Quick answer: In Cycle 1, Kui Yanyan, the Deranged has a single 205,760 HP bar and waits on a plateau above the Mountain of Imprisonment lift. Her rewards are the Missing Lift Crank and a Sha-Chi Amber Shard.
She is a lone boss with no second phase, blocking access to the shrine atop the mountain. The lift remains inactive until you retrieve its crank from her.
Why you need to fight her
The lift on the Mountain of Imprisonment has no crank. Press E at the lift switch box and the game tells you exactly what’s wrong: “Key item missing: Missing Lift Crank x1”.
The Missing Lift Crank card fills in the backstory. “The Mandate built the lift to move supplies to the shrine at the top. Later, Huangxing’s personal guards removed the crank to conceal the shrine’s secrets.” Its last line points straight at your target: “After a struggle for possession, it seems to have ended up with a ruthless madwoman.”
Where Kui Yanyan is
The battle takes place on a grassy plateau well above the lift. To reach it, climb a 43-rung ladder to a plank walkway, then ascend a 32-rung ladder onto the plateau.
On your first visit, a Gold Mask and an Iron Mask are already fighting her when you arrive. She kills the Iron Mask before your own fight with her begins, and both Masks are gone on any later attempt.
If she kills you, you respawn at the Cavern Passage bell. Her health bar is full again right away, so chip damage from a failed attempt does not carry over.
The fight in Cycle 1
Her health meter in Cycle 1, or New Game Plus, holds 205,760 HP. It is the only bar in the encounter; emptying it ends the fight without a second phase.
She fights with a long club topped by a spiked head and stays in close the entire time.
You may need four attempts to defeat Kui Yanyan. One failed attempt can leave her with only 5,208 HP, roughly 2.5% of her bar. A successful fight may take about 11 minutes and use 5 healing gourd drinks, leaving Soul at 1,916 of 3,538 HP.
Kui Yanyan’s reward
Your first card reward is the story item “MISSING LIFT CRANK”. Place it in the lift switch box to make the lift usable.
The second card is a “SHA-CHI AMBER SHARD“. Its card text reads “Collect all four fragments to increase maximum Sha-Chi by 10%.”
If this is your fourth shard, a “SHA-CHI AMBER” card follows with the line “Permanently increases maximum Sha-Chi by 10%.”
