"You might have to," Jiang Cheng states after a moment of silence. His throat is being torn apart by the care and concern being shown to him by the wonder that is Lan Xichen, and he reaches up to touch the skin there with a sad, breathy little noise.

It hurts. Everything about this hurts.

"I would welcome it if there were something, Zewu-jun, but I am afraid we are out of options. I can feel it."