Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 97

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
Harrow International School Shanghai, Li, Rianne - 13
After travelling at sea for months, we finally catch shore in our eyesight in the distance, but instead of
Calicut or Siam, or any other place we visited, these unfamiliar waters are definitely out of this world. No,
this land is more rural, more mystical, more natural.
As we were approaching the shore, we encountered some of this land’s natural inhabitants – the half-fish-
half-crocodile, with the two half constantly at war, the glowing blind fish, the shrimp that lives inside a
whale. For that reason, we were not terribly surprised by what we saw when we arrived.
For starters, the land was filled with moss, grass, and plants, like the ground in a forest, which probably
means this civilisation did not discover the sea yet, or the coast for that matter of fact, as there is no sign of
human there for as far as the horizon. But having traveled at sea for months, our provisions were running
low, which forced us to stop on this foreign land.
While we ventured on into the deep dark woods, for reasons of gathering provisions and to present our
emperor’s lavish good-will presents to any civilisation who manages to reside in this forest. But soon, we
ventured straight into a problem. Near where we were, there was a hardly helpful sign, which translated
into:‘Do not walk near the ghi or step on the xno. If you do, YOU’RE DEAD.’
We quickly figured out the ‘trees’, which look like colourful tunnels, made of wood, leading you down the
rabbit hole, could move themselves, like they are individual living entities, and engulf any being within its
proximity and manages to stay there. While the ‘trees’ are engulfing organisms, it screeches ‘Ghi!Ghi!’to
signal its victory in capturing prey. If you put a stone near a ghi, the stone will disappear quicker than you
can say ‘ghi’, as the towering parasitic entity will have swallowed the stone. The ghi would even suck a ghi
sapling from the ground, uprooting it from the earth below. However, there is one thing it does not eat —
the dull coloured pebble on the ground, xno, and we soon find out why.
The uninteresting pebbles that littered the ground, proved to be lethal, because if pressure is applied to it,
the xno instantly ignites. A single one of smooth small pebbles generate enough fire to turn 10 ghi into ash,
who knows what will happen if we made a small lethal mistake.
We had brainstormed many ideas to help us pass, but none of them seemed able to work. As the only
reasonable thing to do, we tried to find ways to go around our obstacle. Instead of finding another way
through, we found resources, perhaps to aid us in getting past. We found: fallen ghi, a source of wood,
branches and sticks; ashes of either ghi, xno or both. Unfortunately, apart from our opening, the other paths
are guarded by a wall of ghi, or a floor of xno.
When we returned to the opening, a chimpanzee like creature, a bird with a rabbit’s head, and a blue rabbit
with no head awaited our arrival. They waited until everyone arrived, like they have something important
to show us. First, the man-sized ‘chimpanzee’ leaped at great lengths, leaving a pile of xno instantly bursting
into flames, then it grabbed onto the ghi branches, which are flexible like rope, durable as it could hold the
‘chimpanzee’s weight, and it did not break even after the ‘chimpanzee’ sprung off it. Afterwards, the ‘rabbit’
held a ghi stick in its paws and started pushing the xno on the ground forward, providing safe passage for
itself. Lastly, the ‘bird’ sprinkle some powder on a ghi and a different powder on some xno near the
powdered ghi, and that triggered ghi to eat the xno, and the xno to burn instantly. In the end, there is a
burnt ghi and a patch of ground near it.
Taking this as a hint, we quickly decided what to do. First we assembled the ghi branches and sticks, to form
a poorly made broom, and swept away the xno, enough to form a path. Next we sprinkled the ashes we
found on the ghi and the xno near it, to make sure we were not engulfed by the hollow husks of trees.
After we all made safe passage, I looked back at the forest, half of which is lit by flames we set, but we had
no choice — we were desperate and low on provisions.
We walked on, into the forest, with many new acquaintances — we met the animals who helped us earlier,
with their friends as well, the butterfly-frog, the human bird, the part dog, part cat, part mouse, a dause.
The woods surrounding us also seemed to brighten — instead of lethal ghi on our sides and xno underneath
us, the woods changed to actual trees, but not quite. Even though now there are animals, trees and grass, but
if you look more carefully, you can still see the lethal factor in these creatures, — the trees are like furnaces,
the bird-man has spikes it can use as a weapon, the butterfly-frog can eat just about anything, anywhere.
After our exhausting hike, we finally found something which hints that there is a civilisation present on this
strange land, we found some buildings, and more signs. They translated into: ‘Welcome to Ysomr!
Welcome to our small humble kingdom.’