Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 38

The Treasure Cave
Clearwater Bay School, Shi, Angela - 10
I press my ears against the cold stone floor, frantically hoping for any sign that indicates where Yi Long is.
But I heard nothing, nothing except for the quick beating of my heart. Suddenly a little rat scuttled out from
the darkness. Jumping out of my skin, I nearly fell over all the islanders who had come to wish me luck.
Cautiously, holding the fire torch in one hand, I inch a few centimetres forward before taking a deep
breath and enter the cave. Slowly I watch the sunlight being swallowed by the darkness like a mouth
snapping shut. My knees quivered and each step I take is heavier than the last. The darkness seems to be
alive, swivelling around me, and jeering when I find myself in the same cavern. Several times I found myself
in low rooms where it’s not possible to stand straight. The shadows in the corners look like they want to
jump out, I hear rustling sounds, but when I shine my light in that direction there is nothing.
A narrow tunnel appears. I paused, breathing heavily, thinking of Yi Long and the danger he might be in.
At that moment, a bitter wind whipped through the tunnel blowing out the fire and plunging me into
darkness and fear. I really didn’t want to go on now. It was a dark snake-like tunnel, and who knows what
danger there might be in it. I thought back to this morning where I had been chatting to Li Lin Fei, on
Admiral Zheng’s ship, putting up the double masts and the flag of China. It seemed like an aeon ago. I had
only volunteered for this daring adventure in desperation to gain Admiral Zheng’s praise. Oh why did a
sentence of praise need to be so hard earned?
Gradually the tunnel eased into an open room and I breathed again. Since I no longer had a light I kept
close to the walls, groping and forcing my legs to go on. Suddenly I tripped over something and scraped my
legs onto the surface of a shard of rock. Blood gushed out and pain squeezed my heart into such a tight ball I
didn’t pay any attention to what I had tripped over until it shuffled and heaved itself up.
“Why is Admiral Zheng not waking us up,” He murmured to himself
“Yi Long,” I gasped, raising up my head and looking at the faint outline of my friend groggily rubbing his
eyes. “Yi Long. Can you hear me?”
“Wei,” he whispered, his voice barely audible “Where is Admiral Zheng.”
“Yi Long,” I limped over to him and shook him “We’re in the treasure caves, remember, he asked us to
explore the caves.”
Suddenly, Yi Long jerked awake and gave a scream of fury that echoed around the room “Traitor,” he
hissed tugging my arm away “Traitor, Thief, Enemy. I know you stole the treasure.”
A horrible thought jolted into my mind. What if Yi Long had gone mad in the caves?
“No Yi Long,” I whispered “There is no traitor.”
Yi Long looked at me with defiant eyes. “No traitor but treasure, treasure from the country. That is why we
were asked to explore the caves. Admiral Zheng wanted us to find the sea pearls from Ning Duo Li palace.”
I didn’t want to believe Yi Long but it did make sense. Yi Long and Admiral Zheng had been talking
privately for months now, not even letting Xiang Jing Yuen, the navigator into their private talks. Had they
been they been talking about the hidden treasure? And then there had been the robbery of the sea pearls
from Ning Duo Li palace, few days before the voyage had started. Had this voyage been to find these pearls?
“Stand up Wei.” Yi Long stood and almost tripped over the same rock where I had hurt myself. “We will
show Xiang Jing Yuen that he can steal all the treasure he wants. We will find them and rid the country of
the traitor.”
“Erm Yi, that’s a very ambitious plan and if you might notice we're in a black cave with no light and no
idea where the treasure is. And how did you know that the treasure is even in the caves?” I poured out my
doubts in one breath.