The Lion Demon

Journey to the West 92 The Lion Demon

The elephant pointed at Wukong. “ He’s not a demon. He’s a monkey! ” “ He’s not just a monkey, ” said the raptor. “ He’s Sun Wukong. Get him! ” The lion pounced. Wukong shot out of the cave as fast as he could. He didn’t stop running until he was far from the cave.

“ Whew, ” the monkey said to himself. “ That was close. I guess when I laughed I broke my concentration. That must have made my disguise vanish. ” Wukong returned to his companions. “ Well?” said Wujing. “ Is there an army up ahead?” “ I scared away the entire army, ” Wukong boasted. “ But there are still three powerful demons on the mountain. They plan to capture Master and, well . . . eat him. ”

“ Oh! ” cried the Tang Monk, nearly falling over. Wujing caught him. “ Don’t worry, Master, ” said Wukong. “ We won’t let those demons harm you. But we do have to destroy them before we cross the mountain. It’s good that we discovered their plan before we went up the mountain. ”

The Tang Monk nodded, wringing his hands nervously. Wukong turned to Bajie and Wujing. “ Someone needs to help me get rid of the demons. ” “ I’ll go with you, ” said Bajie. “ I’ll stay here and look after the Tang Monk, ” said Wujing.

Wukong and Bajie went to the cave entrance. The monkey pulled out his iron bar. Bajie raised his rake. “ I’ll do all the talking, ” said Wukong. “ What are you going to say?” asked Bajie. “ I’ll just ask them nicely to leave, ” said Wukong. He turned to the cave entrance. “ Demons! ” he shouted. “ Leave this mountain now, or we’ll knock it down and crush all three of you! ”