"He knew that I was gone," Lan Wangji says firmly. He also believes entirely that Wei Ying would have known it instantly if he'd been replaced with some pale substitute of himself. One more deliberate pause for thought, and then he adds, "We have been separated¹ before. For thirteen years." The precise time it took his husband to find him did seem a slightly cruel trick, but Lan Wangji was so overcome with weakening relief to see him that he hasn't dwelled on it.

¹Understatement. Wei Wuxian was dead.