Hua, Deadly Betrothed is an optional boss you encounter in Weeping Creek Valley in Phantom Blade Zero. While she is technically a side job, skipping Hua means you’ll leave behind the Scarlet Wraithblade, one of the best crowd-control greatswords in the early game, and the Twin Flesh Lilies required for Yu Er’s quest. Hua brings a few deadly attacks to the table that can catch you off guard if you don’t pay attention. Once you figure out how she fights and moves and are wary of her toxic flowers, you can control the tempo of the battle from start to finish.
Where to Find Hua, Deadly Betrothed
Hua can be found in Weeping Creek Valley near the Valley Sha-Chi Tower 1st Floor resting bell. From the bell, walk to the ground floor of the pagoda tower. Head to the back right corner and look down to spot a hole in the floorboards. Drop through the gap into the cavern, cross the suspended wooden bridge heading left, and follow the path out into a clearing filled with red spider lilies where Hua awaits by an altar.
Recommended Loadout and Build
While you can challenge Hua as soon as you find her, attempting the fight on Hellwalker difficulty with base gear is a test of patience. If you struggle, clear out the surrounding valley or progress through the main quest Against The Flow until you beat The Hunt, then return with upgraded gear and three accessory slots.
- Primary Weapon: Sanguine (Upgraded to Level 5). Fast one-handed swords allow you to weave strikes between Hua’s delayed swings. At Level 5, you unlock Chi-Infused Blade, giving a flat 20-second damage buff.
- Hua is a Puppet and completely immune to Bleed. Weapons like Jagged Steel lose their secondary value here, so rely on just physical damage and Chi buffs instead.
- Secondary Weapon: Sanguine Reach (Level 4+) or Sanguine Twin. Sanguine Reach has extended range to clip Hua when she backsteps, while Sanguine Twin offers fast counters. Further, keep the Dread Axe equipped as your Phantom Edge for neutral knockdown windows.
- Healing Items: Bring Healing Gourd and Focus Pill. You can find the pill in Weeping Creek Valley behind a barricaded cliff area near the village by smashing the obstruction with the Dread Axe.
- Accessories:
- Hunter’s Insight: Increases damage dealt and Sha-Chi drain against attacking enemies by 7%. Found near the Red Thread Barrier past the collapsed bridge in the valley.
- Battle Wraps: Provides a flat 5% damage increase to all attacks. Dropped by the big brute you battle on the silk path.
- Token of Pursuit: Increases damage against Guard-Broken enemies by 7%. Found in a gold chest at the Ruthless Archer Camp.
- Reflex Device: If you return after completing “The Hunt,” equip this device from the Sha-Chi Tower furnace to widen your parry and perfect dodge windows by 15–25%.
How to Defeat Hua, Deadly Betrothed in Phantom Blade Zero
Hua shifts between long-range projectile traps, aggressive sword strings, and sudden teleport grabs. Watch the color of her incoming moves to know if you should deflect, dodge, or disengage.
Hua, Deadly Betrothed Attacks List
| Attack | How to Tell | Threat | How to Counter |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Lily Teleport Barrage | Hua floats backward and throws three white flowers at you. | Lethal | If any lily touches you, Hua instantly teleports onto you for a massive impale. Don’t stand still and block; non-perfect blocks chew through your Sha-Chi. Sprint in a wide arc to miss the initial wave, then parry or dodge any stragglers. Watch for Hua regular throw swings or an unblockable grab immediately after the cast. |
| Burst Lunge Grab | A crimson red flash flares above her head, followed by an instant forward thrust. | High | Cannot be blocked or parried. Dodge or back away roughly a quarter-second after you hear the audio cue. Never overcommit to attack animations in neutral, or this grab will catch you in swing. |
| Blue Flash Finisher | An overhead cleave assisted by a blue flash along her blade. | Moderate | Time your deflect right as the blade drops on Soul. Parrying a Blue Flash triggers a cinematic deflection counter that strips a massive chunk of her Sha-Chi and leaves her wide open. |
| Black Flash Heavy Chop | Red-black smoke collects around her sword as color briefly drains from the screen. | High | An unblockable strike that can break guard. They can’t be parried or blocked; side step or roll backward through the swing radius to reset your space. |
| Double-Hit Sweeping Slashes | Wide, circular horizontal swings with her heavy blade. | Medium | These strikes often hit twice in quick succession. Either double-tap the parry button to deflect both hits or parry the first swing and hold guard from the second. |
| Phantom Ambush | Hua drops into a low crouch, vanishes into red mist, and drops from above. | Moderate | Keep your camera centered. A brief moment after she disappears, she will drop onto your head; time a parry or roll as soon as she spawns on the descent. |
| Spider Lily Ground Beds | Red lilies sprout from the dirt beneath Soul during melee trades. | Low–Med | Standing in these poisonous flowers drains your Sha-Chi, applies poison buildup, and causes an explosion after 2 seconds. Regularly strafe into clean ground patches during combos to avoid an unexpected guard break. |
| Red Flower Ring | Hua executes a spinning backstep when she spawns an arena-wide ring of floating red flowers. | High | The flowers slowly contract toward the center and detonate. Immediately disable your target lock-on and sprint toward the outer area. Hua will often try to execute a Blue or Red Flash attack while the ring contracts; use dodge invulnerability frames to avoid both. |
When taking on Hua, Deadly Betrothed, the plan of the day is to steadily wear down her white Sha-Chi gauge rather than trying to brute-force your way through her health bar. Attempting to trade blows with her while this meter is full rarely works in your favor, as she will easily armor through your strikes or teleport away. While her sword flurries can look wildly erratic, the deflection windows are actually very forgiving, which makes deflects far more effective for chipping away at her Sha-Chi than normal hits. We would suggest you stand your ground and consistently deflect her standard combos until you see her blade flash blue, where a parry counter will cleanly shatter whatever Sha-Chi she has left.
Once you finally manage to break Hua’s Sha-Chi, this is your prime opportunity to deal damage, but you’ll want to resist the urge to burn your heavy cinematic arts or Power Surge. Your basic light attacks are more than enough to continuously stagger and stun-lock her while she recovers, so heavy abilities will only waste your armor-breaking skills. Instead, keep hitting her with basic combos until her meter refills to roughly 80–90%. Right as she is about to recover, unload your heavy Sha-Chi combo or a charged Dread Axe strike to interrupt her counterattack, knocking her straight into a second consecutive guard break.
As long as you maintain clean footing away from the poisonous flowers and keep your own Sha-Chi topped off via weapon swaps, you can comfortably loop this attack cycle and take Hua down before she can unleash her worst grab moves. After defeating Hua, you will get the Scarlet Wraithblade weapon, which will let you spawn the same deadly flowers you were struggling against a few minutes ago.
