Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 171

Wang Heng said, “A Qi-Lin in Malindi? Do you believe it?” “It’s no use complaining.” I said, “Hu Jun, did Official
Zheng said there’s anything we need to prepare?” “Nothing! And that’s the point! Why am I supposed to be here
seeing a god beast that may not even exist without doing something more meaningful?” “Stop complaining, calm
down.” Ma Huan entered, “We are arriving Malindi.” “Ma Huan, don’t tell me you believe in god beasts.” “No, but
we have to believe, don’t we?” Ma Huan said, “At least in front of Official Zheng, we have to act as if we believe that
there will be Qi-Lins.” For a moment, all of us sighed and the room went silent.
Soon we arrived at Malindi and landed to search for Qi-Lins. I searched dedicatedly at first, but Wang Heng found
me and said, “Hetong, there won’t be Qi-Lins. Don’t waste your energy—you are no longer a servant.” I turned and
saw Hatong searching for Qi-Lins with hard effort. I felt pity for it, but I guess that’s life. One second it gives you
sweets, another second you get sour. The only way to combat sour is to get prepared, and have faith. I decided to keep
searching. I might not succeed, but with hope, we would have a high chance to get things done. I suddenly found that
Don Joey was going somewhere furtively and kept looking at his surroundings, as if he didn’t want others to discover
him. I said to Hu Jun, “Don Joey seems strange. He is going somewhere secretly. What should we do?” “You follow
him. He has always been strange,” Hu Jun said.
I quietly followed him and we arrived at a plain with many deer-like creatures, with a long neck and spots all over its
body, eating grass. “It really looks like a Qi-Lin!” I thought. When I looked down again, I saw Don Joey taking out his
sword, sprinting towards the creatures trying to kill them! “Stop! Don Joey, what are you doing!” “I need to kill the
Qi-Lins!” “Why?” “Because…You conquered my country, destroyed my home, killed my friends….I won’t let you
get the god beasts and gain good luck!” He ran towards the Qi-Lins. Without further warning, I shot two bullets at his
legs and he fell down. However, he was too strong and stood back up. Suddenly, a few black-skinned people ran out
and pointed at Don Joey. They were the indigenous people who protected the Qi-Lins (they called them ‘giraffes’ in
their language). After a round of fighting, Don Joey fell on the ground again.
Just as I was going to leave and find my friends, Ma Huan, Hu Jun and Wang Heng arrived and saw the Qi-Lins as
well as the indigenous people. Ma Huan spoke with the indigenous people and knew about the giraffes as well as what
happened to Don Joey. The indigenous people knew about Ming and promised to give us a giraffe as a present. Also,
the indigenous people said they were going to kill Don Joey as he tried to attack the giraffes. “How should we call the
gi…giraffe?” asked Wang Heng. I heard the giraffes emitting a ‘wi-ni’ sound and suggested, “Let’s call it ‘Winnie the
Giraffe’.” They all said it was a good idea and decided to call it ‘Winnie the Giraffe’. We carried the giraffe on board.
Official Zheng was delighted to see ‘Winnie the Giraffe’ as he thought it was a Qi-Lin as described in tales, while me
and my friends believed it wasn’t on our own. We accomplished all our missions and decided to call the trip an end.
I was on the deck of the ship staring at the blue, crystal clear sea when I heard Hatong call me. “Commander Zheng,
we are arriving at Ming.” he said. “Okay, I’ll be coming.” I replied. The journey to the west came to an end, but my
life as an official has just started.