"So he did tell you, then," Jin Guangyao says quietly, and there's a note of relief in his voice, as though knowing this at least eases one burden of many from his mind. "About the sabre curse. Er-ge and I wondered whether he would, before..."

He lets his words to taper off into uncertain silence. Nie Mingjue cast a long shadow in life; in death, it seems, he looms even larger.

He hesitates, then reaches out once more to gently touch Huaisang's shoulder. Softly, he says, "I am so sorry for your loss." The words are said with gentle sincerity; he has never wished to see Huaisang in pain, and deep down beneath the layers of his anger and hatred of Nie Mingjue, there is a kernel of affection remaining. That part of him grieves for the man who once saw the lowly Meng Yao tending to the dead and dying on the Hejian front, and recognized his worth.