Small Chisel is a Jianghu Friend in Where Winds Meet, found in Mercyheart Town in the Qinghe region. He works as a waiter at the Chanmiao Inn, is a refugee taken in by Zhou Shilao, and is known around town as “Information Broker Bao” for how quickly news and rumors pass through his hands. Unlike most NPCs, befriending him depends entirely on the AI Chat system rather than fixed dialogue options or mini-games.
Where to find Small Chisel
Small Chisel is located in Mercyheart Town in Qinghe. He stands outside his house near the inn rather than inside a combat area or dungeon.
He also participates in the Buddha Flower Faith anecdote in Mercyheart Town. For that event, players speak to:
- Buddha Flower Followers at Wu hour
- Small Chisel near the inn at Wu hour (exhaust all three standard dialogues)
- Zhou Miaoxin by the Buddha statues at Si hour
- Xie Wangshan at Zi hour
The anecdote does not require a strict order between these NPCs; what matters is speaking to all of them in the appropriate in-game times.
How Small Chisel’s friendship works
Small Chisel is one of the Jianghu Friends that use AI Chat. Jianghu Friends are recurring NPCs that can be befriended to earn weekly gifts once their reputation reaches Revered. Small Chisel follows the same structure: hold a successful AI conversation, gain affection, and once he regards you as a close friend, he becomes part of your weekly reward rotation.
His personality is defined very clearly. He is:
- Cunning and clever, used to reading people as a waiter and information broker
- Obsessed with gossip, rumors, and stories about other residents
- Comfortable sharing cautionary tales about scams and charlatans in town
The AI Chat prompt for him reflects this: the key to his affection is encouraging and believing his gossip, then responding in a way that shows you share his interest in rumors.
How to befriend Small Chisel in AI Chat
Affinity with Small Chisel rises when the chat reaches an outcome where he feels validated as a storyteller and gossip expert. The win condition is less about a single magic phrase and more about staying in character with him.
Core approach: let him gossip, agree with his judgments, and then share a rumor or story of your own.
In a successful example conversation, he opens with a hushed rumor about “Master Xu, who calls himself ‘Miaofa Rulai’.” From there, the flow that unlocks +100 affection and pushes him to Revered looks roughly like this:
- You react with eager curiosity and ask him to tell you more.
- He explains how Aunt Tian was scammed into buying “Sweet Dew” that failed to cure her husband.
- You condemn the scammer, sympathize with Aunt Tian, and call the price outrageous.
- He agrees, doubling down on the moral of the story: beware charlatans and frauds.
- You thank him sincerely and affirm you will stay alert.
- When he invites more discussion, you pivot by telling him about “the best rumors spreading among the people.”
- He responds with another rumor (Old Wang and a treasure map) and compares it to Aunt Tian’s story.
- You challenge him playfully, suggesting you might have an even better story.
- He encourages you to try; you then “tell” him a dramatic, slightly spooky tale, such as seeing a strange beast that vanished as soon as someone looked at it.
At that point he wraps up cheerfully, says you should talk again another day, and you receive an explicit affection gain of +100 with his status updating to Revered.
Two things matter in that pattern:
- You consistently believe and amplify his gossip instead of doubting or dismissing it.
- You eventually offer your own rumor or story, matching the tone of his tales.
Using roleplay brackets to “perform” actions
AI Chat NPCs in Where Winds Meet respond not only to plain text but also to stage directions written in parentheses. Small Chisel’s successful example makes use of this: the protagonist “tells” a long story in brackets rather than line-by-line dialogue. That looks like:
(you tell him about the best rumors that are spreading among the people)and later:
So the tale starts ... (You tell him about the outrageous big beast you saw in the dark while walking home from the forest, you told him how it disappeared at the sight of someone looking at it, as if it was never there to begin with)These bracketed lines signal to the NPC that a whole story or action occurred, even though you did not type out every sentence. With Small Chisel, this is especially effective because his hint expects you to “share gossip.” A compact stage direction can satisfy that requirement without writing a full paragraph of dialog.
Conversation patterns that tend to work with Small Chisel
AI conversations never resolve exactly the same way twice, but several patterns line up well with his design and hint text.
- Lean into his “customer” framing. He repeatedly calls you “Customer.” Reply with friendly but informal lines that match that relationship, such as “You see all sorts of things at the inn, don’t you?” rather than lofty, distant speech.
- Echo his moral stance. When he calls a scammer “outrageous” or a “swindler,” reinforce that. Condemn the villain, protect the victim, and emphasize how unjust the situation is.
- Invite more gossip. Phrases like “Please tell me more,” “Any other stories like that?” or “Who else causes trouble in town?” keep him in his comfort zone and move toward the win state.
- Offer your own rumor once he’s warmed up. After he has told at least one full story and seems satisfied, transition to sharing a rumor of your own using a bracketed stage direction.
The goal is not to “win” an argument but to bond over shared interest in rumors and expose your character as another source of juicy information.
General AI Chat tips that apply to Small Chisel
Small Chisel’s conversation runs on the same AI Chat system as other talkative Jianghu Friends. Several system-level controls help when the dialogue gets stuck.
Reset AI Chat when the dialogue stalls
If the conversation goes in circles, never reaches a clear conclusion, or drifts too far from his gossip theme, use the reset button at the top of the AI chat box.
Step 1: Click the Refresh icon at the top of the chat window. This clears the ongoing AI context for that NPC.
Step 2: Start the conversation again and commit to a single approach during that attempt, such as “agree with all gossip and then share a rumor” rather than mixing multiple strategies in one long thread.
Resetting is safer than trying to drag a wandering conversation back on track. It is also useful if you accidentally insult him or attempt to poke holes in his stories, which can push some Jianghu Friends toward hostility.
Handling combat or hostility during AI Chat
AI Chat NPCs in Where Winds Meet can become aggressive if certain lines are interpreted as threats, accusations, or blatant disrespect. Small Chisel is designed as a gossip and information broker, not a fighter, but the general mitigation applies to him as well if he ever flips into combat.
Step 1: If he draws his weapon or you enter combat mid-conversation, immediately leave to the login screen rather than finishing the fight.
Step 2: Log back into your character. The NPC will respawn in his normal, pre-conversation state at his usual location in Mercyheart Town.
Using the AI Chat hint text
Each AI Chat NPC has a hint that describes their desired outcome in vague terms. Even when an NPC seems pleased with your answers, the chat might not end until that condition is met.
With Small Chisel, the hint points toward believing and encouraging his gossip. If the conversation feels friendly but will not conclude, re-read the hint and check whether you have:
- Actively validated his story rather than questioning it
- Showed that you enjoy hearing gossip by asking for more
- Contributed your own rumor or dramatic tale
If one of those pieces is missing, steer the next few lines directly toward it, or reset and run a clean attempt focused on that element.
Small Chisel as part of your Jianghu Friend network
Once Small Chisel reaches Revered after a successful AI Chat, he functions like other Jianghu Friends. Revered Jianghu Friends provide periodic gifts, and the more such friends you have across Qinghe and Kaifeng, the stronger your weekly rewards become.
Small Chisel’s specific Friend Gift has not been clearly documented yet, but his role as an information broker makes him a natural candidate for story-flavored items and background lore. He also connects narratively to other Mercyheart NPCs, such as Auntie Tian, whose story he uses as a main example of local gossip.
Because Jianghu Friends can be unlocked through different methods—some by mini-games, some by combat, some by chat—Small Chisel is an early example of how flexible the AI Chat path can be. His puzzle is less about exact wording and more about playing along with his worldview: in Mercyheart Town, information has value, and he wants to know you recognize that.
Small Chisel’s friendship is a good entry point into Where Winds Meet’s AI Chat system: the stakes are low, the theme is simple, and success comes from treating him as what he is in the world—an inn waiter who thrives on gossip, eager to swap stories with anyone willing to listen and share.
