Dahuang Phantom Blade Zero: Where to Find the Missing Hound

Dahuang is the smallest tale in Phantom Blade Zero — no boss, no reward, no map marker for its objective — and somehow the one players lose the most. A dying hunter in the Village of Lu gives you his dog’s bell and begs you to find the animal; the answer waits a full region away in a Pangzhen backyard. This page covers both ends of the search: where the quest starts and exactly where the hound is, because the game never tells you.

How to Start Dahuang in the Village of Lu

The tale unlocks late in the Village of Lu. Per GameRant’s location guide, you first need to defeat all three masters and open the Well at the village center. After the final master falls near the Engine Giant Remains bell, push on to the Survivors’ Courtyard, where enemies are hammering at the gate.

Clear them — then do not go through the gate. Instead, look left: wooden platforms climb the structure beside the courtyard entrance. Scale them and enter the house on top. Inside, a Sleeping Flower-Masked Hunter lies on a bed, praying aloud to the Lady of the Veil to spare his dog. Talk to him and he hands you the Hunter’s Dog Bell; the Dahuang tale enters your journal with the objective to find the missing hound.

KeenGamer’s All 33 Tales walkthrough documents the same pickup from the other direction: reach the Survivors’ Courtyard, leave through the nearby doorway, and enter the building on the right — same house, same bed, same bell. Maxroll’s Village of Lu walkthrough confirms the house holds the hunter and flags the catch: the tale cannot advance until you reach Pangzhen. There is nothing more to do in the village.

Where to Find the Hound: Pangzhen’s Pond of Fading Song

The quest gives no marker, and the hound is not in the Village of Lu no matter how long you search. He is in Pangzhen, and you will not reasonably get there until the story takes you. When it does:

1. Travel to the Pond of Fading Song bell, in the southwest of Pangzhen. It is the same neighborhood where Old Man Gen’s House sits for The Journey Home, so you can sweep both in one visit through the Pangzhen walkthrough route.
2. Enter the house by the quest’s indicated area and move through its interior — the hound is not on the streets, and checking the pond shore alone will not finish the search.
3. Exit into the backyard. Several cages line the yard and hostile dogs patrol between them. Kill the dogs, then loot the cages while you are there; their contents are the only tangible payout this quest line offers.
4. Check the rear wall. Along the back wall of the yard lies a golden-colored dog — Dahuang. Interact with the body to complete the tale.

GameRant and Indiatimes both verified the spot independently, which matters because KeenGamer’s tale table still carries a location note that the hound’s final position had not been reliably documented — this is that documentation, and it agrees with the in-game quest target in Pangzhen.

Can You Save Dahuang?

No, and the game is blunt about it. By the time Soul reaches the backyard, Dahuang is already gone, with no dialogue branch, item, or secret that changes the outcome. The small mercy the scene offers is in what did not happen: the other dogs in the yard have turned into dangerous creatures, while Dahuang lies as an ordinary golden hound — whatever took the region never got him. For a world as cruel as Phantom Blade Zero’s, the tale reads like a deliberately quiet counterweight to the Young Mistress finale on the other side of the village, and it slots into the Survivors’ Courtyard cluster of story-first quests tracked in our all-tales roster.

Rewards: Nothing, and That Is the Point

Dahuang pays no completion reward — no accessory, no trophy, no Remnant Dust. The Hunter’s Dog Bell is a quest item, not gear, and it leaves your inventory when the tale closes. Take the backyard cage loot on your way out and consider the tale done. Completionists should still run it: it is one of the 33 tales counted toward a full journal clear, it costs under ten minutes once you are in Pangzhen anyway, and there is no cutoff that locks it — the tale waits patiently, which is more than most Village of Lu quests can say.

If you are cleaning up the region, do it alongside the other Survivors’ Courtyard errands in the Village of Lu walkthrough — the courtyard monk, Pei’s letter, and Zhang’s last treasure chest are all within a stone’s throw of the hunter’s house.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is there no quest marker for the hound?

Because the objective text only says to find him. The game expects you to reach Pangzhen first; once the region opens, the Pond of Fading Song neighborhood is the search area, and the house-with-a-backyard is the answer.

I talked to the hunter but the quest says it cannot progress. Is it broken?

No — that is the intended pacing, as Maxroll’s walkthrough notes. Dahuang cannot advance until you reach Pangzhen. Push the main story forward and check back once the city opens.

Does Dahuang count toward any trophy or the true ending?

No trophy is attached, and the true ending checks the purple Mysteries and major chains, not this tale. It counts only toward a complete Tales journal.

Sources: GameRant — missing hound location guide; Indiatimes — Dahuang quest walkthrough; keengamer All 33 Tales walkthrough (entry 15, pickup documented, final position previously flagged unverified); maxroll Village of Lu walkthrough (pickup and Pangzhen gate) (October 29 - November 5, 2026).