Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 250

Sighing deeply, Lishen knew he hadn’t a choice. The Emperor had specifically asked for him to go alone. He walked over to his son and knelt down. “Soon, my brave one. It will be your turn.” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………. 1827, Shanghai “Heave-ho! Move it! The gate’s almost finished! There’ll be food for all of us!” Lishen wiped the sweat off his brow using a fat finger. Shanghai’s Eastern Water Gate would be complete in time for Winter. The famine had hit Shanghai unexpectedly. None of the local crops could grow, and with the growing pressure of the power Li Zicheng’s rebellion, foreign imports were cut off, and the number of mouths to feed increased drastically. The Emperor had organized an emergency squad for the building of the Eastern Water Gate, to allow ships to directly enter the town. Licheng looked across the horizon – the sun had just risen. The emergency squad had worked all night, and Licheng was exhausted. A black speck appeared on the sun. Licheng tried to ignore it, but he kept turning around to inspect the dot. And every time he turned, it got larger. The ground started shaking. A little at first, but slowly getting more vigorous. Finally, it got unignorable. “Who’s there?” Licheng roared. He was tired by the endless night of work. His eyes were bloodshot, his patience seeping away by every passing moment. As a response, a volley of arrows flew in from the sky. They rained down on the half-complete gate. The surrounding area exploded in chaos. People were scrambling to get to safety, some ducking under the pavilion, others sounding the horn to let people know that they were under attack. An arrow was headed straight for Licheng. He sidestepped it, and his foot teetered over the edge of the platform. He struggled to keep his balance, but another arrow forced him to make a spin around the platform. He slipped. He fell. “General! General!”, he heard. Flags of a dragon being raised over the walls of Shanghai, that he had helped to build. Everything went black.