Chapter Text
1.
Hua Cheng woke up feeling refreshed. After their late-night exercise, His Highness had taken the initiative to shyly cuddle with him yesterday, and Hua Cheng was frankly feeling over the moon about it.
So yes, Hua Cheng had woken up feeling great. A few seconds later, not so much.
Because—he was the only one on the bed right now!! Where was His Highness?! In addition, why was there a warm lump resting on his chest?!
Stiffly, Hua Cheng slowly peeled away the blankets he was under—and then he stopped and stared.
A tiny, toddler-sized Xie Lian who was currently sitting on his chest, blearily blinked back. “Cheng-gege?”
Hua Cheng: “Asakjhdkajshdkjasdhkjas—”
2.
Feng Xin was having a great day. The sun was shining, there were no troublesome female followers praying for things he really couldn’t grant, and even Mu Qing hadn’t come over to bother him.
So yes, Feng Xin was having a great day......until a certain Ghost King came to visit him.
He felt Hua Cheng’s presence before he saw him. A second later, the man appeared by his doorway, looking quite harried but also very smitten. Uh, what?
“Blood Rain Reaching Towards a Flower,” Feng Xin began stiffly. “What brings you here? Where is His Highness the Crown Prince?”
Hua Cheng gave him a very enigmatic smile. It......would have probably looked more convincing if there weren’t black circles under his eyes. Feng Xin didn’t even know that Ghost Kings could get eyebags.
However, before the man could say anything, a white blob that had been hiding behind him suddenly dashed out and hugged Feng Xin’s legs.
“Papa!”
“The hell?!” Feng Xin quickly dodged. In fact, the only reason Feng Xin didn’t kick the white blob away was because the spiritual aura around the blob felt awfully familiar.
Like, really familiar.
It couldn’t be......
Feng Xin stiffly looked down, only to see a deaged version of his Crown Prince. Said Crown Prince gave him an adorable smile before toddling over again and hugging his legs. “Papa!”
“What the f*ck,” Feng Xin intoned blankly, his mind no longer computing. “What the f*ck!”
“May I ask that you stop swearing in front of gege,” Hua Cheng gritted out, his dark aura almost materializing behind him.
“Blood Rain Reaching Towards a Flower, what the f*ck—”
“Papa, what does ‘f*ck’ mean?”
Feng Xin almost screamed.
3.
Mu Qing. Stared.
“Mama! Up!”
Jun Wu really had the worst timing. Of all days, why did he have to pick this one to send him and Feng Xin on a joint mission?
“Mama?”
......No, the better question was, why hadn’t Mu Qing ran for the hills when he still had a chance?
“M-Mama? No up?” The little white bun beside his legs sniffled. To avoid being eviscerated by the fuming Ghost King watching over them for making Xie Lian cry, Mu Qing reached down and carefully picked up the deaged Crown Prince.
(If he wasn’t already dead, Hua Cheng would have had an epilepsy at the sight.)
“What the hell are you doing?! Put down His Highness!” Surprisingly, Feng Xin was the first one who flipped.
“He wanted me to pick him up, did you want me to just kick him away?!” Mu Qing rolled his eyes before snapping back. “More importantly, how did His Highness become like this?!”
“......” Evidently, Feng Xin, who had been trying to not die because of Hua Cheng earlier, had no clue how to answer that. He turned to Hua Cheng and asked, “Why did His Highness the Crown Prince deage?”
“Many factors contributed to this change,” Hua Cheng replied impassively. “But I believe he will turn back soon.”
What?
It wasn’t like Hua Cheng could tell them that he had accidentally f*cked Xie Lian into a minor Qi deviation, alright?!
4.
Shi QingXuan took one look at the toddler Xie Lian and choked on his wine. Alarmed, He Xuan, who had been sitting beside him, started patting the Wind Master on the back.
“Oh my god,” Shi QingXuan wheezed. “Blood Rain Reaching Towards a Flower, is that the love child you and His Highness the Crown Prince had?! And you guys didn’t even invite me to the baby shower?!”
Everyone: “......”
“No,” little Xie Lian said. He pulled onto the hem of Feng Xin’s robes and seriously explained, “Papa.”
Feng Xin: “......”
“Oops, sorry Lianlian,” Shi QingXuan wheezed out an apology, although this time he was breathless because he was trying his best to hold in his laughter. “Then, who’s your mama?”
Xie Lian pointed at Mu Qing.
Mu Qing: “......”
Shi QingXuan: “Ahahahahahahaha—”
“Stop laughing,” Feng Xin grumbled. “His Highness is probably too young, since he couldn’t say our names no matter what—”
“Feng-ge, up!” Xie Lian suddenly yelled.
Feng Xin stuttered, eyes widening until he realized Xie Lian was reaching out in......the Wind Master’s direction*.
Shi QingXuan: “AHAHAHAHAHAHA—”
5.
“Grandpa,” Xie Lian said sweetly, from his seat on......Jun Wu’s lap.
The man patted the little bun’s head with a satisfied smile.
Everyone else:
