6 By the Dragon Pond

The two of them walked together to an ancient tree by a pond in Rong Mansion, and Yuan Ge pointed to a stone bench under the tree and said, "Your shoes are not comfortable to walk on, why don't you sit here and wait. I'll change my clothes and come back soon."

Amélie glanced at the winter sky darkening prematurely; the sun had set completely and thick clouds were gathering, reflected in the deep, still pond, making it look even more gloomy. She shivered slightly as she said, "You seem to be particularly fond of this old tree and you always sit here looking at this pond during breaks in filming. How come I don't find it so romantic here? It's a bit creepy to sit by the water with no lights and no moon."

Yuan Ge laughed, "A woman as westernised as you, is still afraid of ghostly things on a moonless night?"

Amélie laughed too, "It has nothing to do with being westernised. I'm still a woman after all, what's so strange about a woman being timid? Besides, there are so many ghostly tales about this old mansion, and there's a weird brass chain tied to this big tree. It's hard not to let people make up stories in their heads, don't you think?"

"This is an ancient ginkgo tree, which together with this chain is known as the 'Silver Dragon Coiling Jade Tree'. It's a famous tourist attraction in Beijing."

"I've just returned to China. Being a new arrival to the capital, I know nothing about these historical legends, so why doesn't Director Yuan tell me something about them?"

"To prepare the shooting of this film, I specifically checked the historical records of the mansion. The tree is over 2,500 years old, so it may have been cultivated as a spirit."

"Liar! Two thousand five hundred years old? What an exaggeration! I think you are deliberately making it sound mysterious! You are very good at talking nonsense in a serious way."

"How am I talking nonsense? Don't you believe me? Beijing was known as the City of Thistle during the Warring States period, which is 2,500 years old anyhow, and this tree is said to be older than the city."

"Then what is this brass chain tied around it? Look, it has cut deeply into the bark of the tree. Is it because of fear that the tree will become a spirit, so it is tied up with a chain?"

Yuan Ge saw Amélie reaching out to touch the bark of the tree that had been cut by the chain with a look of deep interest. He felt the need to explain a little more.

"Do you remember all the gossip about this pond when we first started filming at the mansion? The local elders called it the Dragon Pond. The historical records of the mansion said that a silver dragon was imprisoned at the bottom of the water, and that it was said to have offended the Heavenly Court and was punished by suffering in the mortal world, imprisoned in this small pond. Of course, in my mother's book Ghosts of the Capital, the stories she collected are even more mind-boggling. After all, this was the residence of that high-ranking official of the Qing Dynasty, Ronglu. As you can imagine, in such rich and powerful families there were always stories of family rivalries, people throwing themselves down wells, people hanging themselves and other gruesome rumours. These rumours didn't stop until around the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China. If you say the water in this pond is creepy, you're probably right. There could be something mysterious down there."

"Yuan Ge! You've gone too far, you're scaring me on purpose!" Amélie looked into the deep, bottomless water and trembled slightly, looking as if she had been led astray by her own imagination.

It was rare to see this usually calm and collected career woman show her girly side, Yuan Ge couldn't help but laugh, "If you think this is scary, then you should really read the research papers my mum wrote. They are definitely scarier than all the horror novels on the market! There are all sorts of legends of demons and monsters, and they all have detailed academic evidence. Even the things that aren't real can be archaeologically realised by her. She gets so excited talking about ghosts, and it's hard to believe she's just a woman."

Amélie was amused by his comment about his mother, "How can you say that about your own mother! You'll make Professor Fu angry if you say that."

Yuan Ge sighed, "She doesn't care. You're a lady whilst my mum is not. She doesn't know how to act her age. Ever since I was a kid, she's been telling me bedtime ghost-stories about the old Imperial City and never behaved like what a mother should be. Anyway, let's not talk about her. You wait here while I go and get changed."