[Huaisang trails along closely, shadowing his friend beside his left shoulder, wanting as much protection as possible.] It's very ... soulless. There are so few windows. I already feel buried.

[He twitches at every hint of sound or movement, some of them imagined, and hesitates at the steps down. He's never felt so defenseless. All his life he's been surrounded by people who can protect him. Even after the loss of Mingjue, he still always had powerful friends and powerful subordinates to protect him. Now, he and Wuxian don't even have their small charms to protect themselves.] Maybe we shouldn't, Wei-xiong.

[But it's not a real objection and he doesn't expect to be released from this. They need information above all else. If they're lucky, there won't be anything more than that today. Continuing on shyly beside him, Huaisang points the way as they continue. His ability to sense spiritual energy is much handicapped, but it's still there, and he can feel the way they need to go. Partially because it's the opposite direction of the way he feels he wants to go.]

I hope this is nothing like that time. At least then we had Lan Wangji. We had our golden cores.