Where Winds Meet Hexi: How to Unlock Full Jade Gate Pass

Entering the Hexi Frontier: What You Need to Know

Where Winds Meet's version 1.4 Home Afar update drops you into the sandy expanse of Hexi, a brand-new major region set in northwest China's historic Hexi corridor. The first chapter of this three-part expansion centers on Jade Gate Pass, a subregion packed with new martial arts paths, mystic skills, world bosses, and dozens of collectibles. Getting there is not as simple as walking to a new zone, though. There are specific steps you must follow, and skipping any one of them will leave you stuck.

Jade Gate Pass entry point

How Do You Unlock Jade Gate Pass?

Unlocking Jade Gate Pass requires a short but specific questline that begins in the Bamboo Abode region of Qinghe. Here is the full sequence broken down into clear steps.

Step 1: Meet the Level Requirement and Find the Shoreline Bag

Head to the Bamboo Abode area in Qinghe and make your way toward the shoreline near the marked quest location. You will spot a small abandoned bag lying on the sand, called the Shoreline Bag. Interacting with it triggers the Hexi expansion questline. This single item is the catalyst for everything that follows, so do not overlook it.

Step 2: Find and Interact with the Bamboo Abode Wall Painting

After picking up the bag, the game points you to a second location in Bamboo Abode where a large wall painting sits in the environment. Interact with it once, then light the two candles nearby to proceed. One candle is positioned beside the mural itself, and the second is located in a small shed directly behind you. Both must be lit before the scene advances.

Step 3: Explore the Mysterious Cabin and Meet the Veiled Lady

Lighting the candles triggers a cutscene that transports you inside an old cabin. Here you meet two NPCs: The Veiled Lady and a camel-faced character called Brother Camel (also referred to as Luo). You will play a round of mahjong against them. Pay attention to the Veiled Lady rather than Luo, as she is the key figure in this sequence.

After she defeats you at mahjong, she asks you to return the following evening. Open the main menu, navigate to Time, and advance the in-game clock by one day. Return to the location, relight the candles, and she will appear again outside. She then asks you to finish the mural. Head back to the wall painting and interact with it a second time. No special items are needed for this step.

Step 4: Board the Boat and Arrive at Jade Gate Pass

Completing the mural interaction kicks off an unusual cutscene where your character travels through water before waking up in a different cabin. Exit the cabin, follow the on-screen prompts, and board a large boat. A cinematic plays as you set sail. When it concludes, you are standing at the entrance of Jade Gate Pass, the gateway to the entire Hexi region.

What Awaits You in Jade Gate Pass?

Jade Gate Pass is divided into four major sub-areas: Lost Crossing, Golden Sands River, Straying Steed Sands, and Ayisu. Each zone is dense with collectibles, enemies, and activities.

What Are the Main Quests in Jade Gate Pass?

The two Jianghu Legacies, In the Quiet of Night and Desert Without Sails, are mandatory to access Hexi content. A Wellspring of Hope becomes available once you reach Horsehelm Village and interact with its signature flower.

New Combat Content: Wandering Ark and Bamboocut Path

The Wandering Ark is the new world boss for this update, roaming the Straying Steed Sands area. A first-time victory rewards you with items including Hair Ornament: Withered Twig, 5 Inner Way Note: Custom Chests, 3 Medicinal Tales, and 20 Echo Jades. This boss also appears as a trial in Sword Forge Challenges.

The new martial arts path, Bamboocut: Dust, uses the Everspring Umbrella and Unfettered Rope Dart as its primary weapons. This path excels in crowded fights thanks to wide area-of-effect coverage and high mobility.

The new Flute of Tides mystic skill is unlocked by completing a monk's quest at Peaceward Camp. It delivers continuous ranged damage across multiple enemies while boosting allied ranged output.

How to Find Hidden Chests and Oddities

Jade Gate Pass contains well over 100 chests spread across its four sub-areas. Several require specific mystic skills or actions to reveal.

What Skills Do You Need for Chest Hunting?

• Tai Chi: Essential for removing sand covering buried chests. Many chests in Lost Crossing, Golden Sands River, and Ayisu are buried under sand dunes and only appear after using this skill.
• Celestial Seize: Lets you reach elevated or otherwise inaccessible chests, including one under an upside-down boat near the Karez Wayfarer.
• Lightness Skill: Required to chase down hare Oddities and reach chests on tall masts, treetops, and building peaks.
• Reverse: Used to trap Shadowfin creatures near rock piles, which counts as completing Oddity objectives.

How Do Camel Bell Chests Work?

Scattered throughout the region are floating Camel Bells. Approaching one causes glowing footprints to appear in the sand. Follow those footprints to a nearby skeleton to reveal a hidden chest. This mechanic appears in all four sub-areas and accounts for a notable portion of the total chest count.

What Are Udumbara Flower Oddities?

Certain Oddity objectives involve Udumbara Flower illusions. Multiple identical flowers appear simultaneously, and you must identify and interact with the one that displays gold visual effects. The others are decoys. Take a moment to observe each flower before committing to an interaction.

Exploration Activities and Sentient Beings

Beyond chests, Jade Gate Pass offers a wide variety of Sentient Being activities across its four zones.

Ring the Bell to Pray Challenges

These bell-ringing puzzles require hitting bells in a specific order. Solutions vary by location:

• Lost Crossing: Facing away from the stone tablet, ring bells in the order third, first, fourth, then second.
• Golden Sands River (flagpole): Shoot the bells on the flagpole from left to right.
• Golden Sands River (window): Shoot the middle bell in the nearby window, then left, then right, then the post bell to finish.
• Straying Steed Sands: Shoot bells on the tree in this order: bottom, top, middle, then rightmost.
• Ayisu: Shoot the bells from bottom to top.

Cat Play Locations

Jade Gate Pass has a generous number of cats to find and interact with. Notable locations include:

• Kitty: Sooty on a wooden platform east of the Karez boundary stone
• Kitty: Jasmine inside the large destroyed ship in Lost Crossing
• Kitty: Moon on a building south of the Poplar Bazaar boundary stone
• Kitten: Immortal Cat on a tower southwest of Squarewall Hold Ruins (requires completing the Feline Fixation quest first)

Howling Sand Outpost

The single outpost in Jade Gate Pass is the Howling Sand Outpost, located just north of the Howling Sand boundary stone in Straying Steed Sands. Unlocking it gives you a fast-travel point that makes navigating the broader area significantly more efficient.

Is Jade Gate Pass Worth It for Returning Players?

For anyone who stepped away from Where Winds Meet between updates, the Home Afar expansion offers a strong reason to return. The minimum entry requirement (Character Level 14) is low enough that even players who have not played in months will qualify without grinding. The content volume, including over 100 chests, multiple quests, a new world boss, two new weapons, and a new mystic skill, provides substantial playtime without feeling overwhelming.

The Hexi expansion is planned as a three-chapter release, with Jade Gate Pass being the first. Subsequent chapters will introduce additional sub-regions, so establishing your foothold in the zone now sets you up for everything that follows. Where Winds Meet is available as a free-to-play title on PC, PlayStation 5, Android, and iOS.