Where Winds Meet walkthrough: How to complete Volume II - Shadows in Bloom

Shadows in Bloom is a side quest in Where Winds Meet that should unlock after you’ve gained access to Kaifeng. It’s likely that you will need to complete at least New Guest in Kaifeng and Gathering of Heroes, so you will have at least been to the Heroic Assembly once, but that is something we’re not certain of right now. However, it’s very much a mystery, filled with clue solving, and puzzles to complete.

This side quest will test how much you pay attention to the world around you, and your skill at a few of the mini-games. If you find that you’re struggling with Shadows in Bloom in Where Winds Meet, here are the solutions to all the problems in this side quest.

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Complete Shadows in Bloom side quest walkthrough in Where Winds Meet

Shadows in Bloom can be a very long side quest in Where Winds Meet, if you don’t know what you’re doing. While puzzling my way through this the first time, it took roughly an hour and a half. If I had realized a few things, it would have been much shorter. You may want to do other things in Kaifeng first, like unlock the Rope Dart weapon, or whatever else you may be working on.

Here's where you can begin Shadows in Bloom in Where Winds Meet (Image via NetEase)

You can begin this quest in Kaifeng, by clicking the icon on the map below and tracking it. There are a few fast travels near it, but I only had access to Caomen Avenue.

Steps to complete Shadows in Bloom

• Visit Velvet Shade/Partake in the Heroic Assembly, Follow the Nine Mortals Disciple, Uncover His Motives.
• Discuss Strategy in Seclusion, Attempt to Attend the Heroic Assembly, Pass the Songstress’s Test. Tune and Play, Speak with the Songstress, Take the Boatman, Prepare to Enter the Revelry Hall.
• Explore the Heroic Assembly, Gather Clues (0/7).
• Find a Way into the Chamber, Obtain the Final Clue, Examine Suspicious Objects, Obtain the Final Clue.
• Go to Nimbus Tower to find the Jiangnan Envoy, Repel the Attacker, Search the Room to find the Yin-Inscribed Booklet, Immediately Incinerate the Yin-Inscribed Booklet in Flames.

1) Visit Velvet Shade/Partake in the Heroic Assembly, Follow the Nine Mortals Disciple, Uncover His Motives

Somehow, we need to get into the Heroic Assembly (Image via NetEase)

While starting the side quest Shadows in Bloom in Where Winds Meet, you’ll meet a Nine Mortals Disciple who mentions Aunt Han’s nickname, Water Lady. This will lead you to follow him to find his motives for looking for Aunt Han. That’s the whole reason we get mixed up in the shenanigans at the Heroic Assembly.

You’ll follow the prompts to leap across poles and onto buildings to chase him down, and it won’t take much to catch up with him. After a bit of back and forth, he’ll mention the list of Faceless Ones, which went missing alongside the Mechanic Box, along with the Yin-Inscribed Booklet that deciphers it, after the events of Chapter 1.

It’s important that the Khitans don’t get ahold of this information, so the two of you will sort of work together to get into the Heroic Assembly, where the booklet supposedly resides right now.

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2) Discuss Strategy in Seclusion, Attempt to Attend the Heroic Assembly, Pass the Songstress’s Test. Tune and Play, Speak with the Songstress, Take the Boatman, Prepare to Enter the Revelry Hall

Follow the Nine Mortals Disciple, where the two of you will discuss a strategy. Basically, you’ll impersonate Master Jiang Yi, a noteworthy musician. Using this disguise, you’ll enter the Heroic Assembly, without drawing too much attention. Use the outfit, and follow the quest marker.

When given a choice, you can either choose to pretend to be a VIP guest, or pretend to be Jiang Yi. I chose to pretend to be Jiang Yi. This will lead Bai Rong to show up and ask for a little proof of your skills.

Here's the correct order to help her tune her instrument (Image via NetEase)

All you need to do is help her tune a Guqin. The downside is that I couldn’t hear her notes, and the names of the notes (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do) are different in Chinese. Ask her to sing the melody for you, then hit the drums in the following order in the image above:

• Zhi
• Yu
• Gong
• Jue
• Shang

The trick is that when you hit the correct drum, it will glow pink and stay that way. If you hit the wrong drum, the pink glow will go away for all of them. Once that’s done, you can move on with Shadows in Bloom in Where Winds Meet. I recommend making a playful remark before you leave her presence, and then taking her boat to the Heroic Assembly.

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3) Explore the Heroic Assembly, Gather Clues (0/7)

After an amazing cutscene, you’ll be inside the Revelry Hall in Where Winds Meet, ready to tackle the next part of Shadows in Bloom. Your next step is to Explore the Heroic Assembly, and Gather Clues. If you click the View Clue icon on the screen, you will see that across the three floors of the Revelry Hall, there are people you need to interact with.

• Second Floor Hall, speak with Fu Rong, then use Heavenly Snatch on him to steal the list to get a Clue.
• First Floor Hall, win a game of Pitch Pot to get a Clue.
• First Floor Hall, Complete the music challenge against Ling Yuming to get a Clue.
• First Floor Hall, View the board next to Liu Rui, and speak to Liu Rui for a Clue.
• Clue #4: Second Floor Hall, Complete a Debate against Jia Wenqu on the Second Floor (pick Yapping).
• Third Floor Hall, speak with Wen Zixuan, and dance with him (Well…Just jump then/first option).
• Third Floor Hall, Speak with Ouyang Binbin and Ren Jiayu for a Clue.

"Play Freebird!" I hear one of the patrons cry out (Image via NetEase)

I recommend speaking to everyone in the Revelry Hall, as you’ll pick up a wide variety of Anecdotes and other collectibles. They don’t add to your clues for this Where Winds Meet quest, but if you are going to 100% the game and find everything, you’ll want to at least chat with all the NPCs.

Perhaps the hardest clue to get for this Where Winds Meet quest is Clue #3 against Ling Yuming. You have to complete a very challenging music piece, but there’s a trick to it. On the controller, I was able to just press all the buttons whenever a note was about to hit the circles on the bottom of the screen, and it didn’t count against me. That made finishing very easy.

This Pitch Pot match is incredibly easy to win (Image via NetEase)

Pitch Pot is easy to win, and the debate is also incredibly simple. Just pick Yapping, and you’ll easily overwhelm him with damage. Once you’ve accrued all seven of the clues, you’re free to proceed. This is perhaps the hardest part of the entire quest if you don’t know how to check clues in-game, or are perhaps not skilled at one of the mini-games.

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4) Find a Way into the Chamber, Obtain the Final Clue, Examine Suspicious Objects, Obtain the Final Clue

There’s one more clue to get for this Where Winds Meet side quest. You’ll be sent to the third floor, where a commotion occurs. If you try to budge past the servant, he won’t let you in. However, you can go outside, round the corner, crouch, and sneak into the room.

It's time for a brief bit of Metal Gear Wuxia (Image via NetEase)

There are a few clues you can interact with in this room, so do so. This includes the Five Minerals Powder, Wine, Unconscious Person, and the Fallen Pipa. This will bring up the Clue Screen, so press Start Deduction. You’ll want to make the following selection for this part of Where Winds Meet’s Shadows in Bloom:

• Choice #1: A rich guest purchased a guqin for a huge sum of money, Many guests in Jinling came to see Shimmer.
• Choice #2: The Jinling Envoy loved the guqin, The notes were about her longing.
• Choice #3: The Jinling Envoy also admired Ruolan, Ruolan played the guqin in Yunhua Tower.

Then pick The Jiangnan envoy has gone to Nimbus Tower and select Submit Clues. This will lead you to the final part of this quest.

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5) Go to Nimbus Tower to find the Jiangnan Envoy, Repel the Attacker, Search the Room to fin the Yin-Inscribed Booklet, Immediately Incinerate the Yin-Inscribed Booklet in Flames

The final portion of the quest is here, in Nimbus Tower (Image via NetEase)

You’ll need to head north to the Nimbus Tower, seen on the map above. I just jumped out of the window down into the water, and swam to land. Then, I ran over to the fast travel location, and into the Nimbus Tower to find the Jiangnan Envoy, but it’s up to you how you get there.

Head into the Nimbus Tower, and go upstairs to find a mysterious man, who will immediately attack you. They aren’t a real threat to your mastery of Wuxia, so take them down. After you repel the attacker, search the room to find the Yin-Inscribed Booklet.

This is the only fight in the quest, and it's not a terribly hard one (Image via NetEase)

There are several items to interact with, including a Letter, Floral Paper, Five Minerals Powder, and Wine. You’ll find the Yin-Inscribed Booklet in a table in this room with a glowing light, so it’s easy to spot.

Then walk over to the nearby fire, and immediately incinerate the Yin-Inscribed Booklet in Flames. You’ll wake up after a cutscene with Qin Ruolan, and you can ask her a series of questions. If you want to know all the answers, just ask them all one by one, then say I understand the situation now.

After this, you can wrap up Where Winds Meet’s Shadows in Bloom, by watching a gorgeous cutscene and some fireworks with Qin Ruolan. This will also unlock the Blossom Barrage Damage Boost for the Vernal Umbrella.

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Check out our other Where Winds Meet guides and features

• Where Winds Meet fishing guide
• Where Winds Meet walkthrough: How to complete Volume VI - Twelve Years of Grudges
• How to change time in Where Winds Meet (and why you would want to)