Seven Soldiers, Six Cities, One Girl
British International School Shanghai, Puxi, Hanninen, Lydia – 13
The first TerracottaWarrior was reported to have appeared in Ottawa, Canada on 16
th
November 2031. Since then, six more individual clay sculptures have appeared in cities
such as London, Zagreb, Helsinki,Amsterdam and a pair have been discovered in
Islamabad.These mysterious soldiers that originated from Xi’an have been told to have appeared in the
peak hours of night in places slightly out of the main city area from absolutely nothing.
The Terracotta Army was thought to have been destroyed for eternity sixteen years ago in a disaster that
shocked the whole world. From primary records, we have been informed that the building that had been
housing the clay army had suddenly caught fire in the early morning and by midday it had completely
collapsed and it was all over.According to researchers, the warriors that were meant to guard the past
Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang had all disappeared when investigations of the area began.
At the moment, no updates have been reported on the sudden appearances but experts are working on
getting to the roots of this phenomenon.”
Yet another one of the countless pieces of crumpled paper flew across the room and barely missed
the rim of the bin. I ran my fingers through my hair and banged my forehead on the table. Sighing loudly,
I cried out of frustration. I had been sitting here for hours on end trying to come up with something
logical; anything that made the least bit of sense would bring clarity to my confused mind. However,
everything that was written down on those crumpled pieces of paper seemed to be so absurd and
ridiculous.
It was one starry night when I was leaning against the railing of the hotel balcony in Xi’an that I had
begun to construct theories and ideas of why this was happening.A million questions had run through my
mind that night and then I found myself sitting under the light of a desk lamp at 1am with a pen stiffly
planted in my hand.
Failing for the umpteenth time, I placed the pen back onto the paper.After everything I had gone
through, I would have thought that I was making some progress, though I only found myself pondering at
the same place as I was before.Then realization hit me.
“LI ZIHAO!”
I sprang out of my seat and stared at the white sheet that I held in my trembling hands. I had finally found
the answer to this unsettling riddle.All the work from those endless nights had finally paid off.Although, a
disturbing thought lurked in the back of my mind – what did my father’s name have to do with the
TerracottaWarriors?
***
I carefully placed a foot in front of the other as I trudged through the field of rocks filled with thousands
of craters and millions of death traps. The pale blue sky hung above me as a few stray clouds danced in
the wind while the sun beat down on me.
This place; my father had told me stories about how explorers and brave men ventured here and how
many had returned filled with triumph and how some had proved to be less fortunate. How many
defeated the terrifying dragon that stood outside the cave mouth or how some ventured to the top of
these rock mounds and discovered the deepest corners of the caves and what wonders they held in them.
“T
