( He hesitates, mouth soft as he reaches for a dumpling, fattened and tender and appetizing, decisively swollen. His teeth graze its skin, dipping in, until teardrops of broth seep out in rounded trinkets.

Eat before you speak. Recall, always the principles. At times, watching Anduin as if he were a hawk, Lan Wangji suspects so many of the precepts were written to preserve the patience and appetite of he who heeds them. )

Only if men are shaped by their hurts. ( Earned, received, or inflicted. Defined by agony, wounds and torture. ) Do you think them so?

( Or perhaps can they rise above fear and pain? To represent interests? ) Are you?