The Secret of the Sacred Dragon God

“The Secret of the Sacred Dragon God” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Lau Le Young, Sri KDU Primary School, Selangor, Malaysia.

The Secret of the Sacred Dragon God

Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Ming Kong. He lived in a village called Ching Siang. He is an orphan, but he lives happily even though he has lost his parents. He also has learned some kung-fu. He has two best friends, Lulu and Ming Ho. All of them love adventures, and they had explored many places before.

Ming Ho specializes in ropes. He has a lot of experience when it comes to using ropes because he has been training since he was very young. Lulu specializes in swords. She can transform into a cat at will because her family has been cursed by one of the Egyptian gods. Unlike Ming Kong, they both are not orphans.

One day, the three friends kept experiencing a lot of problems. Ming Kong could not find his family’s ruby ring that has been past down from generation to generation. Ming Ho could not find his favourite rope which his grandfather gave to him before he passed away. Lulu could not find the money she needed to buy her mother a present. They then asked some villagers if they had seen Ming Kong’s ring, Ming Ho’s rope or Lulu’s money. When they almost felt like giving up, one of the villagers suggested them to visit the Ching Siang Temple.

When they arrived at the temple, they met the master of the temple. Ming Kong asked the master, “Wise master, we have come to seek answers. We have been having bad luck recently. What is the cause of all these?”

“Young child, I believe that you three have been cursed by the legendary Dragon God because you have awakened it by entering its resting place.” said the master.

“Wise master, what must we do to break the curse?” asked Ming Kong. The kids recalled that they once found a treasure box in a cave.

“You must go to its birthplace and return the stolen treasure. Here is a map to the birthplace.” said the master.

"Thank you, wise master.” said the three children.

They immediately made their way to the dragon god’s birthplace. When they reached the dragon lair, there was a riddle they needed to solve before entering. Lulu read it out loud, “For the door to open, you must answer this riddle. The red general comes from the tropics. His armour is tough and full of thorns but does not hurt anyone. Who or what is the red general?”.

They thought hard, but Ming Ho found out the answer.

“The rambutan!” cried Ming Ho. The door immediately opened, and there was a staircase. They went up the stairs and came to another door. Printed on the locked door was another riddle!

Again, Lulu was the first to read it out loud, “To access the treasure chamber, you must solve this riddle. To finish eating a whole lamb, a male wolf needs to take 2 hours, a female wolf needs to take 3 hours, and a wolf cub needs 6 hours. If the three wolves ate together, how long will it take for them to finish eating the lamb?”

Again they thought hard, but Ming Kong immediately knew the answer, “An hour!” he shouted. The door opened, and the second they knew it, they were in the treasure chamber. Immediately, Ming Kong knew what to do. He placed the treasure box back inside the room. For a second, nothing happened, but shortly everything went black.

The next second, they were back at their houses. Ming Kong immediately checked for the ring, and there it was. “It's on the table!” shouted Ming Kong. Ming Kong wasn’t the only one who got his things back, so did Ming Ho and Lulu. They immediately went back to Ching Siang Temple and asked the master, “Has the curse been lifted?”

“Yes, it has.” said the master. They all felt grateful and returned home.