After The Hunt: Valley Gate Keys, Tower-Base Return and the Guarded Bridge

After defeating The Hunt, use the new grapple routes to explore deeper into Weeping Creek Valley. The tower gate key opens the region; the Rusted Loong Key opens a later passage. Crimson Manor and the guarded outpost bridge have separate conditions. For the earlier visit, use the valley overview.

First, open the deeper valley

Return to Valley Sha-Chi Tower Summit with Hunter’s Chain Sickle. Grapple to the area above and collect Sha-Chi Tower Base Camp Gate Key. Use it at Creek Valley Plains Entrance.

Inside the deeper area, find the house containing Lóng Pillar Overlook and inspect its chest for the Rusted Loong Key. Keep the two keys distinct when checking a locked gate.

Show the captain’s written order to the blue-clad swordsman in the nearby house. His conversation supplies the case file about Gu Lingran’s letter to Sect Leader Ming and advances the lieutenant’s clue. Return to the captain at Mandate Outpost to learn where Gu Lingran went. At the opening area, grapple across to the corpse and open the chest for Pendant of Righteousness.

Locate the dragon pillar before choosing when to fight

Use Lóng Pillar Overlook as the starting reference on the route map below. Compare the house/Bell and river crossing with the marked path to the dragon-pillar entrance, then use the Rusted Loong Key on the locked passage.

Follow the tunnel and clear the axe barrier to reach Weeping Creek Long Pillar. Interacting with the dragon head advances the associated objective.

Finding this entrance does not require treating the challenge as your next immediate priority. You can note the location and return with equipment you prefer. You may also encounter herbs for Yu’er along these paths; that collection is a separate side quest, not a requirement for opening the dragon-pillar passage.

Inspect Crimson Manor, then explore the tower base

Near the tower base, use an explosive enemy to clear the obstruction and reveal the elevator. Ride down, activate Crimson Manor, and inspect the area to the left of the house for Ancient Armor Fragment. The door remains closed at this stage; reaching the courtyard starts the objective rather than completing entry.

Return toward the tower base. Follow the slope near Hua’s earlier route and take the stairs into the lower tower. Clearing the golden enemies yields a Blackstone Fragment. Check near the stairs for Response from Sect Leader Ming and the other books, then activate Valley Sha-Chi Tower Base.

If you lack Sha-Chi Furnace Inspection Crank, return to the tower summit through the main tower route. Climb to the high ground beside the friendly Shadow Warden, follow the far side down, descend one ladder and defeat the lone Warden on the platform below for the crank.

Use Sha-Chi Furnace Inspection Crank to obtain the accessory marked 浑源经脉仪 (contextual English match: Reflex Device), then remove the crank and take it with you. For the return to the first-floor exit, climb the ladder onto the round furnace. The left side is a collection detour; return and follow the right side. Continue past the chest and overhead package, lower the nearby ladder, then take the stairs and cross using the hanging chain. Take the next ladder upward, or follow the left path around to its top. Clear the Warden and check the chest for the item marked 容器维护液体 (contextual English match: Vessel Restorative). The nearby door reconnects with the outside of the tower’s first floor.

The guarded bridge requires a later return

The bridge guarded by two soldiers at Mandate Outpost belongs to a later stage. In Village of Lu, speak to Old Man Gen to begin Leave None Alive. Return to the now-hostile thieves in Crimson Forest, then follow the dialogue back to the outpost and deal with the unrest there. Check the formerly guarded area once the way opens.

Opening the bridge and finishing the entire quest are separate stages. Leave None Alive later involves delivering the Prayer Beads obtained at the outpost to the survivor courtyard, 幸存者小院, in Village of Lu. Do not omit that handover just because the guards no longer block the bridge.

Across the bridge, climb over the roofs on the left toward the high ground to the south. Clear the axe barrier and enter the cave, activating The Lady’s Cave along the way. Outside the far end, the chest contains Shenji’s Ring, with a Colorful Pinwheel beside it. Grapple upward to collect the strategist’s secret-letter case file, 四凶斧案卷（谋士密信）.

If this is the file you lack, check the later quest progress before searching the early tower route again. The Four Fierce Axes quest also continues with a conversation at the pagoda in Pangzhen, identified as 八卦阁 / 八卦童子. Collecting the last file is not the same as completing that final conversation.

Keep unfinished entrances separate

This circuit does not supply Crimson Manor’s complete opening sequence. The challenge at The Lady’s Rift can also stay on your return list until you want to attempt it. Recording an unfinished entrance helps distinguish a missing prerequisite from a missed pickup.