[ yiling's patriarch doesn't sit higher than his guests; it's a practice he's fallen into, as naturally as he's fallen into curling his fingers through the hair of the young woman ( eight days dead, her nails and teeth sharp things that she hides in the folds of her gown ) who had heralded the arrival of general xie an's only son. her mouth a delicately-painted blossom that glides to his ear to whisper secrets and observations to him as xie bi'an comes across all of china in search of the young man who had become the blackest stain on cultivation's history. ]

Can I do it?

[ his voice is low, pointed in the same way that the woman's teeth are as she flashes a smile and scurries away like a demonic butterfly, fluttering softly behind some screens and fading from view. wei wuxian leans forward, fingers steepled and tucked between his knees as he contemplates the offerings before him. what pours over him is a smile, something once-bright that merely echoed his former self. and a laugh, brassy and bold. ]

Of course I can, of course I can! Young master Xie, there's no need to grovel before me. I know of the pain you are barely able to live with, I have heard the whispers of the truth behind Fan Wujiu's death -- it's a familiar tale to me. One I can't bear to see exist without some manner of epilogue.

[ one of his own, his ghost general, met a cruel fate as well, after all.

he holds up two fingers: ]

I don't need your land. I'll take half of your offered gold, as well as your smartest merchant, though - have it dispersed among my people and make sure that your merchant knows they'll be moving goods to Yiling and its people. No need to disguise such a fact from them. Your name, associated with mine, will be enough past that. I foresee a very long, very beneficial partnership, young master Xie.

[ he rises then, a raven accented with red and beckons for Xie Bi'an to rise as well ]

Come on! I think he'll take to his situation well if it's you he sees first with his eyes.