Would he tell me? [At the very least, she can get an interesting story out of it, she thinks.] But no. Don't test it. Dying once was enough for you.

[There is a note of scolding in her voice. A note of command, even.]

Lao Dian is a smuggler, but he's also a Chinese mandarin. He knows almost everything in the world - really, I'm not only saying that. He speaks three times as many languages as me, and he's been all over the world from Beiping to Baghdad. If he was here... [she trails off with a mournful sigh.]

But the instruments played back for me too. I think maybe it's just something they do?