To sum up the main conflict in the Flaming Mountain story: Red Boy, having recalled his past-life identity, wanted revenge against the Western Heaven and intended to use the power of the root relic in Bull Demon King's possession, but Bull Demon King refused.
So Red Boy attacked Bull Demon King, even imprisoning him and taking control of Flaming Mountain.
Mm, that made sense. Red Boy had Samadhi Fire, and he could maximize his strength at Flaming Mountain... my ass!
Bull Demon King had ranked first among the Seven Great Sages in the past. When he revealed his true form as a white bull, he measured over a thousand zhang from head to tail and eight hundred zhang from hoof to back.
Even Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie working together on the journey west had been no match for Bull Demon King. This had been one of the rare occasions when Sun Wukong truly couldn't win and had to go to Heaven for reinforcements.
Could Red Boy defeat Bull Demon King?
The smoke from Samadhi Fire specifically countered Sun Wukong's Fiery Eyes, but it did nothing special against Bull Demon King. Even at Flaming Mountain, Bull Demon King could beat the gall out of Red Boy with three strikes of his staff... Oh, this Red Boy wasn't a bull. Never mind.
Eh? Was the original Red Boy a bull or a rakshasa?
It seemed the original story had never mentioned it at all. Aside from Fei Ren Zai and Dream Journey to the West, no other derivative works seemed to have added similar details either.
Adam's wandering thoughts slowly returned. He stared at the story within the Shadow Spirit Scroll for a long time before reading between the lines. Bull Demon King's family story was filled with just two words—stubborn