Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 15

Getting to the government building was nowhere as easy as Jamie expected. Firstly, men were pulling rickshaws
with such speed they narrowly missed pedestrians - men in long robes and women wearing flowery gowns.
Nobody laughed or stopped to talk with friends. They were all hurrying about to get to their own business. A fight
broke out between a barman and what appeared to be a tramp, who was twitching convulsively, his surly face
masked with bellicose anger. Secondly, armed soldiers trudged around, glaring darkly at passersby. Jamie had learned
some Chinese from his Chinese governess, so he was able to catch the words “Japanese invasion” weaving in the air,
buzzing around like angry bees. An odd feeling of tense anticipation filled the atmosphere. Patches of wilted grass
were hanging their heads, as if they too were sharing the misery. Then again, there was always the possibility that
someone working for ShenWu was posing as a pedestrian waiting to pounce on them and get a reward from the
boss.
Sixten led him through the winding passageways and aisle. They passed a magnificent temple with the Chinese
characters “Jing’an Temple” on the front, where several monks were practicing a form of martial arts that Jamie
recognized as “Wushu” while other monks were humming Buddhism prayers routinely.
“Hey, you!” a raspy voice cut across the prayers. Jamie adverted his eyesight to the direction of the voice. “Yes, you,
Kid, I’ve got something to show you,” an elderly woman beckoned towards him. Jamie exchanged a significant
glance with Sixten before he shrugged and followed the woman into her shop.
As Jamie entered the shop, the distinctive aroma of green tea whiffed his senses. The woman turned and gave him a
toothless grin, a mad gleam visible in her eyes, before taking out a white block of marble and a match. She lit the
match on some logs and then started to ground the marble into the fire. Suddenly the flames erupted into blinding
purple fairies, which joined hands and danced around the logs, flickering elegantly.
“When the flames of heaven burn, the evil will overcome the world; and the few left with a hope to save it will get
a warning. Jamie, be careful, ShenWu’s intentions are more insidious than they seem,” the woman asseverated and
they relapsed into a prickly silence. She waved a hand towards the door and backed into the shadows until only her
emerald green eyes were visible, glowing eerily.
Jamie wasted no time recounting the warnings, to his surprise Sixten just nodded glumly. After another five minutes,
a tyrannical grey building stood in front of them, leering at everyone and anyone that dared to disturb the cold aura
it radiated. Dodging around the gate, Jamie was surprised to find the entrance unguarded. Once inside the building,
he heard an old grandfather clock ticking away vindictively, like a nuclear bomb, only making them more nervous.
Everything had gone too smoothly since they left the gang’s headquarters, making fear bubble like acid inside his
stomach and the thought that sooner or later a tornado of catastrophe was going to strike only made it worse.
Above his head, a pirouetting chandelier was swinging alarmingly. Nobody in the lobby stopped them although
Jamie knew hundreds and hundreds of eyes were upon them as though each were a searchlight. They successfully
made it to the lawyer’s office. Knocking fervently at the door, Jamie was once again left to dwell over their streak of
good luck as the lawyer opened the door and motioned for them to enter.
“Well, times are changing around here. What have you got to tell me?” pronounced the lawyer in rather fluent
English.
“Sir, you’ve got to know a local gang left by the notorious ShenWu has been kidnapping children of important
officials overseas for ransoms,” remarked Sixten with unexpected confidence, as the absurdity of the sentence sank
in.
“I cannot pretend I haven’t been expecting this since my poor brother was murdered by them. I assume that the
piece of paper that you are holding is the ransom note.” the lawyer sighed and carried on，“Very well, I’ll arrange
transportation for you to go back to England. It’s very fortunate that you’ve stopped this in time.”
***
Jamie was lounging in the luxurious cabin of the ship, lethargically flipping through the newspaper searching for an
article about ShenWu’s gang. When he finally found the page, he saw a picture of them all wearing vindictive smiles
while officers pinned them to the wall. He threw the newspaper at Sixten who caught it and folded it into a paper
airplane. “10 minutes till we arrive,” came a voice from the loud speakers.