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Hua Cheng's return to Mount Taicang had not gone unnoticed. As promised, the golden bells of Heaven rang so loudly that some heavenly officials decided to temporarily leave their palace to take shelter in one of their most beautiful temples in the mortal realm.
It had taken a while for Hua Cheng to return to a material form. He would have liked to be quicker but he did it as fast as possible knowing that Xie Lian would be there waiting for him.
The first thing Hua Cheng did was send thousands of lanterns into the sky. Three thousand and one precisely. From now on, every year he would add an extra lantern to show his love to his god. Each year together, an additional lantern. And even if one day his god rejected him, he would continue to show his worship as a faithful one. He would only stop if his god explicitly ordered him to do so.
How could he keep his emotions to himself when he saw Xie Lian, his love, his everything running towards him? He was the luckiest man in the entire universe. He would fight anyone who dared say otherwise.
They had been inseparable for the next few days and Xie Lian had even had to cut off his spiritual communication array to be peaceful. Hua Cheng secretly loved the idea that with the bells ringing up there, every heavenly official would know that he had returned and was spending his time in the company of the most beautiful and wonderful person.
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian were inseparable the following week. Affection came naturally between them, settling comfortably.
At first, Xie Lian was shy, always with a cautious touch. He just held hands, brief touches on Hua Cheng's shoulder or hip. The latter voraciously accepted whatever was given to him and gave back as much in return.
Back at Paradise Manor, Xie Lian had even started hugging Hua Cheng during the day, something he previously only did in the privacy of their bedroom. Hua Cheng's heart would have stopped because he was so filled with tenderness. He remembers being in the kitchen when Xie Lian wrapped his arms around him and clung to his back. He stopped breathing for a moment before finally matching his breathing with that of his god.
It also sometimes happened that they stayed next to each other without saying anything. The silence between them was never awkward. Neither of them wanting to find something to say to fill the void. Just enjoying each other’s company. Listen in silence.
It was one of those evenings.
Hua Cheng to the left of Xie Lian, both of them lying on the bed holding hands, with their knees leaning on each other. Their bed.
This was another thought that Hua Cheng had difficulty processing. His god. Their bed.
How could he ever have imagined this? During these eight-hundred years of research, these had only been fantasies. To have his god only for him, returning his feelings, his affection. These ideas had helped him to hold on.
He only realized that his hands were trembling when his beloved's face entered his field of vision. “San Lang? Is everything alright?”
He wanted to erase the frown that appeared on his god's face. He knew he was the source of this concern.
“I –” with a shaky breath he tried to compose himself, “I’m afraid this is all a dream. That if I’m not careful enough your highness will disappear.”
Xie Lian didn't say anything, just continued to stroke Hua Cheng's hair while leaning on one elbow.
“I am not worthy of you.”
It was said with a tone of finality. A conclusion the calamity had arrived at long ago. A thought that was rooted and grounded. Even as a child he had considered himself this way. He tainted the beauty and kindness of his god.
Xie Lian shook his head tenderly. “You are the most dignified person I know.” He placed a kiss on Hua Cheng's forehead. “I too sometimes think I’m dreaming, how could I have attracted your attention? Have your devotion? I could relive what happened to me a hundred times if it was to find you at the end of the road and have your love.” Another kiss under the ghost's jaw. “Together. Let's try to convince ourselves that we deserve to be together.” One last kiss on the black patch with a silver butterfly pattern.
Xie Lian stepped back.
“Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”
“His Highness doesn’t need to do anything, his presence is enough for me.”
A sigh came from Xie Lian, “San Lang, I can see that you are not being completely honest. Please. There is nothing that pleases me more than knowing that I can help you.”
And how could Hua Cheng refuse such a sincere request from his god?
“Maybe –” he hesitated anyway. Would this be considered an over-the-top request? But Xie Lian had been clear. His god would tell him if he was unwell. Trying to convince himself, the ghost finally blurted out, “Would His Highness allow me to model his body?”
Xie Lian's face betrayed his surprise.
“Of course, anything for my San Lang.” Then he looked down at what he was wearing. “Should I?”
"No. I want to do it myself.” Then he added for good measure “if you don’t mind.”
Xie Lian sat up and got out of bed before stretching his arms out to the side. Hua Cheng followed. His hands hesitated for a few moments, hovering above the void before finally deciding himself. He began by removing his god's outer robe, his fingers calmly undoing the belt. Hua Cheng couldn't help but smile as he noticed that the dress Xie Lian was wearing today was one of the ones he had given him.
He repeated the same action with the inner robe, and went to fold everything on a nearby chair, leaving Xie Lian in only white pants.
But he hadn't completely finished undressing Xie Lian yet. With a smooth gesture, he pulled on the white ribbon that held Xie Lian's hair in a bun. These cascaded onto his god's shoulders and Hua Cheng had to take a few seconds to admire the view and the trust that was so simply granted to him. He stored this image in the back of his mind, knowing that it would most likely end up being drawn in his sketchbook.
Tangling their fingers together, they settled back onto the bed, Hua Cheng guiding Xie Lian to lie on his stomach. He made sure his god was as comfortable as possible, even putting a pillow under his hips. Then he settled himself on Xie Lian's lower back, his thighs on either side of his beloved's hips.
Once satisfied, Hua Cheng rubbed his hands to make them warmer so as not to surprise Xie Lian with their temperature difference. He then applied them to Xie Lian's upper back after gently removing the hair that was there.
He closed his eye to calm down and concentrate. Once ready, he exhaled a long breath. It was only after this process that Hua Cheng allowed himself to begin his exploration of his god.
His hands followed each muscle, from where it started to where it ended. He also counted the vertebrae that he could feel, some more visible than others, particularly at the cervical level. He enjoyed feeling the tone of his god's body vibrating under his palms.
On Mount TongLu, he had spent years carving the one and only thing he had in mind.
He had honed his skills, refining details that once seemed crude. He had trained so that one day he could be worthy of his god.
He'd be lying if he said his thoughts never wandered. That he had remained pure without ever straying from the path. All his sculptures, including the most depraved, had been made from memory. Every moment he had spent with Xie Lian, he had recorded it, absorbed like a man who had spent months in the desert with a single waterskin relying solely on his means of survival and finally arriving at an oasis.
And yet, only now did he realize how much even his latest creations lacked veracity and similarity to the model.
This place was more muscular than he remembered, the curve of the back was less exaggerated but above all there were things he hadn't thought of such as moles.
The only time in his life when he had seen Xie Lian shirtless was in the cave at Beizi Hill. It was dark and Hong-er had many other problems to deal with.
However, he could now count these small colored spots. He ran his fingers over it, starting from the left shoulder then down to Xie Lian's hip and then back up under the right shoulder blade.
“Does Dianxia know that the moles on his back are like a constellation of stars?”
He felt Xie Lian shift beneath him and turn his head to try to catch a glimpse of Hua Cheng.
“San Lang is the first to tell me that.” He smiles softly “It’s a very poetic metaphor.”
“Gege is my muse and my inspiration, how can I not be inspired by him?”
He thus mapped everything he had forgotten, even details that might seem insignificant to the world. He memorized the hollows and shapes, the imperfections, everything that proved his god was a tangible presence. When he was finished, he asked him to turn around, lifting his weight enough so that Xie Lian could change position and move onto his back.
Hua Cheng admired the sight beneath him of his shirtless god. His fingers trailed up Xie Lian's arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. When he arrived at the plexus, he played a little with the silver chain to which his ashes were attached.
He felt an explosion of happiness knowing that his beloved had carried it with him all the time, including during his year of absence.
He was brought back to himself by Xie Lian's fingers moving up and down his forearm, like a reassuring presence.
“Is my San Lang feeling better?” There was no longer any worry in Xie Lian's tone. Only a question to see if he could do more.
Hua Cheng stopped the movement of Xie Lian's hand on his arm, grabbing his wrist to raise his god's knuckles to his forehead.
“I thank Dianxia for granting my request.”
It was a bit like a prayer.
Then he kissed the inside of Xie Lian's wrist that he was still holding. Just a gentle touch of the lips, similar to the touch of his spirit butterflies when they came to rest on him.
"I love you.”
Hua Cheng let go of Xie Lian's hand but it came to wrap around the back of the ghost king's neck, pulling him affectionately towards Xie Lian, until their faces were so close that they could feel each other breath on their cheeks.
Xie Lian's eyes fixed on the eyepatch in an implicit request. Something in Hua Cheng's gaze confirmed his answer as he felt fingers groping at the back of his head for the knot. He finally felt the tension release, and his eyepatch was placed next to them, still not far away, so that if Hua Cheng felt the need he could reach it quickly.
Xie Lian stroked Hua Cheng's hair before his hands cupped the ghost's cheeks.
"I love you.” It was only a whisper, but to Hua Cheng it might as well have been an explosion in the silence of the room. He could feel these three words resonating in his body, spreading like waves and making him vibrate with his entire being.
If Xie Lian noticed that his hands had started to get wet, he didn't mention it. Instead, he just guided Hua Cheng's lips to his. This must have broken something in Hua Cheng because his sobs grew louder.
But when they parted, Hua Cheng's smile couldn't have been bigger. It wasn't his usual smirk that he wore but a sincere smile, filled with happiness. His god loved him.
Unable to bear this wave of emotions, Hua Cheng buried his face in his god's chest, hugging him.
Xie Lian gave a surprised chuckle before taking the sheet and putting it over both of their bodies. The blanket was poorly placed, a little messy, but it still formed a cocoon of warmth in which Xie Lian and Hua Cheng snuggled together.
In that moment, the world could have burned outside, nothing would have dislodged them from the embrace of their other half.