The Vernal Umbrella exploration quest in Where Winds Meet briefly turns into a detective game. The objective to “find a way to the third floor” in the Temporal Pavilion only resolves after you collect and deduce a set of clues hidden around the building and nearby courtyard.
What follows is a focused walkthrough of those clues and the exact steps required to finally gain access to the third floor.
Quest setup: why the third floor is locked
Vernal Umbrella starts in Kaifeng when you approach the Temporal Pavilion near Velvet Shade. The page boy Wang Ping’an asks you to check on his master on the third floor, but the way up is blocked.
On the third-floor landing, you meet Jiang Ting’er. She refuses to let you through and says she’ll only move aside if you bring back a keepsake she left downstairs. From this point, progress is tied to finding six clues around the pavilion and then linking them together in the Clues menu.
Clue 1 and 2: speak to Jiang Ting’er and use the stairwell
Step 1: Go to the third floor landing of the Temporal Pavilion and talk to Jiang Ting’er. Finishing her dialogue grants the first clue about the missing keepsake and the banquet.
Step 2: Start walking back down the main staircase. As you move away from the third floor, the game should automatically register the second clue.
Step 3: If the second clue does not trigger, re-enter the stairwell and look for an NPC standing between two floors, staring through a gate or railing. Approach this character to force the second clue to register.
Once these two are secured, open your Clues or Casefile interface. Each clue text also hints at where the remaining clues are hidden, but you can go straight to the locations below.
Clue 3: eavesdrop from the back of the pavilion
Clue 3 is picked up by listening in on a conversation on the outside wall of the Temporal Pavilion.
Step 1: From inside the pavilion, go upstairs and exit toward the rear courtyard area behind the building.
Step 2: Use the railings and your lightness skills to jump up to the exterior of the third floor on the back side of the pavilion. You won’t be able to go inside, but you can move around the outer ledge.
Step 3: Hug the wall and circle around until an eavesdrop prompt appears near a section where two women are talking on the other side of the wall. Interact to eavesdrop and complete the third clue.
Clue 4: find and interact with the tabby cat
This clue is tied to a small cat tucked behind the pavilion.
Step 1: From the area where you just eavesdropped for clue 3, drop down to ground level behind the Temporal Pavilion.
Step 2: Head toward the back corner of the structure. In practice, this sits on the outer side of the pavilion, described in different directions like west or northeast, depending on your orientation. Look for a grey-and-white tabby cat near an NPC.
Step 3: Interact with and play with or pet the cat. This interaction awards the fourth clue.
Clue 5: eavesdrop on the women playing a board game
The next clue is almost next to the cat, but the eavesdrop angle matters.
Step 1: Stand where you just met the tabby cat and turn around. You should see a nearby circular pavilion with two women seated and playing a board game such as chess or another tabletop game.
Step 2: Do not try to squeeze behind the structure; that can cause your character to get stuck. Instead, walk to the front of the circular pavilion.
Step 3: Move to the large window on the left side of the pavilion (relative to the front entrance). When you stand at the correct spot by this window, an eavesdrop interaction appears. Use it to listen to the “ladies beneath the pavilion playing chess” and secure clue 5.
Clue 6: eavesdrop on the officials on the first floor
The final clue is inside the pavilion itself, picked up from a conversation between two officials.
Step 1: Return to the main entrance of the Temporal Pavilion and go to the first floor.
Step 2: From the front area of the first floor, move toward the back-left section. There is a set of rooms on the left side.
Step 3: Enter the room adjacent to where two officials are talking. You do not need to initiate dialogue directly. Walking into the correct back-left room automatically triggers an eavesdrop and completes the sixth clue.
How to link and deduce the clues
With all six clue entries unlocked, you now need to connect them inside the Clues interface so the game can formalize your deductions and reveal the exact location of Jiang Ting’er’s keepsake.
The deduction flow is structured as a series of pairings. Each pairing creates a new, more specific clue. The key logic matches phrases about the banquet host, the keepsake item, and where it is stored.
| Deduction step | Clue pairing | Resulting new clue |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Banquet host | The Wind arrives. Can Messenger be fare behind? ↔ A Tumi Flower blooms on petal-stained invitation. | “Where roseleaf raspberries bloom, jade glows with immortal grace.” |
| 2. Nature of the keepsake | No keepsake, no seat at the noble feast. ↔ Guest refused, hairpin returned. | “A white jade pin, flawless and sworn.” |
| 3. Hairpin description | “Where roseleaf raspberries bloom, jade glows with immortal grace.” ↔ “A white jade pin, flawless and sworn.” | “A jade pin still holds the morning dew.” |
| 4. Storage location | Jade keepsake behind the red gate. ↔ Golden latch guards the warehouse. | “Hairpin keepsake is hidden in the warehouse.” |
| 5. Final location | “Hairpin keepsake is hidden in the warehouse.” ↔ “A jade pin still holds the morning dew.” | “Hairpin keepsake is hidden in the second-floor warehouse.” |
Once this last deduction is made, the quest updates to point you toward a warehouse on the second floor of the Temporal Pavilion and automatically places you in the right area.
Getting the warehouse key with Celestial Seize
After deducing that the keepsake is in a second-floor warehouse, you are moved to the second floor and need to obtain the key before you can open the door.
Step 1: On the second floor, look for a small alcove with a Nine Mortal Ways disciple sitting there and a chest placed above a shelf.
Step 2: Use the Cloud Steps lightness skill to reach the alcove and open the chest on top of the shelf.
Step 3: Switch to the Celestial Seize mystic skill and target the gap between the shelf and the wall. The warehouse key is lodged in that space. Use Celestial Seize to pull the key out. Celestial Seize itself is a separate mystic skill that can be unlocked through its own progression path.
Opening the warehouse and reaching the third floor
Step 1: With the key in hand, look for the warehouse door on the second floor, opposite the alcove where you just retrieved the key.
Step 2: Unlock and open the warehouse. Inside, locate and pick up the Bramble Rose Hairpin, which serves as Jiang Ting’er’s keepsake.
Step 3: Return to the staircase and head up to the third floor again. Speak to Jiang Ting’er and hand over the Bramble Rose Hairpin. She accepts the keepsake and finally lets you pass into the third-floor banquet area.
Learning Vernal Umbrella and finishing the quest
With the way to the third floor open, the quest objective shifts away from clue hunting and into martial arts.
Step 1: Enter the third-floor room. A scene plays out with Wang Pu inviting you to watch the performance alongside Wen Xian.
Step 2: Target the performer on stage and use Skill Theft to learn the Vernal Umbrella martial art. If you already know Vernal Umbrella, you do not gain extra rewards, but the Skill Theft action is still required for the quest to advance.
Step 3: After the performance, leave the pavilion and go back to Wang Ping’an near the entrance. Tell him his master is safe but involved in more than either of them expected. Finishing the conversation completes Vernal Umbrella.
The full reward set for completing Vernal Umbrella includes the Vernal Umbrella martial art itself, Echo Jade, Kaifeng Exploration points, character experience, and coins earned across the quest stages.
Once this sequence is done, the Temporal Pavilion’s third floor stops being a locked mystery and turns back into what it looks like at first glance: a theater balcony and a stepping stone toward one of the game’s signature umbrella styles.
