"Black Myth: Wukong" - Only by Reading the Original Work Can We Know Why Sun Wukong Couldn't Defeat Erlang Shen

I.

Actually, before the official release of "Black Myth: Wukong", I heard from a foreign friend that he had participated in the game review and knew who the final boss of this game was.

I was quite curious and asked him, "Well, then who is the biggest boss in this game?"

However, he beat around the bush, saying something like there was a confidentiality agreement and he couldn't disclose the details. Finally, he said, "I can only tell you that this person keeps a dog as a pet."

Hearing this, I burst out laughing. He was rather puzzled and asked me if I already knew who it was.

I said, "Of course!"

Yeah, anyone with a certain understanding of Chinese culture would know that in "Journey to the West", those who could keep pets were all powerful gods. And the one who kept a dog as a pet was none other than Erlang Shen.

Perhaps due to different understandings, the final boss in the mouth of this foreigner turned out to be the first "demon" for players to practice on. The protagonist Sun Wukong didn't even have a health bar. Players could beat Erlang Shen half to death casually.

But just when it seemed that Erlang Shen was about to be beaten to death with sticks, unexpectedly, Sun Wukong turned his stick and suddenly transformed into a little bird and flew towards the mountain. Erlang Shen immediately followed, transforming into an eagle and chasing closely behind. In the end, a golden line appeared on Sun Wukong's head. With him clutching his head and screaming in pain, Erlang Shen thrust his Three-pointed, Double-edged Lance at him...

After a flash of golden light, several years passed, and this great battle became the last story about Sun Wukong. And the character that players can control, although looking very similar to Sun Wukong, is not Sun Wukong but the Chosen One.

Then, why did Sun Wukong, who had already become the Victorious Fighting Buddha, lose to Erlang Shen? Or was there another mystery behind his defeat?

II.

Sun Wukong suddenly woke up from his sleep and then found that Erlang Shen had surrounded Huaguo Mountain with one hundred thousand celestial troops. So he flew over on the cloud.

At this time, we would find that five huge figures were standing in the clouds. Their physiques were quite powerful. Compared with Sun Wukong, it was like elephants versus ants.

So, who were these five huge figures?

Except for the tallest one in the middle, from left to right, they were the Heavenly King Holding the Pipa (Dhritarashtra), the Heavenly King Holding a Snake or Red Dragon (Virupaksha), the Heavenly King Holding a Sword (Virudhaka), and the Heavenly King Holding an Umbrella (Vaisravana).

These four heavenly kings were in charge of protecting the Eastern Continent of Divine Beings (Pūrvavideha), the Western Continent of Cattle-gift (Aparagodānīya), the Southern Continent of Jambudvipa, and the Northern Continent of Kuru respectively. These four continents were also the world map of the "Journey to the West" world. Huaguo Mountain was located in the Eastern Continent of Divine Beings, the Tang Dynasty was in the Southern Continent of Jambudvipa, and the main route of fetching scriptures was through the Western Continent of Cattle-gift.

Logically speaking, the Four Heavenly Kings were Buddhist Dharma Protectors and should follow the orders of the Buddha. However, in "Journey to the West", the Four Heavenly Kings were subordinates of the Jade Emperor. After Sun Wukong stole the peaches and elixirs and made havoc in the Jade Pool, the Jade Emperor once ordered Heavenly King Li and his son Nezha to lead the Four Heavenly Kings to descend to the mortal world to subdue demons.

Then, was the one in the middle Heavenly King Li?

No!

The one in the middle was the capable general of Heavenly King Li and also the vanguard war god in the first siege of Huaguo Mountain - the Giant Spirit God!

Why was he the biggest in size but the weakest in the game? Sun Wukong just clashed weapons with Erlang Shen and knocked him down to the ground, and he couldn't get up for a long time.

Because in the original work of "Journey to the West", he was also the celestial god who fought against Sun Wukong for the first time and lost terribly. His weapon, the Xuanhua Axe, was even broken into two pieces, which made Heavenly King Li so angry that he almost chopped him.

III.

From the conversation between Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen, we can know that this story happened after fetching scriptures. The background of the game was roughly like this:

Sun Wukong fulfilled his promise, safely sent Tang Sanzang to the Western Heaven and obtained the true scriptures:

"I've protected the people and fetched the scriptures."

However, Sun Wukong didn't want any fame or merit. He just wanted to go back to Huaguo Mountain to live a carefree life. But those in the Heavenly Court didn't trust Sun Wukong and didn't want to let him go back. So they sent Erlang Shen with celestial troops and generals to catch him and bring him back to the Heavenly Court to be a god.

It's just that the Heavenly Court's approach was too extreme. In order to force Sun Wukong to submit, they were determined to wipe out Huaguo Mountain. This was also what Sun Wukong couldn't understand:

"What I don't understand is... you bastards killed my monkey descendants!"

His statement also matched what Erlang Shen, who jumped down from the Giant Spirit God, said. He said that if he defeated Sun Wukong, he would make the monkeys obediently follow him back to the Heavenly Court and level Huaguo Mountain. If he didn't defeat Sun Wukong, although he couldn't bring the monkeys back to the Heavenly Court, his subordinates would still level Huaguo Mountain.

Why did Erlang Shen's subordinates still want to wipe out Huaguo Mountain even if Sun Wukong defeated Erlang Shen?

Because Erlang Shen had a sharp tongue!

In the original work of "Journey to the West", although the Jade Emperor issued an imperial edict ordering Erlang Shen to subdue Sun Wukong, he didn't give the order to burn Huaguo Mountain.

At that time, after Sun Wukong was captured, Erlang Shen told his subordinates:

"All of you lead the troops to search the mountain. After the search is completed, return to GuanKou. Wait for me to receive the reward and claim the merit, and then we'll have fun together."

Perhaps later the Jade Emperor didn't give Erlang Shen much reward, which made him angry. When he went back to find the Six Brothers of Meishan, he set fire to Huaguo Mountain again.

IV.

After Sun Wukong defeated the White Bone Demon three times, he once returned to Huaguo Mountain. The scene he saw was in a terrible state, really a sorry sight. The surviving monkeys said:

"Since Grandpa left, this mountain was set on fire by Erlang Bodhisattva and most of us were burned to death."

The reason why it was said that burning Huaguo Mountain wasn't the Jade Emperor's will was that later when Sun Wukong wanted to revive Huaguo Mountain, he once went to the Four Sea Dragon Kings to borrow water. If the Jade Emperor had issued an edict not to keep Huaguo Mountain, probably not a single monkey would have survived. Similarly, the Four Sea Dragon Kings wouldn't dare to bypass the Jade Emperor and help Sun Wukong with the sweet rain:

"His favor is great and his means are high. So he went to the Four Sea Dragon Kings to borrow some sweet rain and fairy water to wash the mountain green."

Of course, this is just speculation. It's also possible that burning Huaguo Mountain was indeed the Jade Emperor's imperial edict. Even if Erlang Shen sympathized with Sun Wukong, he couldn't disobey the order, so he set fire to it. On the surface, he destroyed Huaguo Mountain, but secretly he also protected some monkeys to survive.

Otherwise, the remaining monkeys wouldn't have called Erlang Shen a bodhisattva, and when chasing the Nine-headed Insect, Sun Wukong wouldn't have called Erlang Shen "Big Brother"!

All in all, in "Black Myth: Wukong", this was how Erlang Shen threatened Sun Wukong. First, he affirmed Sun Wukong's status, saying that he wasn't an ordinary monkey but a monkey who had been conferred the title of Buddha. Moreover, among the one hundred thousand celestial troops and generals present, only he was worthy of having a one-on-one fight with Sun Wukong:

"Monkey, monkey, I didn't want to fight with you, a defeated opponent, again. Well, if you lose later, I'll take you back to the Heavenly Court..."

However, whether it was following the Jade Emperor's will or that Erlang Shen was originally ruthless, regardless of the success or failure of this contest, he wanted to kill all of Sun Wukong's monkey descendants.

V.

Of course, just like in the original work of "Journey to the West", Erlang Shen finally broke his promise. Although he defeated Sun Wukong, he didn't completely wipe out Huaguo Mountain. Otherwise, there wouldn't be an old monkey to tell the story of Sun Wukong to the Chosen One.

The image of Erlang Shen was quite consistent with that in the original work of "Journey to the West". The description in the book was like this:

"His appearance was handsome and noble, with ears reaching his shoulders and bright eyes. He wore a hat with three peaks and a flying phoenix, and a light goose-yellow robe. His golden-threaded boots were lined with coiled-dragon stockings, and his jade belt was decorated with flower patterns and eight treasures. He carried a new-moon-shaped slingshot at his waist and held a Three-pointed, Double-edged Lance in his hand."

Although his ears didn't really reach his shoulders, the other descriptions were quite accurate, except that the slingshot at his waist was replaced by a sword.

In the battle with Sun Wukong, Erlang Shen's main weapon was the Three-pointed, Double-edged Lance, which was also called the Three-pointed, Double-edged Sword in "Journey to the West". Actually, it was a sword with a long handle, combining the features of a sword, a knife, and a fork. It could be used to thrust, stab, and chop, with great lethality.

The weight of this weapon was as high as twenty-five thousand two hundred catties. However, I haven't found the source of this statement, so let's just assume it for now.

Besides this main weapon, at the end of the battle with Sun Wukong, Erlang Shen also used a move called the Mountain-splitting Axe. At that time, the axe was taken out from Erlang Shen's waist and suddenly became huge. When he chopped down with the axe, although Sun Wukong dodged it, a mountain peak on Huaguo Mountain was split open, which also matched the Erlang Shen that Sun Wukong knew before:

"I remember that in the past, the younger sister of the Jade Emperor had an affair with a mortal named Yang and gave birth to a son. Was it you who split Taoshan Mountain with an axe?"

VI.

After all, this axe was clumsy and not very easy to use. It was also tiring to swing it around. So Erlang Shen usually hid it in his sleeve and only used it at critical moments.

I guess you've also noticed that besides using the Three-pointed, Double-edged Sword and suddenly using the big move of the Mountain-splitting Axe, Erlang Shen also carried a sword on his back and used a move called "Ten Thousand Arrows Piercing the Heart" in the battle with Sun Wukong.

So, what was the origin of this sword?

This sword wasn't mentioned in the original work of "Journey to the West", but it was mentioned in the Yuan Zaju version of "Journey to the West". It was a Tai'e Sword. At that time, Erlang Shen received the order from the Bodhisattva Guanyin to go to rescue Tang Sanzang and fought against Tian Wu and Gong Gong at Mount Buzhou:

"Breaking Mount Buzhou and slaying Tian Wu, once used the Tai'e Sword to test Gong Gong."

The Tai'e here was the sword that Erlang Shen carried on his back in the game.

Of course, in a Ming Dynasty document "The Precious Scroll of Erlang", a sword called the Demon-slaying Sword was also mentioned. It was listed together with the Mountain-opening Axe, the Two-edged Sword, the Silver Bullet and Golden Bow, etc., all of which were the divine weapons owned by Erlang Shen.

Yes, the game didn't show that Erlang Shen had the Silver Bullet and Golden Bow. Actually, this weapon was the one that Erlang Shen used most frequently besides the Three-pointed, Double-edged Sword. In "Journey to the West", he once used this slingshot to hit Sun Wukong who had transformed into a bustard and knocked him over. Similarly, he also used this slingshot to hit the Nine-headed Insect, knocking it down from the air, and then his Roaring Celestial Dog rushed up and bit off one of its heads.

Yes, the Roaring Celestial Dog was mentioned here. In the game, it was a black dog, and its breed should be a whippet, which also matched the dog in the original work:

"Being chased by Erlang Shen's whippet, it took a bite on the calf and pulled him down again."

VII.

In the game, the way Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen addressed each other was also very interesting!

When they met, Sun Wukong spoke first and called Erlang Shen, saying that he actually brought shrimp soldiers and crab generals to bluff. Erlang Shen wasn't so polite. At first, he called Sun Wukong "Monkey" and later called him "Naughty Monkey".

Although Erlang Shen had been demeaning Sun Wukong, saying that he was a defeated opponent and asking him to kneel down and so on, Sun Wukong still called him "Brother Yang" or "Elder Brother". It wasn't until Erlang Shen used a move of the Mountain-splitting Axe and almost split Sun Wukong in two that Sun Wukong got angry:

"Little Nephew, is this what you call a one-on-one fight? The sun in the sky is so dazzling. Have the guts to meet your uncle in the mountains again."

It was reasonable for Erlang Shen to call Sun Wukong "Monkey" or "Naughty Monkey" before. But why did Sun Wukong call Erlang Shen "Little Nephew" and claim that he was the uncle?

Because Erlang Shen became Erlang Shen entirely because of his uncle.

Yes, his uncle was the Jade Emperor, the current ruler of the Three Realms!

Don't listen to Erlang Shen's nonsense like:

"With a high heart, he didn't recognize his relatives in the Heavenly Court. With a proud nature, he went back to live by the Guan River."

Because the Jade Emperor was also a human being. As an older brother, no matter what his sister did, his first reaction should be to protect her instead of hurting her. If the Jade Emperor really didn't agree with Erlang Shen splitting the mountain to save his mother, then it would be impossible for him to recruit Erlang Shen to work in the Heavenly Court and confer on him the title of Erlang Xian Sheng Zhen Jun.

Because, whether you see it or not, he is there, neither sad nor happy; whether you think of it or not, the uncle is there, neither coming nor going.

Because Erlang Shen had the Jade Emperor, his uncle, helping him build up his resume, Sun Wukong looked down on him.

VIII.

Then, why did Sun Wukong stop entangle and run towards Huaguo Mountain after being hit by Erlang Shen's axe?

This actually also matched the original work of "Journey to the West". When Erlang Shen subdued Sun Wukong back then, it was because the inside of Huaguo Mountain was breached, and the monkey descendants' camp was in chaos and they fled in all directions:

"While fighting, the Great Sage suddenly saw that the demon monkeys in his camp were startled and scattered. Feeling flustered, he withdrew his magic form, pulled out his stick and left in a hurry."

Similarly, in the game, when Erlang Shen split the front mountain of Huaguo Mountain in two with an axe, naturally some monkeys were killed or injured. So Sun Wukong had no intention of continuing the fight and was eager to go back to see if any of his monkey descendants were hurt.

Moreover, when he was running away, he deliberately transformed into a bird.

Actually, the bird that Sun Wukong transformed into was also explained in the book. It was a bustard. I searched online, and the picture was like this:

It was still a bit similar to the bird that Sun Wukong transformed into in the game.

Of course, there was another reason for Sun Wukong's escape this time. That was, the Four Heavenly Kings had joined the fight. It was no longer a one-on-one fight between Erlang Shen and him but a group fight.

When Sun Wukong was captured by Erlang Shen back then, it wasn't that his strength was inferior to Erlang Shen's but that he was beaten by a group. At that time, the Four Heavenly Kings led the celestial troops and generals to set up a tight net and surrounded Huaguo Mountain tightly. Heavenly King Li and Nezha were holding the Monster-revealing Mirror and standing in the air to prevent Sun Wukong from transforming. Erlang Shen also brought his Six Brothers of Meishan to besiege Sun Wukong. Finally, the exhausted monkey accidentally fell into the trap of the Supreme Lord Laozi and got hit on the head:

"The Monkey King was only busy fighting the Seven Sages. He didn't know that this weapon fell from the sky and hit his celestial spirit. He couldn't stand steadily and fell down."

IX.
In the game, Sun Wukong was also facing the siege of the Four Heavenly Kings. If Erlang Shen hadn't deliberately shouted when throwing the axe, Sun Wukong might really have been hit.

Since Sun Wukong could hardly withstand the one-on-one fight with Erlang Shen alone, and now the Four Heavenly Kings joined in the fight together, it was inevitable that he would be at a disadvantage. Besides, a mountain peak on Huaguo Mountain was split open, so he was eager to go back.
Unfortunately, just as he flew to Huaguo Mountain, suddenly a tight headband appeared on his head. With him clutching his head and howling in pain, Erlang Shen thrust his knife at him and rushed towards the mountain of Huaguo Mountain. When the dust settled, only an iron lump was left on the mountain. Sun Wukong disappeared, and Erlang Shen was nowhere to be found.
Then, why did the tight headband still appear on the head of Sun Wukong who had already become a buddha?
This actually corresponded to the original work of "Journey to the West". After Sun Wukong was put on the tight headband at first, it hadn't been taken off until he obtained the true scriptures. When the Tathagata Buddha was conferring rewards on everyone, Sun Wukong asked Tang Sanzang to quickly recite the spell for loosening the headband and take it off, saying that he had already become a buddha.
Tang Sanzang replied to him:
"At that time, it was just because you were difficult to manage that I used this method to restrain you. Now that you have become a buddha, it should naturally disappear. How could it still be on your head!"
In the game, when Erlang Shen appeared, he also said:
"Remember it well. He is not an ordinary monkey. He is a monkey with merits and has been conferred the title of Buddha."
However, due to his stubbornness, Erlang Shen got angry and said that although Sun Wukong had received the celestial salary, his nature hadn't changed. And now no one could save him.
Moreover, Sun Wukong himself gave up the position of Buddha and insisted on going back to Huaguo Mountain to be the Monkey King. That meant he was no longer the Victorious Fighting Buddha, so the tight headband that hadn't been taken off originally naturally reappeared.

X.
In fact, even in the original work of "Journey to the West", the distinction between immortals and demons wasn't very obvious.

If you were in the Heavenly Court, you were an immortal. But if you went down to the mortal world, you became a demon. For example, Kui Mulang, the Golden and Silver Boy Servants, the Jade Rabbit Spirit, the Yellow-browed Demon, and so on, were all in such a situation.
Even Sun Wukong, who was driven back to Huaguo Mountain during the journey to fetch scriptures, had a lot of demonic aura on him after staying with the monkeys for a long time and had already become a demon.
At that time, when Zhu Bajie went to invite him back, he deliberately went to the East Sea to take a bath. And he explained the reason:
"You don't know. Since I came back, I've got some demonic aura on me these days. Master is a clean freak. I'm afraid he'll dislike me."
So, after Sun Wukong chose to return to Huaguo Mountain, he became a demon. Since he was no longer a buddha and refused to be disciplined, the tight headband that had been on his head before naturally reappeared.
Later, Sun Wukong turned into an iron lump that looked like an egg but wasn't smooth. There were patterns like the Somersault Cloud on it.
In fact, the stone that gave birth to Sun Wukong in the first place wasn't smooth either and had holes on it:
"The stone was three zhang, six chi and five cun high and two zhang and four chi in circumference. The height of three zhang, six chi and five cun corresponded to the three hundred and sixty-five degrees of the celestial circle. The circumference of two zhang and four chi corresponded to the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar. There were nine apertures and eight holes on it, corresponding to the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams."
It was quite similar to this stone, except that its size was much smaller than that in the original work. The height of three zhang and six chi in the original work was twelve meters high, while in the game, it was as tall as the old monkey, about 1.56 meters.
All in all, "Black Myth: Wukong" is really excellent. Although a novice like me can't even defeat the crow monster in the river in the first level, there are indeed many details in this game that are worth pondering and exploring.