Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 119

My ship and Chen’s ship circled each other. “Aye! Zheng He! It sure is a pleasure to meet such a honorable man at sea!” Chen called out with a smirk. His attitude didn’t bother me, I was fully expecting that. “Hello, Chen Zuyi, same to you,” I replied calmly. His smirk faltered. “I’ve come to surrender and I hope you will accept my apology,” he said with a fake smile. That was definitely not what I was expecting. “Well, Chen Zuyi, not something I expected, turning over a new leaf?” I prompted. “Yes, mind if I come aboard?” he asked. I knew Chen was a man of tricks and lies, so I was skeptical of his apologies, however I decided to welcome him aboard. “Come join us on board, my friend,” I welcomed him onto the ship, he came on bearing a big fake grin. Once he was on board, before one could blink an eye, he drew out his sword and attempted to stab me in the back. However, I was perfectly ready and dodged to the left. For one swift moment, I caught a look of alarm on his face but then he was back in action. “Men come aboard!” he yelled to his crew. I watched out of the corner of my eye as hundreds of pirates stumbled on board. They all looked different, some with a parrot on their shoulder, some with a pegged leg, some with an eye mask, but they all shared one thing in common, they looked ready to kill. I had no choice but to open fire myself. “Fire at will,” I ordered my own fleet. I was always a organised person, and preferred to plan ahead. Thanks to this, my crew and I had rehearsed a battle scene many times, planning out strategic moves and places to defeat the enemy. However, Chen Zuyi and his fleet were a big match, as they had participated in many bloody and vicious battles. Two of my most trusted assistants crept up behind Chen, and threw a rope over his body. They dragged him to a sturdy post and firmly tied him up. But Chen did not give up easily, he chewed threw the rope, and before we knew it, he was back in again. He came up behind me and slashed through my arm, luckily I dodged and knocked him to the ground. Quickly my assistants tied him up much more firmly as well as locked him in a vault. Even though the battle with Chen was over, we still needed to fight of his men. We ended up killing more than five thousand of his men and unfortunately, some of my crew were gone and kidnapped. I was glad the battle was over. My crew abandoned the lead ship, since it was damaged badly, and moved onto another one. I and two others removed a struggling Chen Zuyi, knocked him unconscious and carried him to the next ship. As we settled in for yet another night, I thought about the previous battle, and I was more than pleased that we have finally defeated the infamous Chen Zuyi. I fell asleep with a peaceful mind. “Home sweet home!” I woke to the sound of people calling. I descended from the ship, it felt great to set foot on Chinese land once again. From, Zheng He I smiled with nostalgia after I finished reading the letter I wrote to myself twenty six years ago, from my first voyage. I glanced ahead and saw the door of my cabin. I was resting on my deathbed, sick, with no cure. My fleet was heading back from our seventh voyage back to China. I had seen many amazing things during my time, from precious jewels to giraffes, I had seen the world in my life. I really could not have wanted anything else, apart from seeing my homeland one last time. I could sense I wouldn’t make it back to China so for a reminder, I picked up the letter I wrote to myself twenty six years ago, and began to read… ‘My name is Zheng He, and I am the greatest admiral in history…’ with that I looked around the world one last time and closed my eyes to eternal and peaceful sleep.