Black Myth Wukong Man-In-Stone questline walkthrough
And how to find the NPC near the Squall Hideout Shrine
Looking to free the man trapped in the rock in Chapter 2 of Black Myth: Wukong? You'll first meet the Man-In-Stone (as the character is called) in the Fright Cliff region of Black Myth: Wukong, in Chapter 2 of the game. He's stuck in a rock, and needs help escaping, simple as that.
The Man-In-Stone questline is a fairly short one, but it's well worth completing properly. Black Myth: Wukong follows the soulslike tradition of adding some rather convoluted questlines which you must puzzle throughout without the help of a journal to track your progress.
In this guide, we'll walk you through how to complete every step of the Man-In-Stone quest in Chapter 2 of Black Myth: Wukong, including exactly where you can find the NPC near Squall Hideout.
Man-In-Stone quest steps
We'll go over the entire quest in more detail below, but first: here is a quick summary of all the steps you must take to complete the Man-In-Stone questline in Black Myth: Wukong.
- Complete Chapter 1 and begin Chapter 2.
- Defeat the Rat King and Second Rat Prince.
- Take the right-hand path into Fright Cliff.
- From "Squall Hideout", turn right and take the lower path.
- Speak to the Man-In-Stone at the end of the path.
- Enter the cave further into Fright Cliff.
- Take the left path before the cave exit.
- (Optional) Defeat the Poisestone for its Spirit.
- Defeat the Mother Of Stones.
- Deliver the Stone Essence to the Man-In-Stone.
- Attack the Man-In-Stone until he surrenders.
- Reload and interact with the Man-In-Stone to open his shop.
Where to find the Man-In-Stone
1. Complete Chapter 1 and begin Chapter 2
The Man-In-Stone is a character who you'll meet about halfway into Chapter 2 of Black Myth: Wukong. So the first step in order to start this questline is to complete Chapter 1. Chapter 1 is fairly small and linear compared to the others, so it shouldn't take you too long to get through the 3 required Yaoguai King boss fights in order to start Chapter 2!
2. Defeat the Rat King and Second Rat Prince
Your first major milestone in Chapter 2 is found at the end of Sandgate Village, where you begin the chapter. Once you've fought your way past the various Rat enemies patrolling the area, take the right-hand path through the large clearing where the two-headed Rat Captains can be found. There are also several Rat Archers looking down on the area, so be careful.
Proceed to the double doors at the end of the area, and open them to begin your first boss fight against the Rat King and his son, the Second Rat Prince. There are two ways to go about this fight:
- Defeat the Rat King first - in which case the Second Rat Prince will grow more powerful and gain new attacks.
- Defeat the Second Rat Prince first - in which case the Rat King will run away.
The second option is considerably easier, but whichever option you choose, you'll need to defeat this boss encounter before you can reach the Man-In-Stone.
3. Take the right-hand path into Fright Cliff
After defeating the Rat King and Second Rat Prince, feel free to rest at the "Valley Of Despair" Keeper's Shrine on the edge of the arena. After that, the path splits before you. Take the right-hand path over the bridge, and follow it all the way until you enter the Fright Cliff region. A short distance in front of you will be the "Squall Hideout" Shrine where you can rest if needed.
4. From "Squall Hideout", turn right and take the lower path
Again, the path before you splits at Squall Hideout. To find the Man-In-Stone, you must turn right, and around the corner you should see several paths, one of which is a lower path that cuts through the rock, like a miniature ravine. Take this lower path, and at the very end of the path you'll see a strange rock formation. This is the Man-In-Stone, and the starting point of the questline.
Man-In-Stone quest walkthrough
5. Speak to the Man-In-Stone at the end of the path
Interact with the Man-In-Stone to speak with him, and he'll tell you that he's been trapped in this rock by a spell, and he needs your help to release him.
"Some bastard has got me trapped in this rock with his spell! Even the rocks on the ridge have come to life! In that cave, there's a rock guai lurkin', holdin' secrets I bet! Should ye uncover the reason, I shall find me way out! Rocks turnin' into guais... 'Tis no small matter..."
Your next step, then, is to head into the cave further into Fright Cliff, and discover the source of the spell holding the Man-In-Stone prisoner.
6. Enter the cave further into Fright Cliff
The cave in question can be accessed from either path left or right of the "Squall Hideout" Shrine, but from the Man-In-Stone's location the easiest way is to just go back to the start of the lower path, and instead take the raised path just to the left of it. You'll pass a Buddha head which you can interact with to obtain a Buddha's Eyeball. After that, you can either take the first left (for a chest and a longer path into the cave) or the second left (which leads directly into the cave).
7. Take the left path before the cave exit
Once inside the cave, deal with the two ranged Blazebone enemies on the wooden platform, and then head past them as if to exit out into the open once more. But instead of heading out of the cave fully, turn left at the cave mouth and you'll see a path curving upwards and to the left. Take this path up towards an elevated area of the cave.
8. (Optional) Defeat the Poisestone for its Spirit
At the top of the slope you'll see a stone plinth on the right-hand side, where a unique Poisestone enemy is waiting. This isn't related to the Man-In-Stone quest, but while you're here you can feel free to defeat the Poisestone in order to obtain its Spirit. Beware though, as it's tougher than ordinary Poisestones, and it's also helped out by a couple of ordinary Poisestones as well.
9. Defeat the Mother Of Stones
Proceed further into the cave's upper level and you'll come to a cavern. At the end of the cavern is a large rock creature with crystals embedded in its front. Attack the creature to begin the boss fight against the Mother Of Stones.
The Mother Of Stones doesn't do much at all herself. Instead, she sits there and attempts to distract you by spawning stone enemies that attack you from behind. But if you do your best to kite them and evade their attacks while damaging the Mother Of Stones, you'll find this is a fairly easy boss fight. Defeat the Mother Of Stones, and you'll receive a unique item: Stone Essence.
As an aside: you can turn right and exit out of the cavern onto a walkway where another Buddha head awaits you!
10. Deliver the Stone Essence to the Man-In-Stone
Once you've dealt with the Mother Of Stones, return to the Man-In-Stone, who is waiting patiently where you left him at the end of the lower path in Squall Hideout. Interact with him to deliver him the Stone Essence.
Upon delivery of the Stone Essence, the Man-In-Stone will triumphantly burst out of the ground, taunting you for your gullibility. Turns out all he wanted was a pawn to fetch the Stone Essence for him. Bastard.
You can keep talking to him, but he'll give you short shrift. So the only logical thing to do is...
11. Attack the Man-In-Stone until he surrenders
You may have noticed that after the Man-In-Stone emerges from the ground, he becomes targetable with your lock-on, just like an enemy. Attack him, and you'll prompt a miniboss fight against the Man-In-Stone - if you can call it that. He doesn't have much health at all, so it's very easy to force him to submit.
After he loses all his health, he'll retreat back into the ground and plead for mercy. He'll also return the Stone Essence to you to help make amends, and you'll receive a new Spell: Azure Dust, a transformation spell that turns you temporarily into a rock guai which is immune to status effects.
The Man-In-Stone also states that if you return to him later, he'll offer you his treasures in exchange for a payment of Will (the main currency of Black Myth: Wukong).
12. Reload and interact with the Man-In-Stone to open his shop
The final step in the Man-In-Stone's questline is to reload the area by fast-travelling to (or resting at) the nearest Keeper's Shrine. After that, simply return to the Man-In-Stone and speak to him. He is now a certified vendor with a shop and everything, so you can return to him whenever you like in order to purchase his items.
You can purchase the following items from the Man-In-Stone's shop:
- 1x Blood Of The Iron Bull (3280 Will)
- 1x Gold Ridge Beast (12800 Will)
- 1x Iron Pellet (6480 Will)
- 1x Goldflora Hairpin (12800 Will)
- 1x Sobering Stone (6480 Will)
Of these, I recommend purchasing the Goldflora Hairpin curio, as it increases the Will gained from defeating enemies when equipped - so essentially, it just allows you to level up faster. I'd also recommend purchasing the Iron Pellet, because it is a fantastic soak for your Gourd which prevents you from being interrupted by enemy attacks when using the Gourd.
And with that, we've reached the end of the Man-In-Stone questline in Black Myth: Wukong. While you're here, you can make sure you've found everything so far with our guides on the Chapter 1 bosses and all Black Myth Wukong bosses, as well as the best Skills to unlock first. We've also got guides on the PC requirements and how to absorb Spirits as well.