Hero's Lament Walkthrough: Ink Cut Phantom Edge Guide

What Is Hero’s Lament?

Hero’s Lament is a Tale set entirely in the Mountain of Imprisonment, the optional late-game region past northeastern Meigu Lake that you reach by playing the Illusory Pipa at the mist gate. It follows Liu Yi, a disciple of Master Moji — Huangxing’s sworn brother — who sits locked in a cage, despondent over his master’s death, and asks you to recover Moji’s relic somewhere on the summit path.

The quest is small in scope but missable in one specific way: Liu Yi must stay alive. Kill him, let an enemy kill him, or botch the encounter and the tale fails permanently. Region routing is covered in our Mountain of Imprisonment walkthrough; this page is the tale itself.

Step 1: Talk to Liu Yi by the Hanging Cage Cavern

Location: Mountain of Imprisonment — Hanging Cage Cavern bell.

Liu Yi’s cage hangs about 8 m from the bell and 38 m above it. Speak to him and he explains: the lift along the summit path is broken, and somewhere up the mountain lies a relic of his master. Follow the plank path past his cage to the cliff edge, hop the rocks and lantern ledges, and you reach the wooden lift house — a whole house on chains, not a platform. Its metal switch box is empty: the crank is gone.

Step 2: Recover the Detached Cage Lever

Location: Commander’s Platform — the ruined building near the bell.

Before chasing the crank, pick up the Detached Cage Lever. From the Commander’s Platform bell, climb the ladder to its east and drop into the ruined building below; the lever rests in front of a body. In-game lore explains the scatter: Huangxing’s personal guards seized the lift switch, the madwoman Kui Yanyan charged into the fight, and the mechanism ended up split between them and the abandoned buildings. The lever works the hanging-cage mechanisms in Hanging Cage Cavern, where prisoners were raised and lowered in cages.

Detached Cage Lever Location

Exact spot: the collapsed house beside the archer tower at Commander’s Platform.

GameSpot’s Moji’s Relic guide pins the lever with the precision the in-game clue lacks: from the Commander’s Platform bell — the arena where you fight Bi Feng, Giant Saber Commander, whose Juggernaut greatblade is covered in its own weapon page — climb the archer tower and look toward the nearby collapsed house. A glowing item marks the lever inside the ruin; drop down onto the building to collect it. Epic’s official guide and Maxroll’s region walkthrough agree on the container: a ruined building at Commander’s Platform.

Two warnings before you climb. First, clear Bi Feng and the surrounding main objectives first: per GameSpot’s troubleshooting note, if the glowing item is not in the collapsed house, you likely still owe the chapter boss in the northwestern part of the map — finish that objective and the lever spawns. Second, the glow reads from the tower, not from ground level, so scout from the archer tower first rather than grinding through the ruin blind.

Step 3: Defeat Kui Yanyan for the Missing Lift Crank

Location: the mountain path near Shrine Outer Gate.

The lift’s missing crank ended up with Kui Yanyan, the Deranged, a level-22 Maskwalker mini-boss who attacks anyone on the mountain paths. Her gallery entry tells the tragedy underneath: her son became a Maskwalker, the villagers butchered him before her eyes, and she implanted his Transcension device into her own body. Now she wanders the mountain seeking medicine to bring him back, wielding a heavy spiked club in frenzied, technique-less swings.

Defeat her and she drops the Missing Lift Crank, 84,000 Remnant Dust, and a Sha-Chi Amber Shard. Full moveset and phase notes are on our Kui Yanyan boss guide — go in expecting a brawler who punishes greedy punish attempts.

Step 4: Work the Lift and Lower the Cage

With both components in hand, return to the lift house below Liu Yi’s cage. Insert the Missing Lift Crank into the metal switch box and call the house down — about fifteen seconds if it is at the top. Step onto the metal plate inside and the house climbs roughly 49 m in about ten seconds. Watch your step on the way back: the house descends on its own when you walk away, leaving an open shaft that drops you to your death if you step in carelessly.

At the top, ring the Shrine Outer Gate bell, defeat the trio of masked enemies in the nearby cave for the Shrine Gate Key, and use the Detached Cage Lever on the hanging-cage mechanism in the cage cavern. The last cage comes down carrying Moji’s Bloodstained Sword — the relic Liu Yi sent you for. A corpse near the lift carries Fragments of the Mandate, whose page “The Lift Lever Has Been Stolen” explains the crank’s theft.

Step 5: Return the Sword and Claim Ink Cut

Bring the sword back to Liu Yi. He recognizes his master’s weapon instantly and sees the Maskwalkers’ blood fouling the blade — only blood can wash blood clean. Guides differ on the framing: GameSpot has Liu Yi taking his own life so his blood purifies the weapon; AllThingsHow has him charging you to wash it in Huangxing’s blood. Either way, the tale ends and the Ink Cut is added to your arsenal.

The Ink Cut is a martial-type Phantom Edge — Moji’s sword, left behind after his passing. Repeated R2 presses fire up to three mid-range sword attacks per Remnant Spark; ending the combo after the second leaves a spinning Radiant Wheel that detonates after five seconds. Upgrades raise the explosion damage, and the Soul Temper perk casts a twinned wheel. Compare it against the full kit on our all Phantom Edges list.

Once the tale closes, the Ink Cut is a permanent addition to your arsenal, not a quest trophy: it occupies a Martial-class Phantom Edge slot, levels with the same Remnant Dust and material investment as the rest of your kit, and its combo-cutting Radiant Wheel rewards an aggressive style that pairs naturally with fast main weapons. For the full art list, upgrade thresholds, and build fit, see our Ink Cut weapon guide.

Why Hero’s Lament Is Worth the Detour

Beyond the Ink Cut itself, the quest drags you through the lift, the Shrine Outer Gate, and the hanging-cage cavern — three of the region’s mechanical set-pieces — and GameSpot notes it feeds a follow-up task involving the Agonized Ironmask and the Female Puppet. The region also hosts the Pillars of Kunlun endgame, and everything on this mountain must be finished before the true-ending finale anyway.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hero’s Lament missable in Phantom Blade Zero? Yes — Liu Yi must survive. If he dies at any point before you return the sword, the tale fails. He is safe inside his cage as long as you do not attack him; the risk is mostly careless area-of-effect attacks near the cage.

Where is Moji’s Bloodstained Sword in the Mountain of Imprisonment? In the last hanging cage above Shrine Outer Gate: get the Detached Cage Lever from the ruined building at Commander’s Platform, the Missing Lift Crank from Kui Yanyan, ride the lift up, and lower the cage.

What type of Phantom Edge is the Ink Cut? Martial. Its combo fires up to three mid-range sword attacks, and cutting the combo after the second attack leaves a Radiant Wheel that spins for five seconds and then explodes; the Soul Temper upgrade creates two wheels.

When can I play Hero’s Lament? Chapter 6 (Treason and Confinement), once you reach the Mountain of Imprisonment through the Meigu Lake mist gate — which requires the repaired Illusory Pipa.

Sources: keengamer.com (All 33 Tales walkthrough and All Phantom Edge Locations), gamespot.com (Hero’s Lament — Moji’s Relic guide), allthings.how (Hero’s Lament quest guide and Mountain lift guide), pbz.gg (Missing Lift Crank item data, Kui Yanyan boss rewards) — launch-week guides, October–November 2026.