A Mother's Heart: Phantom Blade Zero Quest Guide

How Do You Complete A Mother’s Heart in Phantom Blade Zero?

A Mother’s Heart — subtitle “A crow returns its mother’s care, a wanderer repays Spring’s warmth” — is the Tale of the Pangzhen backstreet cellar. It starts on a ridge, detours through a locked underground passage, and ends with a mother learning what became of her son. Along the way you will pick up the Backstreet Cellar Crank key item, fight a cellar full of puppets, and earn the Merciful Dew, a medicine that restores 60% HP over 10 seconds. The catch: the whole route sits behind a mid-game gate most players open for entirely different reasons.

The Gate: Flaming Mane and the Opened Backstreets

Before the Tale is even reachable, you must unlock the south-western section of Pangzhen. That happens by defeating the Lion Dance Grandmaster and claiming the Dormant Flaming Mane, then delivering it to Lei Da — the same chain covered in Lion Dance Hall Depths. If you have not beaten the grandmaster yet, see the Flaming Mane page and come back; nothing in the backstreet cellar is available before that wall comes down.

Step 1: The Crank and the First Flower

From the Black Hill Pavilion Bell, follow the ridge and drop onto the lower platform ahead. The area holds several enemies, a raised ladder, and — the point of the trip — a purple chest containing the Backstreet Cellar Crank, the key item the whole cellar route hinges on. Clear the guards before opening it, then lower the ladder in front of the chest and drop to the Memory Flower below it.

Interacting with that flower starts A Mother’s Heart and sets the objective “Discover the whereabouts of the woman’s son.” One mapping source instead measures this flower roughly 66 meters from the Pangzhen Slums bell; both descriptions point to the same backstreet cluster, so anchor on whichever bell you have unlocked.

Step 2: Opening the Cellar at Old Man Gen’s House

With the crank in your pack, head through the Pangzhen Slums to the Old Man Gen’s House Bell, then move slightly south. A locked cellar entrance sits beside the house, with an empty mechanism mounted next to the door built specifically for the crank. Insert the Backstreet Cellar Crank and the passage opens.

Step 3: The Cellar Fight and the Second Flower

The underground is a compact puppet gauntlet. Work it in order:

1. Grab the Tainted Crystal Shard just inside, then deal with the puppets guarding the first chamber.
2. Climb the ladder to the upper cellar, where a Shield Puppet waits. Break its guard — shielded puppets punish light strings — and push deeper.
3. Lower the second ladder to open the return route, loot the nearby chest for upgrade resources, and collect the second Memory Flower in the far section.

The moment the second flower is in hand, the Tale completes: the memory answers the question the first flower asked, and Merciful Dew drops into your inventory with no NPC hand-in. The card reads “Restores 60% HP over 10 seconds” — a heal-over-time rather than a burst save, best used early in a boss phase or during a disengage rather than as a panic button. It slots alongside the other medicine rewards on the All Tales index.

A sourcing note on this final leg: the majority of walkthroughs — including the compendium and the key-item guide — place the second flower inside the cellar, matching the in-game objective flow. One mapping-focused guide instead describes a second flower past a monster near the Pond of Fading Song; we follow the majority, but if your marker disagrees, trust the marker.

Why You Should Not Put It Off

A Mother’s Heart is short, self-contained, and pays a genuinely useful medicine, yet it hides behind two gates players often open late: the Lion Dance Grandmaster and an easily skipped purple chest on a ridge. If you are sweeping Tales for regional completion, run it the moment the backstreets unlock, and pair it with the neighboring backstreet Tales — The Sword and the Way loops through the same district, and Kin Against Kin starts one bell away. While in the Slums, glance at the missable side quests checklist too, since this district condenses several easy-to-skip pickups into a few meters of map.

FAQ

How do you start A Mother’s Heart in Phantom Blade Zero? Unlock the southwestern section of Pangzhen by defeating the Lion Dance Grandmaster and claiming the Flaming Mane, then open the purple chest on the lower platform below Black Hill Pavilion Bell to obtain the Backstreet Cellar Crank. Lower the ladder beside it and collect the Memory Flower below, which starts the Tale.

Where do you use the Backstreet Cellar Crank in Phantom Blade Zero? South of the Old Man Gen’s House Bell in the Pangzhen Slums. A locked cellar entrance with an empty crank mechanism sits beside the house; insert the Backstreet Cellar Crank to open the underground passage used for A Mother’s Heart.

What is the reward for A Mother’s Heart in Phantom Blade Zero? The Merciful Dew medicine, whose card reads Restores 60% HP over 10 seconds, awarded the moment you collect the second Memory Flower. No NPC hand-in is required.

Is A Mother’s Heart missable in Phantom Blade Zero? No source flags it as missable, but it is gated: the backstreets only open after you defeat the Lion Dance Grandmaster, and the cellar needs the Backstreet Cellar Crank. Finish both legs in one trip so you do not backtrack.

Sources

• https://www.keengamer.com/articles/guides/phantom-blade-zero-all-33-tales-and-side-quests-walkthrough/
• https://techwiser.com/phantom-blade-zero-backstreet-cellar-crank-location
• https://allthings.how/phantom-blade-zero-a-mothers-heart/
• https://wikily.gg/phantom-blade-zero/quests/a-mother-s-heart