me an old brown parchment with creases on it.
“
Alright, let me check it out. ‘Hint 1: white and sweet on the hill.’ What does that mean?” I wondered.
“
White and sweet. Marshmallows?” I laughed. “Wait, maybe you’re right. I guess I know what it is. It means
clouds, not marshmallow. Clouds taste sweet too, and they know about lots of things. How can I forget it!
Badaling is the highest point of the Great Wall, so maybe it can explain the
‘
hill’ part and we may find another clue there. Let’s go.” He started to run.
“
Wait! What’s that?” I pointed at the black spot in the sky with my finger.
“
That’s the Black Bird. Oh, no. We must run faster than it. Come on, take my hand.”
He gave me his hand.
“
Well, okay….” I held his hand and we started moving at a really high speed. After a few minutes, we
arrived. The sun shone so brightly that I couldn’t even open my eyes. The gentle breeze cooled my face and I
could smell the sweetness in the air. It made me forget we were adventuring.
“
Are we going to eat the clouds? You said they taste sweet. ” I broke the silence. “Maybe, maybe not.
That depends. Let’s ask the clouds. Ready?” He looked at me. “What? No, wait….”
“
You’re too late. We are in the sky,” he smirked.
“
Mr. Cloud, can you tell me how we can get the second clue?” Liam asked a cloud that was alive!
“
Mr. Guardian, I thought you would never ask. I’ve been waiting for you for so long. A tale has being
passed between us.”
“
Please do tell us,” I said to the extraordinary cloud.
“
Once you taste sweetness, you must taste bitterness. Good luck,” the cloud smiled cordially.
“
Mr. Cloud, one thing more. Have you seen the Black Bird?” Liam stroked his chin with his hand. “Yes, and
he got the clue too by threatening my friends. I’m really sorry. Please take a part of my body; it’ll help you and
your friend sooner or later.” Tears were in its small eyes. “Everything is going to be fine. Don’t be worried,
friend. We must go now; thanks for your gift,” Liam tried to comfort it. Then we were back on the ground.
Seeing Mr. Cloud’s situation, I realized that the adventure was a serious matter. I felt upset.
“
Is it too much for you?” Liam saw into my mind. I nodded my head.
“
I’m sorry that you had to be involved in all of this. As long as we work hard, it will end well. So let’s
put our heads together and figure out what ‘once you taste sweetness, you must taste bitterness’ means.” His
words warmed my heart.
“
I think that means something tastes bitter, or maybe it’s a metaphor representing, for example,
difficulties…”I said softly to Liam with a puzzled face.
“
Don’t look so confused.” He shook my shoulder hard.
“
Ouch! It hurts.” I looked at him seriously.
“
I’m so sorry for being mean. I just thought that it may help you to cheer up a little bit and it worked! So,
any ideas?” he asked as we walked along.
“
Maybe one. Jiang Jun Cun is the narrowest part of the Great Wall. It is really difficult to get through it. Is
it possible that the flower would grow on the dragon?,” I said doubtfully.
“
Nothing is impossible. This risk is worth taking. Let’s go there to have a look.” Liam was ready to run again.
“
I can’t bear the super speed anymore. Can we have a rest and walk there then?” I begged.
“
That’s reasonable. Eat something, and then we need to get started.” He gave me a piece of cloud. “It
can help you become stronger. We need the power against our enemies. I think we are going to meet him
very soon.” Worries crossed his face.
“
Is there anything you want to ask?” he tried to change the atmosphere.
“
How did you become a guardian?” I found a place to sit.
“
The Great Wall picked me, like you were picked. I woke up here one morning, then the Great Wall
talked to me, and asked me if I would take the job. Since I’m an orphan, I didn’t need to worry about my
parents. So, I took it.”
“
You took it,” we said with one accord.
After having dessert, we resumed our adventure.
“
There’s still some distance to our destination. Why don’t you use the super high speed? “I jumped
over a big rock by holding Liam’s shoulder.
“
I want to, but you don’t want it. Besides, I don’t have much power left. I’d better save my energy.” His
face was so close to mine that I could see the freckles on it. His blue eyes were crystal clear and his smile was
bitter.
We arrived at the Jiang Jun Cun after three hours walking. The path was only 70 centimetres wide, so it was
really dangerous. I walked every step totteringly and focused on searching for the flower at the same time. Every
rock and brick was weak.