CHAPTER 58
They stepped forward together, and as they did, the stone plaque illuminated, revealing the first riddle carved into its surface.
"I cannot talk, but I always reply when spoken to. I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?"
The emperor’s mind raced. The answer was just beyond his reach, like a word on the tip of his tongue, but it wasn’t coming to him. He glanced at the general, whose gaze was fixed on the inscription, as his fingers tapped against his chin.
“I know this one,” he said, his voice steady. “It’s an *echo*. It speaks without a mouth and hears without ears because it reflects sound. And it comes alive when the wind carries the sound to bounce off surfaces. Just like the waterfall echoes around this ca
