When wandering through the Northern Vow Ruins in Where Winds Meet, you’ll come to realize that the game loves testing your brain just as much as your blade. The wall puzzle in the Echoes of Old Battles quest is one of the early roadblocks that looks intimidating with its rows of glowing Chinese characters, but it’s a simple logic gate once you know which blocks to push. Since solving this is the only way to get your hands on the powerful Touch of Death skill, you don’t want to spend all day guessing. Here’s how to trigger the mechanism, solve the puzzle on the wall, and earn the rewards including the Mystic Skill.
How to Reach the Wall Puzzle in Where Winds Meet
The wall puzzle is found in the Northern Vow Ruins in Qinghe’s Verdant Wilds region. You’ll need to complete a few steps before you can get to the puzzle. First, find Lie Bujin standing outside the old ruined fort on the eastern side of Verdant Wilds and talk to him to trigger the Echoes of Old Battles quest.
Enter through the main gate, eavesdrop on the bandits’ conversation near the explosive barrels, then shoot a fire arrow at the barrels to blast them, which kills the bandits. Next, move into the ruins and take down more bandits until you reach the training grounds.
Follow the quest marker to get to where the bandit leader Zhang Bao will be interrogating someone from the Northern Vow lineage. Defeat him and loot the nearby chest to obtain the puzzle map that shows the locations where you have to light fire contraptions.
Light the Fire Contraptions
You need to light four fire torches scattered around the fort. One is right there in the training ground where you fought the boss. Another is above the large red gate opposite the entrance, and the remaining two are high up on the southwest and northwest towers near the fort walls.
Once all contraptions are blazing, a circular pressure plate will rise in the middle of the training yard. Perform a heavy slam (Mighty Drop) on it to crack open the entrance to the underground tunnel.
Tip: As you go down the tunnel, do not ignore the corpse you see on the way. Looting it will teach you the Yanyun Oath gesture. You literally cannot start the puzzle without this emote.
From the corpse, follow the path into a large square chamber with a statue at the center and decorated blocks along the walls. Walk up to the statue and perform the Yanyun Oath gesture when prompted. The blocks on the walls will light up, and some extend outward, starting the wall puzzle.
Where Winds Meet Wall Puzzle Solution in Echoes of Old Battles
The solution lies in the clue from the anonymous signpost near the statue. The message references an inscription, and what you need to do is push in any blocks that don’t match the characters in it. The phrase for the puzzle is (“山 河 寸 土, 誓 死 不 易” or in English means “Every inch of our land, we vow to defend it to the death”) – the comma separates what goes on the left wall versus the right wall.
Right Wall Solution
Face the wall to the right of the entrance. Four blocks can be interacted with on this wall, but you only need to interact with two blocks here:
- The Hundred Character (百): The first block in the sequence.
- The Move/Shift Character (移): The third block.
Push them in, and the right wall displays the glowing phrase 誓 死 不 易. If you make a mistake and push the wrong one, just interact with it again to pull it back out.
Left Wall Solution
Now turn to the wall to the left of the room. This one is simpler, as only one stone needs to be pushed inside:
- The Drift Character (漂): It’s the second block closest to the wall.
Once done, the left wall now displays the glowing phrase 山 河 寸 土, and a cutscene will trigger in which the heavy stone door will unlock.
The puzzle resets once completed, so this solution is exclusive to the Echoes of Old Battles. Other wall puzzles in different locations will have their own solutions.
You aren’t quite done yet. The next room has a large waterwheel that’s currently stuck, blocking your path to the treasure. Don’t overthink this one. Ignore the wheel for a second and walk directly behind the waterfall, hidden back there is a small stone pedestal with a lever. Crank that lever to get the water flowing and the wheel spinning, which will open the final gate.
Enter inside to loot the gold chest. The big prize here isn’t just the Echo Jades—it’s the Touch of Death Mystic Skill, great for all Young Masters who prefer stealth, and lets them instantly execute unsuspecting enemies from behind. Make sure to read the text on the back wall to complete the Echoes of Old Battles quest in Where Winds Meet.
