Chapter Text
The world turned upside down, wind speeding past his small body. The sky got further and further away as he plummeted. But, somehow, he stopped, landing in a pair of warm, soft arms. His eyes had closed from fright, but when he opened them, he saw beauty. A beautiful man was holding him tightly, gazing down with a soft smile. The boy looked up at the man gripping onto his robes, slowly realising who was holding him. It was the crown prince of Xianle.
The prince slowly descended to the ground, holding the boy tightly to his chest. When the boy’s eyes shut again, they opened to an opulent, bright white room. It was that dream again.
He would find that prince. So many times they had met, but not once they had been able to stay together. He just wanted to see that beautiful prince again.
He climbed out of his bed, looking into the mirror as he put his hair up with a butterfly hairpin.
“I will find you, dianxia,” Hua Cheng whispered to the mirror.
He strode out of his palace, watching as the lower heavenly officials ogled him. He was used to it, getting almost as much attention as Jun Wu, which was indeed a feat. A female official dashed up to Hua Cheng, smiling and blushing.
“Um, excuse me,” she said, looking up at Hua Cheng. He was much taller than everyone else, but she was particularly short.
“Yes?” he replied, looking at her with an almost unnoticeable sneer.
“I’m sorry!” the official cried, running away.
He knew she was interested in him, romantically or sexually (as were most in the Heavenly Realm), but he only had eyes for his prince.
Sighing, he pressed two fingers to his temple, checking into the communication array. It was chaos, as usual, but there was the tired voice of Ling Wen buried somewhere. He tuned into her voice, knowing that she would have something for him to do.
She groaned because she was being drowned out, but kept talking. “There’s been a sighting of one of the White-No-Faces. If anyone is interested, come talk to me,” she said, immediately getting Hua Cheng’s attention. When he was known to Xie Lian as Wuming, he saw his descent into madness and how he inevitably became a Calamity. It didn’t matter Hua Cheng was almost killed during that time, he was able to be with his love during the hardest time of Xie Lian’s life.
He left the spiritual communication array, immediately on his way to the Palace of Ling Wen. His knuckles rapped on the door before he stepped in.
“I heard your message in the array, and I want to take it,” he said as he walked in.
The dark rings under her eyes looked as if she hadn’t slept in days, but her energy perked up as he said that. “Great, no-one else could hear me.” From somewhere under her desk, she pulled out a map of the mortal realm. She pointed at a small town, which seemed to be labelled Puqi Village. “He was seen here.”
“Water chestnut village?” Hua Cheng asked, scoffing slightly at the name.
She nodded. “Anyway, you’ll need to inform the emperor if you’re heading down.”
His mind went back to the promise he said to himself that morning: “I will find you, dianxia.” For once, he had hope. He didn’t want to wait for another eight hundred years to see his prince. “I’ll inform him in a moment,” Hua Cheng said, before turning on his heel and heading out of Ling Wen’s palace.
With a reason powering him, he decided to teleport straight to the front of the Palace of Divine Might.
Hua Cheng burst through the door, knowing that it may seem rude, but he didn’t care. “Jun Wu! I’m heading down to take care of one of the White-No-Faces,” he cried out to the man on the throne a long way in front of him.
The emperor straightened slightly. “Please don’t,” he muttered under his breath.
“What?” Hua Cheng called out.
“Good luck, I said. You can head down,” Jun Wu replied, a small grimace on his face.
Hua Cheng nodded, waiting until he left the Palace of Divine Might for him to giggle like a schoolgirl.
Hurriedly, he set up a teleportation array to head to that small village. He shut his eyes and opened them to a village with a few houses and a tiny shrine.
He knew he was out of place, just because of how simple everything was. All the clothing of the residents were made of a thin, low quality fabric, and were all tattered.
But, he had a chance to see his prince, so it didn’t matter all that much if he didn’t fit in.
There was an evil aura coming from the other side of the village, so he decided to survey the area as he walked down the main street. The small shrine had one person inside, but it didn’t seem as if the deity being worshipped there was very well known.
All the small houses were occupied, as the sun started to set. It was uncomfortably silent as he stepped through the outer village boundary. The evil seemed to intensify as he looked around.
There was a swish of white to his right, making him whip around. “White-No-Face?” Hua Cheng asked to the empty area.
Another white flash. “Please don’t hide from me, I just wish to see you,” the official said, turning around.
One final flash of white before a blade pierced through his chest. Hua Cheng smiled, looking down at the figure clad in white, holding a knife lodged into his chest.
The heavenly official smiled down at the Calamity in front of him, peeling the mask off.
The cry-smiling mask peeled away, showing a beautiful face, with smooth, porcelain skin, and deep, brown eyes.
The knife didn’t even bother Hua Cheng.
“Dianxia, I’ve found you. I’m so glad,” he said, wearing a fond smile as he caressed Xie Lian’s face. There wasn’t even a hint of recognition on the prince’s face, only disgust and surprise.
“What. The fuck.” Xie Lian said, glaring at the man in front of him. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Do you… not remember me?”
“Who the fuck are you.”
Hua Cheng’s hand slipped from his prince’s face, heartbreak written all over his body.
The face that he had carved out of stone so many times was twisted into a hateful expression, so much uglier than he had ever imagined.
“Please tell me you remember me,” Hua Cheng begged.
As if he wasn’t heard the first time, Xie Lian repeated, “Who the fuck are you.”
“I’ll see you again, dianxia,” he whispered, pulling the knife out of his chest and placing the infamous No-Face mask back onto Xie Lian’s face.
With a solemn look on his face, Hua Cheng smiled weakly and set up a teleportation array to head back to the Heavenly Realm.