The Power Unleashed
Ling Chung Lam, Group 3: Fiction, Heep Yunn School
nce upon a time, there lived a beautiful maiden called Meng Jiangnu, who was blissfully happy with
her husband. However, no sooner than their wedding had her husband been recruited by the army.
Though grief-stricken, Meng decided to go on a journey to give her husband some warm clothes. But
in spite of her determination, she failed utterly. That was because, before she arrived at the Great
Wall where her husband defended China, her husband had perished. Meng, in her devastation in her
beloved’s death, wept and wept…
So Meng Jiangnu’s heart-breaking weeping collapsed the Great Wall and shook the entire China. Even
people from miles away could feel the tremors under their feet. After this tragic incident, Meng was called upon
by the Qin emperor, who was then captivated by her looks. He wanted her to be his wife, yet she had three
requests: first, to let her husband have a fine and grand funeral; second, to mourn her husband; and third, to let
her see the ocean. Yet after these three wishes were granted, Meng did not fulfill the agreement — instead, she
jumped into the sea and committed suicide.
As time passed by, Abigail grew tired of the story. “Father, it’s not that I don’t like this story. I love it, I
really do. But why have you told me this particular story again and again?”
“
Well… dearest Abigail, let me tell you later, when you’re older.”
* * *
It was two years later, a gloomy autumn that sent chills behind one’s back. Abigail was at her father’s
deathbed, telling him that very story which he told her every night. “Father, remember how Meng Jiangnu cried
when she knew her husband died? Please stay with me! Or else I’ll weep even harder than her, please…” she
rocked herself to and fro, unable to control her worry and misery.
“
Abbie! Hack, my sweet, sweet daughter…, don’t weep. Let me tell you a secret, hack, passed down from
our ancestors — Meng Jiangnu gave birth to a child before she died… hack hack…” her father closed his eyes,
as though he was weary.
“
Stay with me, Father!” Abigail cried out in great despair.
“
Abbie… hack… our family endowment… hack…unleashes great power… when we express huge
emotions… control that dangerous power, hack, don’t let it overcome and control you. Our family can be in
fatal danger… it’ll not be easy… hack hack...”
Abigail watched silently as her father slid into a slumber: the lights in his eyes went away slowly, until
they were blankly dim, as if he was staring into space. Abigail felt a great pain in her body, like a knife stabbing
her heart again and again…Yet she couldn’t let her father down. She had to find out about Father’s dying wish.
* * *
In frustration, Abigail threw down yet another book. “How can I know if there’s even a secret? What if ...
father was just babbling nonsense?” She shook her head helplessly and sobbed. Then all of a sudden, she
jumped up from her chair like a jack-in-a-box, her eyes shining. “Father’s workshop! Why have I never thought
of that?”
Having dashed to her father’s workshop, Abigail was certainly guilty for having rudely barging in. Still
when she looked around, the guilty feeling morphed into a firework display inside her. Instead, an
overwhelming feeling of amazement and incredulity rose.
When she looked around, the small workshop seemed to be a structure of an old building, and the modern
electronic appliances seemed out of place. Pictures of a long building snaking its way up and down hills covered
the walls, which was surely the Great Wall. And in the middle of them all, there hung a huge picture of a
gorgeous young maiden, whose hair cascaded to her waist, like a long river as black as coal. She wore a
magnificent red gown, which displayed her identity as one of the king’s many wives. However, her eyes, though
beautiful they were, looked melancholic.
Abigail approached the picture. The frame, golden and exquisitely carved, looked perfect for the girl’s
portrait. She then inspected it for a long time, and turned to examine the rest of the room. But suddenly she
tripped over something, and she bent down to pick it up. This object was a book, a diary of some sort. The first
page read:
Here is the complete story of Meng Jiangnu — this pitiful maiden had given birth to a child,
a
beautiful baby girl. This unfortunate orphan took her mother’s maiden name,
Meng, and she lived a long,
long life in peace. The name Meng was passed on for
generations, and the names are shown below.
“
Abigail ran her eyes down this long list of names until she found hers at the very bottom. She stared at it
O