Throughout your journey in Black Myth: Wukong, you’ll run into a deluge of bosses you must defeat to collect all six relics of Sun Wukong. However, there is a set of secret bosses that instantly catch your eye. More than the fact that they share the same last name, there’s always a poem being narrated the closer we get to their respective boss arenas.
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As soon as you get your hands on the Loong Scales, you’ll face a total of four Loong bosses starting from Chapter One straight to Chapter Four. These draconic-looking bosses are brothers, and you begin to wonder why they’re all separated from one another. As such, we’ll delve into their backstories and how they ended up where they are.
Who Are The Four Loongs?
The Four Loongs are the sons of the Old Loong King of the Jing River, who had nine sons in all. The Red, Black, Cyan, and Yellow Loongs represent and guard China’s four main rivers that flow into the sea.
The Red Loong represents the Yangtze River; the Black Loong represents the Ji River; the Cyan Loong represents the Yellow River; the Yellow Loong represents the Huai River. The Yellow Loong is the eldest of the four and the last and most difficult of the Loong bosses the Destined One faces.
The Old Loong King And The Seer
Before going in-depth into each of the Four Loongs, we must first detail the story of what happened to their father, the Old Loong King of the Jing River. Although merely mentioned in in-game lore, the Loong King had a fateful run-in in the Journey to the West with Yuan Shoucheng, the Daoist master and physician you meet in Chapter One.
Yuan Shoucheng is a seer whose mastery over the art of divination allowed him to make pinpoint, accurate predictions of the weather. In the book, Yuan used his gift to help a fisherman obtain an overabundance of fish, which caught the Loong King’s attention, who grew concerned at the potential consequences of overfishing in his realm.
He confronted Yuan, and the two entered a wager. Due to his pride, The Loong King planned to mess with Yuan’s prediction since he had the power to control the rain.
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However, the Jade Emperor issued a command to the Loong King for the exact amount of rainfall that fit Yuan’s prediction. Unable to admit defeat and swallow his ego, the Loong King disobeyed the Jade Emperor. As a result, the Loong King suffered the ultimate punishment and was decapitated for his crime.
According to Yellow Loong’s in-game introduction dialogue, he claimed that the Loong King’s death ‘paved the way for the journey’, implying that it was one of the factors that triggered Tang Sanzang’s mission in Journey to the West.
The Fate Of The Four Loongs
Following the in-game lore, the Four Loongs were the only ones not rewarded for assisting Tang Sanzang’s party in Journey to the West. As a result, the brothers consulted Yuan Shoucheng for his gifts, implying that they did not blame him for their father’s death.
In short, Yuan’s prophecies moved the brothers to desert their duties as guardians of their respective rivers in a bid to escape the Celestial Court. The Four Loongs split ways and each found their own safe havens. However, if you listen closely to the short poem that’s narrated pre-fight, the rivers are thrown into disorder due to this decision.
The Red Loong
The youngest of the Loong brothers, the Red Loong travelled to the Black Wind Mountain, where he gave all his riches to the greedy Black Bear Guai and was given a well-hidden cave in return. As written in in-game lore, the Red Loong neglected to maintain his skills, losing his ability to fly.
Despite being given the Boshan Censer by the Black Bear Guai, the Red Loong could never stay long up in the air, suggesting that he was in a diminished state when the Destined One finally faced him.
The Black Loong
Before the Black Loong left, Yuan Shoucheng told him to hide and eventually ‘kill a westbound monkey’ as an act of penance. Although this was only communicated to the Black Loong, it likely applies to all four brothers.
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However, unlike his brothers, it was the Yellow Wind Sage who drew him away, welcoming him to the Yellow Wind Ridge in exchange for all his treasures. Black Loong most likely waits for the Destined One to fulfil both their destinies.
The Cyan Loong
The Cyan Loong had the misfortune (or perhaps, fortune) of running into the villainous Yellowbrow. In-game lore details that the Cyan Loong not only heavily disliked Yellowbrow and his teachings, but was fearful of him and his power. In order to stay on his lands, the Cyan Loong entered a wager with Yellowbrow: to capture a single living fish without moving an inch.
His tenacity surprised Yellowbrow’s followers, as the Cyan Loong slowly froze as the centuries passed, only moving once the Destined One approached.
The Yellow Loong
The eldest Loong brother opted to stick with Yuan Shoucheng in his travels, transforming into a decorative pattern on Yuan’s robes. The Yellow Loong had a front-seat view of Yuan’s troubles since he was a soothsayer who couldn’t change the outcome of his prophecies.
Somewhere along the way, the Yellow Loong manages to possess Yuan’s body and appears to the Destined One after all his brothers have been killed. His in-game dialogue confirms that the Four Loongs are inextricably tied to the Destined One, and since the brothers’ deaths unlock the Golden Loong Staff, it suggests that their destinies are to help the Destined One in his journey.
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OpenCritic
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Top Critic Rating:
82/100
Critics Recommend:
80%
- Released
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August 20, 2024
- Developer(s)
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Game Science
- Publisher(s)
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Game Science
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Violence
- How Long To Beat
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39 hours
- OpenCritic Rating
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Strong