and we need your help. Now go to the Great Wall and defend your country, as well as your village from
intruders!” The villagers could not believe what they heard. They looked at each other. Seeing this, the
soldier said, “Hurry up! If you continue to stand here doing nothing, the Mongols will soon reach your
village!” The villagers followed the soldier and climbed the mountain to the Great Wall.
When the villagers reached the Great Wall, the Chinese and Mongolian armies were already battling.
Chinese archers lined up on the Great Wall and shot arrows towards the Mongols. Mongolian archers
retaliated. The Mongolian army mainly consisted of cavalries and catapults. The catapults kept projecting
stones towards the Great Wall. At the scene of the war, corpses scattered on the ground and blood flowed on
the ground like a red stream. Groans of soldiers and neighs of horses filled the air. The villagers shivered as
they equipped themselves with bows and joined the Chinese army. Despite the villagers’ participation, the
Chinese army was outfought by the Mongols. The number of Chinese soldiers dropped drastically. The
Mongolian catapults kept projecting huge stones towards the Great Wall. The Great Wall was crushed by the
stones and the defense line of China was at the verge of being carved open. The villagers were extremely
frightened and felt hopeless. They knew that the Mongols would soon defeat the Chinese army. Once they
were captured by the Mongols, there was no way they could live.
Suddenly, a flash of dazzling white light blinded the villagers. When the villagers opened their eyes,
they could not believe what they saw: the Great Wall had disappeared, it had transformed into a giant dragon!
The dragon was so enormous that it shrouded the skies and blocked sunlight, such that people on the ground
could hardly see. On the dragon sat the ancestors of the villagers and the men who perished in the fortification
project of the Great Wall! The ancestors sat in the front of the dragon, while the perished men sat at the back.
They were attached to the dragon by long, iron chains which gave out screechy clatters when they clashed
against each other. Everyone froze, not knowing what to do. The dragon whirled in the skies with increasing
velocity, looking more and more aggressive. Suddenly, it gave a deafening roar which scared everyone to
death and shot flames towards the Mongolians. At the same time, strong south winds blew and spread the fire.
The fire soon spread beyond the horizons of the villagers, and Mongolian soldiers groaned in pain. Soon the
fire gulped everything north of the Great Wall and nothing was left. The dragon seemed to have calmed down
and gave out a roar of victory.
Then, a flash of dazzling white light appeared again, and the dragon disappeared. The once vanished
Great Wall reappeared. Strangely, the once missing corpses of the perished villagers in the fortification project
of the Great Wall came out from nowhere. They were attached to the Great Wall by long, iron chains. The
villagers tried to detach them from the Great Wall, but no matter how hard they tried, their efforts were in vain.
With mixed feelings, they returned to Changtai Village and planned to go to the Great Wall the next day.
However, they could not even get close to the Great Wall the next day. When they tried to get near the Great
Wall, there were repulsive forces that kept them away from the Great Wall, as if there was a huge magnet in the
Great Wall. Years after that, the corpses were still tied to the Great Wall and the villagers still couldn’t get
near the Great Wall. The villagers said that their ancestors must have prevented them from getting near the
dangerous Great Wall.
* * *