You’re probably here because you’re stuck. Maybe you’re wandering around the burning pits of Chapter 5 in Black Myth: Wukong, staring at a massive wall of ice, wondering why a creature that looks like it crawled out of a fever dream is currently stomping your character into the dirt. Or maybe you just love Chinese mythology. Either way, the Bishui Golden Eyed Beast is one of those figures that sits right at the intersection of "cool boss fight" and "deeply tragic lore."
It's not just a random monster. Honestly, if you look at the source material—the classic 16th-century novel Journey to the West—this beast is basically the ultimate victim of a bad breakup and a stolen ride. In the game, it’s a secret boss that tests your patience and your ability to manage environmental hazards. But in the grander scheme of the Sun Wukong mythos, it’s a symbol of loyalty and the collateral damage that happens when gods and demons go to war.
Most people get the Bishui Golden Eyed Beast wrong because they treat it like a generic dragon-lion hybrid. It’s way more than that.
The Bull King’s Stolen Cadillac
To understand this beast, you have to understand its owner: the Bull Demon King. Imagine the Bull King is the coolest guy in the neighborhood, and the Bishui Golden Eyed Beast is his custom-painted, high-performance sports car. It’s his mount. In the original text by Wu Cheng'en, this creature is described as being able to travel through the air and underwater with equal ease. It's essentially a multi-terrain vehicle with a soul.
The tragedy—or comedy, depending on how much you like Sun Wukong—starts when Wukong needs to steal the Iron Fan from Princess Iron Fan. He can't get it by force, so he pulls a classic Wukong move. He transforms into the Bull Demon King.
He doesn't just take the King's face; he takes his ride. Wukong hops on the Bishui Golden Eyed Beast, and the poor creature, despite its "Golden Eyes" which are supposed to see through falsehoods, totally falls for it. Or maybe it just knows better than to argue with a guy who looks like its master and carries a ten-ton staff. By the time the real Bull Demon King realizes his "car" has been hot-wired by a monkey, Wukong is already halfway to the Flaming Mountains.
Fighting the Beast in Black Myth: Wukong
Game Science, the developers behind Black Myth: Wukong, clearly did their homework. They didn't just put the beast in a flat arena and call it a day. They turned the fight into a multi-stage puzzle that reflects the creature’s elemental nature.
💡 You might also like: Hogwarts Legacy PS5: Why the Magic Still Holds Up in 2026
You’ll find him in the Secret Area of Chapter 5, the Bishui Cave. He’s huge. He’s aggressive. And he’s incredibly fast for something that looks like it’s made of heavy muscle and scales.
The first thing you’ll notice is the fire. He loves it. He breathes it. He lives in it. But here’s the kicker that many players miss on their first run: the arena changes. If you lead the Bishui Golden Eyed Beast to smash through specific walls, you can move the fight into different zones. One zone is filled with ice.
Why does this matter? Because the beast adapts.
If you fight him in the ice zone, his fire attacks cool down, and he starts using frost-based moves. It’s a brilliant nod to the "water" part of his name—"Bishui" (碧水) literally translates to "Green Water" or "Jade Water." Despite his fiery appearance in the volcanic depths of the game, his core identity is tied to the fluidity of water and the clarity of those golden eyes.
A Quick Reality Check on Stats
Honestly, don't go in there under-leveled. You want to be at least level 70 or 80. His leap attack has a deceptively large hitbox, and if you get caught in a corner, it's game over. Use the Fireproof Mantle if you're staying in the first room, but if you've pushed him into the frost area, make sure you have some Chill Resistance. It's a fight about adaptability. Just like the beast had to adapt to being ridden by a fake master, you have to adapt to his shifting elements.
The "Golden Eyed" Irony
There’s a lot of debate among scholars of Chinese literature about why a creature with "Golden Eyes"—a trait often associated with the ability to see the truth—was so easily fooled by Sun Wukong. Remember, Wukong himself gained his "Fiery Golden Eyes" (Huǒyǎn-jīnjīng) in the Eight Trigrams Furnace of Laozi.
📖 Related: Little Big Planet Still Feels Like a Fever Dream 18 Years Later
The Bishui Golden Eyed Beast shares this nomenclature. Some experts, like Anthony C. Yu in his landmark translation of Journey to the West, suggest that the beast’s "blindness" to Wukong’s disguise is a commentary on the nature of loyalty. It’s not that the beast couldn't see it was Wukong; it’s that the beast is bound to the form of its master.
In the game, this manifests as a sort of blind rage. The beast isn't attacking you because it’s evil. It’s attacking you because it’s been left behind, trapped in a cave, guarding a path that leads to nowhere while its master’s family falls apart. It’s a sad, lonely creature that only knows how to guard what’s left of its territory.
Beyond the Game: Cultural Significance
In Chinese iconography, creatures like the Bishui Golden Eyed Beast serve a specific purpose. They are "Qilin-adjacent." While not a pure Qilin (a mythical hooves creature of prosperity), it shares that chimera-like quality: part dragon, part lion, part horse.
You see these statues outside temples and palaces. They are protectors. When you kill the beast in the game, you aren't just "clearing a level." You are effectively dismantling the last line of defense for the Bull Demon King’s legacy. It’s heavy stuff for a "boss fight."
The beast also represents the subduing of nature. In ancient Taoist thought, the taming of such a powerful animal by the Bull Demon King signifies his status as a "Great Sage." Only someone with immense spiritual and physical power could hope to ride a creature that can breathe both fire and frost. By defeating it, you—as the Destined One—are proving that your power has eclipsed that of the old legends.
Tactics That Actually Work
If you’re struggling with the encounter, stop trying to dodge everything. The Bishui Golden Eyed Beast is designed to punish "panic rolling."
👉 See also: Why the 20 Questions Card Game Still Wins in a World of Screens
- Use the environment. I can't stress this enough. If the fire is killing you, break the wall. Move to the ice. It changes the rhythm of the fight and gives you a second to breathe.
- The Cloud Step is your best friend. Since the beast has massive AoE (Area of Effect) slams, being able to turn invisible and reposition is vital.
- Patience over Greed. He has long recovery animations after his big charges. That’s your window. Don't try to combo him while he’s standing still; he’ll just tail-swipe you into the lava.
- The Fan Vessel. If you’ve already beaten the Iron Fan story beats, use the vessel. It can stagger him and clear some of the elemental gunk off the floor.
Why We Still Care About This Beast
It's weirdly relatable. We've all been the Bishui Golden Eyed Beast at some point—working hard, being loyal to the wrong person, and getting stuck in a "cave" of our own making.
The reason this creature resonates in 2026, centuries after it was first written about, is that it represents the "unseen" side of epic stories. Everyone remembers the Monkey King. Everyone remembers the Bull Demon King. But the mount? The loyal companion who does the heavy lifting? They usually get relegated to a footnote.
Game Science gave this footnote a massive, cinematic, and difficult-as-hell spotlight. They turned a travel method into a tragic sentinel.
When you finally take him down, you get the "Bishui Beast Staff" materials. It’s one of the best weapons for a defense-heavy build. It’s fitting. The beast was a guardian until the very end, and by wielding its remains, you carry that protection with you into the final chapters of the game.
What to Do Next
If you’ve managed to defeat the Bishui Golden Eyed Beast, don't just rush to the next boss. Take a second to explore the rest of the Bishui Cave. There are murals and environmental storytelling cues that explain exactly how the beast ended up there.
- Check your inventory: Ensure you have the Gold Spikeplate and other materials dropped by the beast. These are essential for crafting the top-tier armor sets that carry you through the secret ending.
- Re-read the Journal: The in-game journal entries for the Chapter 5 bosses are some of the best-written prose in the game. They fill in the gaps that the cutscenes leave out, especially regarding the Bull Demon King's internal struggles.
- Experiment with the Staff: The weapon you craft from this fight has a unique property that boosts your defense based on your current mana. Test it out against the common enemies in the area to get a feel for the timing before you head into the final confrontation of the chapter.
The beast is gone, but the challenge only ramps up from here. You've officially entered the "endgame" territory where mastery of elements—something the beast tried to teach you—is the only way to survive.