The Untold Truth
Island School , Gui , Steven - 14
Stones crumbled underneath my feet , I looked down , the fog made it almost impossible to tell how deep the valley was . “ Guys be careful , try to stay calm and don ’ t mess around ,” I said to my fellow companions . I tried to stay calm but thoughts raced through my head , most were negative and made me reconsider my choices . But now I knew that there would be no going back , we had traveled too far for that so we had to keep moving . I was afraid , mostly for my friends , each of my fellow companions all has deep connections with me and I don ’ t know if they remember the first times we met , but I know I would never forget .
Just about two to three years ago I was still a monk , working in a temple in Chang ’ an . I decided to leave due to the rumors of sacred Buddhist texts in India . So despite the emperor ' s strict ban on travel , I decided to set off on my treacherous journey . On my first few months of my journey , while crossing Qilian mountain range , I stumbled on the monkey king . At that time he was still trapped under the mountain of five elements and had been free for over five hundred years . In the end , I decided to set him free and offered to let him join me on my pilgrimage to the west . He was a huge help and later on that day he was the one that protected me against an army of men no less than a hundred , sent by the emperor to punish me for my illegal travels .
The one behind the monkey king would be the talking pig . At that time I first met him he was homeless and he had no real purpose in life after being banished to the mortal world for courtship with the moon goddess . After he decided to join my pilgrimage , he became a reliable fighter and a good friend
Behind him would be the river troll we met one day by Flowering Sands River . At first , he threatened us , but after the monkey king and the talking pig subdued him , I learned about his terrible past and he became a good friend and our friendship improved with each following day
Then there is Yulong the dragon , who was actually sentenced to death the first time we met him , however , I was able to save him . Now he uses his morphing abilities to morph into the horse that I sometimes ride . He usually stays in this form until I tell him otherwise .
Together we had traveled a long way to reach our destination and to this day we are still traveling , on the way we have faced many terrors , most of them being demons who want to eat me for my flesh which has the power to grant the consumer immortality . “ Xuanzang ?” “ Yes , Monkey King ?” “ Isn ’ t that the city , Turpan ?” asked the Monkey King . “ Yes , it seems so ” I replied . As we neared the village , its limestone towers and ancient buildings greeted us . Finally , when we arrived at the sturdy iron gates , to our surprise the person who was waiting for us was none other than the Empress herself . At first , I was rather confused , and nervous because I knew that there would be consequences if the emperor ever found out that I had traveled without his permission .
“ Good Evening , your highness , what a pleasure it is seeing you here ,” I said with the most confident voice I had , trying my best not to show any fear . “ Yes , I suppose ” replied the Empress in a posh voice . The empress started to walk towards the palace , gesturing for us to follow . Seeing that it was rather late and it would be rather rude to disobey the empress , followed her towards the marvelous golden palace .
As we entered the palace , noticing that there was a huge banquet set up , the talking pig ran as fast as he could towards the table . Thinking that it wasn ’ t meant for us I signaled for the talking pig to stop , but to my surprise , no guards went to stop him and I soon realized that maybe it was for us . Too hungry to even think me and the rest of the group started chomping down the food , it seemed like we hadn ’ t eaten for days ( which was true ).
Seeing that we were rather hungry , the Empress sat on her throne and waited for us to finish . I rose my head , full and satisfied , but also a bit suspicious . While we were eating even the monkey king thought that there was something fishy going on . He even tried to warn me but I didn ’ t really think that it was that big of a deal because I had known the emperor for a long time and he had always done nice things for me time to time . “ If you don ’ t mind me asking , why have you made this feast for us ?” I asked . “ I had this meal made because I knew you guys must have traveled a long way to get here ” replied the empress smiling .