This is a walkthrough for Yelan’s Story Quest “Candidature Analysis” which is the second quest in the Umbrabilis Orchis Chapter: Act 1, Calculated Gambit. Here, you’ll find a complete walkthrough for the entire quest.

Description¶

Yelan does not seem particularly reassured by Zhiyi and decides to go down to the wharf to speak to Bolai and find out how well he is rated by others.

Steps¶

1. Go to the North Wharf to look for Bolai
2. Listen to Zhiyi and Linlang chat / Talk to Yelan
3. Go and check the South Wharf
4. Talk to Uncle Sun
5. Continue looking for clues at the wharf (0/2)
6. Go back to Yanshang Teahouse and check the manifesto
7. Go to Blackcliff Forge to search for clues
8. Talk to Iron Shoulder about the newcomers at the forge
9. Follow the footprints
10. Investigate the abandoned camp (0/4)

Go to the North Wharf to look for Bolai¶

At the end of the previous quest, Paimon suggested talking to Bolai for information on Zhiyi. He can be found haggling with a sunsettia merchant on the north wharf in Liyue. Teleport to the upper Liyue waypoint, and head east for a scene with Bolai and Qiping, the sunsettia merchant.

You’ll see Qiping take advantage of Bolai’s hatred towards the Second Life shop, and he’ll purchase all of his wares. When Qiping takes his leave, you’ll head over to Bolai, and ask him about Zhiyi. He’ll tell you the familiar story of how Zhiyi was born into poverty, and his parents both died when he was young. On top of that, the local community treated him cruelly.

The most interesting piece of information that Bolai has to offer is the story about one of his neighbors who was cruel to him all the time, but Zhiyi never retaliated. Then, when his neighbor went bankrupt, Zhiyi even helped support the family. Towards the end of your conversation with Bolai, Yelan spots Zhiyi talking to Linlang. She’ll tell you that you should follow him, but make sure not to be seen.

Listen to Zhiyi and Linlang chat / Talk to Yelan¶

This will be another stealth objective. You’ll want to stay close enough to Zhiyi that you can hear what they’re saying, but not too close where he’ll see you. Wait by the crates of gemstones, and minerals until they start to move. When they start walking, go behind the stall around to your right, and wait by/on the green covering.

Stay there until they move forward a bit, and adjust your position by waiting by the red pots just in front of you. Once again, wait until they move, then stand behind the crates with the chest sitting on top. When they’ve finished talking, you’ll get a scene. It appears that Zhiyi really does get on with everybody, although Yelan isn’t convinced just yet. Paimon will then accuse her of trying to find dirt on Zhiyi, so she can be Tianshu instead, which she doesn’t deny, and she’ll suggest heading to Zhiyi’s fishing spot in the south wharf.

Go and check the South Wharf¶

Teleport to the lower Liyue waypoint, and head east/northeast towards the wharf. As you reach the bottom of the stairs, you’ll get a short scene. Yelan will notice the wharf is as busy as ever, and she’ll propose talking to Uncle Sun, the fishmonger.

Talk to Uncle Sun¶

When you regain control, head over to the western stall that Uncle Sun owns. You’ll ask him some questions about Zhiyi under the guise of the Liyue Anglers Association. He’ll have a few interesting things to say about Zhiyi. The first thing you’ll hear is that Uncle Sun has friends who travel a lot, and where ever they go, they’ve heard of Zhiyi.

Also, he’ll mention his poverty, but you already know about that. Another thing to note is how he isn’t a particular good fisherman despite fishing a lot. Yelan will make a mental note of everyone knowing about him even when they travel, and she’ll tell you to look around for more clues.

Continue looking for clues at the wharf (0/2)¶

Your first clue will be the other fishmonger to your right, Uncle Gao. Once again, you’ll ask him some questions, but this time as the Society for Fish Price Research. Yelan really knows how to make things up on the spot. She’ll tell him that you’re conducting a survey, and as soon as Uncle Gao realizes you’re not interested in him, but Zhiyi instead, he lets his guard down.

You’ll find out from Uncle Gao that Zhiyi really seems to care what people think about him, and that he has pretty low self-esteem, but other than that, he doesn’t have any useful information for you. Now head over to the pile of crates to the southeast, and you’ll find a little boy who goes by the name of Dugu Shuo. Yet again, Yelan will make up another identity, and she’ll tell him that you’re new to the area, and that Dung Shuo was the person to talk to as he knows everything.

Yelan will ask him if he remembers roughly when everyone started talking about him, and he’ll tell you that it was approximately two or three months ago. Also, he’ll tell you that it was a bunch of people that he’d never seen before. After some deducing, Yelan comes to the conclusion that something doesn’t add up.

Zhiyi comes across as a nice guy, everyone seems to like him, but he only became really popular a few months ago. She’ll tell you that normally it wouldn’t matter as this sort of thing happens all the time, but then where would Zhiyi get the funds for a publicity campaign as he is allegedly poor. This makes Yelan think that another faction may be backing him, but who? She’ll suggest that you all go back through the manifestos as you may have missed something.

Go back to Yanshang Teahouse and check the manifesto¶

Make your way back to the Yanshang Teahouse, and head up the stairs for a scene. Yelan will split the manifestos into two piles, and she’ll go through one pile on her own. Read each of the chapters: Sea, Rock, and Roads. You’ll find out during the Rock chapter that the Blackcliff Forge should be given first refusal on any projects. That sounds fishy, and you’ll tell Yelan about it after you’ve finished reading the manifesto.

As you’re talking to Yelan, her assistant Shanghua will make an appearance. If you remember, he was investigating Qianwei. He’ll tell you that although Qianwei comes across as rude, he actually treats the people he signs a contract with fairly. Also, he made all his money legitimately, and he even leaves his accounts open for the public to see. Which means he has nothing to hide.

After hearing about Qianwei, Yelan’s second assistant will also make an appearance, and he was investigating Mingbo. Once again, Mingbo is a completely different person. Although he is nervous talking to strangers, once he gets to know them, he is fine. Also, the Ministy of Civil Affairs feel a lot more confident when it has his seal of approval. Another thing about Mingbo, is he isn’t scared of reprimanding someone. Allegedly he caught someone cheating and stealing, and scolded them so bad he made them cry.

Now that you’ve found out more about the other two candidates, Yelan will explain to you the rumor about the alleged great treasure beneath Qingxu pool, but you’d need special explosives to check that place out. This is where Blackcliff Forge comes into it. They have first refusal of projects should Zhiyi become the Tianshu. This would allow them to mine the Qingxu pool legitimately. Paimon will ask Yelan whether she thinks Blackcliff Forge are the group backing Zhiyi, and she’ll tell you that she doesn’t think so as she has investigated them before, and they came up clean. Although, they did have access to special explosives. She’ll tell you that she thinks it’s worth checking out the Blackcliff Forge just to be sure.

Go to Blackcliff Forge to search for clues¶

Make your way over to the Blackcliff Forge which is just to the south of Liyue Harbor. As you enter the site from the south, you’ll find some worksite records to your east. Interact with it, and you won’t find too much out, but you will notice that the Blackcliff Forge had new recruits recently. Normally this wouldn’t matter, but they’ve been made team leader all ready which is questionable. When Paimon asks who’s behind this, Yelan will mention that the new recruits may know, but suggests you talk to the worker in the site first.

Talk to Iron Shoulder about the newcomers at the forge¶

Head over to Iron Shoulder who is standing by the stone pillar to your south. The miner will tell you that the new recruits are in great shape, and that they’re fast learners. His only problem with them is that they go out drinking late at night, but they never invite anyone.

Apparently they go to Wanmin Restaurant back in Liyue Harbor for their drinking needs. Yelan will talk to you in private, and she’ll tell you that they could be meeting up to give intelligence updates, and you should track their movements. Thankfully, it has been raining recently which means that they left their footprints behind.

Follow the footprints¶

Now you’ll need to track their footprints. Follow the muddy path to your northeast, and take the northern path when you get to the intersection. Follow that to the end until you reach another intersection, and take the eastern path. Keep heading that direction until you reach a stone pentagon with a rock in the middle, and you’ll find out that the footprints don’t lead to Liyue. Finally, head east, and you’ll get a short scene. It looks like the footprints stop near this dilapidate house.

Investigate the abandoned camp (0/4)¶

There will be four clues to find here. The first will be the Compacted Mud in the center of the house, just behind that is the Burned-Out Fire. You can find the Strange Traces by the wooden beam outside to the left of the Burned-Out Fire. Finally, head behind the house to find a pile of leaves.

When you interact with each clue, you’ll find out the following information:

• Compacted Mud – Looks like a bamboo mat was placed here, someone must’ve slept here.

• Burned-Out Fire – A fire burned out not long ago, meaning they were here recently.

• Strange Traces – Looks like a fight broke out.

• Pile of Leaves – A fresh supply of fruit is stashed here.

After you’ve investigated the clues, Paimon notices that documents have been burnt in the campfire. Yelan will use her keen sense of smell to deduce that the documents must’ve come from Snezhnaya. Apparently each region has a distinct smell to their ink, and she’ll give you some examples on what she means. Now she knows who you’re dealing with, she can plan your next move. Just as she says that, you’ll meet her third assistant for the first time, Wupei. He was responsible for investigating Zhiyi. You’ll find out that he came back empty-handed, but when he returned to Yanshang Teahouse, he saw the note Yelan left, telling him to come to Blackcliff Forge.

Yelan finds it interesting that Wupei didn’t hear anything about Zhiyi as that was the location that Tian told her they got the Fish Soup. Anyway, you’ll need to tail him again, but when his guard is more relaxed. Yelan tells you that she’ll announce his victory at the Yuehai Pavillion which will get him to relax. This will make it easier to track him. As the announcement won’t go out until the following day, she’ll suggest you meet up in the morning. When the scene ends, so will the quest.