Any of the great clans - not the Lan, surely, with their focus on peace and genteel cultivation, or the Jiang, who at the time were either still run by the kind and generous Sect Leader Jiang or no one at all. Not the Nie, of course, they never would cross a close ally.

It left the Jin or the Wen.

He can read Pagan’s posture, the tightness in his face. He frowns. “How old was she?” he asks softly.

He wants to know what happened to his wife and son. They were still alive - are they not now? But one question at a time.