[The question draws Wei Wuxian's gaze, sharp and still flashing with that quiet anger, but something else lurks behind those emotions. Does any of this seem familiar?

Maybe it's just the difference in their personalities, but the question prickles beneath his skin. For Kirigan to share such a painful story and then call attention to his own reaction...It feels calculated. If he wasn't on guard, would he have noticed? Or is it actually an innocent question, and he's only seeing what he expects to see?

(He can't imagine sharing about the Wen and then asking that question. Not unless he had an aim.)

Setting his provoked suspicions aside, he only shakes his head, exhaustion rather than a denial. The empathy he feels is real, but he won't go so far as to give pieces of himself away to a man he doesn't trust.]

Shouldn't it? Isn't that always how people behave? Terrified of what they don't understand. Persecuting the innocent for their own peace of mind, or worse, when peace of mind is only a convenient guise for greed.

[His fists curl again but there's no further sign of that black smoke.]

I'm sorry for their ignorance and the suffering of your people. They don't deserve that.