Unofficial guide · Launch edition · Last checked Confirmed Reported Conflict After unlock
Crimson Forest guide: Bells, bosses, collectibles and missable tales
Crimson Forest is the second of eight regions and the setting of Snake's Reflection. Reported· Gamersky It ends with Bai Chilian, and several side tales fail once she falls. Reported· Game8
A temple hall across a flooded courtyard under crimson mist, from the official media gallery. Atmosphere only; the shot is not matched to a named spot in Crimson Forest.Image: S-GAME / official website media gallery
Quick answers
Way in: through the cave out of the Weeping Creek Valley, then straight on from the first Bell to the bridge and Hua Qianxiao. Reported· Game8
Way out: beat Bai Chilian at the Threadbound Great Tree; a scene then moves you to the start of the Village of Lu. Reported· Game8
Collectibles: 83 on PowerPyx's count, with 18 Memory Flowers, and a shard disagreement. Reported· PowerPyx
Do not miss: free Quick Hand Zhang, and finish five side tales before Bai Chilian. See the deadlines below.
This is a launch-day page. The guides are only hours old, so each claim carries its source and single-source claims say so.
Snake's Reflection is the main quest set in Crimson Forest. You cross the Pangzhen Bridge, find another way round through the Trail of Cages, push on to the Village of Lu, then work through Mirrorwood and the Burial Grounds to a final fight at a great threaded tree.
The first boss is Hua Qianxiao, the Sword Fanatic, on the bridge to Pangzhen. Game8 says the bridge collapses afterwards and drops you to a lower platform; Fextralife only says the objective changes once you are across.
Reaching the Village of Lu takes you through caves, ledges and cellars. The Crane Bell triggers a scene that moves the main quest on. Stone Hand Iron Fever, a boss below the Mirrorwood Entrance Bell, drops the Iron Gauntlets Phantom Edge.
The final boss is Bai Chilian, Lady of the Twin Serpents, at the Threadbound Great Tree, in two phases. Fextralife names the second phase Bai Chilian, the Sacrificial Serpent. Beating her ends the chapter with a scene that moves you to the start of the Village of Lu.
Does Snake's Reflection come straight after Steel and Steam?
Game8 puts Snake's Reflection straight after Steel and Steam. Game Rant's Region / Chapter table lists two more entries between them, Crimson Manor (under Weeping Creek Valley) and Illusion of Inanis (under Crimson Forest, the region). Fextralife places the quest in Crimson Forest and treats Illusion of Inanis as a quest it completes along the way. We do not pick a side.
Game8 Phantom Blade Zero Story Walkthrough and List of All Chapters Chapter 3 Steel and Steam, then Chapter 4 Snake's Reflection, no entry between.
Game Rant Phantom Blade Zero: How Long To Beat & Chapter List Order: Steel and Steam, Crimson Manor, Crimson Forest, Illusion of Inanis, Snake's Reflection.
Fextralife Snake's Reflection (Phantom Blade Zero Wiki) Location: Crimson Forest; Illusion of Inanis listed as completed after speaking with Inanis.
How we handle it: Crimson Manor and Crimson Forest may be places or side quests that Game Rant lists inline. Either way, Snake's Reflection is the next main quest after Steel and Steam in both lists.
Bells that matter
The forest has 19 Bells by count; both guides name 16. These are the ones with something to do. See saving and fast travel for how Bells work.
Bells · reported
Bell
What is here
Crimson Forest
The first Bell, straight ahead after the cutscene. A Memory Flower left by Inanis lies beside it.
Pangzhen Bridge Overlook
By the great bridge, where the Hua Qianxiao fight happens.
Trail of Cages
Quick Hand Zhang is caged nearby; turn the crank at the end of the cave to free him.
Outlaw Trap
Jing Ye's arena, the tunnel crank and two hidden caves are reached from here.
Thieves' Camp
Zhang's den, the Gentle Thief, Lanlan and Yu'er are all around it. Fextralife marks it as a Crane-shaped Bell.
Cliffside Lodge
The lodge cellar with its cranks, poison room and prison sits behind it.
Mirrorwood Entrance
Where the Stone Hand Iron Fever fight begins below.
Mirrorwood Long Pillar
The Crimson Forest challenge is directly beside this Bell.
Parting Mists
The Banyan tree trial is a short drop away.
Threadbound Great Tree
The last Bell before Bai Chilian. Finish your tales before you go on.
Scroll →
Reported· PowerPyx Bell names are the same in both guides; what stands beside each is from PowerPyx's walkthrough, checked against Fextralife's quick location guide.
Bosses in Crimson Forest
Names are in a fold because they are story spoilers. Fextralife's forest list names Hua Qianxiao, Jing Ye, Stone Hand Iron Fever, the Gold-Masked One and Bai Chilian. Required status follows our boss list and the Snake's Reflection walkthrough.
Optional challenge, the second Gold-Masked One fight. Reward: Miraculous Scabbard (PowerPyx pairs it with the challenge; Fextralife describes a scene with the Man in Black before it).
Purge the Sect and Festering Secrets start in Weeping Creek Valley but close here. Fextralife words some of the failure points differently from PowerPyx, as the status tags show.
Optional chain · sources
Illusion of Inanis
Illusion of Inanis is an optional quest that starts at a lamp scene in the Burial Grounds; Game8 says choosing "Train Abilities" there starts the Heart of the Banyan collectible quest. Fextralife lists Illusion of Inanis and Heart of the Banyan as linked to this chapter.
Free him early: his shop and treasure quest start here. More on merchants and NPCs.
Quick Hand Zhang · sources
Who he is
Quick Hand Zhang is a thief you free in Crimson Forest. He then runs a shop and a treasure-return quest at a hideout in each of five regions: Crimson Forest, Village of Lu, Pangzhen, Meigu Lake and Mirage Estate.
Quick Hand Zhang's three Crimson Forest treasures sit in the Outlaw Trap caves (Sect Leader's Snuff Bottle), past the Thieves' Camp (Bloodstained Seal) and in the Thieves' Camp Dungeon (Ancient Crossbow). Return all three for the Flying Dagger.
The Bell is Thieves' Camp Bell (Zhang's den next to it). Returning the treasures pays out Flying Dagger: Thrown knives that apply poison buildup (PC Gamer). Yu'er also appears at the Thieves' Camp. Reported· Fextralife
Collectibles in Crimson Forest
Counts and the points worth knowing only; each full list is on its own page.
PowerPyx header counts · reported
Category
Count
Who prints it
Bells
19
PowerPyx, Fextralife
Weapons and Phantom Edges
6
PowerPyx, Fextralife
Accessories and medicines
14
PowerPyx, Fextralife
Challenge locations
2
PowerPyx, Fextralife
Sha-Chi Amber Shards
6 (PowerPyx) / 4 (Fextralife)
Disputed
Blackstone Shards
6 (PowerPyx) / 4 (Fextralife)
Disputed
Memory Flowers
18
PowerPyx, Fextralife
Treasures
3
PowerPyx only
Tales
5
PowerPyx only
Tempering materials
4
PowerPyx only
Scroll →
Reported· PowerPyx Both pages name only 16 Bells against 19, and PowerPyx's own list names four of each shard and jumps from entry 68 to 83, so its clean-up section is incomplete. The shard disagreement is tracked on the Sha-Chi Amber and Blackstone pages.
Worth knowing · sources
Sha-Chi Amber Fragments
Four Crimson Forest fragments appear in both PowerPyx and Fextralife with matching spots.
The first Banyan tree sits just below the Parting Mists Bell in the Crimson Forest, and its last fight is Jing Ye. PowerPyx and PC Gamer agree on the spot and the boss.
Some Crimson Forest items only open later: the Bastion Phantom Edge from the Village of Lu clears the Thieves' Camp Dungeon arrow traps, the Flaming Mane burns the branches at the Red Serpent House, and the Tiger Cannon blows a wall near the Cliffside Lodge tunnel.
Quick Hand Zhang pays it out once you bring back his three treasures.
Iron Gauntlets
Phantom Edge
Reward for Stone Hand Iron Fever.
White Serpent and Crimson Viper
Weapon
Reward for Bai Chilian, with the Resonance Talisman.
Scroll →
Reported· PowerPyx Both headers say six. Neither names a sixth, and PowerPyx's list is incomplete after entry 68. Game8 confirms the Flying Dagger reward for Quick Hand's Request.
Accessories and medicines · reported
Item
Where
Shieldbreaker Talisman
Chest on a small scaffold after the broken bridge, past the Abandoned Main Road Bell.
Cavalrybane
Chest on the lower scaffold beneath the crank that frees Quick Hand Zhang.
Preservation Jar
Join Preservation Talisman Fragments I and II, found around the Outlaw Trap caves.
Silent Wrap
Answer the Gentle Thief's three questions correctly. Missable.
Quick Hand Pendant
A gift from Zhang if you freed him.
Calming Gourd
Reward from Yu'er after you save the four thieves. Missable.
Miraculous Scabbard
Reward for the Mirrorwood Long Pillar challenge.
Resonance Talisman
Reward for Bai Chilian.
Seal of Dugu
Clean-up: needs the Leave None Alive tale, from the Village of Lu.
Brass Chest Guard
Clean-up: Thieves' Camp Dungeon, across an arrow trap that needs the Bastion Phantom Edge.
Simmering Brew and Kuye Dew (medicines)
Simmering Brew lies after the bridge collapses; Kuye Dew is by the corpses in the Outlaw Trap caves.
Scroll →
Reported· PowerPyx PowerPyx's page also marks Silent Wrap and Calming Gourd as missable. Effects are on the accessories page. Reported· PowerPyx
What we're checking
Questions
How many collectibles are in Crimson Forest?
PowerPyx counts 83 collectible locations: 19 Bells, 6 weapons and Phantom Edges, 14 accessories and medicines, 2 challenge locations, 6 Sha-Chi Amber Shards, 6 Blackstone Shards and 18 Memory Flowers. Fextralife matches all of it except the shards, where it lists 4 and 4.
What should you finish in Crimson Forest before the last boss?
Honor Among Thieves, A Healer's Mercy, Secrets of the Baishan Sect, Purge the Sect and Festering Secrets all fail after Bai Chilian falls, according to PowerPyx. Apprentice Healer fails earlier, once Jing Ye is beaten.
How do you free Quick Hand Zhang in Crimson Forest?
Follow the Trail of Cages cave to its end and turn the crank that lowers his cage. Freeing him opens his shop, the Quick Hand Pendant and his treasure quest, which pays out the Flying Dagger.
Drop down from the Parting Mists Bell and cross to the giant tree ahead. The trial ends with a rematch against Jing Ye, and PC Gamer counts three waves.
PBZ
