Kuai recoils because he is very, very, unused to being touched. He's also frigid to the touch, but his heart is definitely pumping blood around.

"True. And we do bleed and can be injured." Okay so maybe they can be dying. He was optimistically assuming that they'd either be alive or dead, a simple binary. But injuries could occur and then need to be healed from which throws his theory out of sorts.

"Yes, we need to figure out a way to shield ourselves from that. But now we're all seeing the same things - the same shifts in our lanterns. It must mean something to happen all at once."

And stepping away now, he doesn't want to be this close to anyone.