Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 173

After a few days, Shing was summoned to the commanding room. He stepped into the
room anxiously. Zheng He and other commanders were in the room as well, including
the middle-aged man. Zheng He started first, “As we are coming close to our destination,
we should start to prepare our products for trading. I hope Shing can join us as well to
gain some experience. Also, we all remember our secret mission, right?” The others
nodded in confidence, except the middle-aged man, who started to cringe in fear. After
the conference, Shing asked Zheng He, “What is the secret mission actually?” Zheng He
leaned towards Shing and whispered, “Finding the deposed emperor of China.” Shing
stepped back. He had never thought that there was such a mission. So he answered
frankly, “I…I understand. I will try to do my best.”
After a few days and nights, the fleet ported in Calicut. Shing helped lowering the goods.
There were all kinds of products, including tea leaves, silk and china. He traded with the
locals. The locals smiled brightly when they saw the products. Zheng He greeted them,
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. We are the representatives of Ming Dynasty. We wish to be
partners with your civilization forever.” Shing could see that the locals were in awe of the
fleet and were overjoyed to become trade partners. The representatives of the locals
replied with respect, “We would love to cooperate with your country. We will also bow
before your king.” When they left, Zheng He’s ship was loaded with goods brought from
the locals. Shing was impressed as well. Western explorers such as Columbus sailed to new
lands. Instead of forming a friendly relationship with the locals, he waged war and
conquered their land. Shing admired Zheng He even more.
After leaving Calicut, some of the crew members started to feel homesick. They groaned
and mumbled, hoping Zheng He would turn the ship back to China. Shing tried to
suppress the anger within them, yet the anger kept spreading. It was contagious and
snowballing into rebellions that seemingly descended into a mutiny. With no choice, he
turned to Zheng He. Eventually, Zheng He made a decision, “I order all of you to listen
to me. We will go to one final destination before sailing back home.” The crew cheered
and prepared for the next landing.
The destination was a small island. Shing could hardly see anyone on it. Therefore, he
asked Zheng He out of curiosity, “Why do you want to visit this island? It’s like there’s
no one on it!” Zheng He answered, “An island as remote as this one is the best place for a
deposed emperor to hide and waiting for an opportunity to return to China.” Shing
nodded and did not asked furthermore.
As soon as they got off the ship, some barbarians ran out from the forest, shouting and
running. They were holding some poorly made sharp tools. Zheng He and Shing both
realized they were hostile and prepared for a battle. The salvages promptly noticed that
Zheng He was the captain of the fleet and attacked him. Shing fought hard as well.
Though Zheng He reacted quickly, he still couldn’t face twenty salvages at the same time.
Shing was so devoted into fighting that he failed to realize that one of the barbarians was
coming towards Zheng He. As the barbarian was about to stab Zheng He into his chest,
that middle-aged man with a scar on his face blocked the salvage’s knife with his own
body. Zheng He yelled, “Shing, take care of him!” Then he kept fighting. Shing pressed
onto the man’s wound yet he kept bleeding. “It’s no use,” the middle-aged man