Tears

"This was perfectly normal. Higurashi Shrine had always been just a small shrine, especially after Mr. Higurashi died in a car accident over a decade ago. Most of the shrine's business had shut down.

Those of us old residents only came by occasionally to draw fortunes or something."

Yin Kong finally understood. Japan had always been lax in its management of religion, and folk beliefs like this were everywhere in Tokyo.

He had only just arrived, so there was no way he could have found them all within two or three months.

"Manager Inoue, can I come along?"

"Of course."

Manager Inoue naturally had no reason to refuse.

After all, Yin Kong had just helped him catch Takashi Matsubara. Although there was no way the cat could come back to life, catching the culprit had made up for most of the loss.

Led by Mr. Inoue, the three of them soon arrived at Higurashi Shrine with the cold [Sapphire].

Before even entering the shrine, Yin Kong spotted the Sacred Tree said to have gained sentience from afar.

"As expected, it's that one."

Though its size was somewhat different, he recognized it at a glance. It was the sacred tree that had burned itself alongside [Yatagarasu] to fight the giant hand from the Abyss.

What surprised Yin Kong, however, was that the shrine enshrining the Sacred Tree was not particularly peaceful these days either.

Higurashi Kagome, the Higurashi family's only daughter, had been missing for nearly a day.

According to Higurashi Souta, Higurashi Kagome's younger brother, his sister had been taken away by a monster that suddenly emerged from the well.

"Taken away by a monster?"

Yukino Yukinoshita, who had been somewhat worried, could not help wearing an odd expression upon hearing that answer.

The other members of the Higurashi family also seemed reluctant to believe such a strange explanation.

After all, Higurashi Souta was only nine years old and had just entered the third grade of elementary school, yet he was saying something so absurd.

But aside from that, they had no other clues at all.

"Mr. Yin Kong, you're a detective?! That's wonderful! Can you help us find Kagome?"

After learning why the three had come, especially Yin Kong's identity, Higurashi Kagome's grandfather immediately seemed to have found a lifeline. He desperately grabbed Yin Kong's hand and pleaded.

"Of course. Please calm down first. May I ask Souta a few questions?" Yin Kong reassured the old man, whose hair and beard were already gray, before looking at the nervous Higurashi Souta. "Souta, do you remember exactly when the monster took your sister?"

Higurashi Souta froze for a moment, then answered.

"Yesterday at dusk, around seven o'clock."

Yin Kong nodded slightly. That was roughly when [Yatagarasu] had been seized by the giant hand from the Abyss and burned itself alongside the Sacred Tree.

Could it be that the shrine had originally been suppressing some powerful demon, and it had taken Higurashi Kagome away while the Sacred Tree was fighting the Abyss?

Noticing Yin Kong's thoughtful expression, Yukino Yukinoshita could not help asking.

"Mr. Yin Kong, was there something special about seven o'clock last night?"

It had been far too special.

First, Emperor Gin had shattered Kudo Shinichi's dream of becoming a detective with a single blow. Then came the Abyss invasion, throwing the entire world's temporal order into chaos.

Compared to that, the disappearance of a mere middle school girl hardly seemed worth mentioning.

Naturally, he could not tell her the truth, so he casually said.

"Look, isn't there a saying about the Hour of the Demon here? I think it's perfectly reasonable that his sister encountered a monster at that time."

Yukino Yukinoshita: ...

With her intelligence, how could she fail to see that Yin Kong was just brushing her off?

But since he did not want to say anything, continuing to press him would obviously get her nowhere.

Higurashi Souta, however, said excitedly.

"Detective Brother, you believe me?"

His sister's sudden disappearance, along with the doubts of his grandfather and mother, had made him feel terribly wronged.

After all, there was still a huge blue exclamation mark hovering over his head.

Yin Kong smiled and rubbed the boy's head before asking.

"Can you take me to see that well? Also, do you remember what the monster that took your sister looked like?"

Higurashi Souta hurriedly said.

"That monster... It was too dark, so I couldn't see it clearly. I only remember that it had very long hair and lots of white hands. It was really scary..."

Yin Kong asked curiously.

"Lots of white hands? Were they human hands, or claws like an animal's?"

Higurashi Souta thought back for a moment and immediately replied.

"They were just like human hands."

"What color was its hair?"

Yukino Yukinoshita followed behind the two with the Higurashi family, listening to Yin Kong's questions and Souta's answers. Her expression gradually became strange as well.

Because she had realized that there was nothing wrong with Higurashi Souta's answers.

Logically speaking, if it had merely been a lie made up on the spot, Yin Kong's questioning should have easily exposed flaws or even contradictions.

Yet Higurashi Souta not only answered quickly, but she could not find many flaws in his story either.

Could a child under ten really possess such convincing acting skills?

But could monsters truly exist in this world?

The girl shook her head, deciding that she must have been overthinking things.

"Is this the place?"

Following the quest prompt, Yin Kong opened the door to Higurashi Shrine's storage room. Sure enough, he saw a point of light floating above the ancient well, telling him to investigate it.

"There's nothing here?"

Yin Kong noticed traces of violent damage on the well cover that had originally sealed the ancient well.

Yet the inside of the well was quite clean. Aside from some moss and other vegetation, there was nothing else, and there seemed to be nothing special about it at all.

Higurashi Souta hurriedly said.

"My sister really did disappear in the well! You have to believe me!"

"Don't worry. I believe you."

While reassuring Higurashi Souta, Yin Kong opened the system interface.

Just now, he had heard a system notification that sounded very much like a dungeon had been unlocked.

Could this ancient well be another dungeon for artifacts or materials?

However, after opening the system interface, Yin Kong quickly saw a circular gate filled with blue-black light, marked with four extremely familiar words—

[Spiral Abyss].

Excuse me, I'll be leaving now!

Yin Kong sucked in a sharp breath and instantly shut the Spiral Abyss gate again.

Tears

[Spiral Abyss], or [Abyss] as players often called it, was one of the highest challenges in Genshin Impact.

Although there were even more difficult new challenges beyond it, such as Local Legends and the Perilous Abyss Challenge, generally speaking, being able to clear the Abyss with full stars meant that a player's two teams had essentially reached the endgame in terms of investment.

Yin Kong only needed one glance at the monsters' levels on the first floor to know that he did not need to consider it for now.

After all, even counting Yin Kong himself, he had only just managed to assemble a team of four.

And aside from Zhongli, who was level twenty, the resources he currently had were only enough to raise Kuki Shinobu and Fischl to level ten.

As for talents and artifacts, they were even more embarrassing to look at.

Most importantly, Zhongli had already tried it. Inside dungeons, he could not convert Mora into divine power.

[Clear Floor 12 of the Abyss, or wait until two days later].

Was this Higurashi Kagome some legendary Goddess Athena, requiring him to clear all twelve floors of the Abyss before he could bring her back?

Sure enough, no one knew what kind of demons and monsters might appear in a World Quest.

Fortunately, judging from the quest prompt, there seemed to be a turning point in two days?

"Mr. Yin Kong, did you find any clues?"

Higurashi Kagome's grandfather and mother both looked at Yin Kong anxiously, because he was their only hope now.

"Do you have a flashlight?"

To everyone's astonishment, Yin Kong lightly leaped into the well and stopped halfway down.

"Look here."

Only after his reminder did everyone notice a small scrap of cloth where the flashlight beam shone.

Because the ancient well was so deep and dark inside, they had failed to notice it before.

"This color... Is this Kagome's school uniform?"

Kagome's grandfather was both shocked and delighted.

Until last night, the ancient well at the shrine had been sealed with talismans.

Then the existence of this scrap of cloth was at least enough to prove that Higurashi Kagome had indeed fallen into the well sometime after last night.

Yin Kong took photos of it, then carefully searched the bottom of the well for a while before climbing back up.

"What incredible eyesight, what absurd physical ability. Is this the caliber of a professional detective?"

Seeing this, Yukino Yukinoshita felt a measure of admiration rise within her.

If it had been her, even with professional equipment, climbing out from the bottom of the well would have taken considerable effort.

And his ability to spot evidence at a glance was truly ridiculous.

"Mr. Yin Kong, did you find anything else?"

Kagome's family immediately gathered around him. Yin Kong's performance had clearly given them considerable confidence, and they naturally hoped he had found more clues.

But Yin Kong was destined to disappoint them.

He neither possessed the force needed to clear the twelve zodiac houses nor had any way to fast-forward two days, so he could only shake his head.

"Unfortunately, there is neither a secret room at the bottom of the well nor any additional traces. Miss Kagome seems to have vanished into thin air. It's very strange..."

Could it really have been a monster?

Everyone exchanged looks.

From the time the siblings had run to the storage room last night to when Higurashi Souta had run back in a panic to ask them for help, no more than five minutes could have passed.

If Higurashi Kagome had truly fallen into the ancient well, then in such a short time, she likely could not even have climbed back out, much less vanished outright.

Unless some supernatural force had truly intervened.

Yin Kong "pondered" for a moment before speaking again.

"Mm, another member of our Cunning Rabbit House is a professional folklorist. If it were him, he might be able to spot something. But he's currently abroad and won't be back for two days."

Kagome's family naturally found that timeline difficult to accept.

"Can't it be any sooner?"

Forget the possibility that Higurashi Kagome had been taken by a monster. Even if it had merely been an ordinary criminal, after that much time, whatever was going to happen would already have happened.

Yin Kong shook his head.

"Sorry, this is already the fastest possible. But before then, you can keep searching nearby and asking around. Perhaps you'll find new clues."

Everyone naturally looked disappointed.

How could they not have tried those things already? But they had obviously found nothing.