THE LEGEND OF THE GOBI DESERT
Sing Yin Secondary School, Sham Tsun Hang Bruce, Fiction Group 4
H
ey, finish packing things yet? We don’t have much time! Our trip into the Gobi Desert
awaits!” Jake, Christine and I were loading our things into the jeep. I was totally into
China’s stories and especially mythology, while my other two friends are experts on
geography. Minutes later, our truck took off, sending the sand beneath it flying all over
in the air. I looked out at the window, admiring the amazing view of the desert, while I suddenly
saw a white thing with black strips on it. I called to my friends, “Hey guys look! You see that
thing over there which is black and white?” They all looked astonished when they blinked and
rubbed their eyes, and I knew that they saw it too. “What the hell is that?” Jake asked. Christine
was too surprised that no words or sounds came out from her mouth. All of a sudden, the car went
straight up, and I do mean straight up, into the air. We all screamed and flew all around the car.
Seconds later, we blacked out.
My eyes bounced open the moment I feel something wet and sticky on my face. I startled and
quickly backed off, feeling my back hitting a tree. Whoa wait, how can there be a tree which had
no spikes on it? Whatever that was, the first thing I saw was a white tiger covered with black
stripes (or the other way round?). The tiger looked quite interested in me, as if it wanted to eat me.
To my most ultimate surprise, it suddenly spoke, “Where are you from and what is your name,
human?” I was too stunned to reply it. It then spoke again, “Ah I knew you will be too scared to
reply the Great White Tiger, or whatever the human calls me. Let me introduce myself first. I am
the God of the West, sometimes called the White Tiger, War God and the Destroyer of Demons,
one of the four so called Chinese Gods in this world. Now what’s your name?” My heart skipped a
beat: Wow! So this is what the Great White Tiger looks like! They’re real! I answered, with (to my
surprise) astonishingly calm, “I am Perseus. This is Jake and the lady here is Christine. We are
from Urumqi.” “Urumqi? What is that place? I have never heard of it.” When I was looking for an
answer, Christine suddenly exclaimed, “Why aren’t there sand and cactus around us? This place is
supposed to be the Gobi Desert, isn’t it?’ ‘This place is called Gobi, yes, but it is not a desert. It is
the most blessed place is in China.’ We frowned, “Where the hell are we now?”
The White Tiger continued, “You are in the year of 1513, where history is at its darkest hours.
The evil god, Yaksha, is rising and is trying to overthrow our powers. By killing babies and
absorbing their spirits, Yaksha is accumulating huge powers day by day. In the Winter Solstice,
which is exactly one week from now, he will overpower us and China will be in darkness.”
“Legends and prophecies said that three sky walkers will come and save us all from Yaksha.
Although you may be them, you are still too weak to do so.’ White Tiger said with great sadness.
“We can help fight” Christine said, “China is our country and we will help protect it.” Jake and I
look at her with awe. “Yeah,” I said, “Give us some training and we assure you that we won’t be
your burdens.” Jake nodded. The White Tiger sighed, “Then we need to start training you guys
with the basic battling techniques. Now who has received any kinds of training?” We all shook
our heads. The White Tiger said, “There are three kinds of battling divisions, which are warriors,
archers and sorcerers. First we need to find out which division you belong to.’
The White Tiger took out a sword, a bow and a book. “Now I want each of you t touch these
things one by one. Don’t panic if anything happens. It is completely harmless.” I went first.
“
