Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 170

the door and came in. He bowed down and said, “It’s my fault, Official Zheng, It’s my fault! Please don’t replace
me….with a servant!” He looked at me and said. “Even a servant can do better than you. Who should be the one
reflecting?” Wang Heng murmured. Hatong stared at him, then turned to Hu Jun, trying to ask for help. “Sorry bruh,
but that’s the truth. No disagreement for me.” Hu Jun said. Hatong turned to Ma Huan, but he shouldn’t have
expected something better than this from the translator, “Official Zheng, Hatong was doing terribly. It’s reasonable to
get him be replaced.” “Can you hear what they said, Hatong? YOU ARE NO LONGER A COMMANDER. I’ll find
a position for you…no freeriders allowed here. Now get out!” Official Zheng shouted. Feeling hopeless without
support, Hatong left the room, staring fiercely at me on his way out. “Now, about you, young man.” Official Zheng
said, “Now you are the commander, so how should we call you?” “You may call me Hetong.” I said, “My family name
is Zhang—Zhang Hetong is the full name.” “Hetong replaced Hatong,” Commander Zheng laughed, “What a joke.”
Just as Official Zheng finished his sentence, Wang Heng realized something, “Official Zheng, do we need some
weapons to fight Sugan? I may take them from the storage room.” “Okay, tell the servants to help.” Official Zheng
said, “and bring Hetong with you. He need to get used to being a commander.” “Okay. Come with me, Hetong.” I
followed Wang Heng and left for the storage room.
“A commander is different from a servant. You can make orders to anyone with a lower position—everyone except
Official Zheng, the commanders and the translator. But you still need to be loyal to Official Zheng and keep your
manners. Also, don’t be too harsh to servants. Make them willing to work for you.” Wang Heng explained.
“Understood.” I said. “Good, you are a quick learner, aren’t you? I’m sure you will do this well.” Wang Heng showed
me how to gather servants for helping, and how to ensure they work well appropriately. After we finished preparing for
the weapons, Wang Heng went to the Captain’s room to confirm our position. “The captain said we are arriving, so
we better get prepared. You know how to fight, don’t you?” Wang asked. “I know how to use a sword, and I learnt
some basics of fighting from a monk. But I’m not used to shoot with a gun.” I replied. “I may teach you. It’s not hard
at all.” Wang Heng gave me a brief lesson of gun shooting and I learnt the knack of having high accuracy, before we
were told that Sumatera was right in front of us.
The Commanders left the boat last, so the troops were already facing each other when I arrived the frontline. “That’s
Don Joey. He’s the best military general of Sugan the fake king.” Wang Heng explained, “If we can catch him alive,
it’ll be a big bonus to our military power, given that he’s willing to work for the Ming Kingdom.” I nodded as the war
started with some drum noises and shouts. I used my gun to kill many enemies—Wang Heng’s tips worked—but I soon
find my gun out of bullets, so I used a sword instead. The soldiers of Sugan were very vulnerable, so our army made a
great success. Soon, there were only a few soldiers of Sugan—and their commander, Don Joey—left. Our soldiers
attempted to beat Don Joey, but in vain—all were killed by the strong but cruel man. Wang Heng and Hu Jun rushed
to fight with Don Joey, but couldn’t take an advantage of him though we were greater in number and entered a
stalemate. Suddenly, Don Joey grabbed a sword on the ground and quickly pointed it towards Wang Heng. I knew if I
did nothing, Don Joey would kill Wang Heng, then Hu Jun, me, and other soldiers might die also—we might
eventually lose. To save him, I pick up an unused gun on the ground and targeted at his belly. At the crucial moment, I
remembered Wang Heng said that it was best to catch him alive, so I shot his arm instead. The shot worked and Don
Joey dropped his sword which nearly sliced Wang Heng. Hu Jun immediately picked up the sword and pointed it
towards Don Joey’s neck. “Don’t kill him, Hu Jun.” Wang Heng stood up and said, “He could work for us—he is a
great military general, and a great fighter.” “Fine,” Hu Jun said, “Let’s bring him back to our camp.”
In the camp, I met Hu Jun, Wang Heng and Don Joey. “Great shot,” Hu Jun said, “Don’t think I didn’t realize that
was you.” “That’s not my own effort. Wang Heng taught me to shoot.” I said. “You are humble, too humble maybe.
You deserve some compliment, and a higher position.” I smiled and replied, “You too. You fought bravely.” We both
laughed. “Sugan the fake king surrendered after the big loss. We won!” Wang Heng said. All of us celebrated, except
Don Joey. “So, what about him?” Hu Jun pointed at Don Joey. “He fainted for quite awhile, but he seems okay. He
knows some Chinese, and I think I can convince him to work for Ming.” Wang Heng said, “If I can’t, Ma Huan can.”
“Oh, that obsequious bastard.” Hu Jun said. “Don’t say that, he knew how to get us killed by Official Zheng.” Wang
Heng whispered, “and certainly we don’t know as much as him, especially in language. He may be a bastard, but we
need to respect him.” “I am already respecting him by not saying that out loud in front of him.” Hu Jun said, “We
need to leave soon, carry that guy on board.” Wang Heng called a few servants to get Don Joey on board, and the three
of us returned to the boat.
“The next stop is Malindi.” Hu Jun said, “According to Official Zheng, we need to find the god beast ‘Qi-Lin’
there…” “Oh God, are god beasts even real? The King believed that?” Wang Heng complained. “Yes by the
information I’ve got…” Hu Jun sighed. “At least we beat the fake king Sugan, or else this is a meaningless trip again.”