Puppet Tongue Key Walkthrough - Crimson Manor & Scythe Blade

What This Chain Unlocks

The Puppet Tongue Key opens the Crimson Manor, a hidden dungeon beneath Weeping Creek Valley’s Sha-Chi tower. At its bottom waits the Puppet Scavenger boss, whose drops anchor two major progression tracks:

• The Alloyed Scythe Blade — tempering material for the Hunter’s Chain Sickle (Gleaming Hook).
• The second Crystal Puppet Eye — a hard requirement for the Perfect Ending, plus Hansui’s Frost Mask from the same encounter sequence.

This makes the chain one of the highest-value detours in Phantom Blade Zero.

Step 1: Find the Crimson Manor

The manor hides below Weeping Creek Valley’s Sha-Chi tower, in a low water area near the tower’s bottom:

1. Locate the cracked wall in the water-level passage.
2. Lure the nearby Powderkeg enemy to the wall and bait its explosion to destroy it.
3. Take the elevator down — this leads to the locked Crimson Manor door.

You will need the Puppet Tongue Key from here, which is its own multi-step hunt.

Step 2: Defeat Gu Wanyue in Pangzhen’s Backstreets

Travel to Pangzhen and find the Backstreets area. The boss Gu Wanyue guards the next step. Standard mid-game boss discipline applies: parry the blue flashes, Ghoststep the red ones, and punish at the end of his strings — the combat system guide covers the fundamentals if you need a refresher.

Step 3: Clear the Mandate’s Encampment

After Gu Wanyue falls, search beneath the well nearby for the Mandate’s Encampment key. Then:

1. Return to the Village of Lu entrance and open the giant door to the Mandate’s Encampment.
2. Clear the entire area — this is a full zone with its own chapter boss.
3. Defeat the chapter boss to open a portal.
4. Enter the portal and claim the puppet’s tongue — the key item.

Note: this same chapter boss holds one of the three Illusory Pipa parts, so finishing the Encampment also advances the Six Paths Warrant hunt and the mist-gated content beyond it.

Step 4: Unlock the Crimson Manor and Defeat the Puppet Scavenger

With the Puppet Tongue Key:

1. Return to the elevator beneath the Sha-Chi tower and unlock the Crimson Manor door.
2. Descend by dropping from one row of strings to the next until you reach the bottom.
3. Ring the bell — this triggers the Puppet Scavenger boss fight.

The Puppet Scavenger fight also involves one of the game’s Acolytes; defeating the encounter sequence earns Hansui’s Frost Mask, which opens a hidden area at Meigu Lake where the Crystal Puppet Eyes are used — another Perfect Ending link.

Step 5: Claim the Rewards

The Puppet Scavenger drops:

• Alloyed Scythe Blade — temper the Chain Sickle into Gleaming Hook (Bleed build-up on grapples) at the nearest Bell.
• Second Crystal Puppet Eye — bank it for the true ending.

Tempered, the Chain Sickle completes the endgame Bleed package alongside the Jagged Steel — see the Soul Tempering guide for the full economics.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I destroy the cracked wall under the Sha-Chi tower? Bait a Powderkeg enemy’s self-destruct against it. Do not waste your own resources — the enemy is the intended key.

Do I need the Hunter’s Chain Sickle before this chain? No. The Chain Sickle comes from The Hunt in the same valley, earlier in the campaign. By the time you can clear the Crimson Manor, you almost certainly have it.

Source: community-verified launch day data (October 29, 2026).