Phantom Blade Zero: All 5 Young Mistress Ribbon Locations

The Young Mistress side quest is the Village of Lu’s emotional core: Mu Xiaokui, daughter of Soul’s master and his childhood companion, has left five ribbons around the village, each playing a short memory dialogue when examined. Collecting all five rewrites the chapter’s finale, adding a hidden phase to the Mu Xiaokui boss fight where her guardians join the battle.

A note on scope: our Fiend Saws guide covers the weapon itself — its stats, Fiend-Aura Erosion, and why it sits in S tier. This page is the full quest walkthrough: where every ribbon is, exactly when the quest becomes unwinnable, and everything the extended fight pays out.

How to Start Young Mistress

Reaching the Village of Lu starts the quest automatically — per Polygon, Soul stops and interacts with the first ribbon unprompted as you approach the bridge to the Well of the Three Puppets. Each ribbon has bells tied to it, so turn your audio up and sweep slowly; the chime gives away every hiding spot. The broader village route, including bell checkpoints and the Smuggler’s Tunnel, is covered in the Village of Lu walkthrough.

All Five Ribbon Locations

Ordered along the path you will most likely take through the village:

1. Bridge to the Well of the Three Puppets. After beating Zhuo Bi, the Gatekeeper, climb the stairs instead of entering the blue-flower area. Soul interacts with this ribbon automatically, tied to a tree — it kicks off the quest.
2. Covered bridge near the Well. The bridge is sealed by threads. From the Zhang’s Hideout bell, slide down the path right of the hole in the ground, head left to the altar building, break the gate, and kill the Puppet Spearman in the upright coffin. The threads vanish; cross the bridge for the ribbon.
3. The Lady Grounds bell. Effectively unmissable: defeat Master Bi Yuan of the Tianxuan Sect past the Statue Grounds Entrance bell, and the ribbon hangs on the crane bell that appears in his arena.
4. Temple of Blue Fireflies. Cross the bridge beside the locked door near the Well of the Three Puppets, push on to the temple bell, and check the tree to the left of the entrance.
5. Beneath the Well. Once the main quest opens the Well of the Three Puppets, drop in, follow the path to the Beneath the Well bell, and look right at the start of the wooden bridge — the ribbon is tied to a stick on the walkway.

Ribbon Hunting Tips

• Listen, don’t look. Every ribbon has small bells tied to it, and the chime is audible well before the ribbon renders clearly. Sweep each new area slowly with the volume up and the ribbons announce themselves.
• Order is free. The five ribbons can be collected in any sequence — Polygon confirms there is no enforced route — so grab whichever ones your current objective passes near and clean up the rest before the finale.
• Two ribbons ride boss kills. Ribbon 1 sits behind Zhuo Bi, the Gatekeeper, and ribbon 3 behind Master Bi Yuan, so a fully pacifist sprint cannot complete the set; plan to clear both fights.
• Use the bells as anchors. Every ribbon description above keys off a named crane bell. If you are lost, fast-travel to the nearest bell and re-read the direction from there rather than wandering the village freehand.

The Missable Cutoff — Read This Before the Finale

This quest has the harshest fail state in the early game: if the Village of Lu’s final boss fight resolves without all five ribbons collected, the extra phase never happens, and its exclusive drops are gone until New Game+. Polygon’s safety rule is the one to live by: if you reach the Puppet Testing Grounds area without five ribbons, stop and go back. The Puppet Testing Grounds — where you fight Yuzan, No. 3 Musician Puppet, as covered in the Crystal Puppet Eyes guide — is your last practical checkpoint before the point of no return.

Because the loss is permanent per run, Young Mistress belongs on any first-playthrough checklist alongside the trophy-bearing missables in our missable quests checklist — even though Young Mistress itself carries no trophy, its weapon drops do not come back.

Rewards: What the Extended Fight Pays

Beating the ribbon-modified finale — Mu Xiaokui joined by her guardians Jade Dancer and Iron Fiend — pays out more than the standard clear:

One fight, two weapons, and half of a Phantom Edge temper — that is why the ribbons are worth the detour even on a rushed run.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I collect ribbons after the Mu Xiaokui fight starts? No. Your ribbon count is locked when the encounter resolves — collect all five before you commit to the chapter finale.

Does Young Mistress affect any trophies? No trophy is tied to the quest directly. The Mu Xiaokui kill trophy (Will We Meet Again?) pops on the standard fight too; what you lose without the ribbons is loot, not a trophy.

Is the Wild Oriole Sword part of the ribbon reward? It sits on the dock after the fight either way, but the broken elevator means you must grab it before leaving the arena — treat it as missable in practice.

Sources: Polygon — all ribbon locations (October 28, 2026); Game8 — how to get Fiend Saws; method.gg and allthings.how — ribbon and quest-start documentation (October 30-November 1, 2026). Exact quest-start trigger: community mapping in progress.