Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 56

Medicine of Immortality
Creative Primary School, Lee, Jeston - 11
It had been a long time since I last set foot in a ship. But I had not forgotten the feeling of having the wind
on my face and the salt in my hair. Fifty years ago, I was a cabin boy in the legendary Ming Treasure Fleet.
I was a young man then and here is my story…
“Wong, the Naval Captain is coming in a minute, so be ready for his arrival.” My master shouted from
outside.
“Yes, sir.” I muttered under my breath.
A man stepped into the room. Even without my master telling me, I would know that he was the Naval
Captain, Cheng He, as he had that kind of gaze that would make people around him back down.
I quickly made way for him and bowed to him. Cheng looked at me for a long time. Then, he said, “Your
master told me that you were smart, and recommended me to hire you as my cabin boy. Come and meet
me at the Qiang Long pier tomorrow.”
The next day, I went to the pier. I could see a group of enormous warships in the port. They were huge,
with cannons and detailed chiselled dragons.
I saw Cheng standing on the deck of a warship, supervising the loading of goods. The deck was crowded
with people, with some sailors heaving large sacks and some scrubbing the deck. Tremendous sails towered
high above me. It was an extraordinary sight, with a hundred ships navigating together.
I was the youngest sailor on board and responsible for serving Naval Captain Cheng. Despite his stern look,
Cheng was kind to me. He also served the Emperor with unswaying loyalty. I respected him a lot.
We worked day in and day out and very soon we were out in the Arabian Seas. The sailors were
superstitious and said there were demons in the Arabian Seas. The demons would play tricks on you and
lured you into drinking their wine. Once you had drunk their wine, you would come down with an
incurable disease. The only thing that could save you was the Medicine of Immortality, which could only
be found on Penglai Island in the East of the Bohai Sea. But no one had been able to find the Medicine of
Immortality, so the best way to protect oneself was to avoid drinking wine during the whole sail in the
Arabian Seas.
Cheng dismissed all these as nonsense, and he continued to have wine in his meal. One night, a heavy mist
came hovering our ship when Cheng was having meal in his cabin. I was serving him with wine.
Suddenly, Cheng’s face turned pale and he clutched his chest. He began panting, gasping for air. I shouted,
“Help! Help!”
The doctor did not know what caused Cheng’s illness, but we could see that Cheng was getting very sick
and might soon die. The rumour spread that Cheng had drunk the demon’s wine. I felt responsible for it as
I was the one who served him the wine. I decided to go to find the mystical Medicine of Immortality.
The other sailors thought that I was a fool, and no one wanted to risk the wrath of demons. So I set out
alone. For seven days and seven nights, the seas were rough. The waves were soaring and twice I had been
thrown out into the waters and almost got drowned. But nothing could stop me from finding the Medicine
of Immortality. I continued to battle the angry seas and the unforgiving waves. But my boat was small and
finally a huge wave came washing over me and I went under and lost consciousness.
When I woke up, I found myself on an island. The island was covered with lush trees, green grass and
beautiful spring flowers. A girl came towards me. She looked strange when her face was illuminated by the
moonlight and she said, “You have found Penglai Island. My father found you worthy and decided to give
you the Medicine of Immortality. Follow me please.”
The girl led me to a huge cave decorated with beautiful jewels.
“So you want the medicine for your immortality?” An old man with a long white beard asked me kindly.
I was lost for words momentarily. I then managed a smile and asked, “Can I have the Medicine of
Immortality please? My captain is in dire need for this medicine. He is now dying!” I felt my throat
tightened and tears came to my eyes.
The old man smiled and said, “Well, here it is. You have proved yourself worthy of taking the medicine,
and it will give you immortality. Of course, if you take it, you can’t bring it back to save your captain, but
you can live here forever. However, if you give the medicine to your captain, he might be saved but he
can’t live forever. What a waste!”