In this episode, we delve into the background and story of Red Boy in the game.
In the classic text “Journey to the West,” Red Boy is originally named Bull Boy Sage, titled Boy Sage King, and is the son of the Bull King and a Rakshasi. He is adept at wielding the Samadhi True Fire and his weapon of choice is the Fire-tipped Spear. Despite being several centuries old, he retains the appearance of a child. His domain includes the area around the Cave of Fire Cloud in the Dried Pine Ravine, where not only the local yaoguais and fiends obey his commands, but even the Keeper of the Flaming Mountains serves by his side, a truly formidable presence. He once fiercely battled with Tang Seng and his disciples during their quest for scriptures. Even Sun Wukong was no match for him. Eventually, they had to resort to calling upon Guan Yin Bodhisattva for help, who subdued Red Boy using a Golden Hoop.
The ritual implements used by Guan Yin Bodhisattva to subdue Red Boy were originally gifts from Buddha, consisting of the Golden Hoop, Tightening Hoop, and Restraining Hoop. These implements are specifically for Guan Yin Bodhisattva to control powerful yaoguais: the Golden Hoop subdued Red Boy, the Tightening Hoop subdued Sun Wukong, and the Restraining Hoop subdued the Black Bear Fiend. This incident also indirectly demonstrates Red Boy’s significant magical power and strength.
Indeed, within the original “Journey to the West,” many readers ponder a question: Despite his appearance and abilities, Red Boy bears no resemblance to the Bull King. Logically, as the saying goes, “dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and a mouse’s son will dig holes,” the son of the Bull King should also be a bull demon. Yet, Red Boy shows none of his father’s bovine traits. Furthermore, he possesses a delicate and fair complexion, quite unlike the rough and tough old yaoguai that is Bull King. How can this be?
Many people with wild imaginations have thought that the Banana Fan used by Rakshasi was originally used by Taishang Laojun for fanning his Alchemy furnace, and that Red Boy’s unique Supernatural powers, the three-flavored true fire, were also Taishang Laojun’s exclusive skills. Thus, many believe Red Boy to be the child of Taishang Laojun and Rakshasi. However, during the pilgrimage, whenever Tang Seng and Sun Wukong, along with their companions, encountered Yaoguai with powerful backgrounds, these monsters were usually taken away by someone behind the scenes, revealing their true forms in the process. Sudhana, favored by Guanyin, was ultimately trapped on the Lotus Platform, but Red Boy always appeared in human form, never transforming into a bull or a flame, indicating his true form is human.
According to the laws of genetics, a child’s appearance is determined by the genes of both parents. Therefore, our focus should not solely be on Bull King; it should also be on Red Boy’s mother, Rakshasi. When Sun Wukong reaches the Flaming Mountains and needs the Banana Fan from Rakshasi, she inadvertently reveals the secret that Red Boy is human. She says, “My son, the Boy Sage King of the Cave of Fire Cloud, has been human-shaped since his early Cultivation, so Red Boy has followed my own form.”
Later, Bull King also confirms this, saying, “My mountain wife practiced Cultivation from a young age and is indeed an accomplished female Immortal.” This indicates that Rakshasi is not a mere mortal or a Yaoguai, but a revered female Immortal. Therefore, in the union of Bull King and Rakshasi, the Yaoguai lineage was recessive, and the Immortal lineage dominant, making it logical that Red Boy was born human, without any bovine traits.
In “Black Myth: Wukong,” the storyline offers a different explanation for Red Boy’s origins, with the game’s plot adjustments being reasonable and within the framework of the original “Journey to the West” narrative.
According to “Black Myth: Wukong,” the Yaksha kingdom was annihilated, and the old Yaksha King fought to his last breath but could not prevent the enemy forces from storming the palace and killing his son. As the old Yaksha King cradled his deceased child, wounded and grieving, a mysterious figure appeared. It can be inferred from the Yaksha King’s guide that this mysterious figure was Taishang Laojun. 
To preserve the last vestige of the old Yaksha King’s lineage, Taishang Laojun summoned a white-robed Taoist Priest, later known as the Keeper of the Flaming Mountains. He held a bowl in his hands and extracted the essence of the old Yaksha King’s son, placing it within the bowl. When players encounter the Keeper of the Flaming Mountains in the game, he is still holding this bowl, which is one of his most powerful magical implements.
To save this last trace of his lineage, the old Yaksha King merged his own essence with his son’s, thus ensuring the vitality of the essence. He used the waters of the Mother-Son River to infuse the essence into a Rakshasi, who then bore Red Boy. In fact, this was against the Rakshasi’s will; she was coerced. At this time, Sun Wukong was already trapped under Mount Wuxing, and the Bull King was still resisting the Celestial Court’s assaults on his own. However, the Bull King did not realize that while he was fighting, his wife was being forced to bear a child. This is the backstory of Red Boy as adapted in the game.
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