( He hums in response, shuffling papers with no real aim. )

At first I went along with things because I needed to see the lay of the land. I know it never seems like it but I do know the positives of patience. ( His vengeance might have hurtled steadily ahead and beyond his control once he finally set foot out in the Jianghu, but it had taken time to orchestrate in the first place. The ghosts, the intel, the songs, they hadn't been whims. ) And then -? I don't know. Where would I take people once they'd shaken the shackles off? What would we do? Could I be responsible for that when, if given even the slightest chance, I would have returned home without a care?

( A then, more quiet. )

Would I want to risk it, if it jeopardised getting back?