Phantom Blade Zero: All Correct Answers to Gentle Thief’s Questions (Honor Among Thieves)

TL;DR

• The Honor Among Thieves quest is found in the Crimson Forest. Start it by killing the Nimble Thief near the Outlaw Trap bell — he drops a blood letter that begins the quest.
• Deliver the letter to the Gentle Thief in a hut at the Thieves’ Camp. He cannot read, so he tests you with three questions instead.
• Answer 1: Stole a landowner’s jade belt
• Answer 2: Butterfly
• Answer 3: The letter never said. His fate is unknown.
• Get all three right and you earn the Silent Wrap accessory — reduces noise from footsteps and assassinations by 40%.
• If you answer wrong, the conversation ends but you can try again immediately by talking to the Gentle Thief again — the quest does not fail.
• This quest is missable. It fails if you defeat the final boss of the Crimson Forest before completing it.

What Is the Honor Among Thieves Quest in Phantom Blade Zero?

Honor Among Thieves is a short but rewarding side quest in Phantom Blade Zero, set entirely in the Crimson Forest region. It starts when you kill a thief on the road and find a letter on his body — a blood letter written by the dying Nimble Thief to his brother, the Gentle Thief, who lives at the nearby Thieves’ Camp.

The twist is that the Gentle Thief cannot read a word. So instead of just handing over the letter and calling it done, he quizzes you. He asks three very specific questions about his brother’s life — things only someone who actually read the letter could know. Answer all three correctly and he believes you. Answer wrong and he kicks you out of the conversation, though you can retry immediately.

The reward is the Silent Wrap, a useful stealth accessory that cuts noise from your movement and assassinations by 40%. It is one of the better early accessories in the game, especially if you lean into assassination approaches. For the bigger picture of where this quest fits in the game’s story structure, our full chapter list is useful context.

⚠️ Important — Honor Among Thieves Is Missable

Before anything else, know that this quest has a hard deadline. Honor Among Thieves fails permanently if you defeat the final boss of the Crimson Forest — Bai Chilian, Lady of the Twin Serpents — before completing it. The quest is marked as missable in the game’s collectible tracking, and the Silent Wrap accessory goes with it.

So do not rush through the Crimson Forest main path before handling this quest. Pick it up and complete it while you still have time. Given the quest is short and the reward is good, there is no reason to delay.

How to Start Honor Among Thieves

Phantom Blade Zero All Correct Answers to Gentle Thiefs Questions 1

Kill the Nimble Thief Near the Outlaw Trap Bell

The quest begins automatically when you kill the Nimble Thief, an enemy found near the Outlaw Trap bell in the Crimson Forest. He is not a boss — just a named enemy you will encounter while exploring this section of the region. When he dies, he drops the Blood Letter from the Nimble Thief. Picking it up starts the Honor Among Thieves quest and adds the letter to your Wulin Tales archive under entry number 8.

The letter is also the source of all three correct answers to the Gentle Thief’s questions. If you read it carefully before heading to the Thieves’ Camp, you already have everything you need. If you missed it or want to look it up mid-conversation, find it in your archive under Blood Letter from the Nimble Thief.

Find the Gentle Thief at the Thieves’ Camp

After picking up the letter, continue through the Crimson Forest toward the Thieves’ Camp. Cross the giant wooden bridge and you will arrive at the camp. Look for a hut on the right side of the camp — inside, sitting on a stack of boxes, is the Gentle Thief.

Talk to him and hand over the letter. He will tell you he has never read a word in his life — and that his brother knew this, so if the letter is real, you should be able to prove its contents by answering his questions. This begins the three-question quiz.

All Correct Answers to the Gentle Thief’s Questions

Here are all three questions and the correct answers you need to give.

Question 1 — What Did the Nimble Thief Do at Thirteen?

The question: “The Nimble Thief always bragged about making his name young. So tell me, what did he do at thirteen that he never stopped bragging about?”

The wrong options include smashing luminous pearls and stealing a Mandate leader’s ledger. Both sound plausible enough to trip you up if you have not read the letter.

Correct answer: Stole a landowner’s jade belt.

This is the act the Nimble Thief was known for as a young man — the daring early theft that made his name in the criminal world of the Wulin.

Question 2 — What Did the Hairpin Look Like?

The question: “Next, the hairpin that doomed him for life — do you know what its head looked like?”

This refers to the hairpin the Nimble Thief stole along with the jade belt. The hairpin became a symbolic object in his story — the item that set off a chain of events he could never escape.

Correct answer: Butterfly.

The hairpin had a butterfly-shaped head. It is a brief but memorable detail in the letter, and it is the kind of specific fact that would be hard to guess without having read the text.

Question 3 — What Happened to the Child?

The question: “Then tell me, do you know what became of that poor family’s child?”

This is the question that catches the most players off guard. The letter mentions a child from the family affected by the theft, but it does not resolve what happened to them. Some players assume they need to know an outcome — but that is exactly the trick.

Correct answer: The letter never said. His fate is unknown.

The Nimble Thief himself did not know — or did not write — what became of the child. The letter leaves it open. Saying so is the honest answer, and the Gentle Thief accepts it because it matches what is actually in the text.

What Happens if You Get an Answer Wrong?

If you choose a wrong answer, the Gentle Thief ends the conversation immediately. He does not believe you and sends you away. However, this is not permanent — the quest does not fail from a wrong answer. Simply talk to him again and you can attempt the questions from the beginning.

There is no penalty for retrying and no limit on attempts. So even if you get one or two wrong, just start the conversation over and use the correct answers above.

Honor Among Thieves Quest Reward — The Silent Wrap

Answer all three questions correctly and the Gentle Thief hands over the Silent Wrap accessory. This is the only reward for completing the quest — there is no follow-up objective or second phase.

The Silent Wrap reduces noise from footsteps and assassinations by 40%. In practical terms this means enemies are less likely to detect your movement during stealth approaches, and assassination attempts are quieter — useful in areas with multiple grouped enemies where a failed stealth kill would alert the whole room.

The accessory can also be upgraded further once you unlock polishing in the Village of Lu, making it even more effective if you invest in it during your run through the third region. If you are pushing through the Crimson Forest and then heading to the Village of Lu, our guide on the Forest Outpost Courtyard Key covers what you need to do to move between those sections.

Where to Find the Blood Letter in Your Archive

If you want to double-check the answers yourself rather than trusting a guide — which is always a good habit — the letter is in your in-game archive. Open the Wulin Tales section and look for entry number 8: Blood Letter from the Nimble Thief.

Reading it gives you all three answers in the Nimble Thief’s own words. It is a small piece of writing that also adds a bit of Crimson Forest lore — the kind of background detail that makes the world feel lived-in rather than just a backdrop for combat.

Other Missable Quests in the Crimson Forest

Since Honor Among Thieves is missable, it is worth knowing what other quests in the Crimson Forest have the same time limit. The following tales also fail if you defeat the final boss before completing them:

• Purge the Sect
• Festering Secrets — our Festering Secret quest walkthrough covers this fully.
• A Healer’s Mercy — connected to Yu’er’s questline. Our guides on the Apprentice Healer herbs and the Flesh Lily location cover what she needs from you.

Beyond the missable quests, there are several other things worth doing in the Crimson Forest before the region ends. Our guides on the Crimson Forest Tunnel Crank, the Preservation Talisman Fragments, and the Four Fierce Axes quest cover the main collectibles and side content in the region. And the Whence the Weeping walkthrough is worth checking if you have not already.

Once you beat the Crimson Forest and get into the Village of Lu, remember that the western side of the Weeping Creek Valley Outpost becomes accessible. Our guide on how to unlock the western Outpost explains the full trigger. And if you want to set up late-game content well in advance, our guide on how to enter the Crimson Manor explains what you need to work toward after the Crimson Forest.

For weapons heading into this region, our guides on the Hunter’s Chain Sickle, the Feather Bow Phantom Edge, and the Tiger Cannon Phantom Edge are all useful reading. And if you need help with the Gold Masked One boss, that guide covers the fight in full.

Also, do not miss the missable side quest in Weeping Creek Valley — our guide on the Primal Stone and A Severed Mindseal quest explains what you must complete before leaving that region.

Phantom Blade Zero is available now on Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Epic Games Store. Check our PC requirements guide before downloading on PC, and our full Phantom Blade Zero review for a complete take on the game.

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