He's trying to be gentle, knowing that there is no real way to make what he has to say sound anything but wrong and still feeling like he owes this man the truth. The truth is really all he has left to believe in, even if Jin Guangyao shattered it himself before he fell. All Lan Xichen can do is keep believing that maybe, somehow, that truth might keep his world right after everything that happened.

The pain in Jin Guangyao's eyes makes him turn away, although he still finds himself wondering how much of that pain is real. He wondered that a lot since he returned to Cloud Recesses, closing himself off and looking back, questioning the connection he thought they had. How much of that life had been a lie? He wants to withdraw from that pain, afraid that his heart will waver again, but he feels the grip tighten and looks at them instinctively, unable to resist.

"Without a witch's magic to help calm them, monsters can become violent. They have been saying it's important for witches and monsters to bond, so that a witch's magic doesn't become blocked and backfire and monsters don't lose control. It's not something that would affect this dream, but... It's just what I've heard."