Where Winds Meet: How to Complete Behind the Bronzehead in Mirkvale

Behind the Bronzehead is one of the Wandering Tales tucked into Mirkvale, in the Hidden Mountain region of Where Winds Meet. Two kids playing detective, Xiaoguan and Zha, want to know why a local named Xiaoba never takes off the bronze bucket he wears on his head. The whole thing runs on the in-game clock, so if you show up at the wrong hour, nothing happens.

Quick answer: Set the time to Hai (21:00–23:00) and talk to Xiaoguan at the southern edge of Mirkvale, treat Xiaoba to a meal at his stall in central Mirkvale, then advance to Wu (11:00–13:00) the next day and swim out to him at the mine lake in northern Mirkvale.

Where Behind the Bronzehead starts and what you need

The quest lives entirely inside Mirkvale, the mining area of Hidden Mountain, and it uses three separate spots: the southern edge of the village where the two children hang around, Xiaoba’s food stall in the center, and the mine lake up north. Hangrock Hamlet is the closest landmark teleport if you already have it unlocked.

The only real requirement is the clock. Xiaoguan and Zha only spawn during Hai, and Xiaoba only turns up at the lake during Wu on the following day. You change both from the in-game time interface, which lets you set the hour and push the calendar forward by a day.

How to complete Behind the Bronzehead

Travel to the southern edge of Mirkvale and set the in-game time to Hai (21:00–23:00). Xiaoguan and Zha will not be standing there at any other hour, so change the clock before you start hunting for them.

Hidden Mountain map open in Where Winds Meet with a route tracked toward Mirkvale — The Hidden Mountain–Heaven’s Threshold map with the tracked route to the quest area. Image: Everstone Studio

Speak to Xiaoguan and pick “What’s the plan?”, then “Somewhat interested”. That accepts the Wandering Tale and hands you five Mohist Tallies straight away.

Dialogue wheel with the option What's the plan? highlighted during the talk with Xiaoguan — The dialogue menu with “What’s the plan?” selected while talking to Xiaoguan. Image: Everstone Studio

Open the Wandering Tales details screen to read the first clue and mark Xiaoba’s stall. The clue log is also the fastest way to re-pin the objective if you wander off and lose the marker.

Wandering Tales details screen showing the first clue for the Mirkvale quest — The Wandering Tales details screen with the first clue logged. Image: Everstone Studio

Head to the food stall in central Mirkvale and interact with Xiaoba, the man in the bronze helmet. Choose “I’m here to treat you to a meal” to trigger the cutscene where the kids study how he eats without lifting the mask.

Talk to Xiaoguan and Zha again next to the stall. They will lay out the second half of the plan, which is inviting Xiaoba to go swimming at the mine lake.

Conversation at the Mirkvale market stall with subtitles shown at the bottom of the screen — The follow-up conversation at the stall after the meal. Image: Everstone Studio

Make your way to the mine lake in northern Mirkvale, near the lower water wheel, then open the time interface and move to Wu (11:00–13:00) on the next day. The meeting will not fire on the same day you got the clue.

Gameplay HUD tracking the objective Wait for developments while the character stands idle — The objective sits on “Wait for developments” until you push the clock forward. Image: Everstone Studio

Jump into the water, swim over to Xiaoba, and speak to him once you are both on the shore. Pick “They sure have a hard head!” and then “This bronze noggin…” to hear the real story behind the mask and close out the tale.

Character exploring beside the large waterwheel at the Mirkvale mine lake — The mine lake area beside the large water wheel in northern Mirkvale. Image: Everstone Studio

Required dialogue choices

Four picks carry the quest from start to finish. Everything else in these conversations is optional flavor.

Moment	Choice
First talk with Xiaoguan	“What’s the plan?”
Accepting the job	“Somewhat interested”
At Xiaoba’s food stall	“I’m here to treat you to a meal”
On the shore at the mine lake	“They sure have a hard head!” then “This bronze noggin…”

Behind the Bronzehead rewards

The payout does not land in your bag automatically. Once the tale flips to complete, open the Exploration menu and claim it from the Wandering Tales entry.

Reward	Amount
Echo Jade	30
Hidden Mountain Exploration	10
Character EXP	3,750
Coin	3,750
Mohist Tallies (on accepting)	5

You will know it worked when the entry is marked completed in the Exploration menu and the reward panel appears. If the tale still sits there with an objective tracked, one of the dialogue picks above has not been made yet.

If the NPCs don’t show up

Both failure points are timing, not location. Xiaoguan and Zha only appear at the southern edge of Mirkvale during Hai, so an empty spot at any other hour means the clock is wrong rather than the map marker. At the lake, the objective will sit on “Wait for developments” until you have advanced a full day and set the hour to Wu.

Note: the meal at the stall has to happen before the swim step unlocks, and you need to speak to the children again afterward. Skipping that second conversation leaves the lake objective inactive no matter what time you set.

Behind the Bronzehead takes only a few minutes of actual travel once you stop fighting the clock, and the reward line is the same standard Hidden Mountain package other Wandering Tales in the region hand out. The payoff here is the ending conversation, which turns a village running joke about a man in a bucket into something considerably sadder.