Narrow Escape in Gobi Desert
Yew Chung International School - Primary Section, Andy Chi, Fiction: Group 2
A
long time ago, in the time of the great Mongol Empire, lived a cunning Khan. He had
many victories over his enemies, which made his rivals hate him more than ever. He
conquered over China, Mongolia, most of Asia, and even a part of Europe. This was
the largest land empire in human history. He was known throughout the empire as the
“most powerful and wisest ruler of all time”.
However, the khan wasn’t that ‘all-powerful’. He had one unusual weakness: he was highly
allergic to the saltwort plants of the Gobi. If by any chance he was fifty centimetres away from
any saltwort plants, this would almost cause him serious breathing problems such as asthma.
Because of this, the Khan lived in a grand, specially designed yurt and travelled around
constantly to avoid enemies on his trail. For safety measures, any ambassadors or guests had to be
checked by his guards.
The Khan’s rivals always thought they could try to turn the Khan’s weakness into their
advantage. By some coincidence, the land where the Khan’s rivals lived was quite near the Salt
Region of Gobi desert, which was the place where most saltwort grew. But they could not track
down the Khan as he was constantly moving.
“I just had a great plan,” said one enemy general to another general. The two generals had
gathered together for a serious top-secret discussion on a horribly dry and bright day. “What
sort of plan?” asked the other general quizzically. This general was named Alt Ort and was less
experienced, but rather cunning.
“A rather good one, if I may say so,” sneered general Worto S. No one knew what the ‘S’ stood
for. “Our spies have noted that the devilish old man is going to stay at the desert tomorrow night.
We can go there disguised as royal ambassadors. I have prepared some special clothes which will
make us look like Chinese. We go into the yurt, and when the Khan and his useless guards are
unprepared, we take out our saltwort and force the Khan to hand over his throne!”
“Excellent plan,” remarked Alt, “This plan is agreed. We shall meet tomorrow at my yurt.
Remember our disguises. I’ll take care of the saltwort, and we’ll put our plan into action.”
The men saluted and hastily went off.
Early next morning, Worto hurried over to Alt’s yurt. They pulled on their disguises
and stuffed saltwort in their pockets. “Our spies informed that the Khan has changed course
away from the Salt Region,” Alt told Worto as he handed over some powdered saltwort to his
companion. Soon, they set off for their journey.
On the way, the two evil men passed a saxaul tree. Alt reached up and snapped two large
branches off and handed one to Worto. The men squeezed the bark and drank the water dripping
out. Then they sat down in the shade and speedily ate a few bulbs of wild onions. “These onions
have a peculiar nut flavour,” commented Alt.
Late in the afternoon, they finally spotted the Khan’s yurt in the distance. Quickly, the
generals hurried over. Worto told the Mongol guards, “We are ambassadors from the great land of,
um, China!”
The guards watched them with fishy eyes. “All right, ambassadors, let’s check your pockets.”
“Hey, what’s this?” the guard checking Alt’s pockets fished out a tiny, glamourously decorated
