Rebirth

Let the cultures of two continents mingle through patterns. Before leaving Great Zimbabwe, Mbali gave Muhammad a soapstone fragment engraved with the "Bird Pattern" and the trajectories of the "Rock-Firm Fist," with miniature carvings of the Angkor Lotus Pattern inlaid along its edges. "This is our Shona people's most precious 'Dual-Civilization Token.' One side holds our roots, the other your affection. Whenever you see it in the future, you'll know that different civilizations can be bound as tightly together as these patterns." Late that autumn, Muhammad returned to Hangzhou with the soapstone fragment, offline cards from the "Stone Sculpture Audio Guide" mini app, and the members of the Pioneer Team. They gently placed the fragment beside the "Silk Road Heritage Stele" in front of Chen Jialuo's grave, lining it up with the Angkor sandstone fragment, the Maya jade pendant, and the Ancient Greek silver medallion, like a string of "Civilization Prayer Beads" spanning five continents. Di Yun, Granny Hua, and Wan Yunxi gathered nearby, their eyes filled with gratification as they watched a replay of the "Africa-Asia Pattern Dialogue Festival" on the "Global Pattern Digital Platform," watching Karen lead young people from the tribe in drawing the "Bird Pattern Spiral Fist" in the sand. "Senior Lin, Senior Chen," Muhammad said softly, "from Angkor's sandstone to Zimbabwe's soapstone, from Eastern martial arts to African totems, what we pass down has never been isolated cultural symbols, but the 'protection' and 'connection' shared by human civilizations. Now, through these young people's hands, those ideals are taking root and growing in more lands." The autumn breeze from West Lake brushed over the soapstone fragment, carrying the scent of the African grasslands. In the distance, Leifeng Pagoda stood in the dusk like a silent witness, watching the footsteps of the "Young Heritage Vanguard Team" reach ever farther-next, they might go to Florence, Italy, to bring Renaissance mural patterns together with the martial arts of "A Deadly Secret"; or they might visit the Inca ruins in the Americas, letting terrace patterns strike new sparks with the Maya Calendar Pattern. But wherever they went, the moral principles of "A Deadly Secret" and the warmth of patterns from around the world would, like Great Zimbabwe's Bird Pattern, carry their ancestors' wisdom and the young people's passion, continuing to write new chapters in an unceasing dialogue through the long river of human civilization. A new chapter of A Deadly Secret: the rebirth of Florence's mural patterns. As the winter snow melted, a new "mission" was added to the "Young Heritage Vanguard Team's" luggage-a researcher at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, sent an invitation, hoping they could find "contemporary ways to bring to life" the Renaissance mural patterns held in the gallery's collection. These patterns, painted on canvas and church walls, included wave patterns symbolizing the ocean in "The Birth of Venus," grape patterns with underlying religious meanings in "The Last Supper," and geometric patterns blending science and art in Leonardo da Vinci's manuscripts. Yet their age and the knowledge required to interpret them made it difficult for them to resonate with young viewers. Muhammad brought Soka, Karen, Nikos, and the other young people across the outlying ranges of the Alps, finally reaching the city filled with red-brick domes. Standing in an exhibition hall of the Uffizi Gallery, the researcher Laura pointed to an unfinished mural by Botticelli and said, "Look at the 'Olive Branch Pattern' along the edge of this mural. It represents Florence's civic emblem, while also holding the Renaissance ideals of 'peace and wisdom.' But children today mostly focus only on the people in the paintings. Very few notice what these patterns mean." Rubbing the soapstone Bird Pattern fragment Karen carried, Karen suddenly recalled the experience of bringing stone sculptures to life with the "Rock-Firm Fist" at Great Zimbabwe: