Thanks to the discovery of the Gray Brain Virus, effective drugs to inhibit the virus were also invented, and Elder Xia's brain disease is gradually improving, but the shadow in his dreams is still there. In order not to harm Xia Wenyuan's original consciousness, Qingmu and Crow were unable to truly kill the shadow.
This time, Qingmu brought along the orange cat, Hanran.
He remembered that the Parasitic Consciousness had once invaded Yao Jingjing's mother's brain, but when Ruxue, the white cat who guarded Mama Yao, appeared, the Parasitic Consciousness disappeared. Mama Yao did not know the truth of the matter and could not say whether the Parasitic Consciousness gave up the invasion because it discovered Ruxue's existence, or whether something else happened.
Although Hanran listens to Qingmu and Crow now, her consciousness— Ruxue— does not remember what happened in Mama Yao's brain. Because the consciousness itself has no memory, she cannot explain what exactly happened back then.
So this time, Qingmu brought Ruxue, who is now Hanran, along. He wanted to try and see what would happen if he brought Ruxue into Xia Wenyuan's dream and let her face the invading shadow.
If Ruxue can truly eliminate the parasitic consciousness without damaging the original consciousness, then on the one hand, she can completely save Elder Xia, and on the other hand, she might also discover some weaknesses of the Parasitic Consciousness.
Xia Wenyuan was delighted to see Qingmu. Everyone in the Xia Family knew that Qingmu had saved the old man, so they respected and admired him. Each time he visited, he received even greater hospitality than the last.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Qingmu inquired about the past of Mulberry Camp and the China family.
" Mulberry Camp and the Hua Family... that's quite a long history!" Xia Wenyuan squinted, trying hard to recall the past. "I was born in 1932 during the First Battle of Songhu, and the fire in Mulberry Camp happened in 1937 during the Second Battle of Songhu. I was only eight years old then. I've lived a long life, and I can't remember many things from my childhood, but the fire at the Hua Family in Mulberry Camp is still vivid in my memory."
"Back then, the Hua Family was undoubtedly one of the wealthiest families in Wuzhong. As for our Xia Family, we were far inferior to them. The rumors that the Xia Family of South Town was on par with the Hua Family of Mulberry Camp only existed in the 1980s and 90s. It was only after I gained some fame in the business world that some busybodies dug into the background of my family for three generations and claimed that we were a very wealthy family on par with the Hua Family."
Xia Wenyuan chuckled, "My father was also in the silk business and had some wealth, but compared to the Hua Family, it was nothing. However, my father was radical in his thinking back then, donating money and supplies to resist foreign aggression on several occasions, and personally escorting supplies to the front lines to comfort the soldiers, so he did have some reputation. Later, my father mentioned to me many times that the old man of the Hua Family was the true pillar of the nation, and what he did was far beyond what my father could achieve. It's just a pity that a fire destroyed the entire family, leaving nothing behind."
"At that time, the Hua family residence in Mulberry Camp Mulberry Garden. It covered a large area and was one of the famous gardens in Wuzhong, along with Lingering Garden, Garden of Cultivation, Qu Garden. I went there with my father when I was a child, but I was too young to remember it clearly. I only remember that I was naughty and sneaked into the back garden. I met some of the Hua Family's children and we played together until we forgot the time. My father searched for me for a long time."
"Later, a fire broke out in the Mulberry Garden. The fire burned for two days without being extinguished. Even people from our South Town rushed to help put it out, but in the end, they couldn't save it. The scholars of the time were all heartbroken, saying that the oldest garden in Wuzhong was gone forever! Only my father lamented, ' The Mulberry Garden was destroyed, not a single member of the Hua Family survived, and the ancient traditions of the Wuzhong families were lost forever!'"
"I heard that the fire was started by the old master of the Hua Family himself?" Qingmu asked.
Xia Wenyuan and said, "That is indeed the case. At that time, the Battle of Songhu was raging. The Nationalist government had deployed more than 700,000 troops, and the people's enthusiasm for resisting Japan was high. Everyone believed that with China's manpower and resources, there was no reason why it could not be defended. But my father was not optimistic. He said that Songhu was flat and had no natural defenses, so it should not have been the place to start the war. However, given the public opinion at the time, China and Japan could not avoid war. By choosing Songhu, Chiang Kai-shek intended to divert the disaster south to the concessions in order to seek support from Europe and the United States. Defeat was inevitable. If Songhu fell, how could the gateway to the Jiangzuo, the Wuzhong, be defended?"
"My father saw this, so how could the patriarch of the Hua Family not? I heard that he had already given away his vast fortune, either to the government or to schools. Just before that fire, he dismissed his servants and students, so it's highly possible that he started the fire himself. As for the reason behind it, only he himself knows."
Qingmu asked, "Do you know why the Japanese army was looking for that old mulberry tree back then?"
Xia Wenyuan shook his head and said, "When the Japanese army occupied Wuzhong at the end of 1937, they did go to Mulberry Camp, but I don't know if it was to find mulberry trees, as you said. I think they were more likely looking for the Hua Family, because the Japan also went to our South Town and looked for my father. They needed to find someone prominent in Wuzhong to establish a maintenance committee in order to implement their rule."
Qingmu nodded, agreeing with Xia Wenyuan's assessment. However, he didn't believe that Bi Shenghua's story was entirely fabricated. At least, the fact that the old willow tree was transplanted from elsewhere and that it had roots of an old mulberry tree underneath was likely true.
Do you still remember that old mulberry tree?
"Of course I remember!" Xia Wenyuan said. "That tree was planted in the front yard of the Mulberry Garden. Ordinary mulberry trees, even those hundreds or thousands of years old, only have trunks about one circumference thick, requiring at most two people to hug them. But this mulberry tree's trunk required three or four people to hug it. It was over ten zhang tall, with lush branches and leaves that blocked out the sky. Everyone says that the Hua Family's incense has been burning continuously for hundreds of years, all thanks to this Divine Tree. There's also a legend that the mulberries on this tree can cure diseases and prolong life. Every year in June or July when the fruit ripens, the Hua Family would pick the mulberries and distribute them to the children in the village. I went to join in the fun when I was a child and ate a few mulberries myself."
Qingmu then asked, "I heard that after Old Sang was burned to death, all the mulberry trees within a radius of several miles died?"
Xia Wenyuan laughed and said, "That's probably just another rumor. How could the death of one tree mean the death of all the trees in a field? That mulberry field and the mulberry farmers all belonged to the Hua Family. When the Hua Family fell, those mulberry farmers lost their livelihood. It was also a time of war, and mulberry trees couldn't be eaten, so many mulberry farmers cut down their mulberry trees and switched to planting grains. Over time, it became the version you described."
Qingmu suddenly realized that Bi Shenghua had also heard about it from her grandfather, but what her grandfather said might not be true, since the incident happened in her great-grandfather's era. Besides, even if one knows something clearly, one is often willing to believe the supernatural version. From this point of view, Xia Wenyuan's statement is more credible.
"It seems it's not as miraculous as the legends say!" Qingmu sighed.
Xia Wenyuan said, "That's not necessarily true. There's something I saw with my own eyes, and I still remember it. After the Mulberry Garden fire, Mulberry Camp appeared from nowhere in the sky above Crow, circling and cawing mournfully every day. At night, they would roost in that willow tree. Well, as far as I know, that willow tree was moved; it was planted on top of the old mulberry tree. Legend has it that there was a crow's nest in the old mulberry tree, and countless Crow have flown out of that nest over the centuries. I remember when I was little, someone even made up a children's song about it, which circulated among us kids. I can't remember it now, but it went something like this—"
The ground was scorched and parched; the birds in the sky were a dark, dense mass.
A tree that lasts ten thousand years, a crow that lives a thousand years, a mansion that lasts a hundred years.
Water and fire are the most merciless; when descendants return, their home is gone.