The Puppet Scavenger boss guide: the two-on-one Crimson Mansion fight

Kill Acolyte Hansui before the frost meter freezes you solid, then finish the Scavenger while it is still locked in ice. Frost resistance is close to mandatory.

10/31/2026 Last updated: 10/31/2026 5 min read

FAQ

Who are the Puppet Scavenger and Acolyte Hansui?

A paired encounter: a slow, enormously heavy puppet that grabs and swallows you, and the ice Acolyte who joins at half health. Hansui is one of the four mask-bearing Acolytes, so this fight is required for the true-ending mask chain.

Where does this fight take place?

Deep inside the Crimson Mansion in Weeping Creek Valley. You have to unlock the mansion's interior before the encounter is available.

Should you kill Hansui or the Scavenger first?

Hansui, always. While she is alive her ice keeps the Scavenger frozen and largely passive; the moment she dies you are fighting the puppet alone with whatever health it has left.

What happens when the frost meter fills?

You are frozen solid and cannot act at all. Bring frost resistance and the Green Snake Potion, which breaks the freeze.

What does this fight drop?

The Frost Mask, the Alloyed Scythe Blade used as Soul Temper material for the Hunter's Chain Sickle, and the Yang Puppet Eye — a key item for the true ending.

At a glance


Region	Weeping Creek Valley — deep inside the Crimson Mansion
Chapter	— (side content)
Type	Maskwalkers (paired encounter)
Gimmick	Frost meter freezes you; ice also freezes the Scavenger
Drop	Frost Mask, Alloyed Scythe Blade, Yang Puppet Eye
Last checked	2026-10-31

Who you are fighting

Two enemies, introduced separately.

The Puppet Scavenger is the one you meet first — a heavy construct with slow, telegraphed swings and enormous damage, and a grab that swallows Soul whole. Its individual hits are easy to read; the punishment for reading them wrong is not.

Acolyte Hansui is the ice caster of the four Acolytes, and she does not start on the field. She arrives when the Scavenger drops to 50 percent health, and from that point the fight changes shape completely.

Getting there

The encounter sits deep inside the Crimson Mansion in Weeping Creek Valley, and it is gated: you need to unlock the mansion’s interior before the fight is reachable. If the doors will not open, you have not finished the prerequisite — this is not a boss you can stumble into early by taking a wrong turn.

This is the hardest of the four Acolyte encounters, and the pairing is the reason: two enemies with two completely different answers.

Phase 1: the Scavenger alone

Before Hansui arrives this is a straightforward heavy-enemy fight, and the correct posture is patience.

Its swings are slow. Block or dodge on the animation, not on reflex — the wind-ups are long enough to read.
Do not stand in front of it. The grab swallows you, and being swallowed is not chip damage.
Bank your cooldowns. Everything you spend in phase 1 is unavailable when the real fight starts at half health.

Getting the Scavenger to 50 percent is not the goal in itself. Arriving there with health, potions and Sha-Chi intact is.

Phase 2: Hansui enters, and the ice cuts both ways

The moment Hansui lands, a frost meter starts filling. When it tops out you are frozen solid — no input, no dodge, no block, just whatever the Scavenger is doing when the ice sets.

But her ice has a second effect that most players miss the first time: while Hansui is alive, the Puppet Scavenger is frozen too. It stops being an active threat and stands locked in place.

That single fact reorganises the entire phase:

If you attack	Result
Hansui first	She dies, the freeze ends, but the Scavenger is now alone at low health with no caster backing it
The Scavenger first	You are fighting a frozen target while Hansui keeps filling your frost meter — and the Scavenger wakes up the moment she dies

Killing her first is not a preference, it is the only version of this fight that stays winnable.

Surviving the frost

Two items carry this phase, and both are worth the inventory slot:

Frost resistance accessory — slows the meter enough that you are not racing it during the Hansui burn.
Green Snake Potion — clears abnormal status, which here means breaking a freeze. Drink it before the meter caps, not after; once frozen you cannot drink anything.

Her ice casts are the thing to dodge, not the Scavenger’s swings. With the puppet frozen, every dodge you have is available for her.

Finishing it

Once Hansui is down, the Scavenger unfreezes with whatever health it had left — usually a little under half. This is the easy part of the fight and the part people lose by relaxing: the grab still one-shots, and the heavy swings still hit like a truck. Clear it with the same patience you opened with.

Rewards

Item	What it is
Frost Mask	Hansui’s mask — one of the four that open the mirror shrine
Alloyed Scythe Blade	Soul Temper material for the Hunter’s Chain Sickle
Yang Puppet Eye	Key item for the true ending

Three rewards, and two of them matter beyond this fight: the mask advances the Acolyte chain, and the Yang Puppet Eye is one of the items the true ending route is built around. The Alloyed Scythe Blade is worth the trip on its own if you are running the Chain Sickle.

Notes

Kill Hansui first. Her ice holding the Scavenger still is the whole fight.
Frost meter caps = you are out of the fight. Drink the Green Snake Potion before it fills.
The grab swallows you. Never stand directly in front of the Scavenger.
Phase 1 is a resource check. Arrive at half health with potions left.
It does not relax at the end. The Scavenger alone at 40 percent still kills in one grab.

Acolyte Guhe — the poison Acolyte, and the other half of the mask chain
Acolyte Yanru — the fire Acolyte in Village of Lu
Hunter of the Order — the Chain Sickle this fight’s material upgrades
All bosses