Heluo fish

Lore & Background

According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Heluo fish lives in the River Burning, which rises at Mount Burnbright and flows west into the Great River. It makes a noise like a dog barking, and eating it cures cancerous growths. The text also describes a similar fish, the Zi fish, which has one head and ten bodies but smells like the scent-herb and prevents farting when eaten.

Reader's Guide

The Heluo fish appears in the 1827 fantasy novel Flowers in the Mirror by Li Ruzhen, where the protagonist Tang Ao encounters one in a fishing net at the 'Country of Black-bottomed People.' The creature is identified as a Heluo fish when it barks like a dog, distinguishing it from the fragrant Zi fish. In the 16th century, Yang Shen wrote in Encomiums on Strange Fish that the Heluo fish can transform into a bird called Xiujiu, which steals husked rice and falls into mortars, dead. The Xiujiu bird shrieks at night and fears thunder and lightning. In modern popular culture, the Heluo Fish appears as a fightable Yaoguai in the video game Black Myth: Wukong, known as 'Monk from the Sea,' and defeating a boss version rewards the player with a transformation ability. The creature's unique anatomy—one head and ten bodies—has drawn comparisons to cephalopods.

Did You Know?

• The Heluo fish has one head and ten bodies, according to the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• Eating Heluo fish cures cancerous growths.
• In the novel Flowers in the Mirror, the Heluo fish is distinguished from the Zi fish by its foul smell and dog-like bark.

Mythological Origins & Physical Description

The Heluo fish occupies a distinctive place in Chinese mythological bestiaries, most prominently described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. According to this ancient text, the creature inhabits the River Burning, which rises from Mount Burnbright and flows westward into the Great River. The Heluo fish is defined by its extraordinary anatomy: a single head attached to ten separate bodies. Beyond its physical form, the text notes that the creature produces a sound resembling a dog's bark. Perhaps most strikingly, the Classic of Mountains and Seas assigns the Heluo fish a medicinal purpose—consuming it is said to cure cancerous growths. The text also mentions a closely related species, the Zi fish, found in the River Limpid, which shares the one-head-ten-bodies structure but differs in scent (fragrant like scent-herb) and culinary effect (preventing flatulence). Both creatures represent the ancient Chinese imagination of hybrid marine life, blending the familiar (perch-like appearance, dog-like vocalization) with the fantastical (multiple bodies, curative properties).

Literary Appearances & Cultural Imagination

The Heluo fish found a vivid second life in the 1827 fantasy novel Flowers in the Mirror by Li Ruzhen. In this work, the protagonist Tang Ao stumbles upon one of the creatures tangled in a fishing net while visiting the Country of Black-bottomed People. His companion, Duo Jiugong, initially suggests simply kicking the odd fish away, and Tang Ao's brother-in-law Lin Zhiyang reacts with disgust upon smelling it. The creature's true identity is confirmed only when it barks like a dog—a detail that echoes the Classic of Mountains and Seas description. Duo Jiugong then draws a sharp distinction between the Heluo fish and its cousin the Zi fish: one exudes a heavenly fragrance while the other reeks of something extremely foul. This literary episode demonstrates how the Heluo fish had become a recognizable cultural reference point by the nineteenth century, capable of anchoring a scene of comic bewilderment while still carrying the weight of older mythological lore. The episode also highlights the sensory dimensions of the creature—its smell, its sound—making it a multisensory presence in the narrative.

The Xiujiu Bird Transformation

In the sixteenth century, the scholar Yang Shen expanded the Heluo fish's mythological profile in his 1544 work Encomiums on Strange Fish. Drawing a parallel to the Kun fish—a legendary creature capable of transforming into a bird—Yang Shen proposed that the Heluo fish could likewise undergo a metamorphosis, taking the form of a bird called the Xiujiu. This avian form carried its own set of notorious behaviors: the Xiujiu was known for stealing husked rice and for falling into mortars, where it would die. The bird also produced a shrill shriek as it flew past at night, adding an eerie auditory dimension to the creature's legend. Notably, Yang Shen distinguished the Xiujiu from its fish form in one crucial respect: while the Heluo fish showed no particular aversion to natural phenomena, the bird was specifically terrified of thunder and lightning. This transformation narrative enriches the Heluo fish's mythology by adding a cycle of change and a vulnerability absent from its aquatic incarnation, suggesting a creature whose nature shifts dramatically between its two forms.

Modern Pop Culture & Gaming

The Heluo fish has found a fresh audience in contemporary video gaming, most notably in the action RPG Black Myth: Wukong. In this title, the creature appears as a fightable Yaoguai—a supernatural monster—encountered primarily in chapter 3, subtitled Monk from the Sea. Players can face a particularly formidable Heluo Fish as a boss encounter at the New Thunderclap Temple, where defeating it grants the player character, the Destined One, the ability to transform into a Monk from the Sea. The creature also surfaces in a more subtle form: after defeating the enemy Yellowbrow, players can obtain a relic called the Hubris Nose, which is tied to the Heluo Fish. These in-game appearances translate the ancient mythological description into interactive combat encounters, allowing modern players to experience the creature's dog-like bark and otherworldly form not as a static textual image but as a dynamic adversary. The Heluo fish thus completes a remarkable arc from classical Chinese geography and medicine through Ming-dynasty literary speculation to twenty-first-century digital entertainment.