Whispers of forgotten skirmishes claw through the ruins as you trace a path where wind and stone remember names long erased.
How to start the ‘Echoes of Old Battles’ quest in Where Winds Meet
To begin the “Echoes of Old Battles” quest, travel to the Ancient Battlefield located west of Lin’an and talk to the wounded soldier near the abandoned campfire. He will mention strange sounds echoing through the area at night and ask for your help investigating them. Accepting his request triggers the first objective, which requires examining the broken weapons scattered around the site and following the sound of distant drums to a hidden cave entrance.
To find the “Echoes of Old Battles” quest, go to the southeastern part of Qinghe. Not far south of the Verdant Wilds Wayfarer location, there’s a large fortress. Walk up to the entrance (from the north), and speak with Lie Bujin to start the quest.
Enter the fortress and slowly approach the bandits. Use the “eavesdrop” function as instructed, then defeat the bandits. Shoot the red barrels with a burning arrow to cause a massive explosion and gain the upper hand.
Once you’ve defeated the bandit leader in the eastern training grounds, open the treasure chest and light a fire on the pillar-shaped mechanism (both are behind Lie Bumie). Climb the southern wall of the fortress to light a second fire (see picture below), then step on the circular contraption that has spawned in the training grounds.
Use the Mighty Drop ability to activate the contraption (jump Q on PC, jump LT/L2 on console), then head downstairs and follow the tunnel for a while. Interact with the dead soldier to obtain info about his oath, then enter the room with the statue (be careful not to touch the rope, as it will trigger a trap).
Interact with the large statue to activate the wall puzzle in Where Winds Meet.
How to solve the wall puzzle in Where Winds Meet
In the chamber with the statue during Echoes of Old Battles, examine the nearby signpost for the Yanyun Oath clue, which reveals the correct Chinese characters for the walls. Push the protruding stone blocks that do not match the oath’s symbols-on the right wall, press the blocks with 移 and 百; on the left wall, press the 漂 block-to leave only 山 河 寸 土 and 誓 死 不 易 glowing. The door unlocks once both walls display the full phrase correctly.
See the large buttons with the glowing Chinese signs on the walls? You’ve got to push the correct buttons to solve the wall puzzle in “Echoes of Old Battles.” The clue lies in the dead soldiers’ oath: “I vow to protect this land with my life.”
The glowing signs on the walls should form the same sentence from left to right. Don’t worry, you don’t need to learn a Chinese language just to solve this Where Winds Meet wall puzzle; if you press the “clue” option (L on PC, Select Right d-pad on console), you will see the Chinese version of the vow on your screen.
So, to solve the “Echoes of Old Battles” puzzle, look at the wall on the left first, and push the button on the right inward. This button is marked with a star in the picture below. You don’t need to touch the other buttons on this side of the room, but if you did, make sure the rest of the wall looks exactly like the example below (just four glowing buttons in total).
Next, look at the wall on the right. Here, too, most of the sentence is already correct. You just need to push the bottom two buttons inward. Make sure the rest of the wall looks like the example below (again, four glowing buttons in total).
How to defeat Zhang Bao boss in Echoes of Old Battles quest
Zhang Bao is the bandit leader boss encountered in the training grounds during the “Echoes of Old Battles” side quest in Where Winds Meet. He wields twin axes and relies on slow, telegraphed attacks that players can counter with precise parries and dodges.
Preparation Tips
Climb the far watchtower overlooking the arena first to thin out bandit adds and archers from safety-their AI often struggles to reach you, letting you tag Zhang Bao at range. Clear extra enemies beforehand to avoid a messy fight, and kite him away from archer lines if needed.
Key Moves and Counters
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Downward Swing: He raises both axes overhead, pauses, then slams down. Dodge sideways during the fall and punish his long recovery.
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Twin Thrusts: Pulls axes back then lunges forward. Side dodge mid-lunge to leave him open for combos.
Zhang Bao lacks high health or speed, so consistent aggression after dodges works well; parry when possible, as noted by players. After defeat, loot the nearby chest for the quest’s treasure map clue.
How to solve the wall puzzle with Chinese characters after Zhang Bao
To solve the wall puzzle with Chinese characters in Where Winds Meet’s “Echoes of Old Battles” quest (right after defeating Zhang Bao), first examine the corpse nearby to learn the Yanyun Oath (or Northern Oath) gesture, then use it in front of the central statue to reveal the walls. The goal is to light up (pull out) only the stone blocks matching the oath inscription characters: 山 (mountain), 河 (river), 寸 (inch), 土 (earth) on the left wall, and 誓死不易 (vow to death unchanging) on the right wall-push all non-matching blocks inward to dim them.
Left Wall Steps
Facing the statue, focus on the left wall’s protruding blocks. Pull out or leave lit only those with 山 河 寸 土 (typically the rightmost four, with a starred one as key); push the leftmost two inward if lit by default. This creates exactly four glowing blocks matching the oath’s first half.
Right Wall Steps
On the right wall, ensure 誓死不易 glows (pull out those four blocks, often the bottom two need pressing inward first if extras are lit). Ignore or dim any mismatches like the tucked corner symbol-facing the statue, push the first right-corner block and second-from-left on the opposite if needed.
After Solution
A gate opens once both walls show precisely the oath characters lit (no more, no less). Crouch past the rope trap ahead, dash through the left waterfall to spin the water wheel, and proceed to the final chest.
