing in The position above everyone's heads.
If you stand a little further away, you can still see a dark iron frame on the top of the bronze bell, which is directly connected to the top of the bronze bell. The hollow iron tower continues to extend upwards, and eventually turns into a light spot. Turn on your flashlight and shine it on the top of the bronze bell. , it can be seen that the iron frame is directly fixed on the wall, and only in this way can it fully withstand the force of the bronze bell.
Looking around, you can see the square outer frame beams outside the bronze bell. Black iron is the main frame and wood is the beam frame, which directly supports the bronze bell firmly. There are also four wrist-thick iron chains. Loosely connect the four sides of the bronze bell to hold it in place so that it does not shake too violently.
Song Siyuan walked under the bronze bell. This structure was the same as the niches in the ancient city they had seen. If the bell was to be sounded, it would probably be through this position, so that the sound of the bell would be completely transmitted through the tower.
She suddenly realized: "According to the abandoned pagodas we inspected, the structure of the copper bell connected to the iron tower is of the same type as the Tubo pagoda. If it is necessary to chant sutras and transmit sounds, then this place will come in handy."
After that, everyone continued to walk into the underground palace. Along the middle hall, there were many scripture shelves placed, forming a circle and hugging the bronze bells.
Apart from the circular bookshelf, there are only the remaining murals in the left and right halls, which are blurred in the flickering candlelight and cannot be seen clearly.
"It seems like everything on these bookshelves is gone."
Keli was close to the bookshelf. Over the past thousand years, a lot of dust had accumulated here. Even if you looked at it with your eyes, let alone touching it with your hands, you could see a dusty layer of dust on the bookshelf.
Among these bookshelves, there are many dust-free spaces, which means that there are things placed in these spaces. After they were taken away, the space under the things was vacated, which was particularly conspicuous among the dust.
After Song Siyuan walked over, she carefully observed the bookshelves. Everything was gone. Judging from the remaining traces, they were some picture scrolls, books, cultural relics, bottles and jars. She thought for a moment and guessed: "The traces just now have proved that Uncle Gunizi Both I and Stein Hein have been to these underground palaces. It is estimated that the things on these bookshelves were stolen by Stein Hein and became the numerous historical research materials of the Western Regions that Stein Hein took away."
Speaking of this, she paused and her tone became serious: "Steinhein's inspection report also mentioned that they found many manuscripts, picture scrolls, tablets, clay pots, tiles, etc. in the abandoned ancient city. , I think it was probably found from this underground palace of the Temple of Prayer.”
"Come here quickly, there is a body here."
This sentence shocked Keli slightly, and he walked around the bookshelves to the side hall.
Yue Erpao and Xu Xiake were already in the side hall. When they passed by, the first person in the crowd saw the body leaning against the corner. The closer they got, the more they could see the ground being dragged into lines. The blood stains, like the movement path of the corpse, led everyone to the corner of the side hall.
Turn on the flashlight and observe carefully.
The corpse was wearing a cotton and linen sweatshirt, a single jacket, and a cloak-like cape. The lower body was wearing black bloomers, and leggings and leather boots. In addition to the leather whip hanging around the waist, there were also gourds for drinking water, bows and arrows, There was a dagger scabbard, a quiver, and a black cloth wrapped around his hand.
The air here is dry and has breathable holes. The corpse has completely dried up and turned into a mummy. Even if it has completely shrunk, you can still see the general appearance of the facial features. The skin is like an old man who has aged for decades, with wrinkles and looseness, solidified by time. On the skeleton, there is a mottled black corpse color.
If we look at the details of the corpse's body, we can clearly see that the corpse's legs and heart were hit by gunshots, and round holes with blood stains appeared. Think about it as they walked along the blood stains and turned the corner. What happened before the death of this corpse? Everything becomes clear!
It is estimated that they were fighting in the temple and accidentally discovered a secret passage here. Guniz was chased by Steinhein and entered the underground palace to take refuge here.
After they entered the underground palace, they must have discovered that there was not only an underground palace, but also a cave for storing classics and documents. Steinhein originally wanted to steal classics and antiques. In order to seize these classics and antiques, Steinhein was one step ahead and went to the ancient times. Nizi was shot in the leg.
Gunizi was in severe pain and had to drag his legs and feet to the side hall. Because the wounds on his legs and feet were too low, the blood spurted out and dragged to the ground along his walking route, forming the arc of blood marks they saw. .
Finally, Gunizi came to the corner and was shot in the center by Steinhein's men, killing him with one shot, leaving two wounds on his heart and calf.
Judging from this attire, it looked very similar to Keli's. Considering the three-edged dagger held in the corpse's hand, we were even more certain who it was. Everyone turned back to look at Keli.
Until now, Keli has not classified Gunizi's disappearance as death. This is just to give himself a thought. At this moment, Gunizi's bones appear here, and all the thoughts and hints he made before , all collapsed completely at this moment.
Then, he slowly walked to the corpse and picked up the necklace made of silver coins from the corpse. The corners of his eyes were slightly red, but he had to be strong-willed and refused to shed tears. Everyone could only look at the corners of his mouth that kept trembling. See how sad he is.
"Keli..."
Yue Guanchao still wanted to comfort him, but Keli quickly stopped him: "I already knew the ending, but I never wanted to believe that my father is gone. I can accept the reality, so you don't have to rush to comfort me."
After that, he deliberately frowned, suppressed his jealousy, carefully groped for the clothes on the body, and took out a book made of birch bark from the collar of the clothes.
This booklet fits the palm of your hand. It is cut into regular squares, with fine round holes punched on both sides and tied with cowhide hemp rope to form a booklet that is folded front and back. All stacked up half an inch high, it looks like a jewelry box. Open it. The booklet is full of densely packed text, and the shape is completely different from Chinese characters.
"Keli, do you recognize these words?"
Everyone gathered around, and Song Siyuan became curious about Gunizi's brochure.
After opening it, Keli carefully observed the twists and turns of the characters and shook his head at them: "I don't know. I only studied Uyghur and Chinese with my father. I have never seen this kind of characters at all. But one thing is certain, these characters are indeed It’s my father’s handwriting, I can confirm that it was written by him.”
He paused and continued: "This kind of book is usually used to record things, such as the hunting location, the number of prey, the selling price, or to record some unusual places that you have traveled to, or to record what you have heard. Some of the legends and experiences I received can be regarded as a collection of miscellaneous notes."
"However, my father used to memorize things in Chinese, or else in Uyghur. I have never seen this kind of writing. It looks very similar to Uyghur, but it is completely impossible to spell. I don't know what language it is. , he didn’t teach us anything anyway.”
Song Siyuan thought about his words carefully, and her eyes lit up: "If it is different from the norm, it either means that the words he wrote are very important and the details need to be covered up, or it means that he is deliberately reminding us so that people who find this booklet will understand. This booklet is very important.”
"I think it's better to take Uncle Gunizi and the book back first."
After that, Keli pulled Gunizi's body out of the corner and prepared to wrap it in a bag. After the body came out of the corner, there was obviously a bloody fingerprint on the back of the body where it rested.
Song Siyuan glanced at the height of the bloody handprints. According to the dead state of the body, it was impossible for the handprints to be printed after death. At the same time, the blood stains and bullet holes on the wall were mostly in irregular shapes. This completely The blood stains were from bloody handprints, mostly to emphasize something.
Thinking of this, she began to get closer to the murals and observed the details of the murals in the side hall. When she got a better idea, her eyes suddenly lit up: "Here, it seems to record the history of Queen Shanshan's construction of the Shanshan King's City. Could it be that this bloody handprint is To emphasize that point?”
