BtB 2006 - Level 9 - The House of Kuan Yin-Lo

Level by Isis (Sue Wicks)

Walkthrough by Selene


Background Story:

One day, Lara receives a letter from an old friend and fellow adventurer, Kuan-Yin Lo, inviting her to visit him at his home in Huoshan, northern China when she is next in that part of the world. As luck would have it, Lara was planning an expedition to an ancient temple in nearby Jiangsu and so wrote back to her friend, thanking him for his invitation and saying she would see him in two weeks' time. On Lara's arrival at his house, Kuan-Yin greeted her warmly. Lara was very happy to see her old friend, with whom she had shared several adventures and that evening they reminisced on their past quests and explorations. Eventually their conversation turned to the Zhu Deng, an ancient and beautiful artefact which Kuan-Yin had found many years before and which Lara had seen on a previous visit. Lara was fascinated by its beauty and admired it greatly. Suddenly, Kuan-Yin turned to Lara and said “Lara, I have many treasures I have gained through years of exploration and which have brought me great joy whilst I have had them. However, I am no longer a young man, one day I will die and I have no children to leave these things to. I am therefore giving some things away now to my closest friends, and I would like you, Lara, to have the Zhu Deng. I hope you will treasure it and keep it as a memento of our friendship”. Lara is amazed at her friend’s generosity and at first says no, she couldn’t possibly take the artefact. Kuan-Yin looked thoughtfully at Lara and then laughed. “You are very much like me. An explorer, an adventurer, one who takes risks in order to find precious things. There is no challenge in being given treasure without danger to overcome. So what if I give you a challenge? I will hide the Zhu Deng and if you find it, you can keep it?” Lara smiled at her friend. “What did you have in mind?” Kuan-Yin stood up and walked slowly around the room. “I have a house a few miles to the north of here, up in the mountains. This house has been in the Lo family for many years and my father, who as you know was also an explorer, turned the house into a training course, somewhere he could practice his skills, and I too have used it for this purpose. I could hide the Zhu Deng somewhere in the house and if you can find it and bring it to me, it will be yours!” Lara is intrigued. She is still hesitant to take the precious artefact from her friend but is unable to resist such a challenge and agrees. A few days later Kuan-Yin takes Lara to the house in the mountains, the House of Kuan-Yin Lo.


Pickups: The Quing Zuan, crowbar, flares, 4x Jiao Yao’s, large medipacks, small medipacks, Ji Yao B + Ji Yao A (=Ji Yao), revolver ammo, the Zhu Deng + 3 Secrets

Enemies: Crocs, fire wraiths, bats and sharks

Starting the quest - the Quing Zuan:

You start the level standing on a bridge spanning across a pond. Don't bother being tempted to go for a swim though, there's nothing of interest in the water. The door straight ahead (E) is in need of a gemstone in order to be opened so we'll have to go look around the garden instead. Up some steps to the right (S) there is an empty pedestal. So for now we have two items added to our wishlist. For now stand on the left side of the bridge (facing the closed door) and turn left (N) to see two open doorways leading to the same room. Do a standing angled jump from there to land on the block with the burning lantern (this will be located on the right side of the open doorways). From this point on you can do a standing jump to the closest doorway and enter the room beyond.

Start up the wooden stairs ahead and you'll get a shot of four white and black doors sliding away to reveal a blue gem. You will find that if you climb the first grey ledge ahead the doors will slam shut instantly, cutting off your access to the gem. So walk up to the first grey ledge and take three walking steps backwards. From here hop back once and do a running jump to leap over the first ledge and land in the trench between them. The doors will now remain open unless you cross the first grey ledge again, so climb the next ledge and take out the crocodile frolicking in the pool below. Once done do another running jump and press Action in the last moment to grab the platform with the crystal. Pull up and go over to pick up your prize, the Quing Zuan, from the pedestal. Kill the hungry croc in the pool if you haven't already and go for a quick dip. Swim under the platform and Lara will insist on looking up towards the middle of the platform, exactly where the pedestal is located. Yes, that is a hint. This is in fact a hidden lever so swim up to it and pull it to see a shot of a gate opening somewhere else. Nothing more to do in this area, so leave the room the way you came and retrace your steps back to the main door of the house.

Entering the House of Kuan Yin-Lo:

Place the Quing Zuan in the receptacle to the left of the entrance door to open it and enter. The small pool ahead contains nothing of interest and there are two closed doors in the room: one in the room to the right (S) and another black and white sliding door in the corner to the left (N/W) of the small pool. We need some means to open them, so for now jump in the small pool and proceed up the stairs to the E. Head left and into a room with a chain in the middle. As soon as you enter a fire emitter will start spewing out flames from the base of the chain. For now take a mental note of the tall block to the left (E) of where you entered. Walk carefully to the edge, taking care not to accidentally step on the red, wooden slopes so as not to send Lara sliding down to a speedy and flaming death. Hop backwards and as the flame stops for a moment do a running jump to grab the chain. Quickly climb up to avoid being toasted by the fire, position Lara as shown in this screenshot and backflip to land on the tall block.

Hot business - the 1st Jiao Yao:

Pick up the crowbar and you will see a fly-by showing you one of the doors in the other room opening plus a little practise for your newly acquired item. Now drop down from the back of the block and head around to the right (S), where you can pick up some flares. Start walking back towards the tall block again, but this time turn right and go back past the chain to the opposite side of the room. Before leaving though, take a mental note of the closed gate in the N/E corner (i.e. diagonally across the room from where you found the flares). The gate leads out to a garden, but as we can't open it at this moment we will leave that part for later.

Now leave the room and go back to the main hall. Head left (S) through the open doorway. The alcove shown to you in the previous fly-by is high up on the wall to your right as you enter. It's too high up for you to reach though, so we'll have to find a different way. There are monkey bars in the ceiling, a sloped block to the left of the doorway and next to that a wooden slope beyond a trench with two fire emitters. Reaching the monkey swing is easier than it seems at first. Stand on the right side of the trench (when facing the wooden slope) as close to the edge as possible (the flames will not harm Lara even at this point). Hop backwards and as soon as the flame ceases do a running jump across the trench and roll in mid-air so that Lara is facing the trench with the flames. As soon as she lands on the slope jump forwards and press Action to grab the monkey swing: make sure you hit the top of the slope, otherwise she might not make it). Traverse across to the alcove high on the opposite wall. Here you can use the crowbar to pry off the Jiao Yao from the wall. Doing so will open a door on the opposite side above the wooden slope. Use the monkey bars to swing across to the other side and drop down into a room with a cascade above a small pool.

Slash, boom, bang - the 2nd Jiao Yao:

Contrary to popular belief you can't use the Jiao Yao in the receptacle to the left, so we need to find a different way to go. Instead head through the only other opening in the room to the right (S) and follow the hallway around until you reach a pool with a red block in the middle with the picture of a horse on it. To the left there is a pillar and across from the red horse block there is another block, this one blue. Hop backwards and do a running jump over to the red block. You will start to hear an ill-boding rumbling, so immediately do a standing jump forwards to avoid the pillar slamming down on the red block and at the same time press Action to grab the blue block ahead. Continue with another running jump towards the next blue block ahead to the left and press Action in the last moment to grab it. There are rotating blades in the water below and Lara will catch fire if she jumps to the purple block ahead, so here you'll have to watch your steps. First of all line Lara up to do a running jump past the purple fire block to land on the blue slope beyond. Continue pressing Jump to make her bounce across two more slopes and as she hits the second one let go of Jump and steer her hard right in mid-air to land her on a flat, blue block. I'd recommend you to save your game here, because as she lands two stone hammers slam together above the next block ahead. Walk to the edge closest to the hammers, hop backwards and as soon as they slam shut do a running jump to land on the red block between them. Immediately run to the edge and jump to the next, blue block before Lara gets smothered by the two hammers (or alternatively drop backwards to hang off the red block with the hammers. As soon as they start opening again pull up, run to the edge and jump to the next block). From here do a standing jump to the final blue block.

Ah, the time of trial is not yet over. Ahead you will see three sets of rotating blades: one in the water below and two above some red blocks and a white platform at the far end. There is no need to worry about the blades in the pool (unless you fall in the water of course). You can go via either of the red blocks, it's not necessary to jump onto both of them. I found it easiest to do a running jump to either block as soon as the lowest set of blades move away and immediately duck to avoid being hit. Line Lara up in the back rightmost corner (if you are on the right hand block, left if you are on the block to the left). I found it easiest to hang from the edge of the block and get up as soon as the lower set of blades pass (this to get the right distance for the next jump), then do a running jump to the white platform. As soon as you land on it run ahead to avoid the blades.

This next part you can do in two different ways, all depending on how safe you want to play it. As soon as you land on the white platform you will get company in the shape of a pesky fire wraith. The safe way is to jump in the pool immediately to get rid of it, but this will require you to retrace your steps back to the white platform the same way you came. If you're not too keen on going the long way back you can do the next bit of business with the fire wraith on your back. Stand over by the opening in the white platform (facing the rotating blades) and look up to spot a climbable ledge. Jump up to grab it and pull up onto the floor above. Run to the wall ahead and pry off the 2nd Jiao Yao. Turn around, run to the edge and drop into the water below, getting rid of that nasty wraith once and for all (if you haven't already).

Collapsing platforms - a timed run:

Swim back through the entire pool and go back to the room with the cascade. Climb the wooden slope again, slide down and jump to the floor ahead. Go back out to the main hall to find that the sliding door in the opposite corner of the room is now open. First go left and then left again and pick up a large medipack in front of the window in the S/W corner. Head back out the way you came and locate the small brown door in the N/E corner. Stand in front of it and press Action to open it, then enter the next room and jump over a spike pit to the switch ahead. SAVE your game here, you're in for a timed run (or rather jump) and to say that it is difficult is a major understatement. When pulling the switch six platforms will raise above the spike pit. There's a switch up on the last platform and it opens a gate to the right of it. You will need a bit of time to set up the jump to the last platform plus raise the gate so it's essential that you get through the first five platforms as fluently as possible. Also make sure to mind the red pole supporting the platforms, if you bump into it you have to set up the jump again and will not make it all the way to the top. Here's how I got through this:

First of all pull the switch. The camera angle will shift to show the platforms raise. Never mind the angle, but immediately flip right and roll. You will now be seeing Lara from the front, which will make it hard to see where to jump, but you might not have time to change the angle. What I did was to run a few steps ahead, angling her slightly to the right (left when you see her from the front) and jump to land on the first platform. Run to the wall and immediately backflip onto the next. Here you'll need to sidestep to the far left side and sideflip right onto the next platform. Go to the edge, hop backwards and do a standing jump forward to land on the next one, angling Lara to land as close to the right wall as possible. Sideflip left to the next platform and roll. This is a bit trickier, be cautious here....if you miss on this you'll have to do it all again. Sidestep right to the edge, turn a bit left, run one or two steps ahead and jump to the final platform. Immediately run to the switch, pull it and sideflip right into the doorway. Congratulations, you made it!!!!

*NB: If you just can't do it, email me and I'll send you a savegame*

Hell’s Gauntlet - from spikes to fire to more fire:

Talk about going from the fire to ashes. If you think the last challenge was hard, think again... it's a cakewalk in comparison to what awaits you ahead.

In the next room you will find a lava pool below with flame emitters in it, two angled blocks and a flat one between them which is blocked by a circular blade trap. To the right behind the corner you'll find the following: another slope, one more flat block with two circular blades, a rope to the right and a slope with a fire emitter. Position Lara as in this screenshot.

Run towards the edge, angling slightly left so that when she drops she'll have enough momentum to land on the slope below. The moment she lands, jump and angle her right in mid-air to position her for the next jump. Run and jump towards the next slope, trying to avoid the blades as much as possible. As you land on the second slope, jump again, angling her right to land on the next ledge with the blades. Run and jump to the right, grabbing the rope at the end. I recommend that you save your game once you get past this bit (while Lara is hanging on the rope that is), the next part is equally as hard.

Slide down to the bottom of the rope and swing towards the slope. Spring off the rope, being careful not to hit the flame emitter, to land on an iron-wrought ledge above a lava pool. From here do a standing jump to the next ledge. If you turn around and look down you will see that there is another ledge with a lever right below the one you just jumped from. Stand at about the middle of the ledge facing the ledge with the lever, walk backwards to the edge and run off the ledge to land right next to the lever. Here comes another tricky part, so best save your game. As soon as you pull the lever you will see a shot of a door opening. Immediately press Look to see what's going on, then turn right, hop back to the wall and run/jump to the ledge ahead. You're now being pestered by another fire wraith again so don't stop here, instead run and jump at the edge to land on the next one right by a ladder. Climb up while avoiding the wraith and as soon as you see a ledge behind you backflip onto it. Run right jumping across the railing, continue running and jump to clear the gap and jump the final railing. From here slide/jump down the slope and dart straight ahead and into a pool to finally put out that bothersome company.

*If you're having trouble with either the sloped block jumps to the rope over the lava pool or managing the next part with the wraith chasing you, just let me know and I'll send you a save-game.*

The balconies - the story of blades, secrets and the 3rd Jiao Yao:

Head out to the balcony to the left (S).....you will now see the main hall below you. Go diagonally over to the S/E corner and pick up a small medipack from the floor. There's only one way to go here and that is through the doorway to the W. Climb the steps to the top and as the window to the right (when facing them) is closed, go through the leftmost one and drop down onto a ledge above the garden where you started. Shoot a couple of annoying bats and go left (W). Drop down onto a red ledge and climb the stone blocks ahead. From here go around to the right and pull up on the S ledge. On the ledge to the left of the doorway you can pull up next to a red column to acquire a small medipack. There's nothing of interest to find on the ledge to the right of the door, so enter the next room instead and you'll reach a pool.

In the pool you'll find two circular blades rotating over an opening and below there again four more blades revolving around four columns with a block in the middle. The block is a safe place to stay, but as you don't have much air you need to move quickly. There are two levers to pull here, located on the W and E side of the middle block. So save your game here, use a medipack if you need one and dive into the pool. Swim down the opening with the first blades, trying to avoid being hit as much as possible and go down to the middle block. Locate the two levers here. My preferred way of dealing with them was to swim all the way over to the wall opposite of the levers, position Lara so that she's facing the lever and as the blade goes by swim forwards and pull the lever. You will see a shot of a trapdoor still closed, so use the Look button quickly to avoid taking too much damage from the blades, swim up to the middle block and repeat the process on the other side (there are probably other ways to solve this, it's was just my way of doing it). When you pull the second lever you will see the same trapdoor, opening this time. Lara will most likely be low on air at this point, so no time to waste. Swim up, through the first set of blades (again trying to avoid them as much as you can) and surface. Climb out of the pool and leave the room.

Drop down from the ledge and climb the red roof ahead. Go down almost to the bottom of it (on the left side) until Lara is at the same level with the stone ledge to the N/W and do a running jump over to it. From here do a running jump to the red ledge with the columns (N) and continue to the end, jumping on to the stone platform. Straight ahead (N) there's a ladder, this is where you opened the trapdoor earlier. Climb up through the open trapdoor and dismount on the ledge to the right. Turn right and climb the ledges on to the top where you will see the gate you opened near the beginning of the level. Climb into the hallway and pick up Secret 1: a revolver and some ammo for it. Now wasn't that worth all the hard trials??

Leave the hallway where you found the secret and go to the S/W edge. Do a running jump from here to land on the wave-shaped ledge ahead. Jump to the wooden block on the right and follow the ledge to climb the second wooden block. As you can see it is time to practise some rope swinging. Stand in the S/E corner of the wooden block and do a running jump to grab the rope. Swing towards the ledge right and ahead (S/W) and spring off the rope to land on it. Time to get another souvenir...you can now pry off the 3rd Jiao Yao from the wall to the right. Stand facing the garden and the rope. On the left side of the ledge there is a wooden block below it that you can drop down on. From there drop down once more to find yourself on the stone ledge from earlier. Retrace your steps back to where you first entered the rooftop area via the red ledge with the columns and the stone platform with the ladder. Go back through the window and continue on until you reach the balcony above the main hall. Go left and at the break in the railing drop down to a block that has mysteriously risen below. Drop from there back down to the floor.

Running, jumping and sprinting - timers and the last Jiao Yao:

Re-enter the room behind the sliding door to the left (N), but this time head left (W) to where you found the large medipack earlier. There's an open doorway to your right, so let's go that way this time around. Once you enter go left to find a switch. SAVE your game here, we're in for a timed run and this time even harder than before. Pulling the switch opens a door waaaaay up above. Our task is to get through the door before it closes and that (believe me) is the challenge of a century!!! First a little line on what you can expect. The first challenge is a spike pit between two railings. Around to the right from there you will encounter a deep pit and from there again another spike pit. Once you get this far there are two blocks and one platform leading up you'll need to jump to and from there you have to jump across a ramp, run and jump across two trapdoors that open as you approach. Maybe it doesn't sound so difficult at first, but it really is. Considering that it's on a short timer, that the pits are not aligned, that your path is being narrowed by the iron-wrought fence, that you will get caught in a lot of bad camera angles that will make it difficult to see what you're doing and that you don't have time to set up each jump correctly it gets harder than it should have been and it took me ages and tons of reloading to do. I have made a series of screenshots to explain the process:

(Screenshot 1) Pull the switch. Press the Look button to get rid of the shot showing the door open, roll and run left.

(Screenshot 2) Run to the end veering left and jump forwards to get past the two railings and the spike pit. As soon as you land sideflip left to get past the iron-wrought fence blocking your way.

(Screenshot 3) Run towards the edge to the point marked with a cross and jump to land on the next flat ledge.

(Screenshot 4) Turn left, run up to the point shown in the screenshot above and do a standing jump while angling Lara right to get past the spike pit.

(Screenshot 5) Run almost up to the corner ahead, veer right and jump to land in the corner of the block as shown in the screenshot.

(Screenshot 6) Sideflip right from the corner of the block to land on the platform. Do another sideflip left to land on the next block.

(Screenshot 7) As you land on the block roll and run right, jumping in the last moment while angling Lara right in mid-air. The goal is to have her land straight onto the white ledge facing the timed door (N).

(Screenshot 8) Run across the ledge, but as you reach the black and white trapdoors jump across. Continue running through the hopefully still open door. Congratulations!!!!!

*As always, if you can't do it please feel free to ask me for a savegame.*

As you enter the room behind the timed door it will close behind you, but don't worry about that. Go to the wall ahead and pry off the 4th Jiao Yao from the wall. As you do so you will see a block lower somewhere else. Step onto the white tile by the W wall and the door out of this room will open again. Leave this room and go back across the bridge with the open trapdoors. Jump across and pull up onto the ramp ahead. Slide down to the bottom and retrace your steps across the spike pit with a standing jump, a running jump across the deep pit and a jump across the railings to get back to the room where you started. Leave and go back to the main hall.

Rollin’ down the hallway - the story of two halves of a Ji Yao:

From here go straight ahead and through the open door in the next room with the monkey swing and slope (S). Repeat the running jump/roll to the slope and grab the monkey swing. Turn around and traverse into the cascade chamber. Ahead and to your right you will see the lowered block shown to you after the last timed run. Climb onto the ledge next to the lantern and you will start hearing some rumbling. Do NOT pull up into the next hallway yet, as you can see there is a dragon boulder rolling back and forth. You will also spot a pickup in the middle of that exact hallway. It took me quite long to get this one and there might be other methods, but this is my preferred one: Position Lara as shown in the screenshot HERE (this is as close as she gets to the boulder without getting crushed). As it starts rolling away run down after it towards the pickup, but don't get too close to it as you run. Just as you're about to reach the middle of the hallway roll and immediately grab the Ji Yao B (NOTE: you'll have to land so to say on top of the pickup for this to work, otherwise you won't have time to get away from the boulder). As soon as you have it sprint back out the way you came before the boulder catches up with you. Now time to go for the second piece.

Stand facing the dragon boulder again, once more as close as possible without getting flattened. As it rolls away run after and as soon as you reach the flat part of the hallway and the boulder comes rolling towards you again jump over it. Continue running up to the end of the hallway where you'll find a ladder. Note from builder: There is no need to face the rolling ball dragon a second time, after picking up the first key a trapdoor opens above and you can climb up there. Climb it and backflip onto an iron-wrought ledge behind you. Turn and walk to the middle of the ledge. On your right side you can pick up the Ji Yao A from the red carpet. Turn and go right (W) to the opposite end and look down. When the boulder rolls away run off the ledge and hurry back out to the cascade chamber. Combine the two pieces to create the Ji Yao and use it in the receptacle at the N wall to open the door on the right.

The Underground Lake - entering the temple:

Enter the room and take note of the bluish floor tile by the middle of the N wall. It took me time to figure out what to do here, as that tile is in fact a very sneakily hidden trapdoor. Stand on the left side (facing E) and press Action. Lara will bend down and open the trapdoor. Climb the ladder down to the bottom, head around right to the slope and follow it all the way. Continue down the stairs and at the end drop into the hole and press Action to grab the chain. Slide down to the bottom and you will see a fly-by showing you a large water cave and a temple. Drop down to the lower box and from there jump in the water. This underground lake is home to a shark so immediately swim right (S). By the wall there is a slope on the right hand side, pull up on this and backflip to the flat block behind. From here you can kill that hungry beast.

We'll be getting back to this block in a second, but first let's go for a pickup. Once you have killed the shark drop back in the water. Swim right (E) and when you get to the sloping pillar in the middle turn left (N). Continue swimming straight and at the end turn left (W). You should see a brighter area with sand along the bottom below a cascade. Swim down there and you should spot a pickup: revolver ammo. Get it and swim back to the slope and block from earlier, pull up on the slope and backflip to the block like before.

This time turn around and do a running jump to the flat slab of blocks around the corner to the right, angling Lara right in mid-air to make it all the way. From there look E to spot another flat block a bit higher than the one you stand on. Do a standing jump towards it, press Action to grab the edge and pull up. Lara will start looking up towards the vines in the ceiling and yes, that is just as much of a hint as it looks like. Stand directly below the vines facing N and jump up to grab them. Traverse straight ahead and when the camera angle shifts to showing Lara from below drop down and you should land on an angled block. From there do a running jump to the next block ahead. The next block is in reality a slope, so you'll need to do a running jump and grab the edge, then pull up, slide and jump to land on a flat ledge over by the wall. The next move might be a bit obscure (at least it was to me), but it's in fact a lot more obvious than it seems. Turn left (W) to face the cascade and position Lara so she stands with her right leg against the wall. Walk to the edge and you should see a small angular slab of rock straight ahead. Do a standing jump towards it and as soon as you land jump forwards and press Action to grab a flat block beyond it. Pull up and from there pull up onto the next flat block ahead. For the next jump turn Lara to face a semi-circular rock a bit higher up on the opposite wall. Stand about one step away from the right wall (right when facing the rock you're meant to jump to). Do a running jump from here and you should make it all the way across. Pull up onto the next level and go left (E). Here there's an opening and some vines ahead. Do a running jump towards the vines. You'll land on a slope so immediately jump forwards and press Action. Hey, what do you know??? Seems the vines function as ladders too. Climb around two corners to the left and backflip to land safely on a ledge. There's an opening in the ground here so drop down into the water and IMMEDIATELY swim E to climb out onto the temple grounds to avoid becoming dinner for the great white shark that resides in the pool.

Temple Grounds - another secret:

After having killed it from the safety of dry land go through the temple building to the other side. There's another shark in the area, so dive in to lure it out, climb out by the temple and kill that one too. Now drop into the water on the opposite side of the temple from where you entered and locate an underwater door at the W wall of the temple. Swim up to it and press Action to have Lara opening it. Inside there are two levers, one on each side, so pull both of them to lower two sets of columns in the temple area. Swim back out and climb onto dry land. Before doing anything else let's get a pickup. Dive into the water on the same side that you entered and swim straight ahead towards the burning lantern in the distance (W). Turn left and continue swimming up to the S wall. There should be an opening here so climb in and go around to the right. Here you'll find the closed gate you might have spotted on the other side, which now opens as you approach, and a large medipack on your right.

Now for a secret. Leave this room and go back to the temple area. Swim directly across (E) and right in the middle between two taller blocks there's a flat ledge. Climb out here and jump over the slanted part ahead. If you use a flare or the binoculars you should now spot a crawlspace right above you. Jump up and grab and pull yourself up in the crawlspace. Follow the passageway until you reach a small room and a chime reveals to you that you have just found Secret 2: a large medipack on the block to the right of the doorway and revolver ammo on the other side of the stone pillar across from the doorway. Leave this room the same way you came and swim back to the temple.

Finding a way to the top:

Now notice that the four pillars that you lowered earlier by using the underwater levers (two pillars in front of the temple, two on the back) have revealed four receptacles. Hopefully you have four Jiao Yao's in your backpack, or else you'll have to go back to the house again and find them (use the chain on the wooden box where you entered to get back up. Check paragraphs "Hot Business- the 1st Jiao Yao" to "Running, jumping and sprinting....." for further locations of the Jiao Yao's). If you have all four use them in the four receptacles. For each one you will get a shot of a gate which remains close until you use the fourth one. This gate is located in the building you see opposite when standing at the back of the temple. Swim across, climb the low platform and from there climb up on the left side. Continue down the hallway and through the gate you just opened.

Here you're met by the sight of a central structure which has circular blades rotating around it nearly all the way to the top. Don't fret just yet, getting past them is not as hard as it seems. First of all locate the flat ledge high up on the N wall. That's where you're going so you have to climb the structure on the side facing that ledge. Note that the gap between each blade (apart from the top one) is just so big that Lara can squeeze in between them without taking damage. They do not move in an even pattern either so it shouldn't be too hard getting by them. Start by standing facing the structure on the S side. The first blade should pass right above Lara's head. As soon as it passes jump up and climb quickly past it, but not high enough to reach the second blade. The gap between the first and second one is not big enough, but the second will pass Lara before the first one so as soon as it does that climb up until you reach the gap between the second and third blade. Here the blades are far enough apart to give you a small break at least. Repeat that same process to get between the third and fourth blade and once more to reach the gap between the fourth and fifth. The next gap will be too small again, but when you start climbing you will see the ledge behind you so immediately backflip to avoid being hit.

Ka Zhung - Mission Accomplished.....almost:

Turn right and head through the opening in the wall. Drop down onto the roof below and slide down to a flat area. Turn to face the stone ledge N/W by the wall and do a running jump over to it. From there you can do a standing jump over to the roof of the temple. Climb up to the flat block on top of the roof and pull the rope once to open a trapdoor above you. Climb the ladder up to the top. Congratulations, you have succeeded in your mission and can now go through the gate to the W and pick up the Zhu Deng from the pedestal. But we're not done quite yet. As you pick it up you'll hear the trapdoor behind you closing.

Mission Impossible - stones, fire and a secret:

Head through the only doorway in the room (N) and follow the passage until you reach a pool with blocks in it. There are also a couple of crocs in the pool so if you get the chance you can kill them from the passage. If not you can kill them from the other side, just don't accidentally fall into the water (or if you do try outswimming them until you reach the stairs on the right hand side where you can climb out and kill them). Here you have two choices: go the hard way and get the last secret or take the easy way out with no secret. If you want to go on without the secret you can skip the next paragraph and swim down the right side until you reach the stairs where you can climb out.

The challenge ahead of you is a pillar angled-run/jump sequence a la the fire pillar run/jump in TR1's Palace Midas. There are six pillars in the pool altogether. The first, second, fourth and sixth pillar are in aligned in a straight line, but the third one is stuck to the left wall and the fifth one to the right. And here you will not catch fire if you're too slow, but you will hear rumbling along the way revealing that pillars will drop down from the ceiling and crush our intrepid heroine. The sequence is as follows: running jump to the first pillar-continue running and jump to the second-running and jump angling to the left to land on the third one (at this point Lara may stop for some reason without you letting go of the run key. If it happens just let go and tap it again instantly to get her going)- standing jump to the fourth one- running jump to the next- standing jump to grab the last one and a running jump over to safety on the other side. Note that this is what worked for me, there are probably lots of other ways of doing it as well (some might even be easier than this one). You can now well deservedly pick up Secret 3: a shotgun plus wideshot and normal ammo for it. Well worth the trouble!!! If you haven't killed the crocs already you can do that from up here.

Once they're history dive in the water and swim to the left side where you can head up the stairs. As you enter the next room you'll hear some fast- paced music. Seems there are still some challenges left. Ahead of you is a lava pool with fire emitters scattered around as well as an array of blocks. Look up at the ceiling. Some of the blocks have blue dragon tiles above them and others red. The trick here is to step ONLY on the blocks with the blue tiles above them. The blocks below the red tiles will vanish as soon as Lara steps on them and send her straight down to a scorching death. Step onto the first row of tiles and go right (N). The first safe block is the taller one ahead and slightly left so do a running jump and grab the edge of it. Pull up and walk straight ahead to the edge (N). From here do a standing jump to the next safe block ahead. And now for a trickier part. The next safe spot is to the left (W), but there is a fire emitter separating you from it. Walk to the edge and hop backwards and as soon as the flame ceases do a running jump towards it. While in air keep pressing the Up arrow key and do NOT press Action, she will not make it all the way otherwise. And be sure to step away from the edge immediately, unless you fancy her getting toasted. From here go to the next block ahead and right by doing a standing jump from the edge. If you look up at the ceiling you will see that the block right next to you on the left is unsafe, but the one next to that again is where you need to go. Do a standing jump over the first block to land safely on the second and another running jump straight ahead (S) will land you on the last in this line. The final block jump is a tricky one indeed and will require some finesse. Stand in the position shown in this screenshot.

From there do a running jump towards the taller slanted block and if you land on it correctly you should be bouncing off towards the last block. Angle Lara right in mid-air to land right onto it. From here do a final standing jump to the garden path to the right (W).

Meeting old friends:

The gate to the left opens automatically as you approach. Go through there and you're back in the room with the chain and fire. Leave this room and head straight through the main hall back to the garden where you started the level. This time go left (S) and up to the red pedestal. Place the Zhu Deng on it to open the white and black door to the left. Go through to the next room. Here your old friend Kuan Yin-Lo has met up to greet you and congratulate you on a well accomplished mission.