Luo-shang
The Helix Palace, Luo-shang is a winding tower located within the palm of King-gyou. Along the palace are various rooms which embody some form of desire.
Layout
The Helix Palace Luo-shang is a unique location set up like no other area in the game; it is a fully linear hallway that twists in on itself in a hexagonal shape (much like a helix), with rooms facing inwards at select elevations. However, these rooms are unique for a multitude of reasons; they are all optional, but most of them are alive as well, and feature their own characters as themselves. Information on each of the rooms can be found in their respective articles. In the hallways themselves, a few Fang-shing can also be found.
At the top of the Helix Palace is a roof with a balcony, giving a view outside. This place has the Metal Magatama floating freely. In addition, it houses one of the A-mong Family, who is running a gambling game.
Rooms
- Tong-shi, the Room of Greed
- Chi-fang, the Room of Appetite
- Pu-ryao, the Room of Immortality
- Show-mi, the Room of Sexual Desire
- Non-fai, the Room of Destruction (No official name)
Inhabitants
In addition to the rooms above, a few characters live either in the rooms or in the Helix Palace themselves.
Items
In addition to the items that can be found in the various rooms:
Walkthrough
The Helix Palace is fairly trivial for a casual playthrough, and in fact, getting to it may be harder than actually doing what you need to in it. Giving King-gyou the Golden Flower will allow the player to enter the Helix Palace after selecting one of six items. All of them (sans the Bottle Gourd) corresponds to one of the five rooms in the Helix Palace, however the player is never forced to engage with the room they're associated with. Indeed, all the player has to do is rush to the roof and grab the Metal Magatama, before turning back.
Should the player wish to check out the Helix Palace out of their own curiosity, it is recommended to save often. Many of these rooms feature death traps, and while some are telegraphed, others are obfuscated to some degree. One room even contains the only way to get a Game Over in the entire game--the immortality-giving Moon Water. It may be worth it to specifically take the Sun Water from King-gyou if this is enough of a concern.
If the player wants a shortcut to the Land of Dreaming, it is recommended to take the Small Mallet, as it is required to access the shortcut in Non-fai.
Trivia
- In the immortality sequence, the Helix Palace is oddly depicted with a blue floor.