"Black Myth: Wukong" - The Chosen One Plan of the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling Is Hidden in the Old Monkey on Huaguo Mountain
paulpeng
I.
Before explaining the identity of the old monkey, I'll first share some insights with you, which are my humble opinions based on my understanding of "Black Myth: Wukong".
I guess everyone knows the whole story. Since childhood, Sun Wukong had yearned for freedom and had been seeking immortality. He had been striving for this goal all along. However, there is always someone better, and there is always a wider world beyond. After suffering a setback from making havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he spent five hundred years thinking and came to a conclusion.
That is, if he could become one of the great gods, would he be free from all constraints and be completely free?
So he embarked on the journey to fetch scriptures from the Western Heaven and sent many demons who had the same doubts as him, such as the Black Bear Spirit, the Yellow Wind Great King, and the Bull Demon King, to work as temporary workers within the system. Originally, he thought that once he became the Victorious Fighting Buddha, he would be completely free.
However, he was wrong again. Through his journey to fetch scriptures and after having a certain say, he saw the darkness behind the immortals' and buddhas' pursuit of immortality. Just like what he said when drinking with Zhu Bajie, the longer the immortals and buddhas lived, the shorter the lifespan of the living beings whose spiritual essence was deprived:
"These offerings should have been eaten by those who farm the land and harvest vegetables. If we eat them, they will have less."
Because he despised and couldn't bear it, he didn't want to be a buddha anymore and wanted to go back to Huaguo Mountain to accompany his little monkeys freely. Of course, this was only Sun Wukong's side of the story. At this time, he not only had a rebellious spirit but also possessed the Buddhist nature of compassion for the world. Without the former, he would be a puppet wearing a headband, working for the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. Without the latter, he would become a rogue, only indulging in his own carefree life without taking the initiative to bear the responsibility of breaking all the injustices.
II.
Having strength, not wanting to wear the headband, and more importantly, Sun Wukong also had the Buddhist nature of compassion for the world and the determination to break the rules of the Three Realms in pursuit of immortality. He was truly a revolutionary.
Therefore, the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling definitely couldn't tolerate Sun Wukong. Fortunately, the headband that had been placed on his head before was still there. As a result, Sun Wukong was jointly wiped out by the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling on Huaguo Mountain.
However, just like the Jade Emperor couldn't kill Sun Wukong back then, even though his six senses were divided up, he still didn't die completely. The stone egg containing the remains of the Great Sage still stood on top of Huaguo Mountain.
To put it bluntly, as long as this stone egg remained, it proved that Sun Wukong hadn't died completely. As long as his six senses returned, there was a risk of his comeback, which was the result that the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling least wanted to see.
We've also analyzed before that the Tathagata Buddha exchanged his loyalty to the Jade Emperor for the position as the leader of Mount Ling and the expansion of the Buddhist territory, such as brutally destroying the Yaksa and Rakshasa Kingdoms. And through the battle of suppressing Sun Wukong, he won the trust of the Jade Emperor. Soon after that, the Heavenly Court cooperated with the Buddha to start the project of fetching scriptures from the Western Heaven.
On the one hand, the Jade Emperor needed to rectify the court discipline, deter the four seas, and further consolidate his position. For example, among those he sent the one hundred thousand celestial troops and generals to besiege Sun Wukong before, those who just loafed around and later helped Sun Wukong overtly or covertly didn't end up well, such as the Golden Dragon of Kang and the Star Lord of Mao.
On the other hand, the Tathagata Buddha also wanted to unify thoughts, eliminate dissidents, and promote some powerful demons for his own use through fetching scriptures from the Western Heaven. Because Jin Chanzi slighted his Buddhist teachings and always contradicted him, he sent Jin Chanzi down to the mortal world and told him to come back when he figured it out. At the same time, he also put headbands on powerful demons like Sun Wukong, the Black Bear Spirit, and the Red Boy for his own use.
III.
Since Sun Wukong had already become the Victorious Fighting Buddha, he was considered a person of Mount Ling. But if he rebelled against the Heavenly Court, it was the Tathagata Buddha's fault. So, Mount Ling had no choice but to clean up this mess!
That's why the Jade Emperor sent Erlang Shen with one hundred thousand celestial troops and generals, and Mount Ling sent five great demon kings to jointly wipe out Sun Wukong. Meanwhile, in order to cut off the roots completely, Mount Ling proposed the so-called Chosen One plan and served as the main force to cooperate with the Heavenly Court to test the Chosen One.
Regarding the Chosen One plan, I (Yang Jiaofeng) infer that the whole process of the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling testing the Chosen One and the purpose they wanted to achieve were probably as follows:
Since Sun Wukong was dead and left a stone egg, just like when the Supreme Lord Laozi refined him before, there was nothing they could do about it:
"It's round and shiny, existing from ancient times. How can people learn it? It can't be burned by fire, nor drowned by water. It's like a bright mani pearl that can't be hurt by swords, halberds, knives, or guns."
Burning it with fire was useless, flooding it with water didn't work, not to mention swords, halberds, knives, and guns. Even wind and thunder couldn't damage the stone egg at all. Moreover, there was a remnant body of the Great Sage inside the stone egg. In the words of the old monkey, it was a zombie that neither lived nor died, without a soul or a spirit. In other words, this thing couldn't be killed by conventional methods. They had to find someone who could be recognized by the stone egg and enter the stone egg with its root device to have a chance to destroy this remnant body.
From this, we can infer what conditions the Chosen One should meet:
Firstly, the Chosen One should sympathize with Sun Wukong and have a strong belief in resurrecting the Great Sage. Secondly, the Chosen One should have the ability to possess the root device of the Great Sage and not be backlashed by it. Thirdly, the Chosen One should also be powerful. Otherwise, he couldn't defeat the remnant body of the Great Sage. Finally, there couldn't be just one Chosen One. There should be a continuous supply of them. Otherwise, if one died halfway, the plan would fall through.
IV.
Undoubtedly, there was nothing more suitable for this position than the hairs on Sun Wukong's body. After all, after Sun Wukong became an immortal, there were eighty-four thousand hairs on his body, and each one could change:
"Since this Monkey King achieved the Tao, there were eighty-four thousand hairs on his body, and each one could change according to his will."
Only the Chosen One transformed from Sun Wukong's hairs could be considered one of his own kind and could approach the remnant body of the Great Sage according to the old monkey's words:
"This place was transformed by the obsession left after Sun Wukong's death. For this final step of returning to the origin, only he himself can do it! You and I can't help. Don't believe it? Look..."
This was also why every time the Chosen One died, he would turn into a hair and float back to the Earth Temple to be resurrected. And when he first appeared, the Earth God of Black Wind Mountain kept staring at him and said:
"Looks like him, really looks like him!"
And when Zhu Bajie first saw the Chosen One, after looking at him carefully for a while, he said that they all looked the same and were all mute. After all, in the original work of "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong's hairs were equivalent to a magic weapon that could change. However, there was also a flaw that they couldn't speak, which was also reflected in the hair-pulling spell in this game.
So, theoretically speaking, the Chosen One had eighty-four thousand lives. As long as one of them endured hardships and gathered all six senses, he could enter the stone egg, defeat the remnant body of the Great Sage, become the new Great Sage, and put on the headband.
Yes, the plan of Mount Ling was the same as the previous scripture-fetching plan. Since they couldn't destroy you, they would try to brainwash you and continue to use you for their own purposes. Only by putting this risk under their noses and making it controllable could they sleep soundly.
V.
With this premise, when we look back at the old monkey on Huaguo Mountain, it's very easy to guess his identity:
Firstly, this old monkey must be trusted by the Heavenly Court, Mount Ling, and Sun Wukong at the same time. Without the trust of the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling, the Chosen One plan couldn't be carried out. Without Sun Wukong's trust, the Chosen One wouldn't be easily tricked and follow his advice to look for the six senses.
Secondly, this old monkey must be very familiar with Sun Wukong because every time before the Chosen One set out, he would tell stories to the other party. If he wasn't familiar with Sun Wukong, the stories he told would lack authenticity and it would be easy to be exposed.
Finally, his magical power wouldn't be low. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to lead the Chosen One and Zhu Bajie into the stone egg, nor would he be able to hold the headband and put it on the Chosen One.
In the illustrated handbook of the old monkey, this question about who he was also came up:
"Some people say that he is the Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Some people say that he is the Patriarch Bodhi.
Some people say that he is Sun Wukong himself.
Some people say that he is just an unnamed old monkey in the mountain."
The Chinese language is profound. Generally speaking, the first few guesses given are usually wrong, and the last one may be the correct one. So, let's analyze them one by one. Let's first look at the last option that the old monkey is just an unnamed old monkey on Huaguo Mountain.
Indeed, whether in the original work of "Journey to the West" or in "Black Myth: Wukong", Huaguo Mountain, this treasured place with good feng shui, could really breed such an old monkey with high knowledge. For example, the reason why Sun Wukong went out to seek a master to learn skills was that he didn't want to die, and the one who helped him solve his doubts was a Gibbon Ape:
"If Your Majesty has such a long-term concern, it's really the development of the Taoist mind! Now among the five categories of creatures, there are only three kinds that are not under the jurisdiction of King Yama."
VI.
Moreover, he could accurately tell that immortals, buddhas, and saints were not under the jurisdiction of the Underworld and knew that they existed in the world of Jambudvipa, in the ancient caves and fairy mountains.
When the old monkey in the game first told stories to the Chosen One, it could also confirm this view. For example, at the beginning, he mentioned that Sun Wukong resigned from the position of the Victorious Fighting Buddha and just wanted to come back here to share simplicity with us.
The word "us" grouped himself and the Chosen One into the same category. Moreover, he also mentioned:
"I've heard since I was a kid that the body of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was hidden inside."
If we only look at the conversation between the old monkey and the Chosen One at the beginning, we would really think that this was just an old monkey with wide knowledge and was native to this place. After all, he had seen this stone egg since he was a kid and had also heard the story of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
However, when the Chosen One returned to Huaguo Mountain and talked to this old monkey again, we would find that the old monkey's words were inconsistent. If we inferred from what he said, he was many generations after Sun Wukong's monkeys and grandchildren. After all, Sun Wukong had already died before he was born.
However, why did he comment on Sun Wukong like this:
"That monkey was like this since he was a kid. When he saw something good, he had to get it. If others didn't give it to him, he would snatch it. This bad habit of being greedy at the sight of something good and using any means is no different from the Black Bear and Jinchi."
Sun Wukong was their king. This old monkey not only didn't respect him but also presumptuously commented that Sun Wukong had been like this since he was a kid. Coupled with the mention in his illustrated handbook that the immortals in the Heavenly Court said he was gambling and Mount Ling also said he was gambling, as well as the necessary conditions for the person promoting the Chosen One plan that we inferred before, it proves that this old monkey had a good relationship with both the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. Obviously, just being an old monkey couldn't reach such a level.
VII.
Generally speaking, people may lie and bring all kinds of subjective things, but the Illustration of Shadows and Spirits records official information truthfully. So, if the old monkey wasn't an old monkey himself, who else could he be?
The Illustration of Shadows and Spirits gave four options, which were the Bodhisattva Guanyin, the Patriarch Bodhi, Sun Wukong, and the old monkey himself.
Let's first look at the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Indeed, there was a lot of evidence in the game that pointed to her:
For example, when Sun Wukong was suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain, it was the Bodhisattva Guanyin who guided him to fetch scriptures from the Western Heaven. It's not too much to say that she was Sun Wukong's guide. Moreover, Sun Wukong was later put on the headband thanks to the Bodhisattva Guanyin. She gave Tang Sanzang a hat and tricked Sun Wukong into wearing it, which was exactly the same as tricking the Chosen One to wear the headband at the end of the game. Furthermore, the Bodhisattva Guanyin was one of the Five Quarters and Five Elders and served in both the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. It was reasonable for her to lead the whole Chosen One plan. In addition, on the way to fetch scriptures, the Bodhisattva Guanyin often scolded Sun Wukong, which also matched the old monkey's scolding of Sun Wukong.
More importantly, the Bodhisattva Guanyin was the Formless Bodhisattva. It was mentioned in the "Diamond Sutra":
"If a bodhisattva has the appearance of self, others, living beings, or a lifespan, then he is not a bodhisattva."
So, the Bodhisattva Guanyin showed herself in various forms. In the original work of "Journey to the West", a special form of the Fish Basket Guanyin was mentioned. In the game, she showed herself as an old monkey, emphasizing that the Chosen One should save himself, which also confirmed the sentence in the illustrated handbook:
"On the road to immortality, there are countless people. Seeking the Tao but not the truth, it's hard to save oneself while saving others. Don't ask when the merit will be achieved. In the illusory form, there is existence and non-existence."
So, is it very reliable to say that the old monkey is the Bodhisattva Guanyin?
VIII.
However, if the old monkey was the Bodhisattva Guanyin, there were several doubts that were hard to explain clearly:
For example, in terms of the address to Zhu Bajie, when the Bodhisattva Guanyin subdued Zhu Ganglie, she gave him a Buddhist name, which was Zhu Wu'neng. And Zhu Bajie was the name given by Tang Sanzang. However, the old monkey always called him "Bajie", which didn't match the identity of the Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Of course, the address "Bajie" wasn't exclusive to Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong. Some people who were familiar with others could also call him that, such as the Eight Great Vajras:
"A few days ago, the Bodhisattva Guanyin reported to the Tathagata. It would take only eight days to complete the number of scriptures. Now it has been more than four days. I'm afraid that Bajie will be greedy for wealth and miss the deadline."
Besides, the Bodhisattva Guanyin also appeared many times in "Black Myth: Wukong". For example, she showed up in the先锋燧 (I'm not sure about the exact meaning of this term here) and even preached Buddhist scriptures to the Black Bear Spirit in the final animation of the first chapter. Moreover, considering that the Black Bear Spirit asked the Chosen One to spare his life and said that he would go back to the Bodhisattva Guanyin in the South Sea to repent, it just proved that the Bodhisattva Guanyin couldn't have been staying on Huaguo Mountain all the time.
After all, during the disaster of the Black Wind Mountain that the Chosen One encountered, the Bodhisattva Guanyin was the one behind the scenes. It didn't make sense logically for her to act as both the guide and the one who set up difficulties.
What about the Patriarch Bodhi?
It's even more impossible!
This eminent master was elusive. When he drove Sun Wukong down the mountain back then, he warned Sun Wukong not to mention a single word about him. In the illustrated handbook of the Earth God of the Black Wind Mountain, he was depicted as wearing a Taoist robe, carrying a medicine basket, beating a fishing drum, and asking the Earth God to teach the Chosen One a spell:
"I have an old acquaintance who has a bad temper. Although he has accumulated some achievements now, with his arrogant nature, he will surely not be at peace and I'm always worried that he will cause some serious disasters that will burn himself..."
In the end, he also told the Earth God that it was inconvenient for him to show up...
IX.
Furthermore, the Patriarch Bodhi had never thought of restraining Sun Wukong. On the contrary, he was even afraid that Sun Wukong wouldn't dare to make trouble. So how could he put the tight headband on Sun Wukong?
As for the claim that the old monkey is the Victorious Fighting Buddha, it is said that after Sun Wukong became a buddha, his body was divided into two parts, one was the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and the other was the Victorious Fighting Buddha. He wants to guide the Chosen One to destroy the original Great Sage Equaling Heaven, remove the restraint of the golden headband, and become the real Victorious Fighting Buddha.
However, as we analyzed before, the guide in the Chosen One plan couldn't be Sun Wukong himself. Otherwise, neither the Heavenly Court nor Mount Ling would allow it! After all, their purposes were obviously opposite. One wanted Sun Wukong to continue wearing the headband and be a puppet forever, while the other didn't want to wear the headband and didn't want to be a puppet. Did the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling trust Sun Wukong, or did Sun Wukong trust the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling more?
Moreover, what the old monkey said was clearly contrary to Sun Wukong's own will. If he was Sun Wukong, it wouldn't make sense logically:
For example, he said that Sun Wukong left Mount Ling because he smashed his lover three times on the White Tiger Ridge and finally couldn't let go, so he decided not to be a buddha anymore. If Sun Wukong had already become a buddha, and still couldn't let go of the White Bone Demon, then why did he smash her three times in the first place?
The old monkey also said that Sun Wukong was:
"Only having talent but being unambitious, being content with a little wealth, indulging in pleasure, longing for a comfortable life, craving for fame and fortune, wanting to live a carefree life in the Jianghu, and also wanting to become a buddha and an ancestor..."
This was clearly talking nonsense and wasn't worth refuting. Otherwise, Zhu Bajie wouldn't have immediately objected:
"Old monkey, this can't be the memory of our senior brother. You're tricking us again!"
Not to mention that he even cursed Sun Wukong, saying that he was like a yellow-haired animal (an inelegant term), that he was ungrateful. Sun Wukong had never belittled himself and would never use such disgusting words.
So, whether considering the interests of the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling or looking for evidence from the loopholes in the old monkey's words, it shows that this old monkey couldn't be Sun Wukong himself. Otherwise, the whole worldview of the game would collapse.
X.
Besides, some people also mentioned another candidate - Yuan Hong. In many aspects, this can indeed explain some problems!
The reasons given were quite sufficient. For example, in "Black Myth: Wukong", almost every chapter had a person sent by Erlang Shen to assist the Chosen One. And the ways of assistance were very special. They all entered other time-spaces or illusory places to lead the Chosen One to explore the truth of things.
For example, the White-robed Scholar on the Black Wind Mountain led the Chosen One back to the old Guanyin Monastery to eliminate the undead of Elder Jinchi who didn't want to dissipate due to obsession; the Yellow-robed Squire on the Yellow Wind Ridge led the Chosen One to travel back to the old Saha Kingdom to assist the Yellow Wind Great King to fight the giant worm; on the Little Leiyin Temple, it was the Green-hatted Warrior who would warm him up and then take him to the hidden melon field to face the temptation from him; at the Spider Cave, it was the Black-handed Taoist who, in order to find out what the Hundred-eyed Demon Lord was doing, used himself to test the insects and would guide the Chosen One to the hidden Purple Cloud Mountain; at the Flaming Mountain, it was the Bright-axe Warrior who would help the Chosen One open the Blue Water Cave to fight the Water-avoiding Golden Crystal Beast...
Logically speaking, since there was someone sent by Erlang Shen to guide in each chapter, there should also be someone to guide Sun Wukong to the hidden map in the sixth chapter at the Flaming Mountain. Couldn't this person be the old monkey?
The reason for drawing this conclusion came from "Investiture of the Gods". Erlang Shen once subdued the Seven Monsters of Meishan: the White Ape Yuan Hong, the Ox Demon Jin Dasheng (at the Flaming Mountain), the Dog Demon Dai Li, the Pig Demon Zhu Zizhen (at the Yellow Wind Ridge), the Snake Demon Chang Hao (at the Black Wind Mountain), the Goat Demon Yang Xian (at the Little Leiyin Temple), and the Centipede Demon Wu Long (at the Spider Cave).
Among them, as mentioned just now, except for the White Ape and the Dog Demon, the others could all be encountered in the game and were mentioned to be entrusted by the eldest brother (Erlang Shen), coming with tasks, testing the Chosen One and then providing help.
Even so, the Dog Demon could be seen standing with the Goat Demon (the Green-hatted Warrior) in the final mural of the Little Leiyin Temple, at the bottom left corner.
XI.
In this way, six of the Seven Monsters of Meishan appeared in the first five chapters, but only the eldest one among the seven monsters, the White Ape Yuan Hong, didn't appear in the sixth chapter.
Leaving aside the words and deeds of the old monkey, just from the perspective of the game's logic and integrity, Erlang Shen had sent people to guide the Chosen One for five chapters. How could there be a vacancy in the sixth chapter?
However, the reason for drawing this conclusion was based on "Investiture of the Gods". In "Journey to the West", the Seven Sages of Meishan did appear, but that was with Erlang Shen included:
"This True Lord summoned the six brothers of Meishan, namely the four military commanders named Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Li, and the two generals named Guo Shen and Zhi Jian."
Even if these four military commanders and two generals became sages as demons, there was still one missing. So, it's not unreasonable that only six of Erlang Shen's younger brothers appeared in the game.
More importantly, these brothers sent by Erlang Shen were arranged secretly, hiding it from the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. So, the White-robed Scholar pretended to submit to the Black Bear Spirit, the Yellow-robed Squire seemed to have fought with the Yellow Wind Great King and then hid aside waiting. The Green-hatted Warrior wasn't in cahoots with the Yellow-browed King but was chatting and laughing with Maitreya Buddha. The Black-handed Taoist was the most miserable as he was fed insect eggs by the Hundred-eyed Demon Lord. The Bright-axe Warrior was the most tragic. After all, he was an ox demon and sympathized with the Bull Demon King by blood. Before his death, he said that he was most sorry to his eldest brother (Erlang Shen).
Since these brothers of Erlang Shen were helping the Chosen One secretly, the old monkey on Huaguo Mountain, which was exposed in the open, couldn't be Erlang Shen's man. Otherwise, the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling definitely wouldn't agree.
Moreover, the six brothers of Meishan of Erlang Shen didn't even have the celestial register. How could they be on good terms with the immortals of the Heavenly Court and the buddhas of Mount Ling and talk about gambling or not?
"Dear younger brothers, since you haven't received the celestial register, you can't meet the Jade Emperor. Let the celestial soldiers escort you, and I will go back to report to the Heavenly Court with the Heavenly King."
XII.
Not to mention that the old monkey was obviously a Buddhist, while Yuan Hong was a Taoist. Could it be that just to test the Chosen One, he changed his belief and wasn't afraid of being punished by the Taoist gods?
Also, the other brothers always mentioned "eldest brother" when they spoke, implying that they were ordered by Erlang Shen to come. How could this old monkey be so bold as not to mention "eldest brother" at all?
Moreover, Yuan Hong's importance wasn't enough. We know that to achieve the perfect ending, one has to first fight Erlang Shen hidden in the mural and then go to see the old monkey. After defeating Erlang Shen, he would release Sun Wukong's real six senses - consciousness, and would say something like:
"He won. I sent my brothers to test you all the way, and it's all for this moment."
Normally, the old monkey's test should come first, and then the eldest brother's action should follow so that one could say that he sent his brothers to test you. Otherwise, there was just an old monkey.
So, it's clearly unreasonable that the old monkey could be the finale after Erlang Shen and still foolishly trick the Chosen One to wear the headband. After all, the old monkey had been lying to the Chosen One and Zhu Bajie all the time, insisting that the last root device of the Great Sage was the remnant body of the Great Sage.
Moreover, when he guided the Chosen One and Zhu Bajie at the beginning, he also said that after collecting five root devices, they would go back to Huaguo Mountain. Zhu Bajie also said:
"Good nephew, we are going back home, not reincarnating... Let's follow his (the old monkey's) instructions to collect the five root devices and just wait for him to take out the sixth one, and then it will be all done!"
This is the ultimate secret of resurrecting Sun Wukong, which is the outcome that the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling most want to see, that is, a Sun Wukong who has lost his rebellious consciousness and still wears the headband.
Then, who on earth is this old monkey?
Before explaining the identity of the old monkey, I'll first share some insights with you, which are my humble opinions based on my understanding of "Black Myth: Wukong".
I guess everyone knows the whole story. Since childhood, Sun Wukong had yearned for freedom and had been seeking immortality. He had been striving for this goal all along. However, there is always someone better, and there is always a wider world beyond. After suffering a setback from making havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he spent five hundred years thinking and came to a conclusion.
That is, if he could become one of the great gods, would he be free from all constraints and be completely free?
So he embarked on the journey to fetch scriptures from the Western Heaven and sent many demons who had the same doubts as him, such as the Black Bear Spirit, the Yellow Wind Great King, and the Bull Demon King, to work as temporary workers within the system. Originally, he thought that once he became the Victorious Fighting Buddha, he would be completely free.
However, he was wrong again. Through his journey to fetch scriptures and after having a certain say, he saw the darkness behind the immortals' and buddhas' pursuit of immortality. Just like what he said when drinking with Zhu Bajie, the longer the immortals and buddhas lived, the shorter the lifespan of the living beings whose spiritual essence was deprived:
"These offerings should have been eaten by those who farm the land and harvest vegetables. If we eat them, they will have less."
Because he despised and couldn't bear it, he didn't want to be a buddha anymore and wanted to go back to Huaguo Mountain to accompany his little monkeys freely. Of course, this was only Sun Wukong's side of the story. At this time, he not only had a rebellious spirit but also possessed the Buddhist nature of compassion for the world. Without the former, he would be a puppet wearing a headband, working for the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. Without the latter, he would become a rogue, only indulging in his own carefree life without taking the initiative to bear the responsibility of breaking all the injustices.
II.
Having strength, not wanting to wear the headband, and more importantly, Sun Wukong also had the Buddhist nature of compassion for the world and the determination to break the rules of the Three Realms in pursuit of immortality. He was truly a revolutionary.
Therefore, the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling definitely couldn't tolerate Sun Wukong. Fortunately, the headband that had been placed on his head before was still there. As a result, Sun Wukong was jointly wiped out by the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling on Huaguo Mountain.
However, just like the Jade Emperor couldn't kill Sun Wukong back then, even though his six senses were divided up, he still didn't die completely. The stone egg containing the remains of the Great Sage still stood on top of Huaguo Mountain.
To put it bluntly, as long as this stone egg remained, it proved that Sun Wukong hadn't died completely. As long as his six senses returned, there was a risk of his comeback, which was the result that the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling least wanted to see.
We've also analyzed before that the Tathagata Buddha exchanged his loyalty to the Jade Emperor for the position as the leader of Mount Ling and the expansion of the Buddhist territory, such as brutally destroying the Yaksa and Rakshasa Kingdoms. And through the battle of suppressing Sun Wukong, he won the trust of the Jade Emperor. Soon after that, the Heavenly Court cooperated with the Buddha to start the project of fetching scriptures from the Western Heaven.
On the one hand, the Jade Emperor needed to rectify the court discipline, deter the four seas, and further consolidate his position. For example, among those he sent the one hundred thousand celestial troops and generals to besiege Sun Wukong before, those who just loafed around and later helped Sun Wukong overtly or covertly didn't end up well, such as the Golden Dragon of Kang and the Star Lord of Mao.
On the other hand, the Tathagata Buddha also wanted to unify thoughts, eliminate dissidents, and promote some powerful demons for his own use through fetching scriptures from the Western Heaven. Because Jin Chanzi slighted his Buddhist teachings and always contradicted him, he sent Jin Chanzi down to the mortal world and told him to come back when he figured it out. At the same time, he also put headbands on powerful demons like Sun Wukong, the Black Bear Spirit, and the Red Boy for his own use.
III.
Since Sun Wukong had already become the Victorious Fighting Buddha, he was considered a person of Mount Ling. But if he rebelled against the Heavenly Court, it was the Tathagata Buddha's fault. So, Mount Ling had no choice but to clean up this mess!
That's why the Jade Emperor sent Erlang Shen with one hundred thousand celestial troops and generals, and Mount Ling sent five great demon kings to jointly wipe out Sun Wukong. Meanwhile, in order to cut off the roots completely, Mount Ling proposed the so-called Chosen One plan and served as the main force to cooperate with the Heavenly Court to test the Chosen One.
Regarding the Chosen One plan, I (Yang Jiaofeng) infer that the whole process of the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling testing the Chosen One and the purpose they wanted to achieve were probably as follows:
Since Sun Wukong was dead and left a stone egg, just like when the Supreme Lord Laozi refined him before, there was nothing they could do about it:
"It's round and shiny, existing from ancient times. How can people learn it? It can't be burned by fire, nor drowned by water. It's like a bright mani pearl that can't be hurt by swords, halberds, knives, or guns."
Burning it with fire was useless, flooding it with water didn't work, not to mention swords, halberds, knives, and guns. Even wind and thunder couldn't damage the stone egg at all. Moreover, there was a remnant body of the Great Sage inside the stone egg. In the words of the old monkey, it was a zombie that neither lived nor died, without a soul or a spirit. In other words, this thing couldn't be killed by conventional methods. They had to find someone who could be recognized by the stone egg and enter the stone egg with its root device to have a chance to destroy this remnant body.
From this, we can infer what conditions the Chosen One should meet:
Firstly, the Chosen One should sympathize with Sun Wukong and have a strong belief in resurrecting the Great Sage. Secondly, the Chosen One should have the ability to possess the root device of the Great Sage and not be backlashed by it. Thirdly, the Chosen One should also be powerful. Otherwise, he couldn't defeat the remnant body of the Great Sage. Finally, there couldn't be just one Chosen One. There should be a continuous supply of them. Otherwise, if one died halfway, the plan would fall through.
IV.
Undoubtedly, there was nothing more suitable for this position than the hairs on Sun Wukong's body. After all, after Sun Wukong became an immortal, there were eighty-four thousand hairs on his body, and each one could change:
"Since this Monkey King achieved the Tao, there were eighty-four thousand hairs on his body, and each one could change according to his will."
Only the Chosen One transformed from Sun Wukong's hairs could be considered one of his own kind and could approach the remnant body of the Great Sage according to the old monkey's words:
"This place was transformed by the obsession left after Sun Wukong's death. For this final step of returning to the origin, only he himself can do it! You and I can't help. Don't believe it? Look..."
This was also why every time the Chosen One died, he would turn into a hair and float back to the Earth Temple to be resurrected. And when he first appeared, the Earth God of Black Wind Mountain kept staring at him and said:
"Looks like him, really looks like him!"
And when Zhu Bajie first saw the Chosen One, after looking at him carefully for a while, he said that they all looked the same and were all mute. After all, in the original work of "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong's hairs were equivalent to a magic weapon that could change. However, there was also a flaw that they couldn't speak, which was also reflected in the hair-pulling spell in this game.
So, theoretically speaking, the Chosen One had eighty-four thousand lives. As long as one of them endured hardships and gathered all six senses, he could enter the stone egg, defeat the remnant body of the Great Sage, become the new Great Sage, and put on the headband.
Yes, the plan of Mount Ling was the same as the previous scripture-fetching plan. Since they couldn't destroy you, they would try to brainwash you and continue to use you for their own purposes. Only by putting this risk under their noses and making it controllable could they sleep soundly.
V.
With this premise, when we look back at the old monkey on Huaguo Mountain, it's very easy to guess his identity:
Firstly, this old monkey must be trusted by the Heavenly Court, Mount Ling, and Sun Wukong at the same time. Without the trust of the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling, the Chosen One plan couldn't be carried out. Without Sun Wukong's trust, the Chosen One wouldn't be easily tricked and follow his advice to look for the six senses.
Secondly, this old monkey must be very familiar with Sun Wukong because every time before the Chosen One set out, he would tell stories to the other party. If he wasn't familiar with Sun Wukong, the stories he told would lack authenticity and it would be easy to be exposed.
Finally, his magical power wouldn't be low. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to lead the Chosen One and Zhu Bajie into the stone egg, nor would he be able to hold the headband and put it on the Chosen One.
In the illustrated handbook of the old monkey, this question about who he was also came up:
"Some people say that he is the Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Some people say that he is the Patriarch Bodhi.
Some people say that he is Sun Wukong himself.
Some people say that he is just an unnamed old monkey in the mountain."
The Chinese language is profound. Generally speaking, the first few guesses given are usually wrong, and the last one may be the correct one. So, let's analyze them one by one. Let's first look at the last option that the old monkey is just an unnamed old monkey on Huaguo Mountain.
Indeed, whether in the original work of "Journey to the West" or in "Black Myth: Wukong", Huaguo Mountain, this treasured place with good feng shui, could really breed such an old monkey with high knowledge. For example, the reason why Sun Wukong went out to seek a master to learn skills was that he didn't want to die, and the one who helped him solve his doubts was a Gibbon Ape:
"If Your Majesty has such a long-term concern, it's really the development of the Taoist mind! Now among the five categories of creatures, there are only three kinds that are not under the jurisdiction of King Yama."
VI.
Moreover, he could accurately tell that immortals, buddhas, and saints were not under the jurisdiction of the Underworld and knew that they existed in the world of Jambudvipa, in the ancient caves and fairy mountains.
When the old monkey in the game first told stories to the Chosen One, it could also confirm this view. For example, at the beginning, he mentioned that Sun Wukong resigned from the position of the Victorious Fighting Buddha and just wanted to come back here to share simplicity with us.
The word "us" grouped himself and the Chosen One into the same category. Moreover, he also mentioned:
"I've heard since I was a kid that the body of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was hidden inside."
If we only look at the conversation between the old monkey and the Chosen One at the beginning, we would really think that this was just an old monkey with wide knowledge and was native to this place. After all, he had seen this stone egg since he was a kid and had also heard the story of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
However, when the Chosen One returned to Huaguo Mountain and talked to this old monkey again, we would find that the old monkey's words were inconsistent. If we inferred from what he said, he was many generations after Sun Wukong's monkeys and grandchildren. After all, Sun Wukong had already died before he was born.
However, why did he comment on Sun Wukong like this:
"That monkey was like this since he was a kid. When he saw something good, he had to get it. If others didn't give it to him, he would snatch it. This bad habit of being greedy at the sight of something good and using any means is no different from the Black Bear and Jinchi."
Sun Wukong was their king. This old monkey not only didn't respect him but also presumptuously commented that Sun Wukong had been like this since he was a kid. Coupled with the mention in his illustrated handbook that the immortals in the Heavenly Court said he was gambling and Mount Ling also said he was gambling, as well as the necessary conditions for the person promoting the Chosen One plan that we inferred before, it proves that this old monkey had a good relationship with both the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. Obviously, just being an old monkey couldn't reach such a level.
VII.
Generally speaking, people may lie and bring all kinds of subjective things, but the Illustration of Shadows and Spirits records official information truthfully. So, if the old monkey wasn't an old monkey himself, who else could he be?
The Illustration of Shadows and Spirits gave four options, which were the Bodhisattva Guanyin, the Patriarch Bodhi, Sun Wukong, and the old monkey himself.
Let's first look at the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Indeed, there was a lot of evidence in the game that pointed to her:
For example, when Sun Wukong was suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain, it was the Bodhisattva Guanyin who guided him to fetch scriptures from the Western Heaven. It's not too much to say that she was Sun Wukong's guide. Moreover, Sun Wukong was later put on the headband thanks to the Bodhisattva Guanyin. She gave Tang Sanzang a hat and tricked Sun Wukong into wearing it, which was exactly the same as tricking the Chosen One to wear the headband at the end of the game. Furthermore, the Bodhisattva Guanyin was one of the Five Quarters and Five Elders and served in both the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. It was reasonable for her to lead the whole Chosen One plan. In addition, on the way to fetch scriptures, the Bodhisattva Guanyin often scolded Sun Wukong, which also matched the old monkey's scolding of Sun Wukong.
More importantly, the Bodhisattva Guanyin was the Formless Bodhisattva. It was mentioned in the "Diamond Sutra":
"If a bodhisattva has the appearance of self, others, living beings, or a lifespan, then he is not a bodhisattva."
So, the Bodhisattva Guanyin showed herself in various forms. In the original work of "Journey to the West", a special form of the Fish Basket Guanyin was mentioned. In the game, she showed herself as an old monkey, emphasizing that the Chosen One should save himself, which also confirmed the sentence in the illustrated handbook:
"On the road to immortality, there are countless people. Seeking the Tao but not the truth, it's hard to save oneself while saving others. Don't ask when the merit will be achieved. In the illusory form, there is existence and non-existence."
So, is it very reliable to say that the old monkey is the Bodhisattva Guanyin?
VIII.
However, if the old monkey was the Bodhisattva Guanyin, there were several doubts that were hard to explain clearly:
For example, in terms of the address to Zhu Bajie, when the Bodhisattva Guanyin subdued Zhu Ganglie, she gave him a Buddhist name, which was Zhu Wu'neng. And Zhu Bajie was the name given by Tang Sanzang. However, the old monkey always called him "Bajie", which didn't match the identity of the Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Of course, the address "Bajie" wasn't exclusive to Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong. Some people who were familiar with others could also call him that, such as the Eight Great Vajras:
"A few days ago, the Bodhisattva Guanyin reported to the Tathagata. It would take only eight days to complete the number of scriptures. Now it has been more than four days. I'm afraid that Bajie will be greedy for wealth and miss the deadline."
Besides, the Bodhisattva Guanyin also appeared many times in "Black Myth: Wukong". For example, she showed up in the先锋燧 (I'm not sure about the exact meaning of this term here) and even preached Buddhist scriptures to the Black Bear Spirit in the final animation of the first chapter. Moreover, considering that the Black Bear Spirit asked the Chosen One to spare his life and said that he would go back to the Bodhisattva Guanyin in the South Sea to repent, it just proved that the Bodhisattva Guanyin couldn't have been staying on Huaguo Mountain all the time.
After all, during the disaster of the Black Wind Mountain that the Chosen One encountered, the Bodhisattva Guanyin was the one behind the scenes. It didn't make sense logically for her to act as both the guide and the one who set up difficulties.
What about the Patriarch Bodhi?
It's even more impossible!
This eminent master was elusive. When he drove Sun Wukong down the mountain back then, he warned Sun Wukong not to mention a single word about him. In the illustrated handbook of the Earth God of the Black Wind Mountain, he was depicted as wearing a Taoist robe, carrying a medicine basket, beating a fishing drum, and asking the Earth God to teach the Chosen One a spell:
"I have an old acquaintance who has a bad temper. Although he has accumulated some achievements now, with his arrogant nature, he will surely not be at peace and I'm always worried that he will cause some serious disasters that will burn himself..."
In the end, he also told the Earth God that it was inconvenient for him to show up...
IX.
Furthermore, the Patriarch Bodhi had never thought of restraining Sun Wukong. On the contrary, he was even afraid that Sun Wukong wouldn't dare to make trouble. So how could he put the tight headband on Sun Wukong?
As for the claim that the old monkey is the Victorious Fighting Buddha, it is said that after Sun Wukong became a buddha, his body was divided into two parts, one was the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and the other was the Victorious Fighting Buddha. He wants to guide the Chosen One to destroy the original Great Sage Equaling Heaven, remove the restraint of the golden headband, and become the real Victorious Fighting Buddha.
However, as we analyzed before, the guide in the Chosen One plan couldn't be Sun Wukong himself. Otherwise, neither the Heavenly Court nor Mount Ling would allow it! After all, their purposes were obviously opposite. One wanted Sun Wukong to continue wearing the headband and be a puppet forever, while the other didn't want to wear the headband and didn't want to be a puppet. Did the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling trust Sun Wukong, or did Sun Wukong trust the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling more?
Moreover, what the old monkey said was clearly contrary to Sun Wukong's own will. If he was Sun Wukong, it wouldn't make sense logically:
For example, he said that Sun Wukong left Mount Ling because he smashed his lover three times on the White Tiger Ridge and finally couldn't let go, so he decided not to be a buddha anymore. If Sun Wukong had already become a buddha, and still couldn't let go of the White Bone Demon, then why did he smash her three times in the first place?
The old monkey also said that Sun Wukong was:
"Only having talent but being unambitious, being content with a little wealth, indulging in pleasure, longing for a comfortable life, craving for fame and fortune, wanting to live a carefree life in the Jianghu, and also wanting to become a buddha and an ancestor..."
This was clearly talking nonsense and wasn't worth refuting. Otherwise, Zhu Bajie wouldn't have immediately objected:
"Old monkey, this can't be the memory of our senior brother. You're tricking us again!"
Not to mention that he even cursed Sun Wukong, saying that he was like a yellow-haired animal (an inelegant term), that he was ungrateful. Sun Wukong had never belittled himself and would never use such disgusting words.
So, whether considering the interests of the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling or looking for evidence from the loopholes in the old monkey's words, it shows that this old monkey couldn't be Sun Wukong himself. Otherwise, the whole worldview of the game would collapse.
X.
Besides, some people also mentioned another candidate - Yuan Hong. In many aspects, this can indeed explain some problems!
The reasons given were quite sufficient. For example, in "Black Myth: Wukong", almost every chapter had a person sent by Erlang Shen to assist the Chosen One. And the ways of assistance were very special. They all entered other time-spaces or illusory places to lead the Chosen One to explore the truth of things.
For example, the White-robed Scholar on the Black Wind Mountain led the Chosen One back to the old Guanyin Monastery to eliminate the undead of Elder Jinchi who didn't want to dissipate due to obsession; the Yellow-robed Squire on the Yellow Wind Ridge led the Chosen One to travel back to the old Saha Kingdom to assist the Yellow Wind Great King to fight the giant worm; on the Little Leiyin Temple, it was the Green-hatted Warrior who would warm him up and then take him to the hidden melon field to face the temptation from him; at the Spider Cave, it was the Black-handed Taoist who, in order to find out what the Hundred-eyed Demon Lord was doing, used himself to test the insects and would guide the Chosen One to the hidden Purple Cloud Mountain; at the Flaming Mountain, it was the Bright-axe Warrior who would help the Chosen One open the Blue Water Cave to fight the Water-avoiding Golden Crystal Beast...
Logically speaking, since there was someone sent by Erlang Shen to guide in each chapter, there should also be someone to guide Sun Wukong to the hidden map in the sixth chapter at the Flaming Mountain. Couldn't this person be the old monkey?
The reason for drawing this conclusion came from "Investiture of the Gods". Erlang Shen once subdued the Seven Monsters of Meishan: the White Ape Yuan Hong, the Ox Demon Jin Dasheng (at the Flaming Mountain), the Dog Demon Dai Li, the Pig Demon Zhu Zizhen (at the Yellow Wind Ridge), the Snake Demon Chang Hao (at the Black Wind Mountain), the Goat Demon Yang Xian (at the Little Leiyin Temple), and the Centipede Demon Wu Long (at the Spider Cave).
Among them, as mentioned just now, except for the White Ape and the Dog Demon, the others could all be encountered in the game and were mentioned to be entrusted by the eldest brother (Erlang Shen), coming with tasks, testing the Chosen One and then providing help.
Even so, the Dog Demon could be seen standing with the Goat Demon (the Green-hatted Warrior) in the final mural of the Little Leiyin Temple, at the bottom left corner.
XI.
In this way, six of the Seven Monsters of Meishan appeared in the first five chapters, but only the eldest one among the seven monsters, the White Ape Yuan Hong, didn't appear in the sixth chapter.
Leaving aside the words and deeds of the old monkey, just from the perspective of the game's logic and integrity, Erlang Shen had sent people to guide the Chosen One for five chapters. How could there be a vacancy in the sixth chapter?
However, the reason for drawing this conclusion was based on "Investiture of the Gods". In "Journey to the West", the Seven Sages of Meishan did appear, but that was with Erlang Shen included:
"This True Lord summoned the six brothers of Meishan, namely the four military commanders named Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Li, and the two generals named Guo Shen and Zhi Jian."
Even if these four military commanders and two generals became sages as demons, there was still one missing. So, it's not unreasonable that only six of Erlang Shen's younger brothers appeared in the game.
More importantly, these brothers sent by Erlang Shen were arranged secretly, hiding it from the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. So, the White-robed Scholar pretended to submit to the Black Bear Spirit, the Yellow-robed Squire seemed to have fought with the Yellow Wind Great King and then hid aside waiting. The Green-hatted Warrior wasn't in cahoots with the Yellow-browed King but was chatting and laughing with Maitreya Buddha. The Black-handed Taoist was the most miserable as he was fed insect eggs by the Hundred-eyed Demon Lord. The Bright-axe Warrior was the most tragic. After all, he was an ox demon and sympathized with the Bull Demon King by blood. Before his death, he said that he was most sorry to his eldest brother (Erlang Shen).
Since these brothers of Erlang Shen were helping the Chosen One secretly, the old monkey on Huaguo Mountain, which was exposed in the open, couldn't be Erlang Shen's man. Otherwise, the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling definitely wouldn't agree.
Moreover, the six brothers of Meishan of Erlang Shen didn't even have the celestial register. How could they be on good terms with the immortals of the Heavenly Court and the buddhas of Mount Ling and talk about gambling or not?
"Dear younger brothers, since you haven't received the celestial register, you can't meet the Jade Emperor. Let the celestial soldiers escort you, and I will go back to report to the Heavenly Court with the Heavenly King."
XII.
Not to mention that the old monkey was obviously a Buddhist, while Yuan Hong was a Taoist. Could it be that just to test the Chosen One, he changed his belief and wasn't afraid of being punished by the Taoist gods?
Also, the other brothers always mentioned "eldest brother" when they spoke, implying that they were ordered by Erlang Shen to come. How could this old monkey be so bold as not to mention "eldest brother" at all?
Moreover, Yuan Hong's importance wasn't enough. We know that to achieve the perfect ending, one has to first fight Erlang Shen hidden in the mural and then go to see the old monkey. After defeating Erlang Shen, he would release Sun Wukong's real six senses - consciousness, and would say something like:
"He won. I sent my brothers to test you all the way, and it's all for this moment."
Normally, the old monkey's test should come first, and then the eldest brother's action should follow so that one could say that he sent his brothers to test you. Otherwise, there was just an old monkey.
So, it's clearly unreasonable that the old monkey could be the finale after Erlang Shen and still foolishly trick the Chosen One to wear the headband. After all, the old monkey had been lying to the Chosen One and Zhu Bajie all the time, insisting that the last root device of the Great Sage was the remnant body of the Great Sage.
Moreover, when he guided the Chosen One and Zhu Bajie at the beginning, he also said that after collecting five root devices, they would go back to Huaguo Mountain. Zhu Bajie also said:
"Good nephew, we are going back home, not reincarnating... Let's follow his (the old monkey's) instructions to collect the five root devices and just wait for him to take out the sixth one, and then it will be all done!"
This is the ultimate secret of resurrecting Sun Wukong, which is the outcome that the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling most want to see, that is, a Sun Wukong who has lost his rebellious consciousness and still wears the headband.
Then, who on earth is this old monkey?
