Shi Dazhuang borrowed a car from Chen Changshou and took Yu Meiren back to Kuaziba that very night. When they climbed up the hillside behind the mountain, the sky above them was already full of stars.
That was the place where Yu Gang was originally buried. The ashes of Yu Gang wife were moved to the Martyrs' Cemetery, but the grave was still preserved. The people of Kuaziba found some of the things the couple used during their lifetime in their home, buried them in the mound, and erected a monument inscribed with the words "Tomb of Hero Yu Gang and His Wife." The person who erected the monument was "all the ignorant people of Kuaziba."
Now, another tomb has been erected next to that cenotaph, with a stele inscribed "Tomb of Grandpa Enkun ". Old Enkun's black, natural dragon-head ebony cane was not buried with his ashes; it stood upright in the ground in front of the stele, as if it had taken root in the soil.
The two stone tablets gleamed softly under the starlight, like two earth gods dressed in plain white robes, one of whom was leaning on a cane. They would stand here forever, watching over and protecting that small valley in the mountain hollow, generation after generation.
Behind the tombs of Grandpa Enkun and Yu Gang, there is a small mound, slightly raised, without a tombstone. That is Lemao's grave. After Lemao died, Old Enkun hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to bury him behind Yu Gang's grave, saying that there was righteous energy here, so that he could be reborn as an upright and good person in his next life. The villagers wanted to build a stone tablet for Lemao as well, but Old Enkun said that he was not qualified to have a tablet erected, and only deserved to be covered with a little soil.
On the day Lemao was buried, Old Enkun stayed up all night on the mountain. The people in the valley were worried about him and took turns checking on him, only to find him sitting in front of Yu Gang's grave. He pointed to the side and said to them, "After I die, bury me here. Don't put up a tombstone; just stick my cane in the ground."
Following his will, the people of Bashang planted an ebony dragon-head cane on his grave, but still erected a tombstone for him. The ebony cane replaced the evergreen shrub on the grave.
Shi Dazhuang took out the incense, candles, paper money, fruit, wine, and dishes that Yusang's wife had temporarily prepared for him. This time, Yu Meiren didn't cry anymore. She just obediently lit three incense sticks and knelt down to kowtow to Old Enkun's grave.
The fire fueled by burning paper money illuminated the tombstone. The flames roared into the sky, as if they could become stars and live forever if they rose high enough, but they quickly turned into black ash dust that flew wildly in the wind.
Yu Meiren didn't understand why Grandpa Enkun had placed the walking stick in front of the grave. She touched the uncarved, natural dragon head on the top of the walking stick. It had a patina from years of being handled, smooth and shiny, reflecting a faint light in the firelight, like the open eyes of a real dragon.
She felt a cool sensation on her hand, the dew of the night seeping into her skin. This coolness was quickly melted away by the lingering, spring-like longing, and something warm rose from the depths of her heart, spreading rapidly throughout her body, merging with the power from the earth emanating from her hand and the ebony cane.
A dead tree blossoms in the darkness, its green buds breaking through the dead skin and patina, unfurling into green leaves.
Shi Dazhuang stared wide-eyed in disbelief as the ebony dragon-head cane stuck in the ground transformed into an evergreen tree in front of the grave.
The power of life is spreading in the darkness. Wild grasses are growing rustlingly, petals are opening with a crackling sound, and vines are quietly climbing up the treetops, startling the birds perched there. Birds chirp and crickets sing, and everything that has been sleeping in the night suddenly awakens, playing a symphony of life on the hillside, like Beethoven's Second Symphony. Everything is vibrant and full of hope!
It wasn't until Old Enkun quietly appeared at the grave that Shi Dazhuang realized this wasn't reality. However, he didn't wake from his dream; instead, he watched as Old Enkun smiled and walked towards the Beauty, stroking Beauty hair and saying, "You've grown taller, you've grown bigger!"
The flames of the paper money flickered on and off. Old Enkun stepped onto the fire, and his body floated upwards with the flames until he reached the top of the sky, where he transformed into a star.
Every star in the sky turned into a human face. Shi Dazhuang saw Yu Gang, Meng Yan, and his fallen comrades. They were all looking at him from the sky and smiling at him.
Just then, he heard Yu Meiren suddenly say, "Uncle, I'm not going back to Wuzhong."
Shi Dazhuang was suddenly terrified, his clothes soaked with cold sweat. He didn't answer the Beauty's question, but looked around the dark forest to make sure no one was there before asking, "When did you learn to control your dreams?"
Yu Meiren said, " Sister Xing and Aunt Jingjing both taught me, but it was Qingmu Yeye who truly taught me. When he rescued me from Masuba, I picked eighty-one poppies. It was only much later that I realized Qingmu Yeye was already teaching me skills back then."
Shi Dazhuang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it was taught by Qingmu, everything would be fine. Although he was not Awakened, he had some knowledge of Mental Power since he met Qingmu. He just didn't expect Yu Meiren's Mental Power to be so strong.
"What did you just say?" Shi Dazhuang wasn't sure if the words were a hallucination from his dream or spoken by the Beauty.
Yu Meiren slowly removed her hand from the dragon-head cane and said earnestly, "Uncle, I'm not going back to Wuzhong. I want to stay in Kuaziba; this is my home."
Shi Dazhuang surprised and deeply blamed himself for not taking good care of the girl over the past three years due to being busy with work. Otherwise, why would she have such thoughts?
When he examined Yu Meiren again by the dim firelight and starlight, and saw the outline of her profile, he realized that the girl had grown up without him noticing. She was no longer the skinny little girl who refused to call him "Uncle" in Enkun's yard three years ago.
He sensed her stubbornness, a stubbornness that had been ingrained in her since childhood, just like Yu Gang back then.
"But..." Shi Dazhuang still tried to persuade her, "You still need to study, go to university, and have a bright future. Your dad, your mom, Grandpa Enkun are all watching over you from heaven! Besides, there are so many people in Wuzhong who like you and care about you, as well as your classmates and friends..."
"I will go see them." Yu Meiren looked up at the sky, as if communicating with the stars, and murmured to herself, "This is my home!"
Shi Dazhuang wanted to persuade her again, but Yu Meiren suddenly pulled out Old Enkun's ebony cane, and the earth trembled for a moment, as if all the life on the ground had been grasped in Yu Meiren's hands.
Bi Shenghua sat at the bar counter of New Ruhua Bar on Yangtze River Road, sipping Xiao Qi's still unimproved cocktails, and watching the intoxicated customers under the flashing lights, as if she had returned to the days when she ran a bar in Liuying Lane.
She saw the log standing like a log under the old tree, with a starving Crow perched on its head. Suddenly, a strong wind arose, and a giant in the wind reached out and uprooted the tree.
The wine glass fell to the ground with a crisp sound. Bi Shenghua, however, ignored the strange looks from others, rushed out of the bar, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for Liuying Lane.