New Journeys to the West
Harrow International School Beijing , Xue , Haotong - 10
I t all started when a messenger from the Department of Ancient Relics strolled right up to our headquarters and demanded us to bring back a lost Buddhist relic from places to the west of China . And by ‘ we ’ I mean an elite unit of agents consisting of me the action guy , Michael the dork , Samantha the geek , and Leo the captain . We didn ’ t have much choice but to embark on new journeys to the west .
EVEREST
Climbing Mt . Everest was straight up hard . Everest was the sacred Buddhist mountain so we ’ d decided to look here first . My legs turned to lead as we trudged along the punishing climb . Suddenly , a howl , like a wolf ’ s , pierced the air . I halted . As quietly as I could , I lowered myself to a kneel , inclined my head , and listened . Instantly , an immense figure the size of a bus with brilliant white fur barrelled out from behind a jagged piece of rock , let loose a guttural howl even worse than the last , whirled on us , and charged .
Samantha shrieked in alarm as she tackled Leo and Michael , who went hurtling out of view . I went into a daze . Time seemed to slow down as tendrils of burning pain seared across my chest . I flew backwards and , with a sickening thud , bit snow .
“ Run ,” I croaked , “ Go !”
A blood red flare roared to life in Samantha ’ s hands . The beast bounded after Samantha who threw the flare , which streaked across the sky like a comet , and landed out of sight .
Without looking , we darted off up the hillside , hoping the beast wouldn ’ t chase us ...
Suddenly , my legs were scythed out from behind me . I bit snow - again . “ Wait up !” I hollered to my friends . I got up and crept towards the thing that tripped me over . It was a barely visible piece of corroded rock jutting out of the snow . On it , inscribed in Hindustani , said : “ YoUr jOurNey HEaDs tO InDiA .” We reluctantly obliged .
INDIA
After a few days of travel , we had arrived at the Ganges River - one of the most sacred rivers to Hindus , an expanse of muddy water that seemed to wind on forever .
While we were wandering , we heard a hopeless cry , from an elephant , like ice shards scraping against metal . “ Duck !” warned Michael as a dart whistled past me and rustled my hair .
We shuffled in to investigate . I heard a gentle rustle in the bushes as Michael tensed . Before I could warn him , he lunged in a blur of silver and blue and launched into action , only to be smacked upside the face with a wooden stick . “ Michael !” I shouted , running forward and ready to cradle him for medication . Instantly , shadows lengthened , what had seemed to be tree trunks advanced on us . Then , with a shudder , I realised that they were bulky men with muscles the size of my mini-printer packed under their tree costumes . “ We are the servants of Nagini ,” They chanted in eerie unison , “ And you are here to die .” Immediately , Leo ’ s hands shot into the air “ We come in peace !”
The next few days were awesome . The native folks - the Brahamans worked out that we were friends and taught us their native mythology and their gods : Brahma , Saraswati , Nagini , and the rest . I found the Hinduism culture pretty interesting , especially this story : In the start of time , the world was made of limbs of a man - Purushu , whom was sacrificed by the gods . The dude expanded until he formed the cosmic egg , hiranyagarbha as the world shimmered into existence .