Where Winds Meet 2.3: How to Get the Willowbend Fan Martial Art and 2 Inner Ways

Where Winds Meet version 2.3 adds the Qingzhou region and a new Silkbind · Wings martial path. Its first weapon, the Willowbend Fan, comes from a single side story called Riddled Echoes. The quest takes place in an underground tomb full of traps, riddles and a companion who keeps knocking on walls. The quest also awards two Inner Way tomes, but only after you finish the whole thing. The fan unlocks partway through.

Quick answer: Go to Seedling Temple in Qingzhou, start Riddled Echoes, and clear the Hero’s Tomb. The fan unlocks in the incubation chamber. The Zephyr Whispers and Blade’s Will tomes arrive when the quest completes.

Riddled Echoes quest location and rewards

Riddled Echoes is a solo side story. The quest log lists it as a Lost Chapter quest, and the Exploration menu files it as Jianghu Legacy Volume 01. It starts near Seedling Temple in Qingzhou – Eastern Peak. Walk up to the signpost by the temple pond and a cutscene of meteors crossing the sky kicks off the investigation. The quest marker then points you toward the impact crater.

Completing the quest pays out the following.

Reward	Amount
Willowbend Fan (Martial Art)	Unlocked mid-quest
Zephyr Whispers: Tome	x1
Blade’s Will: Tome	x1
Echo Jade	x30
Coin	x15000
Stored EXP	x15000
Qingzhou Exploration	x50
Ebon Iron: Ever Aflame	x4
Medicinal Tales	x1
Decoration: Winged-Tree Lamp	x1

Hero’s Tomb walkthrough to the Willowbend Fan

Zhuge Feifei of the Inkbound Order guides you for most of the dungeon. The route is linear, but a few puzzles stop you cold if you don’t know what the game wants. Stone chests line the corridors along the way, and they are worth opening as you pass.

Entering the tomb and the riddle rooms

Follow the Riddled Echoes marker from Seedling Temple through the woods to the meteor crater. Jump into the deep fissure labeled Hero’s Tomb.

Crater Descent — The fissure under the crater leads straight down into the Hero's Tomb. Shown at 01:13 in JBGamingExp’s video. Image: Everstone Studio

Examine the broken bowl on the stone table in the first chamber. Then talk to Zhuge Feifei, who explains that the tomb’s doors are sealed.

Use the fractured gap in the side wall rather than the sealed door. Grave robbers cut this tunnel to get past the entrance.

Crawl through the narrow crevices and move carefully through the spiked-floor hallways. Loot the stone chests along the way.

Traversing Trap Corridors — Glowing stone chests sit along the trap corridors, so open them as you go. Shown at 03:42 in JBGamingExp’s video. Image: Everstone Studio

In the underground banquet hall, examine the second broken bowl and read its riddle inscription. Collect the bamboo scroll fragments on the tables before moving on.

Examine the kneeling statues and the altar with the inverted bowl, which shows the third riddle. You don’t solve the riddle here. That happens in the final crypt.

Statues and Altar Riddle — The inverted bowl on this altar carries the third riddle, which you solve later in the crypt. Shown at 07:05 in JBGamingExp’s video. Image: Everstone Studio

The three riddle inscriptions read as follows.

“A thing most precious, most revered. All raise their eyes to it.”
“A thing most worthless, most despised. All turn their faces from it.”
“There is a thing whose presence brings peace, but whose loss splits the earth and shatters mountains.”

Quicksilver flood and the dark corridors

When quicksilver starts pouring from the wall spouts, jump across the floating wooden lids and stepping stones to reach higher ground. Standing in the flood applies Quicksilver Poisoning, and the debuff stays with you after you escape.

In the next room, find the table of aged wine jars. Drink from them repeatedly until the prompt to Channel Qi to cure the poison appears, then select it to clear the debuff.

Curing Quicksilver Poisoning — Keep drinking from the wine jars until the Channel Qi prompt appears to purge Quicksilver Poisoning. Shown at 10:01 in JBGamingExp’s video. Image: Everstone Studio

Smash the cracked wall to break into the dark corridors behind it. Use the Mystic Skill Night Claw to see your way through the darkness.

Knock on the stone dividing wall at the circular sound-wave markers to coordinate with Zhuge Feifei on the other side. Keep answering his knocks as you crawl through the rubble until the two paths meet.

Crawling Through Rubble — Answering Zhuge Feifei's knocks leads you out of the dark section to where the two of you regroup. Shown at 12:00 in JBGamingExp’s video. Image: Everstone Studio

Insect swarm and the Willowbend Fan chamber

In the chamber of curiosities, inspect the toys and figurines, then reach inside the central chest. It snaps shut and releases a swarm of insects that hunt light and heat.

Run down the corridor ahead of the swarm. When you reach the hanging oil lamp, shoot a flaming arrow at it to burn the insects and stop the chase.

Keep moving until the floor collapses and separates you from Zhuge Feifei. Make your way down to the lowest level, where he waits beside destroyed purple incubation coffins.

Finding Zhuge & Incubation Room — The ruined incubation chamber at the bottom of the tomb is where the Willowbend Fan unlocks. Shown at 17:44 in JBGamingExp’s video. Image: Everstone Studio

Examine the desk with the scattered book pages and the discarded fan near the training stand. This unlocks the Willowbend Fan Martial Art.

You can confirm the unlock right away in the Martial Arts character menu. The Willowbend Fan appears there with its stats, skills and talent tree, listed as a Ranged DPS weapon under Silkbind · Wings.

Solving the final riddle to finish Riddled Echoes

Leaving with the fan doesn’t give you the tomes. You still have to clear the crypt above the incubation chamber.

Climb the wooden ladder on the wall into the main crypt, the room with the glowing celestial ceiling. Read the Tomb Master’s Bamboo Scrolls on the side tables.

At the altar before the main sarcophagus, interact with the bowl set upside down. The riddle chain’s answer is the gecko tucked beneath it.

Once the sarcophagus slides open, drink the Fine Wine resting inside. This starts a long vision of a Han Dynasty banquet.

Watch the banquet sequence through to the end. You wake up in the crypt next to Zhuge Feifei.

The quest is done when the “01 Riddled Echoes Completed” screen appears and the reward list pops up. Both Inner Way tomes go into your inventory at that point.

Unlocking Zephyr Whispers and Blade’s Will Inner Ways

The tomes don’t apply themselves. Open the Inner Way menu and use Zephyr Whispers: Tome and Blade’s Will: Tome to comprehend each one. Each Inner Way reaches its Tier 1 breakthrough as soon as you comprehend it.

Inner Way	Role	Trigger	Tier 1 breakthrough
Zephyr Whispers	Attack DMG Boost Support	Verdant Gust or Boundless Bloom hits	End of Gale applies Ink Rhythm for 6s
Blade’s Will	Attack Debuff Stacking	Varied Combo or Drumbeat hits 3+ enemies	Blade of Grass lasts 8s

Zephyr Whispers unlocks the Willowbend Fan’s Heavy Attack Varied Combo. Landing Verdant Gust or Boundless Bloom makes End of Gale available. Its cast grants Tenacity and sends you dashing through as many as four targets, knocking them down and dealing moderate damage. After the breakthrough, the final strike applies Ink Rhythm. Enemies under Ink Rhythm take 5% more damage from Willowbend Fan and Drumbeat skills, while dealing 5% less damage.

Blade’s Will applies a stack of Blade of Grass when a Light or Heavy Attack Varied Combo, or a Museflow Waist Drum Drumbeat skill, hits at least three enemies at once. It stacks up to five times. Against players, each stack raises Endurance Cost by 1% and lowers damage dealt by 1%. Against non-player units, each stack makes them take 2% more damage from Varied Combos and Drumbeat skills. The breakthrough extends the stack duration from 5 seconds to 8 seconds.

Blade’s Will refers to Drumbeat skills from the Museflow Waist Drum, the Willowbend Fan’s partner weapon on the Silkbind · Wings path. The drum is not part of Riddled Echoes. It comes from a separate Qingzhou quest, Jianghu Legacy Volume 02, Sea Shepherd, which starts at Cliffside Path.