Beneath the Great Wall
Catherine Chan, Group 3: Fiction, HKUGA College
erracotta Warriors of Qin Emperor in Xian – where thousands of Terracotta soldiers and horses are
buried. They represent Qin’s bodyguards after their death, protecting Emperor Qin in the other world.
But, did Qin Shihuang live with his troops only? If yes, he would have lived a very lonely life without
wives, servants, and high ranking officers. If he still wanted to rule the world after his death, I believe
he might have erected other statues of his dear ones as well. But, if this is true, where did he hide them?
I have been doing research of Qin’s history for years, especially the subject of the Great Wall. People
believe that the Great Wall was simply built to defend against the northern enemies from Mongolia. But are
things really that simple?
The Shanxi province in China is where parts of the broken Great Wall are located. Unlike the famous parts
of Great Wall at Ba Da Ling or Mu Tian Yu in Beijing, where millions of tourists visit every year, this is where
the ruins of thousands of miles of real sections of the Great Wall are located. Moreover, after a long time
researching, I discovered that this is the place where Qin Shihuang was born. Here, no tourists, but only local
villagers live and cultivate under the original stones of the Great Wall for many generations.
Underneath the broken Great Wall was a village which, according to my research, was where Qin Shihuang
was born. As I went into the village, an old temple was ahead of me. It was red, old, dusty and spooky. A huge
symbol “
＊
”
was carved on the wall. And as I walked inside, I saw some villagers praying towards a statue that
I suspected was the Chinese God. I tip-toed into the corridor and found a dark, empty room. I tried to get into
the room, just like a curious tourist.
“
Can I help you, young man?” someone said from behind me, and I jumped off my feet.
I turned around quickly. An old man was standing there, staring at me. He had deepened eyes, grey hair,
and was walking with a stick. From his face, he did not seem happy with what I did.
“
What are you doing?” he asked in his deep voice.
“
I…” I was just about to start my sentence.
“
Well I hope you aren’t thinking of getting in,” he said as he pointed into the empty room, “I am the owner
of this place. If I said don’t go in, DON’T even think of doing that,” He seemed to be getting crossed.
“
Well…sure…” I began, “But could I just…”
“
NO! I repeat, NOBODY is allowed to get there!” he shouted, with anger.
There must be something fishy going on in that room, I thought.
I could not control my curiosity. I watched as the old man shut the door, and locked it with a rusty little
lock.
He had forgotten the windows.
The old man stared at me as I walked out of the temple. I went to the other side, found the correct window,
and climbed into it.
I took out my torch but the room was really empty, except one place. Behind the door, there was a map
carved on the wall. I examined that map on the wall and found that it was a map of ancient China. I could see
the different sections of the Great Wall marked on the map clearly.
I walked around the empty room, thinking about the map. Then I heard a little cracking sound beneath my
leg. I knelt down and knocked on the floor gently: it sounded quite strange. I pulled it up and to utter
astonishment, there was a path down there. A path under the Great Wall.
I entered slowly, closed the underground-tunnel’s “door”, took a deep breath, crossed my fingers, held my
torch tight and walked into the dusty, dark path, full of spider webs.
Then I heard someone shouting from above, “Who went in here?”
I bet it was the old man. I heard his footsteps, and he seemed to have been running inside in a rush. But
then suddenly, the sound of his footsteps died down. Soon, I heard nothing and the room went completely silent.
After a while, the old man whispered down the tunnel, “If you are already inside, please… Please don’t
come out from this end anymore…”
From his voice, it seemed he was totally scared by then.
I wondered why, but I did not care about him. I just kept walking down the stairs in the tunnel. I then found
myself standing in a corridor. It was somehow three meters wide only, walls decorated with marbles. I kept
walking forward, and I saw something… Or SOMEONE instead, holding a sword.
“
Anybody here?” I whispered.
The only sound I heard was my echo. Then, I shouted– still no response. I walked towards the “human-
T