Why Does Phantom Blade Zero's Snake Lady Look Like a Dunhuang Mural?

Before you beat Bai Chilian, watch 9:04. Killing her ends chapter two and a few side quests close for good. Bai Chilian is the boss at the end of chapter two in Phantom Blade Zero, and I beat her drunk, with the drunken sword. There's an old Chinese story about a drunk man, a sword and a white snake, and I get to it at the end, after her name, her Gallery pages, the Dunhuang murals her look comes from and the Mandarin behind her lines. From 1:33 the video covers Bai Chilian's story as far as I've played (spoilers). If you haven't fought her yet, the warning at 9:04 is worth a look first. 0:00 Bai Chilian 0:41 The twin serpents 1:33 The red serpent fairy 2:29 Trapped 3:30 The flying celestial 4:46 Lady of the Veil 5:37 The sacrificial serpent 7:00 You already lost 8:28 Her twin blades 9:04 Before you fight her 9:33 A drunk man and a white snake 10:31 Snake's Reflection Thanks to hx615 for the comment that started this one. This is part of my series on Phantom Blade Zero after launch. My launch day video    • Phantom Blade Zero Launch Day, What Chines...   The setting that turns it into Sekiro    • China Says a Setting Turns Phantom Blade Z...   The bride and her letters    • China Says the Bride Is Phantom Blade Zero...   The drunken sword    • China Says the Drunken Sword Is Phantom Bl...   The first patch, 1.3    • Phantom Blade Zero’s First Patch Changed B...   Is Iron Fever real kung fu    • Is Phantom Blade Zero’s Iron Fever Real Ku...   My pre-launch series on Phantom Blade Zero Whether it's too easy    • Phantom Blade Zero Feels Easy Because Dyin...   Whether its weapons are real    • Phantom Blade Zero Has a Lute, a Lion’s He...   The man who made it, Soulframe Liang    • He Lost His Master’s Place Over a Free Gam...   What the critics said about it    • Western Critics Say Phantom Blade Zero's S...   The man who wrote its music    • He Emailed Phantom Blade Zero's Director F...   Whether to play it in Chinese or English    • Should You Play Phantom Blade Zero in Chin...   Why you take your weapons from bosses    • You Don’t Find Weapons in Phantom Blade Ze...   The launch trailer's hidden message    • Phantom Blade Zero's Launch Trailer Has a ...   The Chinese words the English version keeps    • Phantom Blade Zero Doesn’t Translate These...   The real places hidden inside it    • What Dynasty Is Phantom Blade Zero? Its Di...   How the fights were made    • Donnie Yen Didn't Just Lend His Name to Ph...   The films and books behind it    • Phantom Blade Zero's Hero Isn't a Chosen O...   What China really thinks of it    • What China Really Thinks of Phantom Blade ...   How it compares with its closest rivals    • Phantom Blade Zero vs Wukong, Sekiro, Nioh...   How its combat actually works    • Phantom Blade Zero Isn't Sekiro: How Its C...   The lore, the story behind Soul across 18 years    • Phantom Blade Zero Lore Explained: The 18-...   The previews are in    • Phantom Blade Zero: The Previews Are In   Everything we know before launch    • Phantom Blade Zero: Everything We Know Bef...   Pictures The Return of the Condor Heroes (1983), poster. TVB (file via Wikipedia) Dunhuang mural, flying apsaras (feitian). Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Mogao Cave 112, the dancer playing the pipa behind her back. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons Wooden Guanyin (the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara), museum photo. CC0, Wikimedia Commons Statue of Liu Bang cutting the white python (漢高祖斬蛇), photo by Gary Todd. CC0, Wikimedia Commons All Phantom Blade Zero footage is my own capture on PS5 Pro, 5 and 6 Nov 2026. Game, music and art by S-GAME Sources The game's own text and voice lines, English subtitles and Mandarin audio, her two Gallery pages, the quest list and the Chinese chapter title, from my own capture Liu Bang and the white snake, from the Records of the Grand Historian (史記·高祖本紀), Wikisource and ctext Li Mochou, the Lu family and her Chilian Fairy nickname, from Jin Yong's The Return of the Condor Heroes, via Wikipedia "Ask the world what love is" is Yuan Haowen's line, via Wikipedia 練 as silk, from Wiktionary (reading her name as red silk is my own) Feitian and the 492 Mogao caves, and the pipa dancer in Cave 112, from Wikipedia (Chinese) 大慈大悲 as Guanyin's title and 天上聖母 as Mazu's, from Wikipedia 暗無天日, from the Ministry of Education (Taiwan) dictionary Which side quests close when she dies, from KeenGamer's tales walkthrough and Gamersky's guides One Bilibili video description quoted on screen, by y20261, and one Bilibili comment, by 海绵宝宝螃蟹儿, 31 Oct 2026 One YouTube comment quoted on screen, by hx615