The Wandering Tale “A Cure for Hollow Joy” in Where Winds Meet plays out around Crimson Cliff in the Qinghe region. It revolves around Xiao the Healer, an NPC trapped in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and sends you hunting for three scattered vials in the cliffs and forests below.
These short events are easy to miss because they rarely sit on top of major map markers. Here, the quest is tightly packed around Crimson Cliff, but each vial has its own small combat or exploration twist. Once you know where to go, the tale is quick, clean XP, and Echo Jade.
Quest start: find Xiao the Healer above Crimson Cliff
Location: Qinghe region, just north of Crimson Cliff.
On the cliffs north of Crimson Cliff, a man stands dangerously close to the edge, laughing nonstop. This is Xiao the Healer. Walk up and interact with him to trigger the Wandering Tale.
During the conversation, it becomes clear he can barely speak between bursts of laughter. He tells you his condition is tied to several vials that have been scattered around Crimson Cliff and asks you to retrieve them. Accepting this request starts “A Cure for Hollow Joy” and adds the Wandering Tale entry to your log.
Vial 1 location: bandit camp southwest of Crimson Cliff
General area: Southwest of Crimson Cliff, in a small enemy camp.
Step 1: Travel to the southwest side of Crimson Cliff until you see a camp occupied by enemies. This is a simple, open-area camp with a cooking setup and storage jars.
Step 2: Clear the camp or slip through, depending on your build and comfort level. You can pick up the vial without killing everyone, but fighting through the group usually makes searching easier.
Step 3: Once the area is safe enough, look near the cooking pot. The first vial lies on or beside some jars close to the fire. Interact with it to collect the item and update the quest objective.
Vial 2 location: bear hill west or northwest of Crimson Cliff
General area: West of Crimson Cliff, near the border between Crimson Cliff and Peace Tower Bell; also described as northwest of the camp.
This vial sits in a small clearing guarded by a bear, with a rock outcrop and a nearby breakable wall.
Step 1: From the bandit camp, move toward the west side of Crimson Cliff. Watch your minimap and terrain for a rise or hill that hosts a lone bear.
Step 2: Engage and defeat the bear. The animal will aggro as soon as you approach, and leaving it alive makes looting risky. Use your usual crowd-control or mobility tools to stay inside its openings and avoid being cornered against the wall.
Step 3: After the bear goes down, check the rock in the middle or the edge of the clearing. The second vial rests on that rock. Pick it up to continue the Wandering Tale.
Vial 3 location: bird nest northeast of Crimson Cliff
General area: Northeast of Crimson Cliff, close to Xiao’s original position.
The last vial is the easiest to miss. Instead of sitting in plain sight, it is tucked inside a bird nest on a cliffside ledge.
Step 1: Head to the northeast side of Crimson Cliff. You are looking for a stretch of cliff with a small nest on or near the ground, holding a few eggs.
Step 2: Use the environment carefully to scan edges and ledges; don’t rush your jumps so you avoid unnecessary fall damage while hugging the cliff.
Step 3: Once you find the nest, interact with it. The final vial is stored inside, and the quest objective will mark all vials as recovered.
Returning to Xiao and turning in the vials
With all three vials in your inventory, it is time to return to Xiao the Healer at the northern edge of Crimson Cliff.
Step 1: Go back to Xiao’s cliffside location north of Crimson Cliff and interact with him again. The dialogue prompt includes a Give option once you are in front of him with the vials collected.
Step 2: Select the Give option. A small handover screen appears, showing all three vials. Confirm the transfer so Xiao receives the full set.
Step 3: Wait for the final short conversation to play out. Once it ends, the Wandering Tale is marked complete, and a notification appears on the left side of the screen.
Step 4: Click the View prompt on that notification. This opens the Wandering Tales section of your menu. From there, claim the rewards; they are not delivered automatically just for finishing the dialogue.
Quest rewards for A Cure for Hollow Joy
| Reward | Amount | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Echo Jade | 40 | Premium currency for pulls and key purchases. |
| Qinghe Exploration | 10 | Progress toward regional exploration milestones in Qinghe. |
| Character EXP | 5000 | Direct experience to accelerate leveling. |
| Coin | 5000 | General currency for upgrades and purchases. |
The numbers above reflect the total payout for the Wandering Tale, counting both incremental rewards and the final completion grant in the Wandering Tales menu.
Why this Wandering Tale is easy to miss
Wandering Tales in Where Winds Meet often sit between main quest beats, tucked into corners of the map that aren’t highlighted with large icons. “A Cure for Hollow Joy” follows that pattern:
- The starting NPC is on a cliff edge rather than in a settlement or hub.
- The vials never appear as big, obvious markers; one is attached to a camp prop, one blends into a rock, and one is hidden in a nest.
- Completion rewards must be claimed from the Wandering Tales menu after you click the View notification, which is easy to ignore during exploration.
If you are trying to clear out Qinghe’s side content efficiently, it helps to treat Crimson Cliff as a self-contained cluster: trigger Xiao’s tale at the north edge, sweep the southwest camp, loop west past the bear, then finish on the northeast cliffs with Wind Sense toggled on. With that route in mind, “A Cure for Hollow Joy” becomes a compact, reliable source of Echo Jade and exploration progress rather than another obscure checklist item buried in the mountains.
