He startles when the ground trembles under his feet and looks down, watching the pebbles shiver and bounce against his shoes. Then he looks up again at Wei Wuxian with that same expression of wide-eyed mania writ large over his face. He's stunned, and terrified, and the absurd fact that Wei Wuxian would rather kill him than tell him what happened to his son puts him right at the top of the steps in Lanling City again, waiting for Nie Mingjue to bring down Baxia on his head.

"Kill me then," he spits. "Do it."