The River’s Fury is an early-story encounter in Where Winds Meet that asks you to “free A’yu.” The objective sounds vague, and the fight can be chaotic enough that it’s easy to miss what the game actually wants you to do. The good news is that the mechanic is simple once you know where to look: A’yu’s prison is tied to a mask, not the creature itself.
Where The River’s Fury fits in the story
The River’s Fury takes place during the broader opening stretch of Where Winds Meet, as your young sword master is pulled into the political and supernatural turmoil of 10th‑century China. The quest is framed around calming or defeating a furious river spirit, but the task “Free A’yu” is less about brute force and more about breaking the object binding it.
You reach this stage after a sequence of cinematic encounters and basic combat tutorials. By this point, you should already be comfortable with normal attacks, martial arts skills, dodging, and locking on to targets.
How to start The River’s Fury and reach A’yu
The River’s Fury appears in your quest log as you progress through the main storyline. There’s no special prerequisite beyond following the campaign markers; the game will funnel you toward the river area where the encounter takes place.
Once you enter the arena, the fight shifts away from standard bandits and soldiers to a more fantastical foe linked to A’yu. The objective text will clearly mention freeing A’yu, which is your cue that there is a specific mechanic involved rather than a normal “reduce HP to zero” boss.
The key mechanic: you must target the mask
Freeing A’yu in The River’s Fury hinges on interacting with and destroying a mask that embodies the creature’s captivity.
The game summarizes this with a simple instruction: pick up the mask and free A’yu from its captivity, then keep attacking until the creature is defeated. If you focus only on the boss’s body or minions and ignore the mask, the objective will not be completed, even if it looks like you’re winning the fight.
How to free A’yu in The River’s Fury
Step 1: Enter the arena and clear any immediate threats while keeping an eye out for a mask linked to the encounter. Use lock-on to quickly check nearby interactable targets, so you don’t lose track of it amid visual effects.
Step 2: Move close to the mask and trigger the interaction prompt to pick it up. The prompt will appear when you are within a short distance and facing the mask; if you do not see it, reposition until it appears.
Step 3: Once you have picked up the mask, shift your focus to attacking. The objective is no longer just about surviving the boss’s patterns; you are now actively breaking the object that binds A’yu.
Step 4: Use your normal attacks and martial arts skills on the mask-bound creature. Keep pressure on it rather than kiting for long periods. The quest condition is to “keep attacking until the creature is defeated,” so sustained offense is what moves the encounter forward.
Step 5: Maintain awareness of your stamina and dodge timing so you don’t get knocked down and lose windows to deal damage. Heal between bursts if needed, but avoid retreating so far that the fight de‑syncs from the mask mechanic.
Step 6: Continue attacking until the creature collapses and the game updates the objective to show that A’yu has been freed. A short narrative beat will confirm the success of the ritual and let you move on to the next part of the story.
Common reasons “Free A’yu” doesn’t complete
Several small issues can make this encounter feel bugged when it isn’t.
- Ignoring the mask: If you never interact with or pick up the mask, the game treats the binding as intact. You can’t free A’yu by attacking the boss alone.
- Losing sight of the objective in the effects: The fight uses plenty of visual effects, which can obscure the mask or the interaction prompt. Using lock-on and rotating the camera deliberately helps keep the important target in view.
- Playing too defensively: The quest text emphasizes continual attacking. If you spend most of the fight evading and backing away, the encounter drags on and the “free A’yu” condition can feel unclear.
What happens after you free A’yu
Once the mask is broken and the creature is defeated, A’yu is released from captivity and The River’s Fury objective is marked complete. The story then returns to the broader arc of your wandering sword master within the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms setting, where choices about mercy, justice, and chaos continue to shape your reputation.
The encounter is an early example of how Where Winds Meet mixes direct combat with more symbolic actions, such as destroying a cursed object rather than simply landing the final blow. Keeping an eye out for these kinds of mechanics makes later bosses and side stories easier to parse.
