Quick answer: Find the Agonized Ironmask by the Shrine Outer Gate bell and speak with him. Retrieve the Ledger of Atonement roughly 112 m from the Cavern Passage bell, then bring it back to claim rewards, including the Backstreet Courtyard Key.
How to start Ledger of Atonement
In Phantom Blade Zero, Ledger of Atonement takes place in the Mountain of Imprisonment. You receive it from a Maskwalker identified by the name tag Agonized Ironmask. From the Shrine Outer Gate bell, head about 78 m to find him, around 5 m higher up. To locate the bell, see the bell locations.
He introduces himself as Chen Zhu, warns you to stay back, and says his pain is overwhelming him. To remember each person he has killed, he kept a written record, but it has disappeared. He suspects it lies somewhere in the caves beneath him, where the mountain gate key might also be. He fears that without the ledger, he will lose control and take another life. When he is done speaking, the tale gives you this objective:
“Find the ledger for the agonized Maskwalker”
Where to find the ledger
You can find the Ledger of Atonement among the cave pickups, roughly 112 m from the Cavern Passage bell and level with it. Read the ledger to see Chen Zhu’s list of victims:
Fang Li, villager. Beheaded. Final words: “I-I never did anything to you, did I?”
Old Ku, physician. Beheaded. “You need to take better care of yourself.”
Qin Juhua, steamed-bun vendor. Cut down across the body. “The buns just came out of the steamer. Have one.”
Deng Guijiang. Beheaded. “The current ahead is strong. Be careful.”
Unnamed farmer. Heart pierced. “…Next year’s sweet potatoes will be bigger.”
Bai Xue… abdomen pierced… “Look, Dazhu. That cloud looks like a little rabbit.”
The map below marks Chen Zhu and the ledger.
Return the ledger to Chen Zhu
Picking up the ledger moves the tale to its second objective:
“Bring the ledger back to the agonized Maskwalker”
Return to Chen Zhu and give him the ledger. He says he is prepared to let his former self die with the past. Then he gives you a necklace; his mother, now deceased, had hoped he would use it to marry the Bai girl in the neighboring village.
“An old necklace, now worth little.
It once carried a mother’s hope. The characters for “Chen Clan” are still faintly visible on the pendant.”
Choose how to respond to him next. Select “Never mind. Leave him be.” to let him go. Alternatively, say that a ledger cannot cleanse his sins; he will attack, and you will fight Chen Zhu.
Ledger of Atonement rewards
The tale’s rewards are:
- Bloodstained Necklace
- A Sha-Chi Amber Shard
- Backstreet Courtyard Key
The Backstreet Courtyard Key opens a gate in Pangzhen. It joins the rest of the game’s all keys list:
“A small key left behind by the Maskwalker, Chen Zhu. It doesn’t seem to have been used much.
Opens the gate to a courtyard in Pangzhen’s backstreets.”
Chen Zhu’s defeat also unlocks the tale Bai Xue; once he falls, the female puppet standing beside him awakens.
For the rest of the game’s tales, browse all side quests, and for everything else in this area, check the Mountain of Imprisonment collectibles.
