Bab 180: Care to Explain?

"How much did he tell you?" I asked instead, hoping that it was a question Xie Lun could actually answer. "When you came to find me, it was already five days since he went into retreat. How did you know what had happened during that time?"

"I didn't know." Xie Lun shrugged. "But I didn't need to. He told me that something unpleasant might happen to you while he was away, and it was easy enough to tell whether that was the case by simply looking at you."

Something unpleasant was just a little understatement of what happened, I grumbled inwardly. Though I suppose that was the simplest description to prepare Xie Lun for all different possibilities. Bai Ye must have given him different tasks based on how I reacted to that vision in the crystal. Had I looked angry instead of despondent, for example, I wouldn't be surprised if Xie Lun's job would become adding more fuel to my fury and making me doubt Bai Ye further.