Mountain of Imprisonment.

North of Meigu Lake lies the Mountain of Imprisonment, a non-mandatory region hidden by a mist barrier until the Illusory Pipa has been mended. The whole region is a single ascent: a slim trail squeezed between timber fences and stone, followed by prison camps, cages hung on the cliff, a network of caves, and finally a shrine ruled by Huangxing, the Kunlun Renegade.

Anyone who just finishes the standard story can skip this place, yet the True Ending requires a visit. As compensation, the region hands out a total of five weapons plus Phantom Edges, among them the Flying Guillotine, which uncovers secret routes across the majority of other regions. Here too sits the last of the three portals in The Herald’s Illusion, along with the finale of Whence the Weeping.

Only eight bells are scattered along the route, so it is short, but packed with things to do. Side tasks mostly fold back on one another: a key or lever picked up farther along frees captives you walked past earlier. Two tales that start a long way off, in the Village of Lu and in Pangzhen, also advance significantly along this trail.

Sub-areas

You will find eight bells on the route. Seven correspond to the named areas covered further down; Shrine Outer Gate, the last, sits at the outside entrance of The Lady’s Shrine.

Foes and bosses

Every HP number listed here is a base value; it rises with higher difficulty and in later playthroughs. Bi Feng is an optional fight, although the True Ending demands that you defeat him.

Regular enemies

Hunter, Gold Mask and Iron Mask are the three enemy kinds with names here. Neither resistances nor weaknesses apply to Hunter, whose base health is 1,700. Gold Mask (1,700) and Iron Mask (1,100) share a resistance to Lightning, Poison and Bleed. Be careful of the foe summoning wolves inside the caves below Shrine Outer Gate, and of the three masked foes protecting the Shrine Gate Key.

Banyan Tree trial

This is the fifth and final Banyan Tree of Heart of the Banyan. You battle several enemy waves and then face Iron Butcher and Jagged Steel again. Completing all five finishes the tale and grants the Even Trees Know Sorrow trophy.

Fight preview:

• Iron Butcher holds a wide-bladed axe in a single hand and advances relentlessly, throwing heavy swings.
• Bi Feng sports a wide straw hat and never feints; each of his strikes is a blunt, weighty, sideways slash.
• Kui Yanyan flails a club studded with spikes wildly, following no fixed pattern.
• Jade-Face trails you along the road with jeers, and then joins the battle alongside two doubles, a sword-wielding Gold Mask and a blade-wielding Iron Mask, himself fighting with rings.
• Huangxing is fought across two phases. A masked helmet covers his head, one arm is mechanical (the left), and the Flying Guillotine serves him at a distance as well as supplementing his sword in melee. Ink Cut, picked up while ascending, works well against him.

Trophies linked to these battles

Tales

The mountain itself is where four tales begin. Two additional ones come in from other places, and bigger questlines pass through as well.

Bai Xue (can be missed)

What happens in this tale depends on the reply you give when Ledger of Atonement ends. Pick “This won’t absolve you of your sins” and Chen Zhu becomes an opponent; he leaves a Sha-Chi Amber Fragment, the Bloodstained Necklace and the Backstreet Courtyard Key. After that, you may speak to the puppet standing behind him.

Choosing “Leave him alone” makes the puppet vanish along with him, ending the tale and cutting off its Pangzhen rewards. In Pangzhen, the Backstreet Courtyard Key opens a door at the top of the stairs, over the bridge from the Green Serpent House bell. Walk the rooftops to a house where a person lies in bed and hand over the necklace to get a Memory Flower. Another flower sits in the field outside, and the Snow and Blood accessory lies at the foot of the tree.

Don’t Forget Me

A woman on the inn rooftop in Pangzhen starts it, as she keeps inquiring about Senior Brother Zhou.

Bigger questlines

The mountain's history (heavy spoilers)

Turning a family hall into a temple

At the top once stood the Lu Clan Shrine, where the clan's forebears over many generations were honored, and a steady flow of worshippers visited. Later it was reconstructed as a temple to the Merciful Lady, and pilgrims still ascend to pray. Chief of the Village of Lu and sixteenth in the Lu line, Lu Sanqian went up on his own to beg the Lady to restore his granddaughter Cui. Dying at the shrine gate before he could enter, he left behind Cui’s ribbon and a half-written letter addressed to his son Lu Jieyuan. A heart-shaped Mindseal lay inside his chest.

Where Huangxing sits

Among the Pillars of Kunlun was Huangxing. Together with his elite followers he took the mountain, slaughtering the Mandate fighters sent against him. For the moment he wants the people in the cages alive, and the Mandate clashed with his followers again and again along the ascent over one switch. Kui Yanyan rushed into that struggle: she had removed the Transcension device from the body of her dead son, implanted it in herself, and treated the battle as one more chance to kill her child.

Zuo Shang was Huangxing's partner too. The two arranged Yuyin's death and imprisoned the Chord beneath the shrine. Only his Flying Guillotine can turn the mechanism at the foot of the Lady’s statue, which makes the weapon a key as well. His brother Moji was likewise sealed by him, inside a statue at the shrine of the Lady of the Veil.

The sword of Moji

Liu Yi, a disciple of Moji, was dragged out of the cages barely alive. A Maskwalker prison has soaked the sword you deliver to him in blood. Giving up his own life, he cleanses it, and then offers it to you with a request to slay Huangxing using it.

Chen Zhu and Bai Xue

Chen Zhu walked out of Pangzhen and was gone for two years, returning as a Maskwalker who noted each death he caused in a ledger. Bai Xue, who had waited for him since they were children, was among the dead. A remnant of her awareness lives on in the puppet next to him, and she begs you to take the necklace she once owned back to Pangzhen.

The unfinished business of Jade-Face

Though Huangxing assigned Jade-Face to observe Soul’s ascent, he merely watched with amusement. The battle at the shrine seemingly did not end him.

Collectibles

Aside from the Bai Xue branch, every item listed next can still be gathered through free roam once the story is over.

Bells:

• The Lady’s Path
• Iron Butcher’s Camp
• Hanging Cage Cavern
• Cavern Passage
• Commander’s Platform
• Shrine Outer Gate
• The Lady’s Shrine
• Puppet Cell

Blackstone Fragments:

• Right in front of the Iron Butcher’s Camp bell.
• Inside the big space of Hanging Cage Cavern, once its enemies are cleared.
• Beside the trail, directly behind you once you pass the Memory Flower beneath the scaffolding close to Kui Yanyan’s arena.
• Further down the trail past the Banyan Tree, after the foes there fall.

Sha-Chi Amber Fragments:

• Atop the tower in the little camp beyond Commander’s Platform.
• Dropped by Kui Yanyan.
• Chen Zhu drops it should you pick the fight with him.
• Located to your left at the lift's upper end after you install the Missing Lift Crank. Walk north along the cliff face from the Cavern Passage bell.

Weapons plus Phantom Edges

Memory Flowers

Keys and key items

Tempering materials

How to arrive

Getting to the mountain demands a series of prior tasks, so start preparing long before the game's closing stretch.

You wake on the far bank, and The Lady’s Path bell is right in front of you, up a rise toward the left. The mountain rises to the north of the lake. Lu Sanqian, chief of the Village of Lu, describes his village as sitting at its base, yet your way in is through the lake.

1. Gather the Illusory Pipa Head, Backplate and Strings, which are obtained from Dusk, the Mandate Encampment and Yan Qiansui.
2. Bring the three parts to Myst at Myst’s Tavern in Pangzhen, who gives you the mended Illusory Pipa.
3. Head again to Meigu Lake, then warp over to the Weeping Mistgate bell.
4. From the bell, walk north, play the Illusory Pipa at the mist, and continue into the region.

Accessories

The Broad Saber

1. Beat the cell guards in Hanging Cage Cavern and speak with the Wulin Fighter held captive.
2. Keep going via Cavern Passage and beat Bi Feng.
3. Report the news to the fighter, who rewards you with Ritual Cauldron Fragment III.

Hero’s Lament

1. Bring down Liu Yi’s cage, located on the hill after Hanging Cage Cavern, and speak with him.
2. Up on the tower at Commander’s Platform, use the ladder, then jump into the timber building to the left to get the Detached Cage Lever.
3. Proceed to Shrine Outer Gate and ascend the high ladder.
4. Pull the Detached Cage Lever to lower cage number four, and grab Moji’s Bloodstained Sword out of it.
5. Walk the camp trail, then slide down the wall to land close to Liu Yi. In return for the sword, you receive Ink Cut.

Ledger of Atonement

1. Walk on along the road from Commander’s Platform until you reach the Maskwalker next to the puppet, and continue speaking with him until he mentions his lost ledger.
2. Make for the caves beneath Shrine Outer Gate. After dropping in, stay against the wall on your left, then at the enemy who summons wolves choose the right-hand route, and pick up the ledger at its end.
3. Take it back to him by heading up the trail from the Commander’s Platform bell, and give it to him.

Cui

1. Iron Butcher’s Camp has a scaffolding cage holding him; let him out.
2. Commander’s Platform has rocks where the Rootless Dew sits; reach them by taking the steps up on the arena's left.
3. Underneath the timber building, a door stands to the right; open it, and a further chat with him lets the mountain gate swing open.
4. Climb the high ladder at Shrine Outer Gate, pull the third lever so that his cage descends, and hand him the Rootless Dew.
5. He is lying beside the trail shortly before The Lady’s Shrine bell. He hands over Cui’s Red Ribbon, and this final encounter is also where the Crude Radiant Heart is obtained.

Don’t Forget Me

1. North of Commander’s Platform, the road leads down a slope; kick the tree over on the left side and the man inside the cell can be freed.
2. Examine the corpse near Kui Yanyan’s arena; this pushes the hunt for Zhou Pingzi forward.
3. Go back to Pangzhen. Starting at the Marketplace bell, play the Illusory Pipa at the building on the east side, then deliver his last letter to Yu Ling on the highest floor. The Ultimate Talisman is connected to this encounter.

Recommended route

The sequence mirrors the ascent and clusters the backtracking, meaning each stop is passed just once or twice.

Rewards of the mountain

1. Ring The Lady’s Path bell, pick up the Baishan Writ, and beat Iron Butcher.
2. Inside Iron Butcher’s Camp, gather both Memory Flowers and release Lu Sanqian along with the other captive.
3. Activate the bells at Hanging Cage Cavern and Cavern Passage as you go by, which kicks off The Broad Saber and Hero’s Lament.
4. Beat Bi Feng and report back to the Wulin Fighter.
5. Over at Commander’s Platform, collect the Rootless Dew, the Detached Cage Lever and the Memory Flower, unlock the door, and speak to Lu Sanqian.
6. Release the man from the cell, ascend the camp tower, and keep speaking with Chen Zhu until his ledger comes up.
7. Cross the cave to Shrine Outer Gate and beat Kui Yanyan. Complete the neighbouring Don’t Forget Me step and pick up the flower and the Blackstone Fragment.
8. The ledger is in the caves, so climb down there; afterwards the ravine camp holds the Shrine Gate Key.
9. Ascend the ladder; pull the third lever to deal with Lu Sanqian, and the Detached Cage Lever to get the sword.
10. Liu Yi awaits at the bottom of a slide down off the camp trail, and he teaches Ink Cut.
11. Go to Chen Zhu again, choose “This won’t absolve you of your sins”, and speak to the puppet.
12. Fit the crank into the lift to obtain the final Sha-Chi Amber Fragment.
13. Pass through the door that was locked, finish the Banyan Tree challenge, then climb up toward Lu Sanqian and The Lady’s Shrine bell.
14. Beat Jade-Face, check the chamber on the right, and then beat Huangxing.
15. Inside the arena use the Flying Guillotine and drop down to get the fan; after that, Puppet Cell has an orange portal to step into.
16. Revisit Cavern Passage and The Lady’s Path for the pair of Flying Guillotine passages.

Nearby locations

Weeping Creek Valley · Crimson Manor · Village of Lu · Puppet Testing Grounds · Pangzhen · Marketplace · Myst’s Tavern · Green Serpent House · Mandate Encampment · The Lady’s Path · Iron Butcher’s Camp · Hanging Cage Cavern · Cavern Passage · Commander’s Platform · The Lady’s Shrine · Puppet Cell · Meigu Lake · Weeping Mistgate · Mirage Estate

Characters

Zuo Shang · Inanis · Quick Hand Zhang · Huangxing · Myst · Moji · Lu Sanqian · Liu Yi · Lu Jieyuan · Dusk · Chen Zhu · Bai Xue · Yu Ling · Jagged Steel · Zhu Yuan · Iron Butcher · Bi Feng · Kui Yanyan · Jade-Face · Yan Qiansui

Weapons

Jagged Steel · Juggernaut · Seamless Death · Ink Cut · Flying Guillotine