A half smile graces his face at the first question. "Because I didn't want to. I didn't feel the drive to take care of myself. The person I loved did not love me back, so what kind of person was I to be so foolish?"

Cheng's half smile faded though as he worked to tell his chosen nephew the rest. "It was a long time ago. During the Sunshot campaign. When Lotus Pier was seiged....the Wen clan had a cultivator who's name was the Core Melting Hand. He was widely feared because he could destroy someone's core and turn them into a normal human. They were no longer a cultivator because of him.

"He destroyed my core. And he nearly destroyed my sect because of it."