He scritches behind the pup's ears, earning a pleasantly limp young wolf which makes him smile softly. Xue Yang purposely keeps his back to Wuxian as he listens - just as he'd expected. He wishes he'd been wrong, actually.

He huffs out a breath, head tilting to one side, and responds with some of his own childhood.

"I remember fighting over scraps. Being kicked away, stomped on, yelled at, chased off. Just because I had no one to look after me. I remember the dogs that would run at me too." He laughs, because what else can he do? "I'm glad you got adopted, Senior. Staying on the streets wouldn't have been very fun for you."

Wei Wuxian would have ended up even more like Xue Yang. His left hand twitches in memory, earning a glare before he buries the maimed hand in his stallion's mane - it's better than it has been. Far better. Zichen has done wonders on easing much of the scar tissue that marrs his body.

But he can't remove the scars. He'll always have bad days, where he really shouldn't be on his feet, much less walking.

He doesn't want that for his Senior though.

"But some dogs are good. You just have to look, and train. Like any cultivation."