Chapter Text
hua cheng doesn’t know how it happens but one second he’s talking to a normal sized xie lian, the next second there’s a baby xie lian in his arms babbling at him and playing with his hair. they had just come back to paradise manner after taking a walk through ghost city when xie lian had complained about not feeling well, probably something he had eaten. he sits down on the floor, leaning on the table next to him for support while hua cheng runs to get him some medicine or a glass of water or something to help but when he comes back, it’s not xie lian on the ground anymore but a tiny baby reaching up to the table behind it to stand up. hua cheng stops in his tracks and looks around in panic trying to figure out where xie lian went. he calls out to him thinking that maybe he went out for a second but to his surprise, when he calls out xie lian’s name, it’s the baby that turns around to answer him. wide eyed and chubby cheeked, the baby looks at hua cheng expectantly then turns its arms away from the table and towards hua cheng as if waiting to be picked up. hua cheng doesn’t know what to do in the moment, shock overtaking him. because this can’t possibly be xie lian. there’s no reasonable explanation for this. but the baby answered to his name and when hua cheng looks at it closely, he realizes that it kind of looks like him as well. even its clothes look like tiny versions of the outfit xie lian had been wearing.
hua cheng sets the items in his hands down on the ground and slowly walks towards the baby. when he does, the baby begins to giggle excitedly and reach out again to him. hua cheng cautiously lowers himself to the baby’s height, putting his arms under it, and picking it up. when the baby is in his arms, it begins to kick excitedly and blow out spit bubbles and hua cheng becomes conflicted. because if this baby is actually xie lian then he’s going to start freaking out any second because one, how did this happen??? and two, how is he supposed to take care of a baby??? he’s a ghost king! not a dad! he doesn’t know the first thing about caring for a child. hell, he can barely take care of himself!
while hua cheng is panicking, it’s as if the baby, baby xie lian, is having the time of his life. he starts to play with the bead hanging off of hua cheng’s braid, his chubby hands holding it in his palm making it look so big. hua cheng watches as baby xie lian brings the bead to his mouth and tries to eat it and he quickly grabs it from him in a panic, scared he’ll accidentally rip it off his hair and choke on it. what he didn’t expect was for baby xie lian to start crying at this, letting out high pitched screams, his face bright red and stained with tears.
“no no, don’t cry baby. I’m sorry. sh sh sh.” he starts to shake baby xie lian in his arms, trying to stop his crying, but it doesn’t work. the baby continues to scream and hua cheng doesn’t know what to do. he tries to console him by giving him something else to play with but that doesn’t work either, so he sets the shrieking baby on the ground and runs around the manor trying to find something to make him stop. hua cheng runs into the main hall and finds food on the table that had been set out for he and xie lian upon their return and he grabs a steamed bun off of it and runs back to the baby. he takes one of his chubby hands and tries to place the bun in it causing him to momentarily pause his crying to look at it. once he sees what it is, baby xie lian brings the bun to his mouth and begins nibbling on it, his snot covered and tear-stained face now less red and scrunched up than before.
hua cheng breathes out a sigh of relief but, while this did stop the crying, it’s only a temporary fix. he’s left to deal with the bigger problem that is taking care of a whole child on his own and figuring out how to turn him back into his adult self. for the first time since becoming a ghost king, hua cheng is stumped. he watches as baby xie lian eats the bun, taking bites that are too big for him and struggling to chew, and he wishes he could capture this moment because baby xie lian is adorable. he scoots closer to him and gently pries the bun out of his hand to give him smaller pieces of it, making sure he doesn’t choke. when baby xie lian gets tired of eating he begins to crawl around the room, finding random things in it to play with. he makes his way towards the table and tries to use it to stand up again but loses his balance the first couple of times. hua cheng watches his determined face as he grasps the edge of the table and his slippery hands lose their grip and he falls on his butt with a thud. baby xie lian doesn’t cry any of the times he falls but it’s clear that he’s frustrated. he keeps trying until he finally gets it, and he stands, throwing his hands up in celebration. hua cheng bursts out laughing at this and begins to clap and cheer for him.
“you did it!” he cheers. “I knew you would.”
baby xie lian ignores him when he notices the ink and papers on the table and pulls one of the papers causing the inkwell to crash onto the ground and shatter on the floor, spilling ink everywhere. he’s about to toddle over to the mess he made when hua cheng gasps and jumps up to pick him up and move him out of the way.
“no! bad baby! you’re gonna get hurt!” he takes him to the other side of the room and sets him down to go clean up the mess but when he turns around, he realizes that baby xie lian had crawled up behind him, so he picks him back up and tries putting him in the same spot again.
“wait here,” he signals at him with his hands but the baby crawls again, this time faster, and makes his way towards hua cheng’s legs thinking he’s playing with him. hua cheng groans and goes to grab a chair to set him down on so he can clean up, but he realizes it’s a bad idea as soon as baby xie lian tries to crawl over the side of the chair and almost falls to the ground. hua cheng’s reflexes are quick and he catches the baby before he lands on his head, his heart pounding in fear. it’s clear to hua cheng that he’s going to need some help if he’s going to take care of baby xie lian and also try to figure out what turned him into a baby in the first place but the idea of asking for help sounds both unappealing and impossible. there isn’t a single person in the world he’d be able to trust with adult xie lian let alone baby xie lian. there also isn’t anyone he would turn to for help since he’s usually able to solve his problems on his own or turn to xie lian for help but xie lian is clearly not an option right now. he tries to rack his brain for any solution when an idea comes to mind that he shoves to the back of his mind, not interested in entertaining it. but the longer he thinks about it, the more he realizes that it is probably his only option. he scowls at the thought. there isn’t much else he can do though, xie lian can’t stay a baby forever and hua cheng can’t risk his safety for his own pride. he looks at the baby in his arms who’s resting his head on his shoulder and sighs, leaning his head on him. he’s doing it for xie lian he tells himself.
hua cheng grabs a couple things from his armory also grabbing an extra robe on the way to cover baby xie lian with and makes his way out of paradise manor. usually he feels confident in his skills and his ability to keep himself safe in the face of danger especially since there isn’t really any danger that he could see himself in, but with baby xie lian in his arms, he’s on edge and every sound or movement has him tightly gripping the baby in his arms. the ghosts in ghost city all make way for him as he walks past them, chattering amongst themselves about where their master could possibly be going but none of them dares to ask. hua cheng makes his way out of ghost city and begrudgingly heads to a place he swore he’d never visit again. he hates that he has to go back on his word, but he’d do anything to protect his dianxia, even if it means doing the thing he hates the most.
when he enters the heavens, there’s an explosion of commotion amongst the heavenly officials who see him. hua cheng almost wishes he had changed into something more inconspicuous but it’s too late for that now. he hears whispers of “what’s he doing here?” and “do we tell someone?” but ignores them, heading to his destination. when he arrives at the palace doors, he lifts the robe to check on the baby in his arms and finds him sleeping peacefully. he adjusts him gently, angling him away from the doors in front of him, and turns to knock. the person who opens is shocked at first to see him but quickly schools their face into a sly smirk.
“to what do I my lord the pleasure?”