He cracks a wan smile. "He is," he agrees quietly. "But I think he has changed in the last three years. He has become better at walking the grey spaces between."

If his seclusion had done what his uncle wanted it to do, Lan Zhan would have struck down Wei Wuxian the instant they crossed paths. That he has not -- that he has, instead, helped him, comforted him, shared meals with him --

He wrenches his thoughts on another path.