In this episode, the Destined One encounters the Tiger Vanguard at Yellow Wind Ridge’s Crouching Tiger Temple. The Tiger Vanguard is a character originally from the novel “Journey to the West,” but the game’s Tiger Vanguard is not the same as the one in the novel. What story lies behind this?
In “Black Myth: Wukong,” there are three tigers in total: the old Tiger Vanguard (Tiger Dad), the new Tiger Vanguard (Tiger Brother), and the Mad Tiger (Tiger Younger Brother). To fully understand their story, one must also learn about another character, Tiger’s Acolyte.
In a side quest of this chapter, the Yellow-Robed Squire leads the Destined One back to the previous Kingdom of Flowing Sands. There, they encounter the old Tiger Vanguard. After defeating him, he pleads with the Destined One to help the Yellow Wind Sage subdue the Yaoguai. The reason the old Tiger Vanguard did not join the fight against Fuban is that he needed to take care of his two young cubs back in his den, Tiger Brother and Tiger Younger Brother, who are tigers not yet transformed into Yaoguai. He must look after these two cubs and cannot afford to meet his end.
After the Yellow Wind Sage helped the King of Flowing Sands defeat Fuban, the situation changed. The King of Flowing Sands first issued the “Respect for Mice Decree,” promoting coexistence between humans and guai. Subsequently, for unknown reasons, all the citizens of the country turned into mice, causing the Yellow Wind Sage great guilt. He felt responsible for these problems and subsequently took his subordinates, including the the old Tiger Vanguard, to Yellow Wind Ridge.
At Yellow Wind Ridge, the Yellow Wind Sage did not engage in wrongdoing. In the original text of ‘Journey to the West”, the Yellow Wind Sage complained to the the old Tiger Vanguard, saying: “I sent you to patrol the mountain, you were only supposed to take some mountain cattle, wild boars, fat deer, and barbarian sheep. Why did you capture Tang Seng, and now his disciples are causing such a disturbance here? What shall we do?” This indicates that when the Yellow Wind Sage instructed the the old Tiger Vanguard to patrol the mountains, he was only supposed to hunt wild animals for food, without any intention of taking lives.
Given that the Yellow Wind Sage had strictly instructed that during mountain patrols only wild animals could be hunted and no harm should come to humans, why then did the the old Tiger Vanguard still capture Tang Seng?
First, the the old Tiger Vanguard attempted to capture Tang Seng because Zhu Bajie lacked martial virtue, striking first. The the old Tiger Vanguard, transforming into a gust of wind to patrol the mountains, was unexpectedly struck by Zhu Bajie, who heard the wind and delivered a blow with his rake. This left the the old Tiger Vanguard stunned; he was merely patrolling and nearly lost his life to Zhu Bajie’s rake. Who wouldn’t be angered by such an attack?
Secondly, following a disregard for Buddhism, the Kingdom of Flowing Sands suddenly experienced the appearance of Fuban and the overnight transformation of all its people into mice, leading the the old Tiger Vanguard to suspect the involvement of Buddhist trickery. Thus, not only did the Yellow Wind Sage harbor resentment towards Buddhism, but the the old Tiger Vanguard also felt this anger. On this particular patrol, when a pig demon suddenly appeared and nearly killed him with a rake, his displeasure was inevitable. Moreover, Zhu Bajie identified himself as a disciple of Buddhism on a pilgrimage to the Western Paradise to seek scriptures, and his aggressive demeanor only intensified the the old Tiger Vanguard’s resentment.
So, fueled by both new grievances and old grudges, the the old Tiger Vanguard clashed with Zhu Bajie. Shortly after, Sun Wukong joined the fray. Realizing he was overpowered, the old Tiger Vanguard transformed into a gust of wind and fled, kidnapping Tang Seng in the process. Later, when Sun Wukong confronted him, the old Tiger Vanguard challenged him to a fight and was slain by Sun Wukong. The Yellow Wind Sage was also subdued by Bodhisattva Lingji, who was summoned by Wukong, and was taken away from Yellow Wind Ridge.
The remaining Tiger brothers had no choice but to gather the surviving lesser yaoguai in the valley to eke out an existence. The elder Tiger, using the skills taught by his father, managed the yaoguai in the mountains, ensuring they did not harm innocents. Over time, mortals came to this place and established a village, living peacefully alongside the local yaoguai. The elder Tiger upheld the creed of “devouring treacherous evildoers and protecting the good travelers,” earning himself the title of “Tiger God.” Consequently, the local residents built the Crouching Tiger Temple in his honor and often worshipped there. The younger Tiger brother envied this deeply, feeling that it was only because he was born a few years later that his elder brother had reaped all the glory, which fueled his growing resentment.
Centuries later, the Yellow Wind Sage obtained one of Sun Wukong’s Six Root Instruments and decapitated Bodhisattva Lingji, returning to Yellow Wind Ridge to cultivate his powers. When Tiger Brothers went to confront him, they were defeated by the Yellow Wind Sage. To save his younger brother’s life, the elder Tiger Brother had no choice but to submit and pledge allegiance. The Yellow Wind Sage, magnanimous and forgiving past grievances, still appointed the elder brother as the new Tiger Vanguard, continuing his father’s legacy.
Unfortunately, the younger Tiger Brother was unaware of his elder brother’s deep intentions. Angered by his brother becoming the vanguard for the Yellow Wind Sage, he left in a huff and from then on, the brothers never saw each other again.
The younger Tiger Brother fled to a well to heal his injuries. Near the well, in a village, lived a swordsman whose family was inadvertently struck by a divine wind when the Yellow Wind Sage returned to Yellow Wind Ridge. The swordsman’s wife died due to an illness brought by the wind, leaving behind a similarly afflicted child. Not wanting his son to die from the disease, the swordsman decided to seek help from the Bodhisattva. Although he never found the Bodhisattva, by a stroke of luck, he encountered the younger Tiger Brother at the well. The younger brother took out a gourd given to him by his elder brother and fed its water to the swordsman’s son, who gradually began to recover.
Afterward, Tiger Younger Brother exploited the Swordsman’s desperate desire to save his child, tricking him into luring living people into the well to heal and enhance his powers. However, this blissful period did not last long. The villagers gradually sensed something was amiss. Upon investigation, they discovered that it was the Swordsman causing the disturbances. Unable to defeat the Swordsman, the villagers directed their anger towards his child and brutally beat the child to death. Unable to bear the loss, in a fit of rage, the Swordsman slaughtered all the villagers and lost himself in the desert sands, transforming into the half-human, half-Guai entity known as Tiger’s Acolyte. This explains why the Destined One encounters Tiger’s Acolyte in the form of a Swordsman in the game.
When Tiger Younger Brother noticed that the child and the Swordsman had not visited for many days, he emerged from the well to investigate. To his horror, he found corpses everywhere and a coffin at the village entrance, inside which lay the child he was trying to save, still wearing the gourd necklace he had given him.
Thus, Tiger Younger Brother brought the coffin back to the well, where he practiced his skills daily beside it, hoping to one day defeat the Yellow Wind Sage. Due to his obsession, Tiger Younger Brother eventually became known as Mad Tiger.
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