[ He shakes his head. ] It won't. It's never going to get better. You can't... [ You can't bring her back, he wants to say, but as the blood flows out of Wei Ying's wound so the screaming and the muddle of emotions is flowing out of Jiang Cheng. Not gone but a little more bearable, enough that he remembers who he is and where and that he had quietly made the decision to himself that he wouldn't tell Wei Wuxian. So he presses his lips together and sniffles miserably. ] It won't. [ His voice is just as small as he feels.

But it isn't over yet, Wei Wuxian is still prodding at him, still demanding and he understands. He has tried cutting himself. There are gashes on his arms and his legs and smaller cuts peppering the rest of his body and the relief has never lasted. Wei Wuxian's sacrifice will be useless if they don’t do it properly. ]

You have always tried to fix everything with blood.

[ He turns unseeing eyes on where the knife is pointed. Slowly pushes down and chokes out another bitter sob laugh - it sounds so much like in these memories, too. ] I should have done this myself already. I should have just let myself bleed out...