The Encounter “Where the Soul Returns” in Where Winds Meet is a short but heavy story about a disgraced soldier, a Khitan farmer, and two brothers trying to reckon with the past. It is easy to miss and slightly fussy to trigger, so it helps to know both the prerequisites and the exact route through Encircling Lake, Harvestfall Village, and Northern Vow Ruins.
Quest type, region, and rewards
“Where the Soul Returns” is an Encounter side quest set in the Qinghe region. It revolves around the Lie brothers (Lie Bujin and his sibling), Cui Xiaojin, and an unnamed farmer dragging a coffin along the road near Encircling Lake.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Quest type | Encounter |
| Region | Qinghe |
| Main locations | Encircling Lake, Harvestfall Village, Northern Vow Ruins, Crimson Cliff |
| Core NPCs | Farmer (Khitan), Lie Bujin, Lie Bumie, Cai Zhu, Yingying |
| Total rewards | Echo Jade ×25, Qinghe Exploration ×25, Enlightenment Points ×100, Character EXP ×10,000, Coins ×10,000 |
Some versions list Stored EXP ×10,000 instead of Enlightenment Points ×100; in practice, you receive Echo Jade, Qinghe Exploration, currency, and a large chunk of character progression.
How to unlock Where the Soul Returns
The encounter never appears if you skip its story chain. Two things must be in place before the farmer will spawn at Encircling Lake.
Step 1: Finish the Jianghu Legacy quest Echoes of Old Battles in Qinghe. This takes you through Northern Vow Ruins and involves reuniting the Lie brothers near the dungeon entrance once the main objective is done.
Step 2: After completing that legacy, return to the entrance of Northern Vow Ruins, by Bamboo Abode. The two Lie brothers will be standing near the lowered stairs. Let their conversation play out, then talk to both of them and show them the result of the dungeon run (the “Northern Vow” outcome).
Step 3: Keep speaking to them until you receive the key quest item Brotherhood Contract.
Step 4: Travel to Encircling Lake in Qinghe. From the Encircling Lake Boundary Stone/teleport, look slightly northwest for a fork in the road shaped like a “Y”. The encounter marker appears at that intersection once the Brotherhood Contract condition is satisfied.
Players sometimes report that the farmer does not appear, even with the contract in their bag. A full relog or game restart can help the spawn flag update.
Starting the encounter at Encircling Lake
Step 1: At the road fork northwest of the Encircling Lake teleport, approach the sickly farmer dragging a coffin. Simply walking into the area will trigger the encounter; interact to start the dialogue.
The farmer explains that the coffin holds Cui Xiaojin, whom he is trying to bring home to Harvestfall Village. This ties directly into what the Lie brothers asked you previously: to look into Cui Xiaojin’s fate.
Step 2: When prompted, show the Brotherhood Contract to the farmer. He recognises the names involved and asks you to help contact the Lie brothers so Cui Xiaojin can be properly laid to rest.
Finding the Lie brothers and verifying the body
This middle section of the quest bounces you between Harvestfall Village and Northern Vow Ruins to confirm Cui Xiaojin’s identity and his story.
Step 1: Travel to Harvestfall Village. Your goal is to track down the Lie brothers, but they are not immediately visible.
Step 2: Speak to the four marked villagers about the brothers’ whereabouts: a village woman, a farmer, another villager, and finally the village chief. Each conversation makes it clear that the village considers Cui Xiaojin a traitor and deserter, which is why his name is taboo.
Step 3: The Village Chief eventually sends you back to Northern Vow Ruins, telling you that Lie Bujin is there.
Step 4: Head to Northern Vow Ruins again. Lie Bujin can be tricky to spot: he is positioned on top of the entrance gate to the ruins, effectively on the first level of the structure rather than at ground level.
Step 5: Talk to Lie Bujin and explain what you learned about the coffin and the farmer. He confirms that the corpse is indeed Cui Xiaojin once he sees the situation. After the dialogue, the game teleports you and Bujin back to the farmer at Encircling Lake to confront him directly.
Confronting the farmer and taking Cui Xiaojin home
With Bujin present, the conversation with the farmer shifts from rumor to first-hand memory.
Step 1: Back at Encircling Lake, speak to the farmer again with Bujin present. Bujin verifies that the person in the coffin is Cui Xiaojin, while the farmer describes how Xiaojin actually died: saving a Khitan during the war rather than deserting.
That detail reframes Xiaojin’s “betrayal” as an act of compassion, cutting across ethnic lines in a conflict where Khitan and locals stand on opposite sides.
Step 2: The farmer hands over Cui Xiaojin’s Secret Letter, a note from Lie Yan that entrusted Xiaojin with a crucial mission to defend a pass under cover of night. The letter suggests that Xiaojin was carrying out an important task rather than fleeing.
Step 3: Lie Bujin asks you to help carry the coffin to Harvestfall Village. Interact with the coffin and agree to lift it with him; this triggers a cutscene that moves you to the burial ground in Harvestfall Village, where Cui Xiaojin is finally laid to rest.
Step 4: In Harvestfall Village, Bujin says that when his brother returns, the Lie family will give Cui Xiaojin a proper burial. He also confides that the farmer’s accent and mannerisms make him think the man is Khitan, which complicates the village’s feelings about what happened.
Step 5: After the burial segment, Bujin sends you back alone to Encircling Lake to speak with the farmer one more time and confirm that Xiaojin has been returned home.
The farmer’s death and improvised funeral
When you return to Encircling Lake, the quest shifts away from the Lie brothers and focuses on the farmer himself.
Step 1: Go back to the same intersection at Encircling Lake and talk to the farmer again. As you relay the news that Cui Xiaojin has been buried in Harvestfall Village, the farmer collapses and dies mid-conversation.
Step 2: Inspect the desk or belongings near his body to read the letter he wrote to his wife, Cai Zhu. In it, he addresses his family and makes clear that he expected not to return from this journey.
Step 3: Before you can leave, you are prompted to arrange a proper farewell. Follow the waypoint to a nearby spot where you can stack wood for a pyre.
Step 4: Next, you are told to collect three Farewell flowers from the surrounding area. The flowers are found near Twinbeast Ridge. Pick all three; they are specifically marked, so you do not need to guess which plants count.
Step 5: Return to the farmer’s body and interact with the pyre to place both the wood and the Farewell flowers. Once everything is arranged, start the cremation. This sequence yields the item Farmer’s Ashes.
Delivering the ashes to Cai Zhu at Crimson Cliff
The final leg of the encounter sends you away from Qinghe’s fields to a more scenic overlook where the farmer’s family is waiting.
Step 1: Travel to Crimson Cliff. Look under the maple trees in the area; there you will find the farmer’s wife, Cai Zhu, and their daughter, Yingying, waiting for him to return.
Step 2: Speak to Cai Zhu and present the Farmer’s Ashes along with his letter. She learns of her husband’s fate, his final journey with Cui Xiaojin’s body, and the role he played in trying to right an old wrong.
Step 3: After talking to Cai Zhu, a final dialogue with Yingying plays out. You are given a choice in how much of the truth to share with her about her father and the circumstances of his death. The encounter ends once you finish this conversation; there is no additional combat or branching objective.
Where the Soul Returns rewards
The encounter pays out steadily as you move through each major phase, then grants a final bundle on completion.
| Reward type | Total amount from quest |
|---|---|
| Echo Jade | ×25 |
| Qinghe Exploration | ×25 |
| Enlightenment Points | ×100 |
| Character EXP | ×10,000 (or Stored EXP ×10,000 in some instances) |
| Coins | ×10,000 |
The values are modest compared with long quest chains or dungeons, but the Encounter is short and largely dialogue-driven, making it an efficient way to pick up Echo Jade, regional exploration points, and experience while also resolving a major loose end from “Echoes of Old Battles.”
Clearing “Where the Soul Returns” closes the book on Cui Xiaojin’s supposed betrayal and on a farmer who crossed battle lines to honor a man who once saved his life. It also deepens the Lie brothers’ story and adds another small, human-scale tragedy to Qinghe’s landscape, which is exactly where Where Winds Meet is at its best.
