All vikisThe Heart's Trail
The Heart's Trail is Chapter 7 of Phantom Blade Zero in Pangzhen's backstreets: beat Wu Xuan, cross the Narrow Alley and the Pond of Fading Song, beat Gu Wanyue and follow her into the well (use the stairs side; jumping in kills), beat Xie Qiudong at the Green Serpent House, then Chang Hong, and reach Yu'er's house.
The Heart's Trail is the chapter with a well that kills you if you jump in, and the one that opens the Mandate Encampment: the Outer Gate Key lies at the bottom of that well. Phantom Blade Zero's seventh chapter, after Town of Death, runs through the backstreets of Pangzhen, where Soul beats Wu Xuan, crosses the Narrow Alley and the Pond of Fading Song to Gu Wanyue, follows her down, beats the healer Xie Qiudong at the Green Serpent House and the spearman Chang Hong, and reaches Yu'er's father, in Game8's 13 steps. By Nov 9, 2026, 32.3% of Steam players had solved the Serpent Head Lock in the Green Serpent House this chapter brings you to, against 55.3% who had reached Pangzhen at all.
Game8 lists the chapter's rewards as the Wolfjaw, Fanatic's Fragment: Fixation, Everflow and the Thunder Spear. The Green Serpent House also starts the next chapter, The Four Serpent Houses.
Wu Xuan's arena
Wu Xuan waits in an arena west of the Backstreet Archway bell, and beating him is required to explore further (Game8). He drops the Wolfjaw. To the west a chest holds the Ink Stick for Quick Hand Zhang's requests; to the north is Zhang's Hideout and a bell; northwest up the stairs is the Backstreet Rest bell.
The Narrow Alley
Take the Blackstone Shard, follow the narrow alley to a collapsed house, crawl under it and climb the ladder to an altar with a Sha-Chi Amber Shard; kick the ladder down for a shortcut (Game8). Further on, a Poison Powderkeg and a Heartless Healer wait: clear them for another Blackstone Shard and the Congeal Talisman in the chest at the end, then cross into the next house to the Narrow Alley Residence 2nd Floor bell.
The Pond of Fading Song and Gu Wanyue
Drop down to a Heartless Healer and Fire Archers, which Game8 calls hard in groups. Get ready before the zipline, since enemies wait at the landing (Game8). After the Sha-Chi Amber Shard chest, the house with the open gate holds a Carved-Edge Inkstone (another of Zhang's requests), a Lion Dance Grandmaster Memory Flower, and in the backyard Dahuang's body, which completes the Dahuang tale from the Village of Lu. Ring the Pond of Fading Song bell, then beat Gu Wanyue; she retreats into a well. Collect what is around before you follow.
Down the well, by the stairs
Do not jump in. Game8 warns that "directly jumping or dropping the well will cause an instant death": use the side with the stairs and interact with the wall to drop safely (Game8). Inside are two Gu Wanyue Memory Flowers and the Mandate Encampment Outer Gate Key, which moves Pillars of Kunlun on and opens the Encampment, home to optional bosses: Corpse-Eating Xue, Wan Jun, the Coppermaul, Red, the Mysterious Swordswoman, the Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars, Wu Lengshuang, the Soft Sword and Yubi, No. 21 Swordfighter Puppet. Climb out at the Well of Wei Sanchuan bell.
Xie Qiudong and the Green Serpent House
Xie Qiudong is a boss version of the Heartless Healer: kill the hosts he draws on first, and use the fire barrels nearby against them, Game8 advises. Ring the Green Serpent House bell; Xie Xiaorong there upgrades medicine, and the snake statue wall logs The Four Serpent Houses, the next chapter.
Chang Hong and Yu'er's house
Go north through the firecracker houses to the Ancestral Shrine Square bell; the arena past it is Chang Hong's, so prepare first (Game8). He fights on foot, then on horseback, and drops the Thunder Spear. Ring the Yu'er's House bell, watch the cutscene, and talk again for the Blessed Jade Pendant, the next step of Yu'er's Flesh Lily quest (Side Quests).
Optional bosses in Pangzhen
Off this route, You Loong, leader of the Blackwater Crew, fights in the water below the town; Acolyte Lei Ting answers a scarecrow; Soulclaimer waits at the docks; and Flame, the Lion Dance Grandmaster, whose Memory Flowers this chapter gathers, is the fight PCGamesN says to take with You Loong's Deluge, to put out his flames.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get down the well safely in Phantom Blade Zero? Use the side with the stairs and interact with the wall to drop down. Game8 warns that "directly jumping or dropping the well will cause an instant death", and the well is where Gu Wanyue retreats after her fight.
Where is the Mandate Encampment Outer Gate Key? At the bottom of the well Gu Wanyue retreats into, beside two of her Memory Flowers. Taking it moves Pillars of Kunlun on and opens the Mandate Encampment, whose outer gate bell you rang back in Heartless Remnants.
Sources
- The Heart's Trail Quest Walkthrough and Rewards, Game8, updated Nov 3, 2026
- Global achievements, Steam, read Nov 9, 2026
- All Phantom Blade Zero bosses in order, PCGamesN (Tom Hopkins), updated Oct 30, 2026
Photos
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A Soul's WorthA Soul's Worth is Phantom Blade Zero's tenth and last chapter, on Mount Soulrend: climb past the Mountain God Temple and the Frostcliff Cavern, beat the Crusher and the Saw, ring the Last Chance bell (the final point of no return), then fight Leng Tu's four phases and Meng Hua at the summit. With every True Ending step done, Zuo Shang, the True Long, follows. Game8 lists 24 steps.
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Against the FlowAgainst 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.
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Banyan's Heart LocationsOne run of Phantom Blade Zero holds eight Banyan's Hearts. Five come from the Human-Faced Banyan trees in Crimson Forest, Pangzhen, Mandate Encampment, Meigu Lake and the Mountain of Imprisonment, and three are sold by Quick Hand Zhang for 100,000 Remnant Dust each. On Nov 13, 2026, 31.5% of Steam players had cleared all five trees.
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CollectiblesPowerPyx counts 564 collectibles in Phantom Blade Zero, plus 30 side Tales: 161 bells, 129 Memory Flower fragments, 80 accessories and medicines, 43 tempering materials, 42 weapons and Phantom Edges, 40 Sha-Chi Amber shards, 40 Blackstone shards, 16 Treasures and 13 challenge locations. Half of Steam players had 10 Memory Flowers by Nov 9, 2026; about one in seven had 10 Blackstones or 10 Ambers.
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Diverging PathsDiverging Paths is Phantom Blade Zero's prologue in Weeping Creek Valley: watch Soul and Zuo Shang's duel, learn to move and fight 16 years earlier, beat Zuo Shang twice, then take the Tainted Heart that gives Soul 66 days. It has one boss, Zuo Shang, and no rewards.
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EndingsPhantom Blade Zero has four documented endings: Final Battle (the True Ending), Long's Roar, Annihilation (the default) and Undying Grudge, which only the 66 Days mode reaches. The True Ending needs every purple-icon quest done, ten of them before you enter Mirage Estate, and leads to a last fight with Zuo Shang after Meng Hua.
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Heartless RemnantsHeartless Remnants is Chapter 5 of Phantom Blade Zero in the Village of Lu: secure the Mandate Encampment's outer gate, enter the village past Zhuo Bi or the cliffs, sever the red threads, and beat Master Bi Yuan, Master Bi Hai, Yuzan and Mu Xiaokui. Finish the Young Mistress ribbons first to unlock Mu Xiaokui's secret third phase.
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How Long Is Each ChapterChapters 4, 5 and 7 of Phantom Blade Zero hold half its story time. In Gamer's Little Playground's 100% True Ending run, timed from its own chapter markers, Snake's Reflection took 3h 29m, The Heart's Trail 3h 24m and Heartless Remnants 3h 1m of 19h 49m to the first ending, while the prologue and Chapter 1 together took 21 minutes. Scaled to HowLongToBeat's 24h 43m main story average of Nov 13, 2026, Chapter 4 is about 4h 21m.
See also
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Town of DeathTown of Death is Chapter 6 of Phantom Blade Zero, the arrival in Pangzhen: out of the tunnels, across the rooftops, past the Shadow Warden captain Blaze and the mounted Cavalrybane, through a hidden passage to Myst's Tavern, where Soul Tempering opens, and on to the backstreets.
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PangzhenPangzhen (庞镇), which S-Game also calls Pang Town, is the rain-drenched town at the center of Phantom Blade Zero's map, where martial artists and rival factions from across the Wulin gather. It first appeared in Soulframe Liang's Rainblood about 15 years earlier and was rebuilt from 3D scans of several ancient Chinese towns.
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Wu XuanWu Xuan, the Fallen General is a required Phantom Blade Zero boss in a lantern-lit courtyard of Pangzhen's backstreet, in Chapter 7, The Heart's Trail. Break his large Guard meter with parries and guard-break weapons, dodge his red-flash finisher and grab, and leave the purple fire of his Blight phase. He drops the Wolfjaw Phantom Edge.
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Xie QiudongXie Qiudong, the Divine Healer is a required Phantom Blade Zero boss in Pangzhen, in Chapter 7, The Heart's Trail. He floats over the arena healing his guards, so defeat the six bodies on red threads first, pull the guards away until he has no health left to give, then finish him. Game8 lists the Everflow as his reward.
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Chang HongChang Hong is Phantom Blade Zero's required Chapter 7 boss in Pangzhen, fought past the Ancestral Shrine Square bell, on foot as the Thunder Spear and then on horseback as the Thunder Lancer. Parry his blue flashes, dodge the red ones, and never stand behind the horse. He drops the Thunder Spear Phantom Edge.