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Kapitel 4

Zhong Shutong put on his glasses, looked at it carefully, and shook his head.

I turned the paper over and showed him another one. It looked like Fu Xidi's drawing was correct.

“This… I’ve never seen a flag like this before. What kind of flag is this?” Zhong Shutong actually asked me in return.

I was speechless for a moment. I had originally wanted to get straight to the point, but I didn't expect that Zhong Shutong didn't recognize the flags drawn by Yang Tie and Fu Xidi. So, the words I had prepared were left stuck in my stomach.

My mind was filled with countless questions, but I had no choice but to explain my purpose to the historian step by step.

"I never expected that after so many years, this flag would be raised again!" Zhong Shutong sighed.

"However, that flag isn't like that. In my memory..."

Zhong Shutong took a new sheet of white paper and drew a flag on it.

The third flag! So here I have three different flag designs.

But they should clearly be the same flag!

“I remember the design of this flag very clearly, but why did Yang Tie and Fu Xidi draw it for you like that?” Zhong Shutong asked, frowning in confusion.

“But both Elder Yang and Elder Fu said with certainty that they remembered it very clearly, and that the flag was exactly as they had drawn it. I originally thought that once I got to you, I would know whose memory was correct, but I didn’t expect…” I smiled wryly.

"Could it be that everyone sees that flag differently?" This thought crossed my mind, and I couldn't help but say it aloud.

"Oh, sorry, look what I just said." Realizing that I was in front of an academic master, I quickly apologized for the outlandish idea that had just slipped out.

"No, perhaps what you said is also possible. That flag is already incredible enough, so it's not impossible for it to have even more strange aspects." I didn't expect Zhong Shutong to say that.

“Ah, if only I could see that flag with my own eyes. To be honest, I originally wanted to write a report about the miracle of the three-story building being preserved intact under Japanese bombing, but I didn’t expect it to involve such a flag; but no matter whether the flag is really that magical, I can’t write about it in the newspaper.”

Zhong Shutong nodded slightly: "Yes, waving a flag a few times on the rooftop scared away the Japanese planes. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it."

"Saw it with your own eyes?" I suddenly looked up at Zhong Shutong and asked, "You just said you saw it with your own eyes?"

I learned from Yang Tie and Fu Xidi that the original inhabitants who held the land deeds did not move into the "three-story building" until 1939. But Zhong Shutong's words clearly indicated that he was in the "three-story building" during the bombing in 1937.

Zhong Shutong was also taken aback: "I thought you already knew. I was one of the earliest residents of the 'three-story building,' unlike Yang Tie and the others who moved in in 1939. I moved into the middle building right after it was built, so I was in the building when it was bombed."

“I didn’t get any information from Mr. Su and Mr. Zhang, and I didn’t mention interviewing you when I talked to Mr. Yang and Mr. Fu, so I really didn’t know that you were here.”

"Oh, even Old Su won't talk about what happened back then? Then Old Zhang and Qian Liu are even less likely to talk about it; those two have such strange tempers... In that case, perhaps I should..."

"Why is there another Qian Liu?" I sensed the hesitation in Zhong Shutong's voice and quickly interrupted him, asking, "Who is Qian Liu?"

“The three old residents of the Central Three-Story Building are Qian Liu, Zhang Qing, and Su Yicai. You’ve visited Zhang Qing and Su Yicai, so how could you not know Qian Liu?” Zhong Shutong asked me in return.

The four brothers carrying the flag (7)

“I learned about the situation from the neighborhood committee, but they only introduced me to Old Zhang and Old Su, and didn’t mention Old Qian… Old Qian’s matter!”

"Oh, I see. Qian Liu's personality is too eccentric. He's rarely seen. He lives alone in the basement. Many people think he's half-mad. No wonder the neighborhood committee didn't introduce him to you. Even Old Su didn't tell you anything, so how could you possibly get anything from Qian Liu?!"

"You said you're one of the oldest guests, so who else is there?"

"Do you have any cigarettes? My son won't let me smoke," Zhong Shutong said.

I pulled out a "Zhonghua" cigarette from my pocket.

The cigarette butt glowed intermittently. Zhong Shutong took a few puffs and shook the long ash into the ashtray.

I sat quietly to his side, waiting for him to speak.

"I haven't even told my sons about this. So many years have passed, and I still can't figure out what they're up to. Since you've asked, I'll tell you what I know, but what I know is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to find out the truth, I'm afraid... This matter was already so mysterious back then, and investigating it after so many years will be even more difficult. Haha, I'm getting old, but my curiosity is only growing stronger. I really hope you can investigate it thoroughly. If you find anything, remember to tell me. I wonder if you can solve the mystery before I, this old man, pass away."

"If I make any discoveries, I will tell you first," I immediately assured him.

"The first residents of the 'three-story building' were, besides the four Sun brothers who built these four buildings, Zhang Qing, Su Yicai, and me."

I opened my mouth, but hesitated to speak. I thought it best to listen more, ask fewer questions, and not interrupt him.

Noticing my expression, Zhong Shutong said, "Oh, you want to ask about Qian Liu, right? He is a servant of the four Sun brothers, and the three of us were invited by the four brothers."

One cigarette after another was lit, and as the smoke curled upwards, Zhong Shutong began to recount the "three-story building," the four Sun brothers, and the ghost flag.

In 1937, Zhong Shutong was twenty-seven years old. It was an era of brilliant minds, where the torrent of Western academic thought collided with reflections on traditional Chinese culture. The turbulent times and the surge of ideas sparked countless talents. At the age of twenty-seven, it was enough for a talented young man to achieve fame.

At that time, Zhong Shutong had already published many academic papers in major academic journals, especially his unique insights into the economy and people's livelihood during the Han and Three Kingdoms periods. He had attracted widespread attention in the historical community. At least in Shanghai, he was already a leading figure among the younger generation of historians. Many universities, including Yenching University, had sent him invitations, and he himself was considering which university to teach at.

Shortly after the Spring Festival in 1937, Zhong Shutong received four visitors in his small residence on Shanyin Road.

Although one of the four guests was so large that it surprised Zhong Shutong, all four were generally polite and extremely courteous in their speech.

These four people are naturally the four Sun brothers.

The four brothers expressed their deep admiration and appreciation for Zhong Shutong's scholarship. They also mentioned that they were all history enthusiasts, especially fascinated by the history of the Three Kingdoms period. They had many questions for this young scholar and were willing to offer Zhong Shutong a house as payment for his services.

Back then, a decent house in Shanghai cost more than a dozen gold bars. The rent for Zhongshu's residence on Shanyin Road was already a strain on his writing income, which is why he considered teaching at a university. At that time, a professor's salary was incredibly high.

When the four Sun brothers visited for the second time, they even brought the house deed. Although Zhong Shutong felt there was something strange about it, seeing the four men's earnestness and their discussions about the history of the Three Kingdoms, which sometimes touched on his interests and enlightened him, coupled with his youth and confidence that he could find a way to solve anything that might happen, he finally moved out of Shanyin Road and into the "three-story building" one day in March.

When Zhong Shu moved into the central "three-story building," Zhang Qing and Su Yicai were already there. At that time, Su Yicai had not yet returned to secular life; as I suspected, his Buddhist name at that time was "Yuantong."

When Zhong Shutong first moved into the "three-story building," he noticed many strange things. Not only did it house a monk named Yuantong who never left his room, but Zhang Qing was also always elusive, often going out at night and returning at dawn. And the surrounding streets and all the single-story houses were completely deserted. Sometimes, walking along the streets, looking at the half-open doors and empty rooms, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread, as if he were in a ghost town. Later, as these houses were gradually demolished, this feeling actually subsided considerably.

The four brothers carrying the flag (8)

Although the surrounding streets were deserted, Zhong Shutong noticed that men dressed as laborers frequently appeared, seemingly living in several other three-story buildings. Aside from vandalizing the abandoned bungalows in the area, these laborers didn't seem to be planning anything else. However, one day, Zhong Shutong was taking the train to Hangzhou. He left home before 5 a.m. with his luggage and saw the laborers pushing carts of things out of the three-story buildings on the east side. It was still dark, and from a distance, he couldn't make out what was on the carts.

The four brothers still frequently visited his house, chatting with him about various anecdotes from the Three Kingdoms period. Zhong Shutong tried to probe about the surroundings a few times, but the four brothers always avoided answering. Later, he realized this was a taboo; if he stayed in someone else's house and acted so rudely, who knew what might happen? After a day of feeling fear looking at the empty houses around him, Zhong Shutong gave up on pressing the issue.

The more he talked with the four brothers, and the deeper their conversations became, the more frustrated Zhong Shutong felt. The brothers had so many questions about the Three Kingdoms period, and he could answer so few. If that were all, he could justify himself: no matter how learned a historian is, they can't turn back time, so even someone specializing in a particular era will have a limited understanding of it, especially its details. However, what frustrated Zhong Shutong was that later in the conversations, sometimes one of the brothers would ask a question he couldn't answer, and the questioner would offer their own conjecture, which turned out to be perfectly reasonable. With the answer, the reasoning would flow smoothly. As this happened more and more frequently, the number of conversations between the four brothers and Zhong Shutong decreased. Zhong Shutong vaguely sensed that the four brothers were beginning to lose faith in him; although their words remained polite, the initial respect was gone.

Such a change was a great insult to Zhong Shutong, a young scholar with a high degree of self-confidence. However, Zhong Shutong was powerless to retaliate because he was indeed unable to answer those detailed questions. Moreover, many things that the four Sun brothers told him became increasingly correct in his subsequent research.

Therefore, in the years that followed, Zhong Shutong tried every possible method to delve into that period of history. When traditional research methods led to dead ends, he created new research methods in order to achieve new breakthroughs. It can be said that much of his current prestige is due to the stimulation he received from the four Sun brothers back then. However, by the time he regained his confidence, the four Sun brothers were long gone.

Before the August 13 Incident, the four Sun brothers hadn't visited Zhongshu's room for ten days or half a month at a time, but since they all lived in the same building, they could still see each other often. Their secret plan seemed to be nearing success, as the expressions on their faces grew more excited and eager each day.

It was at this time that the August 13 Incident broke out, the Japanese army attacked Shanghai, and bombing followed.

That day, when the piercing air raid siren sounded, Zhong Shutong was in the house. He heard Sun Huizu's voice in the hallway outside. Sun Huizu was the third son of the Sun family.

"Damn it, we were almost there! Why are the Japanese planes coming now?" Sun Huizu's voice was already extremely loud, and in his anxiety, even amidst the wailing of the air raid siren, his voice still managed to penetrate Zhong Shutong's closed door and reach his ears.

Zhong Shutong was naturally very flustered at this moment. When people are panicked, they hope that more people will gather together. Although it will not help, it will give them some support. So when he heard Sun Huizu's voice, he hurriedly ran to open the door.

Just before he opened the door, he heard another person say, "Hey, there's no other way. Let's take out that flag again and see if we can drive the Japanese invaders away."

Zhong Shutong opened the door and saw Sun Yaozu, the eldest son of the Sun family, standing in the corridor. The thumping sound from the stairs faded away quickly, as Sun Huizu had already run downstairs.

Before that, Zhong Shutong had never seen this flag. Although all the residents around the area had moved away, many people outside the circle had seen the flag. This flag had long been rumored to be incredibly powerful, and Zhong Shutong often heard people talking about it when he went to buy daily necessities.

Zhong Shutong initially didn't believe it, but at this time, under the threat of Japanese plane bombs, when he suddenly heard the Sun brothers mention the flag, he immediately remembered the various terrifying aspects of the flag in the rumors, and at this moment it seemed to have become a ray of hope that could save his life.

"That flag, is that flag useful?" Zhong Shutong asked.

The four brothers carrying the flag (9)

"Give it a try," Sun Yaozu said with a stern face. It seemed that he himself was not confident at the time.

As they spoke, footsteps echoed loudly on the stairs. Sun Huizu rushed up first, followed by his second son, Sun Huaizu, and his fourth son, Sun Nianzu. Zhang Qing and Qian Liu followed behind, but Yuantong was nowhere to be seen. Zhong Shutong had already heard that although Yuantong was young, he had a profound understanding of Buddhism. Even in such a critical moment, he was able to sit calmly in the room chanting scriptures, unlike the others who were in a frantic state.

Sun Huizu was holding a large rectangular wooden box, while Qian Liu was dragging a long bamboo pole up.

Sun Huizu didn't linger. He ran straight up the narrow staircase leading to the rooftop, took a few steps, and punched the square, thick wooden sliding door covering the exit. He was the first to crawl up, and the others followed him to the rooftop.

When Zhong Shutong stood on the rooftop, the Japanese aircraft were already approaching darkly in the distance.

Sun Huizu quickly opened the wooden box, took the bamboo pole handed over by Qian Liu, and secured the flag. Not far away, smoke and fire rose, and thunderous explosions continuously assaulted eardrums. The Japanese bombs had already fallen.

Sun Huizu held the flag high, waving it once and then again.

This was the first and only time Zhong Shutong saw this flag.

In an instant, Zhong Shutong's panic vanished. Japanese planes continued their piercing roar overhead, bombs raining down on the city, yet Zhong Shutong's heart pounded with fervor and a burning will to fight. If Japanese infantry attacked now, he would likely be the first to leap out and engage them in hand-to-hand combat, for he knew that flag would protect him. It was an indescribable feeling; that flag seemed to have infused him with immense courage in an instant. Zhong Shutong couldn't understand why the surrounding people all looked so terrified when they spoke of that flag.

Zhong Shutong looked up at the sky. The Japanese planes were flying very low, and he could even see the Japanese flag pattern on their fuselages. The three leading planes were already almost over the "three-story building".

Sun Huizu waved the flag in his hand even more frantically, the large flag unfurling in the wind and fluttering loudly.

It is believed that Japanese pilots at this altitude could clearly see this burly man waving a large flag on the rooftop.

Almost simultaneously, the fuselages of three Japanese bombers shuddered and began to stumble downwards, nearly crashing, before pulling up at the last second. In the blink of an eye, they had already passed over the "three-story building".

The Japanese planes behind them also gave way. The banner that Zhong Shutong could use to give him faith and courage seemed to the pilots to be a ferocious beast that wanted to devour people!

I was completely stunned. Although I had already guessed what was going on, listening to Zhongshu tell the story to the person involved in detail still had a shocking effect.

The fact that the "three-story building" was preserved was actually just because of that ghost flag.

Zhong Shutong's feelings upon seeing the Ghost Flag were almost identical to Yang Tie's when he approached it. There was clearly a connection. Perhaps the flag's psychological effect is related to distance; greater distance evokes fear, while closer proximity inspires courage. Those Japanese pilots were certainly not close enough to the Ghost Flag.

But why does that flag possess such power?

After that day, the flag was taken down again. The Battle of Shanghai had begun, and the situation in Shanghai was becoming more and more tense every day. Zhong Shutong basically stayed in the "three-story building" and rarely went out. One night in early September, Zhong Shutong was awakened by a noise. He hadn't been sleeping well in those days, often woken up by the sound of gunfire, and his sleep was very light. But this time it wasn't the sound of gunfire, but the sound of hurried people going upstairs, followed by a loud bang as the bedroom door slammed shut.

For the next three days, Zhang Qing locked herself in her room and didn't see anyone. Zhong Shutong guessed that the sound that night had come from Zhang Qing. When Zhang Qing came out of the room on the fourth day, her face was frighteningly pale, and her once bright eyes had become much dimmer.

Because the four Sun brothers had been missing for a long time, it took Zhong Shutong several days to realize that he hadn't seen them for many days. After that, he never saw the four Sun brothers again.

The ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts, and my cigarette pack was empty.

"Alright, I've told you everything I can remember. Back then, I was hardly able to help the four Sun brothers. I believe Zhang Qing and Yuan Tong were hired by them for their own purposes. These two were involved in their secret plans much more than I was. If you can get anything out of them, you'll understand more about what happened back then."

"Uh, there's one more thing..." I hesitated for a moment before making a rather impolite request.

"Haha, whatever you want, I won't say anything anyway," the scholar said with a laugh.

The secret hidden underground (1)

Back at the newspaper office, I wrote a lengthy article recounting the history of the "Three-Story Building" in detail. Of course, I altered the facts, portraying the four Sun brothers as flag collectors who always carried the flags they collected through the streets. The renowned scholar Zhong Shutong witnessed the Sun brothers, who appeared to be foreigners, standing on the top floor and waving a flag at random when the Japanese army came. The Japanese planes, mistaking them for foreigners waving a foreign flag, avoided bombing them, and thus the "Three-Story Building" has been preserved in a legendary way to this day.

Because I had to avoid mentioning many things that couldn't be mentioned, I felt quite constrained in writing this report. Fortunately, the story of the "three-story building" legend's preservation is quite readable in itself, so the article is still passable. However, it certainly didn't meet Blue Head's expectations; I haven't heard him mention the reward he mentioned since.

Professor Zhong has promised not to expose me, and I'm not too worried that knowledgeable elders like Yang Tie would jump out and accuse me of fabricating news. If they had such thoughts, the first people to stop them would probably be their children. I believe any normal person would dismiss their claims and believe that what I wrote in my report is closer to the truth.

Ghost flags? Who would believe that?

I've managed to get through the task assigned by Blue Head, but the investigation into the "three-story building" has only just begun. It's not just about fulfilling my promise to Elder Zhong, but also because once my curiosity is piqued, I won't give up easily until I get to the bottom of things.

Therefore, I decided to visit the Central Government's "three-story building" again that afternoon to pay a visit to the half-mad Qian Liu. Although Zhong Shutong said I wouldn't be able to get anything out of him, I wouldn't let any clue slip by.

I originally planned to go in the morning, but I received a call from my mother in the evening. She is a Buddhist, and my father and she have not been in good health recently. She hoped that I could go to Longhua Temple to offer incense for them.

I lit incense outside the main hall and bowed before the Buddha statue inside. Although I am not a believer, since I was offering incense on behalf of my mother, I naturally did so with utmost respect and sincerity when making my wish.

As I was leaving the temple, I saw someone in the front courtyard and paused for a moment. He was already smiling and greeting me.