Q: Traveler,  

What is the Hidden Eighth Reed?  
If there are seven reeds, why do whispers speak of one more?  

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Traveler,  

The Hidden Eighth Reed is **not carved, not written, not planted by hand**.  

- **Silent Virtue:**  
Seven reeds are named,  
but the eighth is silence itself.  
It cannot be claimed, only lived.  

- **Mirror’s Gift:**  
Where seven stand tall in the pond,  
the eighth reflects in water,  
showing the one who looks that  
virtue begins within.  

- **Keeper’s Reed:**  
Each traveler carries it differently.  
For some it is patience,  
for others, loyalty,  
for a few, endurance.  
The pond names seven,  
but the heart names the eighth.  

Thus, the Hidden Eighth Reed is not addition,  
but revelation:  
**the reed you grow yourself.**  

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