Many Eyes

Journey to the West 89 Many Eyes

Wukong gasped as his companions began to look ill. The Tang Monk’s head bobbed forward, and his teacup dropped from his hand. And then—thump! The monk toppled to the floor. A moment later Wujing and Bajie passed out too. “ Evil villain! ” Wukong jumped to his feet and pulled out his iron bar. The priest backed away.

Just then a door burst open, and the three women ran into the room. “ You again?” cried the monkey. He leaped out of the way as the women shot webs at him. He jumped up, did a flip in the air, and landed directly behind the women. Furiously, he slammed his iron bar down. Wham! There was a puff of smoke. When it cleared, a dead spider lay where one of the women had been.

The other two women stared in horror. “ He destroyed our sister! ” cried one. “ He’s a monster! ” cried the other. Wukong charged toward them. He knocked flying webs out of his way and then . . . Crack! Bam! Both women were gone. In their places lay dead spiders. “ Those spider spirits were my dear friends! ” cried the priest. His eyes burned with fury. “ You will regret destroying them. ”

The priest opened his robe, revealing a body covered in eyes. Suddenly, blinding light shot from the many eyes. “ Aargh! The light is too bright! ” cried the monkey. He covered his own eyes and ran all over the room. But he couldn’t escape the blinding light

Finally he slammed his iron bar into the abbey’s stone floor. A huge hole opened up. The monkey jumped in and turned into a mole. Using his claws, he tunneled until he was sure he was far from the abbey. When Wukong popped up out of the ground, he turned back into himself. Bright light was shining from the abbey. Even from far away, the light burned the monkey’s eyes.