"Mn." He lets himself steep in the memory of that moment, lingering in the notes that had echoed only against the walls of the jingshi for twenty years. Wen Qionglin falling to his knees, Wei Ying with a new face and body but none of his power over the dead diminished. Lan Wangji was frozen with shock, disbelief and hope and swelling determination to do better this time, to stay by his side and protect him the way he had failed to thirteen years before.

It's a beat too long before he gathers himself, looking at Claudius with a hint of sheepishness. He trusts Claudius to understand his lapse into distraction, at least. "Mo Xuanyu was gone by then. He had sacrificed himself with an old, forbidden ritual. He intended to summon the Yiling Patriarch to take revenge on his cruel family on his behalf."