[Dan Feng's brow furrows just a bit as he listens, a thoughtful distance filling bright eyes as his gaze trails away a little, unseeing. Much of what he's learning from Dan Heng... he would never really be able to know in his lifetime if he remained back in the shackling prison -- if the Fox had never showed up and led part of him away.

At the same time, even with the passage of centuries of torture, surely he still held some information that Dan Feng could only imagine hadn't been passed on in its entirety. Especially considering how long he kept his silence.]

I'd certainly not label any single one of them above resorting to that... though I find it likely that my own failure to fully control the High Elder selection process contributed far more to this split of your power and the current High Elder's, if... likely little other than that.

[Though considering the basis of his attempt had relied on information from the Preceptors... the idea he'd been manipulated in a time of grief and desperation wasn't especially a pleasant one. There was nothing he could do about the intentional flaws following that, though... and as he was now, he'd not experienced his molting rebirth, even if he knew it would be happening.]

... I may need some time to more thoroughly consider the events of my past, with how much time has passed for even myself... but I do believe you may be correct in your thoughts on their intentions.

[Though he appears relatively serene other than his furrowed brow... the tip of his tail has once more adopted a somewhat frustrated flick.]

At least in part, I was acting under information the Preceptors gave me.