Ch.1 The Flood The sun shined through my window, I rubbed my eyes and sat up on my small, crowded bed.

I stepped outside and felt the calm breeze tickling against my skin. The crops were planted neatly in rows. All the houses in the village had a triangular roof with a rectangular base. I live along the Yang Tze River, a place where it rains and floods a lot during autumn and winter. I heard an unusual sound of the water rushing swiftly; I ran to the river and put my hand into the crystal clear water. The sunflowers in my small garden faced down towards the ground. My two horses were acting strangely. My heartbeat got faster and faster as I realized that a big flood was coming within 2 days. The next day I woke up to the pouring rain dropping so heavily like a giant stepping on the roof. I ran out as fast as I could and started screaming, Everyone! A flood is coming in a few hours. Evacuate and gather all your valuables. I ran into my room and gathered some of my silk and jade. Mother! Father!! Lets go! A flood is coming soon! I grabbed one of the horses by their lead rope and swung myself up into the saddle. I clicked my heels and Lao, named after the founder of Daoism immediately went into a gallop. My mother caught up with me on Zi who was also named after the founder of Daoism. Wheres father? The words tumbled out of my mouth in a rush with panic. I looked behind my shoulder; our house was nowhere to be seen. It was too late when I realized what is happening. The flood washed all the memories away; dead bodies lay on the ground cold and wet. Every stride Lao takes, Im further and further away from father, from my garden, and from my house. Anger and sadness filled my body, my tears flew away behind me as I left my village
Ch.2 The Great Wall

From far away, I heard hoof steps coming towards us on the wet ground. I was nervous and halted Lao with a gentle pull on the reins. The hoof steps got closer and closer, I thought about turning around and running away but my body froze and I couldnt move. I looked at mother she seemed completely fine and calm. Hi I am the emperors guard and I am here to take you guys to Beijing to command people to build the great wall because the emperor

heard that you saved the village. PingJing, congratulations you are now a noble foreman. A chubby man in metal armor sat astride a tall bay horse. You are to gather a group of men and at least one women to from the survivors of your village. Mother and I turned around and galloped back to the village. A few hours later, I already had a large group of men walking behind my horse. I only had to find one more person, a woman. Zhimel!! I saw Zhimel out of the corner of my eye. She can be my worker!! I thought. I aggressively took her hand and explained that from now on, I will be her boss and she has to work on the great wall. She gave me a disgusted look and mumbled something in her mouth. It took us quite a while to reach Beijing because I found a village there that my mother could stay at, I continued on with a quick goodbye to mother and Zi. There were thousands of men working at the great wall, some were strong and well fed but some were thin and weak and can barely walk. The bosses were whipping their men. Hard. I thought it was a waste of money and time to build the great wall because they are just wasting natural resources and Im sure all Daoists think the same. I didnt do anything about it though. The days passed by swiftly, everyday we did the same things over and over again. Zhimel was getting thinner and thinner everyday and so did the other man. I use to be cruel and whip my workers all the time for no reason but I dont anymore. I was well fed but every month the amount of my workers decreased. Some ran away, some died of sickness and some died of hunger. I felt really bad for them but I acted harsh to them just so I wont fail at my job of being a boss. Sometimes my workers were hungry and I ran out of food. Five years passed, almost all my workers died or ran away except for Zhimel and 4 men. I was getting thinner and thinner everyday too. The part of the great wall that I was supposed to work on was still unfinished after days and days of hard work. I knew I failed. One sunny morning, I heard shouting from a long distance away. I looked down. THE MONGOLS ARE COMING!! I thought. What do we do now? Zhimel looked at me with big, nervous eyes. I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out. I just stood there with trembling hands not knowing what to do.
Ch.3 Mongol Invasion

I didnt want to face the Mongols. I didnt want to fight at all. Mother and Zi! I thought. The only way out to find and protect mother was surrounded by Mongols. I had to get past them. I ordered Zhimel and my men to follow me to my cabin. I grabbed Lao and got on his back. There were five other horses and so Zhimel and the other 4 men hopped on. We rode out to the battle each carrying a sword. I was in the front of my group, leading them. I heard screaming everywhere as people got shot. Then I heard a loud and startled voice. I looked to my right a rider less horse galloped beside me. I realized that one of my men was shot. No! Zhang Yu! Calm down Ping Jing, calm down! I told myself. I focused at the Mongols coming my way. They had super long bows and arrows and they wore armors with silk. A Mongol came charging at me. I leaned towards him and struck my sword at his chest. He fell off of his horse with a groan. Mongolians kept coming at me but I managed to get rid of everyone of them. Then I saw an arrow coming at my head. My eyes widened and I knew I was going to die. Time seemed to slow down, I opened my mouth ready to scream. Suddenly one of my men, Wu pulled me away from the arrow. Everything happened so quickly, he saved me and I smiled to him. All I had in my mind while fighting was to get to mother. After hours and hours of fighting, the battle was over and we won! I looked at myself amazed. I survived! I had wounds everywhere on my body. Then I said bye to Zhimel who also survived. Everyone was celebrating for our victory. Only two of my men survived, Wu and Qiao. Dead bodies and horses lay on the battlefield. Then everyone came to me and started yelling something. Whats going on? I asked, confused. You saved all of us! Did you know that you killed the general? Qiao told me. I smiled but I had no idea what happened, all I knew was to reach mother. I rode a few miles down to a quiet little village that mother lived at. I went to her house and I ran up to mother, hugging her asking her if everything is okay. Um yeah! Why are you so teary, whats wrong? Mother looked at me. Do you not know? The Mongols came and I saved everyone! Really? Come and sit down. A fragile lady like you should not go out and fight! I could tell mother was mad. I limped over and sat down on her bed.

Ping Jing! Wu shouted from outside. The emperor is here to get you and your mother. I ran outside to see the emperor smiling at me. I heard that you saved us from the Mongols. I am taking you to my royal court for your bravery. With Wu and Qiao next to me and my mom on Lao and Zi, we left the village once again like we did 6 years ago. Ch.4 Forbidden City Life was good. I had everything I needed, food, water, and a big room. Mother lived in a room next to me. Zhimel was also living in the Forbidden City but she picked a room furthest away from me and I was glad. Lao and Zi are settled in a village nearby with Wu and Qiao taking care of them for me. The days passed by quick. Every night I would lay in bed and think of the tragedy six years ago. The thought of losing father still lingered in my mind sometimes. Tears build up in my eyes as I thought of the flood, the water swallowing my village and father. Suddenly, I heard a loud thump from next door. I ran as fast as I could and opened the door to mothers room. Mother laid on the ground. For a split second, I thought she was dead but then I saw her chest going up and down, breathing. A wide smile stretched across my face. I ran up to her. Mother? Mother? Are you okay? What happened? I shook her body with all my might. I realized she passed out. Then I saw her left foot; it was twisted in a weird angle. I examined it closely, then I shook it up and down it felt lose. I assumed it was broken. Two hours later, she woke up but her foot was broken so I took her to the doctor and sadly, she had to have a cane with her for the rest of her life.

It happened on cloudy late afternoon, I woke up from a short nap due to a loud boom. I was tired from staying up late from the night before. Everything in front of me was blurry and I wasnt fully awake yet. I put on my silk robe and stepped outside of my room. The familiar sound zoomed into my ears, it was the sound of hoof steps and man screaming and grunting. Then an arrow came right at me, I noticed the sharp tip of the arrow coming towards my head. I couldnt think of what to do, so instead

of ducking I jumped straight up. Then I felt a powerful force that lifted me off the ground, I felt pain and blood splattered in front of my eyes. I realized it was mine. Then everything turned black.