Against the Flow

Against the Flow is Chapter 2 of Phantom Blade Zero in Weeping Creek Valley: follow the river upstream, get the Sanguine Twin, beat Jagged Steel, enter the Outpost and beat Peng Meng for the Dread Axe. Talk to Yu'er and the Outpost's people first, since five side quests start here.

Chapter 2 is where Phantom Blade Zero opens up: Soul follows Weeping Creek Valley upstream toward the Great Waterfall, picks up the Sanguine Twin, beats Jagged Steel, then enters the Outpost and beats Peng Meng, the Axemaster, for the Dread Axe, in Game8's 21 steps. Five side quests start here (Flesh Lily, Apprentice Healer, Purge the Sect, Four Fierce Axes and Festering Secret), so talk to everyone before moving on. On Nov 9, 2026, 84.8% of Steam players had beaten Peng Meng ("The Axe's Grudge") and 84.1% had passed through the Outpost, up from 82.9% for Peng Meng on Nov 4. The chapter comes after Reckless Pursuit and runs straight into Steel and Steam in the same valley.

The two bosses, as a previewer met them

In Travis Northup's Oct 9, 2026 preview video for IGN (5:47), the first fights of his six hours were "a hooded man throwing chained blades at me" and "a big burly monstrosity swinging an ax the size of a grown man": The Hunt on the road and Peng Meng at the Outpost. He calls those early fights "pretty bog standard stuff" next to what came later. The open-field duel with Jagged Steel past the waterfall is, for Game8 and PCGamesN, a lesson in parrying and perfect dodging. One optional boss waits off the path: the Aberrant Three-Faced Puppet in The Lady's Rift, a Challenge Rift best left for much later.

1. Follow the path upstream

Ring your first bell: bells save, refill medicine and open fast travel (Exploration and Map). Take the book and touch the stone carvings for Remnant Dust, the upgrade currency (Game8).

2. Find the Great Waterfall

Take the next book and bell, and pick up the Hunter's Insight.
Meet Yu'er. "Ask How to Save Her Father" starts Flesh Lily and "Gathering Herbs" starts Apprentice Healer, Game8 says; both run through later chapters (Side Quests).
Get the Sanguine Twin, then follow the red thread to the next bell.
Beat the Broken Puppet, then Jagged Steel in the open field past the waterfall.
Climb the stairs, take the Sha-Chi Amber Fragment and ring the Outpost Courtyard bell.

Game8 names four bells in this stretch: Red Thread Barrier, Broken Puppet Valley, Rustblade Pavilion and Outpost Courtyard.

3. Enter the Outpost

Talk to the guards and the Outpost's people. The Old Archer starts Purge the Sect, the Petrified Mandate Disciple moves Four Fierce Axes on, and two guards start Festering Secret (Game8). The Forge here upgrades weapons, and a merchant sells materials.
Two tricks Game8 points out: push the rock at the bottom of a ladder to kill the enemy below at once, and crouch in tall grass to assassinate.
Climb the stairs past the Outpost gate to Peng Meng. He drops the Dread Axe, a Phantom Edge that breaks chain barriers. The Cell Key by the stairs opposite his arena opens a door near the Outpost gate, with a Blackstone Fragment behind it.

4. Keep searching for the Great Waterfall

Go back with the Dread Axe for Festering Secret, start Apprentice Healer if you have not, and break the nearby chain barrier (Game8). Some Tales fail when you reach a new region, PowerPyx warns, and the Outpost's people turn hostile once Bai Chilian falls in Chapter 4, so finish their quests first (Missables).

Items worth picking up

Game8 lists two Traversal Talismans, three Forged Metal, Solvent (one, then three more in the large Outpost building), three Sha-Chi Amber Fragments, two Darkfire Charcoal in the house by the Outpost bell, Battle Wraps, an Exotic Copper Ingot, Twinned Metal, the Blood-Stopper Vine, and a Weapon and a Phantom Reforge Talisman (Game8). Lore books here include Captain Wu's Final Letter and The Four Axes Rebellion; every collectible is on Collectibles.