Elixir of Life
Brian Wong, Group 3: Fiction, Diocesan Boys' School
ome back, my dear son!" The boy's mother went into a desperate struggle with the emperor's
guards. With a thrust of the king's hand, a spear was sank into the heart of the grief-stricken
widow. But the son did not even turn back to look.
A few years later, construction on the Great Wall of China had finally been finished.
Hundreds of thousands of men died in the process but the king did not care. While the Great
Wall seemed to be used to protect China from outside countries at first glance, it was actually built for one
single purpose, to store the Elixir of Life.
When Xu Fu brought back the potion from the mountain far east of China years ago, the king tried to
keep it hidden in a mysterious cellar in the Great Wall. It was to be consumed when the king was about to die
and it was said that the potion would have the effect of giving him 100 more years of life. No one was
supposed to know of the potion so he ordered the murder of Xu Fu and his 3000 servants, saying that they died
on the mountain. The only one that knew of the king's secret was his wife, whom he later killed without a
second of hesitation.
Meanwhile, that boy plotted his escape from the slave camp. He knew that if he had defended his
mother years ago, he would never have the chance to avenge his mother's inevitable death. He also knew that
there was something weird going on when he was ordered to build a secret underground chamber right below
the Great Wall.
On one cold and stormy night, he killed the officer who sent him food and took his uniform, escaping into the
city through the night.
Sixteen years later, the boy was already a full-grown man. He married a beautiful wife and together they
had four children. But he never forgot his mother's poor death. In the next few years, that man led a few
revolutions but to no success, only to find himself hiding in the Great Wall that he built with his own hands, his
family thousands of miles away from him.
The man dared not get out of the Great Wall as he knew that there were guards after him everywhere. In
hunger and desperation, he killed all the guards in the Northern Pass, thus living there until he could formulate a
plan to tear down the Qin Dynasty.
Over time he did hear rumours that the secret chamber he built contained the Elixir of Life which the king
was seeking. Being familiar with what he had built, he went into the chamber, stole the potion and began to put
together a conspiracy.
In the meantime, the king was facing severe illness in his palace. He quickly sent forth Li Si to fetch the
Elixir of Life and it was not long before they found out that the potion had gone missing. It was just at this
time of desperation, a man came to the palace and offered up the missing Elixir of Life.
This man of course, was that man in disguise. After stealing the Elixir of Life, he had poured the
medicine into the Yangtze River, filling in a huge amount of mercury. Note that ironically, the original
substance was actually a refined form of mercury, so the king did not realize that it was not the same potion. As
mercury when taken in large amounts could be considered more venomous than the cobra's poison, the king died
in Shaqiu unknowingly, and it was inevitable that the man was immediately executed for treason. Qin the
Second became the king with the support of Li Si.
Yet this is not nearly the end of the story. As you might have noticed, what have happened to the man's
wife and children? After hearing of her husband's death, she committed suicide by jumping down from the
Great Wall. One of the children in particular was determined to continue what his father aimed for -- to
overthrow the Qin empire. That child grew to become a Qin prison guard, trying to find a chance to destroy
Qin once and for all. One day he saw his chance. He freed all the prisoners and being grateful, they became
his followers. The Daze Village Uprising took place to his delight which only further disestablished the Qin
empire. He contacted his friends in his hometown by sending in arrows tied with letters and was called to
battle by the former kings of the six states. He successfully conquered Qin and united China again.
By now, you should know that this child was the infamous Liu Bang, who was one of the best leaders in
Chinese history. His father was Liu Tai Gong, who contributed his life to the Qin rebellion. Yet remember, it
was the Great Wall which in turn led to the fall of the Qin dynasty. Let it be known that while the Great Wall
is standing for more than 2000 years, the misery and laughter stands with it also.
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