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It was late in the evening, and the first stars were twinkling gently in the clear sky. Xie Lian had just returned from an important mission in Heaven, where he had to resolve an administrative matter that, in his eyes, seemed never-ending. It was one of those endless days where problems seemed to multiply for no reason. And he wasn’t even talking about the turbulent ghost he had to chase away.
As soon as he returned to Paradise Manor, Ruoye unwrapped itself from his wrist and dashed off down the corridors. Xie Lian wasn't too concerned about it and headed calmly towards Hua Cheng's office. He didn't announce himself because it would be pointless. The ghost already knew he had returned from his mission since a strip of white silk was already rubbing affectionately against Hua Cheng's cheek.
Xie Lian sighed, "Ruoye, come back and leave San Lang alone."
It happened sometimes. In all his travels, Xie Lian had never seen his spiritual weapon behave like this with anyone. Of course, he had noticed that Ruoye had a preference for wrapping itself around certain people based on their gender, age or whether they were human or not. Otherwise, Ruoye was quite attached to Xie Lian. However, there were times when his silk wanted to show affection towards Hua Cheng.
Because of their past, Ruoye didn't like it when Xie Lian endangered his life. And Hua Cheng, being the one who had always watched over him, whether as Wu Ming or Crimson Rain, must have strengthened the bond between his spiritual weapon and the calamity. Indeed, it was almost as if they had a common goal of taking care of him.
“Don’t worry, Gege, Ruoye doesn’t bother me.”
Xie Lian waited patiently, looking at them softly until Ruoye finally decided to return and wrap itself around his wrist.
Hua Cheng stood up from his desk and approached Xie Lian, wrapping his hands around the god’s waist to kiss him chastely.
“San Lang, I must be dirty. I spent all day chasing a group of angry ghosts,” he complained.
“Gege should have known by now that this one doesn’t care about dirt,” Hua Cheng assured him, running his thumb over Xie Lian’s cheek.
Xie Lian hummed, “I should still go take a bath.” He pulled away from the embrace. “Would San Lang like to join me?”
***
Xie Lian entered the room adjacent to their bedroom, followed by Hua Cheng. The light from Ghost City's lanterns filtered gently through the windows, lending a soft atmosphere to the bath.
He set down his things with familiar ease and headed to the bath, where the warm water awaited him, ready to ease the accumulated fatigue of the day.
He slowly undressed, taking off his traveling clothes, and removed Ruoye from his wrist. All that remained was Hua Cheng's ring, resting against his chest with a soothing weight.
Beside him, he heard the rustling of clothing, indicating that Hua Cheng was doing the same.
It wasn't always like this. Sometimes Hua Cheng insisted on being the one to undress him. He would take his time, removing each layer respectfully, and Xie Lian would reciprocate. Sometimes, Hua Cheng would make his robes disappear with a snap of his fingers using his spiritual powers. When that happened, Xie Lian always found his cheeks warming and dusted with pink. Usually, this was when Hua Cheng was in a playful mood. They would then find themselves doing very entertaining things in the bath.
This time, that wasn't the case. Xie Lian was lucky to have such an attentive lover. He must have noticed his fatigue and knew exactly that a quiet bath was what he needed. There were even a few candles lit on the side, creating a more serene ambience.
He approached the bath and began to descend the steps, a moan of satisfaction escaping him as he sank deeper into the water. He could already feel his muscles loosening and relaxing.
Hua Cheng was quick to follow. It often took him longer to undress because of all his jewelry, which was now gathered in a pile on a small table used for this purpose.
They sailed silently together in the water, Hua Cheng taking the lead in washing Xie Lian's hair.
Aside from the splashing of the water, the only other sounds were the ghost's instructions, such as "cover your eyes, I'll rinse them out" or "tilt your head back a little more for me please."
By the end of their washing session, Xie Lian had ended up with his back against Hua Cheng's chest, sitting on his knees, completely limp, the water reaching almost halfway up his neck from how far he had slumped.
“If San Sang keeps running his hand through my hair, I'll end up falling asleep,” he breathed.
“Then I'll just have to carry gege to bed. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
He could easily hear Hua Cheng smiling at the sentence.
The god half-awoke from his daze when he saw Ruoye shifting on the chair. Indeed, his white silk band had taken on a slight grayish tint during their expedition. He only had to pat the water twice with his hand for the ribbon to return to Xie Lian.
He straightened up and began gently washing Ruoye, rubbing it carefully as it squirmed in his hands.
“You always take good care of Ruoye,” Hua Cheng noted from behind him.
Xie Lian turned and smiled in response, a little embarrassed. "Yes, I always take care of it after every mission. I know it doesn't mind dirt, but Ruoye actually likes water. And a little cleanliness doesn't hurt."
Hua Cheng seemed to want to add something but was cut off when Ruoye got out of the water and began shaking itself off like a dog, sending droplets everywhere.
Xie Lian gave a small, affectionate chuckle at the sight of Hua Cheng soaked by his weapon.
"Ruoye," Xie Lian growled lightly.
"I don't think I've ever asked you," Hua Cheng began, moving closer to Xie Lian. "How did you get Ruoye?"
Xie Lian froze momentarily, and the atmosphere immediately became more tense.
Hua Cheng seemed to realize the subject was complicated, as he added, "Gege doesn't have to feel obligated. Never. But if he wants to share, I'm here."
“Ah—I think it’s time for you to know, but perhaps this story would be better told in our bedroom?” Xie Lian suggested, looking visibly nervous.
Hua Cheng nodded with a serious expression and helped him out of the bath, careful not to let Xie Lian slip on the floor with wet feet. Yes, it had happened before, and ever since, the ghost was always careful to make sure Xie Lian’s bad luck didn’t manifest itself at that moment. Even if the shackles were not there anymore, for some reason, part of the bad luck was still there.
Then he opened his arms wide with a fluffy white towel and wrapped Xie Lian inside. They quickly dried off, Ruoye returning to place itself around Xie Lian’s wrist, who wrapped himself in one of Hua Cheng’s red silk robes, which was definitely too big for him. The ghost, for his part, only wore a pant, preferring to remain shirtless on summer evenings.
The couple returned to the bedroom and slid into bed, Xie Lian in Hua Cheng's arms.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then, "It's not a very funny story," he declared, raising his right arm toward the ceiling, the sleeve falling over his shoulder to reveal the silk band.
With his left hand, Hua Cheng interlaced their fingers and brought Xie Lian's hand back toward them. "I'm not just here for the happy moments. I want to know everything about you, the good and the bad. If you want to share, I'm here. If you don't, I'm here too."
Xie Lian turned on his side to face Hua Cheng. In this place and with this person, he felt protected and safe.
"I still don't know how I earned your love. Sometimes I think I don't deserve it," Xie Lian murmured almost too low to be heard.
"Gege is easy to love," Hua Cheng said simply. "You deserve it."
Xie Lian exhaled "You see, Ruoye wasn't given as an ordinary weapon. It's not a gift from the Heavens, nor an artifact bestowed upon me after a great victory. It's... a weapon born of suffering, but not the suffering of an enemy. It was born of my own pain."
Hua Cheng listened attentively, his intense gaze fixed on Xie Lian. He knew this wasn't going to be a simple story. He frowned slightly, a bad feeling snaking up his spine. "What do you mean by that?"
Xie Lian lowered his eyes for a moment, searching for the right words. "After... After my first fall, when I was sent away as a wandering prince and banished god, everything seemed hopeless. I was angry at myself, at the Heavens for their stupid laws, at the world. I did lots of things I regret to this day." He took a deep breath, pausing, letting the silence settle between them like dust floating in the air. “One evening, I returned to the cabin where my family and I had taken refuge. I was unstable. By then, I had already driven Mu Qing and Feng Xin away, and I had started seeing Bai Wuxiang everywhere. It was making me crazy. I had played in the streets, stolen, and drunk dead people's liquor.”
Hua Cheng didn't interrupt him, and Xie Lian was grateful. “One evening, I had an argument with them. I accused them of pretending everything was fine. My father was very sick, we were poor.” Tears began to pool in his eyes.
“The next morning, I found them hanging from one of the beams of the house.” Xie Lian's expression changed, but he resolutely kept his gaze lowered. “I hated myself. So I took them down and used the silk strip they used for -” he trailed off. But he didn't need it to make his point clear. "I don't know how long I stood there, but my weight was heavy, and I eventually fell back to the ground." As he spoke, Ruoye untied itself from his arm to wipe the tears from Xie Lian's face.
Xie Lian finally looked up at Hua Cheng. "In the end, the ribbon was soaked in the blood of the entire royal family of Xianle. And Ruoye was born." His lips curled into a sad smile. "Despite all that, I'm grateful to Ruoye for staying with me all these centuries. It never abandoned me. It was reassuring to always have it by my side. I could talk to Ruoye, and it comforted me in the most difficult times."
Hua Cheng placed his hand on Xie Lian's shoulder to pull him into a hug. Ruoye must have understood the subject of their conversation because it wrapped itself around them in a hug.
Beside their bed, E-Ming began to tremble in his scabbard, making the blade clink against metal.
“Of course you can come too, E-Ming,” Xie Lian blurted out, his voice hoarse from their previous conversation.
That was all it took for E-Ming to slip between them, his eye crinkling happily in satisfaction.
They stayed like that for several minutes. When they pulled back, Xie Lian absently ran his thumb over Hua Cheng’s empty eye socket.
“It’s E-Ming, isn’t it?” Not really a question, but not a statement either. Just a fact.
“Gege always knew.” Hua Cheng ran a hand through his hair, scattering it back onto the pillow. “I snatched it from me in a moment of madness on Mount TongLu.”
“You don’t have to share if you don’t want to. What applies to me, applies to you.”
Hua Cheng buried his head in Xie Lian’s shoulder. “Dianxia is too good for this one.”
“No, San Lang deserves the best.”
The sound came out muffled, Hua Cheng’s breath brushing against his neck as he spoke. “There was this group of lost mortals. There were children, elderly, and adults. I tried to protect them for a while; I found a cave where they could be safe. But they were too tempting prey for the other ghosts.”
Xie Lian felt Hua Cheng kiss him on his jawline, as if to calm him down. “I had a choice to make: kill one human from the group to gain enough energy to save the others. A sacrifice for good. Or I could have killed them all to become stronger than the other ghosts and reach Tonglu more easily. Can Gege guess which choice I made?”
Xie Lian straddled Hua Cheng to look at him. He gently stroked E-Ming. And whispered, “San Lang took the third path.”
Hua Cheng placed his hands on Xie Lian’s hips and nodded. “I plucked out my cursed eye to forge it into a spiritual weapon. I eliminated all the ghosts who meant them harm and escorted them to the edge of Tonglu.”
Xie Lian placed a feather-light kiss on Hua Cheng’s eye socket, and Hua Cheng took the opportunity to hook his arms around Xie Lian’s back, anchoring himself to him.
“You really are the best thing that ever happened to me,” Hua Cheng whispered through a shaky breath.
Against his lips, Xie Lian added, “For once, I’m going to have to disagree with San Lang because you are clearly the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Then they pressed their lips together, gently in this fragile moment, at their own pace, to convey without words everything that was being said between them.
“I’m here.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“I love you.”
When they separated, Xie Lian asked with a smile, knowing full well what reaction he would get. “I think we should let Ruoye and E-Ming sleep with us tonight.”
Immediately, a pout appeared on Hua Cheng’s face. “Ruoye, why not, but is E-Ming really necessary?”
“E-Ming is a part of you, it deserves the same treatment or… are you jealous, San Lang?”
Hua Cheng didn't answer, preferring to pull his god towards him and pull the sheet over them, E-Ming trembling happily against Xie Lian's chest and Ruoye curled against the scimitar's scabbard.