Qingmu walked to the center of the altar, where there used to be a tall, thin, bamboo shoot-shaped rock, but it was blown up by Petru with a grenade during the last time he floated up.
There are still stone chips scattered on the ground; it's unclear whether they were blasted apart or fell and shattered.
However, this way, the symbols carved on the bottom of the altar can be seen directly, without having to wait for the stone to float.
Qingmu gently stroked the two connected triangles, feeling the ancient aura emanating from the stone carvings. Unseen light flowed through the seams, traveling along his fingers to his brain, flickering in his consciousness.
The Crow cawed, flapped its wings, and landed on the ground. It waddled along, cawing among the black stones, before poking its head out excitedly and saying, "Caw, this looks like... a tree?"
Qingmu looked in the direction it pointed and saw that there were indeed other stone carvings on the ground, which were shallower than the hourglass symbols. They extended outwards and were covered by black stones, but the shape of a tree could still be vaguely made out.
The Crow hopped excitedly and led Qingmu to one side, pointing to the ground and saying, "Look, look, isn't that a bird?"
Qingmu smiled and said, "You look just like me!"
The Crow rested its head on its wing and thought for a moment, then said, "Not as black as me!"
Qingmu returned to the center of the altar, looking at the hourglass symbol of the Awakened, and stroking the ebony staff in his hand.
The Crow asked impatiently, "Hey, didn't you say you knew how to get home? Then hurry up, I'm starting to Ruhua!"
Qingmu laughed, "You're craving braised pork knuckle, aren't you?"
The Crow seemed to have suffered a severe blow, clutching its chest and saying, "Caw, what you're saying is so hurtful... How could I be such a person... no, such a bird!... From now on, please don't mention the words 'braised pork knuckle' again..."
Qingmu ignored him and stared blankly at the ground, as if pondering something important, with a pained expression appearing on his face from time to time.
The Boss Coal was already used to this, saying, "Hey, if you can't remember, don't even think about it. Never forget you're a blockhead. Hurry up and go home. Don't dawdle and forget what you finally remembered!"
Seeing that Qingmu didn't react, it fluttered to his head, scratched his scalp, and asked anxiously, "You haven't really forgotten again, have you?"
Qingmu said, "Do you remember the day we first arrived at Liuying Lane?"
The Crow said, "Of course I remember, quack... That day you stood under the tree like a log... Quack, you were always a log... m•h. com... No, when did you become a log?... Oh wow..."
Seeing that it was about to change the subject again, Qingmu quickly stopped it, saying, "Then do you remember how we got there?"
"How did I get there? By walking... by car... by flying... hmm..." The Crow thought for a long time, "Caw! I really don't remember!"
It jumped up and down in a panic, asking Qingmu, "Do you remember?"
"I don't remember either." Qingmu shook his head, then suddenly looked into the distance, "But I remembered something else."
His eyes were vacant, and blurry images floated through his mind. It was a pitch-black room, with flickering flames on the windows. He threw on a trench coat and slippers, shuffling open the door to find himself surrounded by a raging inferno. He rushed out, but tripped over something, and the flames instantly engulfed him, along with his consciousness...
Then he saw the willow tree, its branches drooping down like a green curtain. Standing inside the curtain, he felt at home.
"So do you even know how to get back?" The Boss Coal tapped him on the head.
Qingmu recovered his composure. "I'm not sure, but there's a high probability it's possible. But right now, I'm unsure whether I should activate this altar."
The Crow was very curious, "Why not?"
"I have a feeling that activating the altar was a mistake," Qingmu said.
"I wonder if Situ has the same premonition?" Qingmu wondered.
He looked up at the five Sun in the sky. Guided by the Sacred Staff, theoretically, when he returned to the Altar of Wood, Situ should have already found the Altar of Stone. If the change in the number of Sun in the sky was related to activating the altar, then once Situ activated the Altar of Stone, the number of Sun there would also change—would it become six? Or seven?
Since nothing has changed, it means the Altar of Stone hasn't been activated yet. So, has Situ encountered some trouble, or is he also hesitating like him?
The Crow, ignoring his thoughts, asked, "Is activating the altar necessary to get home?"
Qingmu nodded and said, "Yes."
"Then activating the altar is the right thing to do." Crow crow gripped Qingmu's hair tightly with its claws, stood ramrod straight, and said righteously, "Because going home is the right thing to do!"
Bi Shenghua walked through the newly built winding corridor and stood by the lake, looking at the blue sky and white clouds reflected in the clear lake water, feeling as if she had been transported to another world.
After more than two years, the Mulberry Garden finally took shape. The entire layout was planned by experts hired by Bi Shenghua based on the garden map provided by Professor Mei. Except for some parts that did not conform to modern garden architecture concepts, most of the original appearance of the Mulberry Garden was preserved.
Everything went smoothly, except for one thing that puzzled Bi Shenghua: how to proceed with the landscaping. According to the name "Mulberry Garden " (Mulberry Garden) and scattered records in ancient texts, the garden should be filled with mulberry trees, perhaps even forming a mulberry forest for miles around. But this didn't conform to the norms of garden design; what ancient garden was entirely composed of mulberry trees?
The professor's picture didn't show what kind of trees were originally planted in the Mulberry Garden; all that could be seen was a giant mulberry tree and an old willow by the lake.
Whether or not to plant mulberry trees all over the garden is not the biggest problem now. For Bi Shenghua, the most important thing is to save that old willow tree. But the problem is that the old willow is occupying the place where the giant mulberry tree used to be. If we want to restore it, we have to transplant the old willow tree to the lakeside and find another old mulberry tree to transplant to the place where the willow tree is now.
But where could we find such a large mulberry tree?
Moreover, the willow tree is too old, and it's hard to say whether it can withstand any disturbance. In addition, the ground is full of the willow tree's spread root system, and even experts say it's not easy to move it.
Bi Shenghua also tended not to move. After all, the garden was originally built to protect this tree, a very stubborn idea that remained in her memory.
But this is Mulberry Garden; we can't exactly turn it into a willow orchard, can we?
So she considered finding a large mulberry tree and planting it where the willow tree used to be by the lake.
She's standing right here.
Thus, the layout of the entire Mulberry Garden is similar to that of the ancient map, the only difference being that the mulberry and willow trees have been moved, which can be regarded as a testament to the changes of the times from the old to the new.
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly noticed a tender green shoot sprouting from the soil at her feet.
The garden was newly opened and no trees had been planted yet; the ground was covered with weeds. But Bi Shenghua recognized it at a glance: it was a willow sapling.