Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 143

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voyages
St. Stephen's College Preparatory School, Wong, Audrey - 11
After the last adventure, the Ming Treasure Fleet was ready for an eighth adventure around Asia, this time
led by Yong-yi Lui, a scholar who was at a tender age of 18, and who was also proficient in the famous five
martial arts: Baguazhang, Kung Fu, Shuai Jiao, Tai Chi and Wushu.
The fleets set off from the dock early in the morning on the 15th March 1440. Yong-yi
stood on the deck, admiring the vast sea in front of him. A sailor ran up to him and said,” Sir, it is nearly
noon now. Would you like to eat your meal up here or at your private cabin?”
Yong-yi replied, “Just bring it up here, and tell the cook my thanks to him for cooking
my meal.” The sailor was so surprised that his mouth was wide open for a moment. He had never expected
such words would come out of a young boy’s mouth! The sailor quickly nodded his head and ran back to
the kitchen to report everything he had heard to his fellow shipmates. Everyone was astounded by the
event, but more surprises were to be revealed to these sailors.
By the tenth day, the crew had already landed in several countries and had paid respects
and made alliances with the reigning monarchs. The monarchs were amazed by the Ming dynasty’s
enormous wealth and fortune! Yong-yi was very satisfied with the progress with the alliances and let the
crew rest at a country-Arleguern-for two days before the fleets continued their journey around Asia, but
what Yong-yi didn’t know was that an evil force was slowly creeping its way into his life and would soon
endanger the lives of the entire fleet.
After resting at Arleguern, the Ming Treasure Fleet raised the sails once again and
recommenced their journey. Yong-yi was in his cabin reading a book when a sailor frantically knocked on
the cabin door while gasping for breath, “Sir, sir! A ship has been seen sailing towards us! The watchman
guesses that it is a pirate ship coming for our gold! Sir, what should we do, what should we do?”
“Prepare the cannons and the guns! I will be there in a minute. Spread the word that a
pirate ship is coming and everyone should be ready with their weapons, whether it is swords, spears, bow
and arrows…” Yong-yi calmly replied.
“Yes!” And with that, the sailor nodded and swiftly rushed out of the room to spread the
word. Yong-yi’s eyes instantly turned frosty and flashed a murderous glint, as though he had some grudge
against pirates. He fixed his clothes and strolled out of his cabin. Yong-yi arrived at the deck only to see a
ship with a skull painted on its mast and flag sailing speedily towards their fleets. His eyes somehow turned
even icier. The pirate ship stopped parallel to Yong-yi’s fleet and a pirate with a black beard and a patch
over his left eye stepped out.
“Ah, brother, we meet again after so many years. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you last,
4 years, am I correct? Anyway, I need to introduce myself once again for those of you who don’t know me.
I am Lui Lei-yong, the famed pirate and your commander’s blood-brother.” Lui Lei-yong took the
initiative to speak up.
“I have never considered you as my brother since you killed our whole family, even your
own parents, and left the household burning to the ground when I came home from class.” An arctic voice
came echoing back to Lei-yong’s ears.
“Oh! You still bear a grudge against that? Well, let me let you in to a little secret: They
were never our real parents, little brother. They picked us up from the streets and raised us up, making us
believe they were our biological parents.” Lui Lei-yong bitterly laughed.
“Well, then there’s all the more reason to be grateful to them, isn’t there?” Yong-yi’s
voice was seeping with bitterness and anger.
“Stop being so emotional, little brother! Anyhow, I am still here to steal all of your
treasures and food or you can all die while defending, your choice.” Lui Lei-yong roared hysterically.
“Sailors and fellow shipmates, we must not easily surrender all of our dynasty’s precious
treasures to filthy pirates, should we?” Every shipmate shook their head. “Well then, fellow shipmates, if we
die today defending our dynasty’s reputation and treasures, it’ll still be worth it! Charge!”
This was the start of a bloody battle. The pirates jumped onto the Ming Treasure Fleet
and every shipmate fought bravely and struck down countless followers of Lui Lei-yong. Lui Yong-yi used
all his knowledge in the well-known five martial arts to defend against the hoard of pirates that seemed to
be endless, but the tides were changing. Soon, the hoard of pirates was reduced from crowds, to hundreds,