Xiao the Healer sits right on the edge between comedy and horror. North of Crimson Cliff in the Qinghe region, he laughs until he can barely breathe, trapped in a condition the game calls “Hollow Joy.” Your job is to track down three scattered vials around Crimson Cliff and bring them back so he can finally stop.
How to start A Cure for Hollow Joy (Xiao the Healer)
Xiao’s quest is a Wandering Tales side story called A Cure for Hollow Joy. It does not appear as a big, obvious marker the way main quests do, so it’s easy to miss while passing through Qinghe.
Once the dialogue finishes, the quest objective shifts to finding all three vials in the region around Crimson Cliff.
Antidote vial #1 – Bandit camp southwest of Crimson Cliff
The first vial sits in plain sight, but you have to clear out a camp to safely pick it up.
There is no puzzle here; the only requirement is that you handle the enemies and take a close look around the camp kitchen area.
Antidote vial #2 – The bear on the western ledge
The second vial is tied to a small combat encounter with a wild bear near a breakable rock wall west of Crimson Cliff.
Players with a throwing ability can also grab the bear and hurl it into nearby rocks to reveal a separate chest hidden behind a breakable wall. That chest is optional and does not contain the vial; the vial sits on the ground beside the bear’s path.
Antidote vial #3 – Bird’s nest on the cliff northeast of Crimson Cliff
The final vial is the easiest to run past and the one that confuses most players. It is small, blends into the scenery, and hides inside a nest rather than sitting in the open.
Quest order and common confusion
The three vials are always the same items and are tied to the same three landmarks around Crimson Cliff: a bandit camp, a bear encounter, and a bird’s nest on a cliff.
| Approximate order | Landmark | Map side | Key detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bandit camp | Southwest of Crimson Cliff | Vial on jars beside the cooking pot |
| 2 | Bear and breakable wall | West side, near Peace Tower Bell border | Vial on rock where the bear patrols, not in the chest |
| 3 | Bird nest cliff | Northeast of Crimson Cliff | Vial inside the nest with eggs |
Most players who get stuck around Xiao report one of two issues. The first is assuming the medication is inside the bear’s chest instead of on the ground beside it, and leaving without actually picking up the vial. The second is running past the bird’s nest repeatedly because it is low to the ground and does not read as an obvious quest object from a distance.
Returning the vials to Xiao the Healer
With all three vials in your inventory, you can finally free Xiao from his curse.
Finishing the tale awards Echo Jade, Qinghe Exploration progress, character experience, and coins, and it clears Xiao’s marker from the ledge.
Quest rewards for A Cure for Hollow Joy
The rewards attached to Xiao the Healer’s story make it worthwhile to complete early while exploring Qinghe:
| Reward | Amount | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Echo Jade | 40 | High-value currency used across multiple systems |
| Qinghe Exploration | 10 | Contribution toward region exploration track |
| Character EXP | 5000 | Direct experience for your character |
| Coin | 5000 | Standard currency for purchases and upgrades |
Because Wandering Tales often hide off the main path, they are easy to skip. A Cure for Hollow Joy sits along a natural route through Qinghe, so grabbing all three vials as you pass through Crimson Cliff is an efficient way to pad out both your Echo Jade and your region completion without detouring far from the main story.
Once Xiao’s laughter finally stops and the quest stamps as complete in the Wandering Tales menu, Crimson Cliff becomes a little quieter. If you are still roaming Qinghe, use the same mindset—checking ledges, camps, and odd NPC behavior—to pick up the rest of the Wandering Tales scattered around the region.
