A Brother Once More: Rouge Box & Embroidered Shoes Guide

Quick Answer

A Brother Once More (Tale #27 on the All Tales index) is a two-region mystery. Get the Huang Manor Key from Niu the Shopkeeper in Pangzhen, investigate Xiu’s bedroom and her Memory Flower inside the manor, then sail to Meigu Lake and defeat Grief-Stricken Jin at the Village of Lu Shallows Dock. The Tale pays out twice: the Rouge Box accessory and the Embroidered Shoes tempering material — and this page untangles which reward belongs to which weapon.

How to Start: Niu the Shopkeeper and the Huang Manor Key

The quest giver is easy to walk past. Niu the Shopkeeper stands in the hall above Myst’s Tavern in Pangzhen, in the part of the building inhabited by servants. Speak with him and he recounts the fall of the Huang family, then gives you the Huang Manor Key.

The manor itself sits in front of the Huang Manor Crossroads bell, east of Pangzhen proper. Unlock the door and expect resistance: enemies patrol the cramped interior, and the tight rooms reward crouching, noise discipline, and stealth assassinations over a noisy brawl. Clear the ground floor before heading up.

Xiu’s Bedroom: The Severed Finger Memory Flower

On the second floor, find the bedroom with the bride’s corpse on the mattress. This is Xiu, the Huangs’ daughter, and investigating her belongings triggers the Tale. Listen to the Severed Finger Memory Flower for a glimpse of what happened to the family, and grab the For Xiu letter — a Wulin Tales collectible — from the table beside the bed. The letter and flower together sketch the backstory: a father who, after their mother died, took every word of his concubine to heart and stopped hearing his children entirely. It is worth reading before you sail, because it reframes the boss waiting at the lake as a tragedy rather than a target.

The memory makes the objective clear: find Xiu’s brother Jin. Report back to Niu, and he points you toward the shores of the Village of Lu at Meigu Lake. Note the lock condition here: Meigu Lake is an optional boat-traversed region that only opens once you have met Myst and triggered the Sha-Chi Powered Boat Tale in Chapter 6. If the lake is not on your map yet, push the main story first.

Finding Jin at Meigu Lake

Ride the mechanical boat to the lake’s southern side and dock at the Village of Lu Shallows Dock Bell. Past the pier lies an open arena where Grief-Stricken Jin waits with a group of soldiers. Fight discipline matters: clear the soldiers first, then focus Jin — the adds will interrupt your punish windows if you tunnel the boss.

Jin falls like any humanoid duel target: parry the strings, punish the recovery, and save your Phantom Edge for his staggered windows. On defeat he drops the Embroidered Shoes immediately, then the Kindred Branches Memory Flower sprouts on the pier. Listen to the final memory — a last conversation between Xiu and Jin — to close the Tale. Our Grief-Stricken Jin boss guide covers his move set in detail.

Rewards: Rouge Box and Embroidered Shoes, Sorted

This Tale’s two rewards come from different sources, and guides routinely blur the line:

• Embroidered Shoes — dropped by Jin himself. This is a Soul Tempering material for the Scarlet Wraithblade and nothing else. If you do not run the blade, bank it in the collection tracked on the Soul Temper materials page.
• Rouge Box — awarded for listening to the Kindred Branches Memory Flower. A Support accessory whose base effect cuts the delay before Sha-Chi regeneration begins by 50% after consuming Sha-Chi — a quality-of-life pick for aggressive builds that spend meter constantly. Its item text closes the loop: the rouge was Jin’s gift to Xiu, reddened forever by the Sha-Chi that clung to him.
• 5% HP increase — a permanent bonus for finding both Memory Flowers in the quest (the Severed Finger flower in the bedroom and Kindred Branches on the pier). Easy to overlook since it arrives with no fanfare.

Because the shoes are weapon-locked and the box is build-dependent, the Tale’s real universal value is the HP bump — but completionists should grab all of it in one trip, since the lake voyage is the longest leg.

If you are trophy-hunting, note that this Tale feeds regional completion for Pangzhen and Meigu Lake rather than any standalone achievement; the 5% HP and the two item pickups are the tangible haul. And if Jin gives you trouble, the wider All Tales index points to nearby power spikes — the Feather Bow from Purge the Sect or a polished accessory from the backstreet quests both trivialize the dock fight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Xiu’s bedroom in Huang Manor? Upstairs, in the room with the bride’s corpse on the mattress. Investigate the body and surrounding belongings to sprout the Severed Finger Memory Flower and formally start the Tale.

Where is Jin in A Brother Once More? Jin is at the Village of Lu Shallows Dock on Meigu Lake’s southern shore, past the pier in a small boss arena. You need the Chapter 6 mechanical boat to make the crossing.

Which weapon uses the Embroidered Shoes Soul Temper material? The Scarlet Wraithblade — the Embroidered Shoes have no other use. The Rouge Box, by contrast, is an equippable Support accessory, not a material.

Is A Brother Once More missable? No fail trigger is documented for this Tale; it stays available until the endgame point of no return. The only gate is unlocking Meigu Lake through main-story progress.

Sources

• KeenGamer — All 33 Tales and Side Quests Walkthrough
• Game8 — A Brother Once More Walkthrough and Rewards
• Game8 — How to Get Rouge Box
• Wikily — A Brother Once More Quest