Work Text:
It was a dark evening, the only thing illuminating the dark cold forest were the small shining stars and fireflies, lazyly flying around the walking Xie Lian. Having a firefly come closer and sit on his finger, Xie Lian suddenly noticed a small crimson cut, pulsating in the rythm of his heartbeat. Xie Lian just finished a mission, where he fought a spirit, who was killing the livestock and children in a small town, he didnt manage to seal it but he injured it enough for it to run away. He didnt realize he was hurt, because he was in the heat of a battle and because of his high pain tolerance. Not thinking anything of his injury, he brushed it off and continued on his way back to Puchi schrine. For the entire way home, the only thing he was thinking about was finaly seeing his San Lang again after the five days he was away. Xie Lian missed him more than he thought he would, the heavens constantly needed his assistance in these past few days so he couldnt even catch a breath before he was needed elsewhere and couldn’t wait to fall in the embrace of the man he loved after the the long, exhausting trip.
After a long while, Xie Lian finally arrived in the Puchi village, walking throught the dimly illuminated, empty streets, he saw the lonely light from a small window, further away from anybody, it was of course comming from his temple. He was finaly home, he qiuckened his pace to get to Puchi shrine faster. He was right in front of the shrine and was about to reach for the door, when it opened on its own, a handsome red clad man standing on the other side-San Lang. Xie Lian raised his head from the handle he was about to grab and noticed a smirk on San Langs face. Before Xie Lian said a word, San lang grabbed him around his waist pulling him inside. He slammed the door shut using his leg and used one hand to gently grab Xie Lians chin to pull him in for a kiss, Xie Lian quickely recovered from the shock and put his hands around Hua Chengs neck to return the kiss, they kissed for a long time before their lips parted. „San Lang“, „Gege“, „San Lang, i missed you so much“ Xie Lian said as he hugged him tight and burried his head in Hua Chengs chest“I missed you“ he said again. „I missed you too Gege“ Hua cheng said as he hugged Xie Lian with one hand and caressed his hair with the other. Xie Lian felt so happy, he was finaly home with San Lang and he can stay with him for the next few days too, he never wanted to let go of him ever again. Even though Hua Cheng was a ghost Xie Lian felt very warm, snuggling against his husband, maybe a little too warm, that’s when he realized, the warmth wasn’t comming from Hua Cheng but from him. He felt his face burning and droplets of sweat slowly forming on his face, his vission started to blur a little, that’s when his knees betrayed him and suddenly he fell. Luckily Hua Cheng was still there and caught him with no effort. „Gege, what happened, are you okay?“ Hua Cheng asked with clear concern in his voice, carefuly looking him over, while helping him stand back up. Xie Lian’s head started to pound, but even so he answered with a calm tone „Sorry, im just a bit tired i guess that exhaustion must be really getting to me“, Hua Cheng, clearly not statisfied with the answer wanted to say something, but at the end chose not to. With a sigh he picked Xie Lian up in his arms and gave him a smile, then he quickly landed a kiss on his forehead before heading to their bedroom. „There’s no need to carry me, San Lang, im telling you, im fine“ „I know you are, but that doesnt change the fact that you need to rest“ Hua Cheng said, scolding Xie Lian. He then slowly placed Xie Lian on the bed and covered him with a blanket. The red clad man then looked at the tired Xie Lian who was pulling the blanket higher and trying to find a better possition to fall asleep. „Im going to clean the shrine a bit, im going to be right back, Gege“Hua Cheng said, quietly exiting the room. Right after he left, Xie Lian’s head started to hurt again, he curled up in a ball, pressing his hands on the sides of his face, trying to relieve the pain, but nothing was working. So he just gave up and layed on the bed with his limbs spread out, like a starfish, doing his best to ignore the pain. He managed to surpress most of it, so it became weak enough for him to be able to comfortably close his eyes, but still strong enough to keep him awake, unable to sleep. After what felt like eternity, he heard the door open and close and quiet footsteps coming closer to the bed¨Its San Lang!¨Xie lian thought to himself happily. Hua Cheng got on the bed, grabbed the sheets and covered Xie lian again, then he carefuly took Xie Lian’s hand and put it on his chest, so he wouldnt hurt him, then he grabbed the sheets and covered himself too. Xie Lian tossed and turned in the bed, until he bumped into Hua Cheng, once he found him, Xie Lian automaticaly smiled and wiggled his way closer to him, tossing his hands around him and putting his head on his chest. Suddenly it was so easy for Xie Lian to fall asleep, finaly comfortable, he felt his body finaly starting to calm down and rest. His head was getting quieter, the pain slowly dissapearing.
Suddenly he woke up panting, gasping for air. He opened his eyes, trying to take in his surroundings. He was instantly blinded, even though the light coming from behind the curtains wasnt that strong, it felt like somebody placed his head in a fire. Xie Lian blinked a few times, shutting his eyes as hard as possible, the next moment he couldnt see anything, his vission started pulsating, from light to dark, making his mind feel confused, and his head hurt. He was trying to focus on sitting up, when he sat up, he felt his back was wet and cold. He turned his head, but as he did, he got a sudden vave of nausea, his vission was delayed and blurred, luckily it stabilized after a short while. Looking at the bed, he didnt see San Lang anywhere. When he saw that, his mind instantly started spiraling, he started thinking of all the things that could have happened to Hua Cheng. Not wasting a single moment he stood up, aiming for the door to go look for the ghost king. Unfortunately he didnt realize, he would be this weak, as he fell right where he sat up from. Learning from his attempt on standidng, this time he slowly stood up, using the bed for support, this time succesfully standing up on his weak wobbly legs. While slowly trying to get to the door, he was thinking back, on how he could have ended up like this. His gaze subconciously fell on his hand, the previously small, harmless looking cut was now inflamed, shining a bright red color right back at him. Every time it pulsated, it brought a dull pain with it. „Oh god“, Xie Lian sighed, „that doesnt look good, but Ill deal with it after i find San Lang.“ After a while he finaly reached the door and grabbed the handle, but he only grabbed the air, confused, he tried again, with the same result, his vision was so blurry, he couldnt even find a door handle. After this depressing discovery, he gave up, and just tried to find it by going over the whole door with his hands. Finally grabbing the oject he was trying to find, he opened the door and started walking through the hallways of his home, leaning on the walls for support. He finaly found the back door and opened it. The cold breeze immidiately rushed at Xie Lian, making him shiver. He realized, he was still in his inner robes, though that wasnt important for him at the moment, he needed to find San Lang as soon as possible. „San Lang“, he shouted at the dark forest. His throat was sore, it hurt so much, it brought tears to his eyes every time he said something, but that didnt stop him from continouasly calling Hua Cheng, trying to find him. Not getting an answer, he started walking into the forest, screaming after every few steps. Still no reply, at that moment, Xie Lian really started to feel anxious. All of a sudden he saw a person in red in the distance, he cheered up immidiately, „San Lang“ he shouted excitedly as he tumbled his way over to the person. But for some reason, no matter for how long he walked, the person didnt move closer, he stopped walking, confused, he rubbed his eyes. In the next moment, that person dissapeared...no it didnt dissapear, it was just never there. At that moment Xie Lian started panicking, was he seeing things? Did Hua Cheng really just dissapear? There were so many voices in his head, telling him, that Hua cheng is in danger, dead, or held hostage. He looked down on his hands, they were dirty and bloody, from his constant falling. The wound still shined with its perticular crimson glow. Xie Lian didnt know what to do next, he was lost, literaly, when he looked around he didnt recognize the forest around him. It didnt help the situation, that he occaisonaly heard Mu Chings, Fen Xins, or San Langs voice, but when he looked at the direction the voice came from, there was nobody, it was almost like they were trapped in his head. Unable to take it anymore, Xie Lian tried pressing his hands on his ears, but the voices only got louder and louder. He closed his eyes. He felt like he was going insane, he wanted it to stop, he needed for it to finaly stop. But it didnt, Xie Lian couldnt bear this anymore, he started screaming, tears welling up, ready to leak out from his eyes. Right then, he suddenly felt arms around his waist, opening his eyes, he saw the familiar silver vembraces. All of a sudden, all the voices got quieter. His mind calmed down and his head stopped hurting. He slowly put his hands down from his head. „Gege“ he heard the man behind him whisper into his ear. „Dont worry Gege, im here, im here now“Hua Cheng Whispered reasuringly to him. Xie Lian turned around to face San Lang, looking into his worried face, he quickely burried his head into Hua Chengs chest and returned the hug, „San Lang“ he mumbled, quietly sobbing. „Everything is gonna be okay, lets go home now“ Hua Cheng said softly, as he brushed Xie Lians hair, trying to comfort him and calm him down. Hand in hand, they slowly wandered the woods together. After a little while, the exhaustion finally got to Xie Lian, as he started to trip and drag his legs. Hua Cheng, noticing this fact, stopped and quickely picked him up, letting Xie Lian rest comfortably in his arms. Xie Lian didnt respond because he was already asleep, but he quietly lifted the corners of his mouth into a soft smile and leaned his head against San Langs shoulder.