Parting Tale is the first main quest of Chapter 4: Bringer of Embers in Where Winds Meet, and it’s the bridge between the Kaifeng storyline and the Version 2.0 Hidden Mountain expansion. This quest takes place in Kaifeng City, where you meet Yingying at a tavern, follow a mechanical bird through underground passages, solve a Lu Ban Lock puzzle, and set sail toward Hidden Mountain. Here’s the full walkthrough, including all objectives to complete the Parting Tale quest in Where Winds Meet and what rewards you earn.
How to Start Parting Tale in Where Winds Meet
To unlock the Parting Tale main story quest, first complete the Gathering of Heroes main quest in Chapter 2: Universal Furnace. Once done, check your in-game mail to find Yingying’s letter with a cat stamp that invites you to meet her at a tavern.
You don’t need to finish all of Chapter 2. The game may send a notification asking if you want to jump ahead to Chapter 4: Bringer of Embers, with a spoiler warning for the intervening story; decline or accept at your own peril. Read Yingying’s letter, and it will direct you to the Incomparable Tavern on South Gate Avenue in Kaifeng City.
Parting Tale Quest Walkthrough
After receiving Yingying’s letter, go to the inn on South Gate Avenue in Kaifeng City. Walk inside, and you’ll overhear a storyteller on the first floor talking about a mysterious place called “the Haven” — a hidden paradise of peace and prosperity that supposedly exists somewhere within the mountains. Most of the crowd doesn’t buy it, but that’s exactly what draws your attention.
Go upstairs to the second floor and find Yingying standing by the railing. Talk to her and then follow her to the table for tea. She’ll ask what you make of the Haven story, and you can share your theory that the information was deliberately kept secret. She will mention the Water Lady and invite you to come along to the Haven.
Before you can finalize plans, Young Hero, with the help of Wind Sense, follows a strange voice into the marked room, only to find an old acquaintance, Master Jin (Jin Zhongyuan). After the cutscene, Master Jin joins you at the table and claims to have his own lead on how to reach the Haven.
Speak with Jin Zhongyuan and Yingying, then use Wind Sense again to investigate some footprints on the floor.
While you are having more conversation with Yingying and Master Jin, a few people enter the inn looking for Yingying, and she darts away, leaving behind a mechanical wooden bird on the table that actually is the clue Young Master needs.
Pick up the bird and follow it as it flies through Kaifeng toward the Golden Escort Agency. Sneak through the window inside the warehouse where the bird enters and kill the guard.
Next, move to the left corner of the room where the bird stops and interact with the bird statue on the shelf. It will reveal a hidden staircase leading into the Moist Hill underground facility, filled with mechanical traps and enemy guards.
Note: The enemies around the warehouse or underground are easy to deal with. Sneak up behind them for a one-hit takedown, or fight head-on since they aren’t that tough either way.
Head down the stairs into the subterranean Moist Hill facility. Watch your step for pressure plates that trigger traps, kill the two guards in the corridor, and move forward to reach the main central hall.
Follow the bird to find the wooden bird perched on a table. Interact with the chair to sit on it, which will activate the mechanic and transport you to the opposite secret room.
You enter a library area with more guards. Either fight or sneak past them. Follow the quest marker to go up to the other side, past a ladder and more traps, until you reach another room with a chair puzzle. Similar, interact with the chair to shift the bookshelf and reveal the path behind it.
Go past the shelf into that newly revealed area, and pull the lever. That’s what activates the mechanism and creates a bridge leading to the opposite side with the third and final chair puzzles.
Cross the bridge, drop down into the wide chamber, and inspect the chair to reveal the secret passage from the bookshelf on the right.
Pull the lever inside that room that opens a secret tunnel in the main chamber floor with stairs leading further down.
Follow the bird, and interact with the chair one last time to enter the main hall. Kill the two guards standing by the unlocked passage entrance, then go down into the closed chamber, the one with the locked chest and traps.
Next, a cutscene plays where you reunite with Master Jin and Feng Jisheng (Big Feng). Escort Leader arrives with his men, and you learn more about the Haven’s connection to Hidden Mountain and the Mohist Sect.
After the scene, you must solve a Lu Ban Lock puzzle to move ahead:
- Pull the first block to the left.
- Pull the second block upward.
Tip: If you don’t want to solve the puzzle manually, wait for the quick-clear timer to reach zero, and auto solves it.
Once the guards leave, pick up the chest in the room. This moves you to the second part of the chapter where you depart toward Floral Expanse Beyond in Qinghe, heading for Hidden Mountain.
Parting Tale Rewards
- Lingering Melody x1
- Chirpy (companion/pet) x1
- Inscription — Cat Head x1
- Echo Jade x20
- Hidden Mountain Exploration x10
- Coin x4,500
- Character EXP x4,500
Completing Parting Tale unlocks the Haven Astray, which is the second main quest in Chapter 4. Haven Astray takes you through the river crossing, Heron’s bridge-building trial, and your official entry into the Hidden Mountain region.
