#for some reason i really wanted to draw hua cheng picking xie lian for a date

[ijustlovelittlebirdies]

When I'm watching videos I like to doodle on paint

[sweetlittlevampire]

Happy birthday, @huacheng-zhu !  🎉

Have a little Xie Lian and San Lang for your consideration.  Wanted to draw Hua Cheng but noticed too late that I drew the wrong clothes, and - oh well, it is what it is. It still counts as Hualian, doesn’t it?

There’s some semi-embarrassing birthday rambling under the Read More for you; I just thought I’d cut it off here so this post won’t clog up anyone’s dash too much.

Wishing you the absolute best of birthdays, my dear!

Xie Lian / San Lang / Tien Guan Ci Fu / Heaven Official’s Blessing ©  Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Isn’t it funny how things go? I think I’ve interacted with you for the very first time in...must have been somewhere end of June of this year, when you posted that fic you wrote for Iza. You know, the Huaisang one? Honestly though, turns out we actually have mutual pals/acquaintances on here - Iza being one; it’s strange that we never crossed paths before.

And look at me now, pestering you at various times of the day. XD

Look, you always say that I’m spoiling you with my drawings, and it might seem so to other people. But those who have managed to acquire my friendship and have blessed me with fic I can draw for, will agree that this is a pretty normal occurrence. That’s just how I am. It may not seem like it because I’m typing and can hide behind a screen, but - I’m not that good with words. I talk like a waterfall in real life, but I struggle when it comes to saying the important things, so - I’d rather make things. I might also buy things - a notebook a friend has been talking about, for instance. Or I’d crochet something, or cook something for them.

Or draw. Because it’s something I objectively know I can do, even if I have a kind of love/hate relationship with my own art. Each and every drawing I create for someone else is a sentence I wanted to say out loud, but didn’t know how to.

And I don’t see it as spoiling. I’m thanking you. I’m taking you as a specific example because it’s your big day and all, but you fanfic writers are incredible. You have no idea how often you broke my heart in the best ways, how often you’ve picked it up and mended it again, or prevented me from breaking my own heart in the process of whatever bullshit I was going through.

You, specifically - see, I can’t live without drawing. I simply can’t. I’ve tried to stop, at one point in my life, for reasons I don’t necessarily wanna discuss right now, but - it left me utterly miserable. It’s one of the things that make me happy. Like, really happy. And In June - I was still drawing. I know exactly what drawings I’ve made that month, and I felt good about them, until I wasn’t anymore. I have no idea what happened, but I felt the quality decline, I felt like producing pictures mechanically, not unlike a machine...and I was miserable again. I did continue to draw, because I couldn’t stop, but - yeah, it was unpretty.

And then you came along with that goddamn story of yours (and, please, I mean this in the most adoring way ever), and suddenly I was like

“Oh. I ... wanna draw that. Like, really really really draw that.”

(I tend to get that with fics. A lot. You might have noticed. This was special though.)

You know what you did? You brought the spark back to me, and it hasn’t left me since.

And on top of that??? You’re super nice??? How dare you??? XD  It sometimes baffles me how you can still stand me with how much I ramble and complain. I mean, have you seen how long this text already is? Who does that??? XD

...but actually, in all earnesty now, if there’s any good thing that 2020 has brought to me, it’s the honour to be able to call myself your friend. I appreciate and value you so very much, and I thank you for listening to me, and being there for me. I wish nothing but the best for you on this day, and for the years to come.

Much love,

Rima

[eyes-of-mischief]

weekly fic recs | 24

prompt: self-harm

fandoms: bnha, bsd, hq, mdzs, tgcf

bnha

I need to purge my urges (shame shame shame) by deesometimes

“Kid-“ Aizawa begins, his eyes are wide.

“It was an accident!” Izuku exclaims, louder than he intended.

better luck next time by nauticalwarrior

(explicit) (graphic depictions of violence, major character death)

As he falls, he lets himself think about it. He lets himself think that if he wakes up, if things go back again, it means that he does have a quirk. It means he really can take a swan dive off a roof and hope for better luck in his next life. It means that all along, he’s been useless and worthless because he hasn’t died yet.

He hits the ground.

And then he opens his eyes.

(vigilante!izuku AU where izuku has a quirk that rewinds time when he dies) (updates every other day most of the time!)

red threads by cassiopeia721

Izuku isn't blessed with a quirk, so it stands to reason that he wouldn't have a soulmate, either. Right?

Fate proves him wrong.

bsd

when you don't by nauticalwarrior

(mature)

You must learn to endure pain, Atsushi's headmaster tells him, over and over again, even though the man is no longer here.

Atsushi begins to inflict pain on himself, even though his ability does not allow the wounds to linger. He knows he'll be caught--it's only a matter of time, when he works for the Armed Detective Agency, but he can't stop himself. He does it anyway.

The Mind Can Be A Cryptic Place by moogah

Akutagawa's eyes are grey, until they aren't. Nothing is wrong, until it is.

Dazai doesn't feel, until he does. ...

How Dazai meets Atsushi and some of what came before.

haikyuu

run rabbit run by norio

Rule #1: Don't hurt Akaashi. Rule #2: Don't taint Akaashi. Rule #3: Don't involve Akaashi. Rule #4: Don't damage Akaashi. Rule #5 (optional): Try not to destroy yourself.

picking my head up, getting nowhere by orphan_account

(mature)

Oikawa only ever gives the bad and only ever takes the good, and he will never be able to forgive himself for it. (One-shot) Trigger warning for self-harm, depression and negativity—please read at your own risk. [Iwaoi]

won't you get up off, get up off the roof? by uaigneach

(mature)

Despite what many may say, Miya Atsumu wasn’t an idiot.

He heard the things people said about him. He knew what people thought. He’d read every single letter that had been slipped into his locker – and make no mistake, none of them had been confession letters like Osamu liked to joke about.

mdzs

Tempo Rubato by Spodumene

(explicit)

Tempo Rubato: Italian; Stolen Time; The musical practice of diverging from the unrelenting and gradual rhythm for a short period of time in a piece, allowing for solo freedom.

Lan Wangji starts high school in perfect step with the rhythm of his uncle's expectations and his duty to his family.

He doesn't quite stay that way.

tgcf

how to heal by parsnipit

When it comes to something like this, there are a few important steps:

First, Xie Lian makes sure that his husband is busy. Something like that makes it sound so terrible, but it’s not—it’s really not! It’s just that Hua Cheng can be overprotective, and if he saw this he would react poorly. Xie Lian would rather spare him that.

Second, Xie Lian puts Ruoye away. The poor thing never wants to go. He has to tie it somewhere safe and placate it with gentle touches and soothing words. Even so, it still lashes its ends and strains after him until he leaves the room. It will cling too tightly when he returns.

Third, Xie Lian goes somewhere quiet and familiar. It can be the armory, or their private baths, or even the shrine near Puqi Village. It is never their bedroom. It is never their cottage.

Fourth, Xie Lian draws his sword.

Fifthly, finally, Xie Lian takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and carves his own skin open.

so that i might love you by parsnipit

“Okay, San Lang, let’s talk,” Xie Lian says, and is proud of how steady his voice stays. “Tell me about the cuts.” “You talked to E-ming, didn’t you,” Hua Cheng says bleakly. “It only confirmed what I already suspected.” Xie Lian closes his eyes. “Can you tell me that those injuries aren’t from who I think they are?” “Dianxia is so clever.” Hua Cheng looks at him, and there is a sudden exhaustion written in the lines around his eye. “I could tell you they aren’t, but...this San Lang is tired of lying to his god.” Despite his suspicions, to hear it admitted so plainly from Hua Cheng’s own mouth feels like a fist to his heart. Xie Lian takes a deep, deep, deep breath. Calmly. Calmly and clearly. He has already done his crying. He is not going to freak out right now. He is not going to yell. He is not going to yell. He is not— “What were you thinking, Hua Cheng?!”

When E-ming is stolen and its curse activated by enemies, Xie Lian fully expects the chorus of pained howls he hears outside of Paradise Manor. What he does not expect is the multitude of raw, gaping wounds that split open along his husband’s skin.

[curiosity-killed]

evidence of a lost past part 6

Cw: anxiety attack, body dysmorphia, disordered eating, implied grooming — Xie Lian feels anxious and upset during a conversation with Jun Wu and fixates on how his body composition has shifted in the years since he left professional dance and thinks about purging & disordered eating. He recognizes that this isn’t a healthy or fair reaction and doesn’t act on it but does still explicitly focus on it for part of the conversation.

takes place before part 3

His phone rings while he’s pulling grass out of the kale bed, interrupting the cheerful melody of a pop song he doesn’t recognize. He doesn’t usually play music when he’s working, but Haven, a younger volunteer, had taken one look at his phone and whipped out a charger first thing in the morning before he could say anything. With the battery set to last for the whole day, he allows himself thirty minutes of listening to music on it before he turns it off again. He’s smiling as he reaches for the pause button on his earbuds, flushing a little at the thought that Hua Cheng might be calling. They’d been texting this morning, the reason his battery was so drained, but he’d told Hua Cheng he wouldn’t be able to reply as well while he was digging in the beds. Trust Hua Cheng to think of this solution. “Hello!” he greets, wiggling his fingers down into the soil to get a good grip around the base of the weed. “Xianle.”

Fingers knuckle-deep in the dirt, Xie Lian freezes. There’s only ever been one person who calls him that, and the sound of his voice makes Xie Lian’s heart jackrabbit. Swallowing, he eases his fingers out of the dirt and kneels back. “Jun Wu?” he asks. Despite promising to stay in touch all those years ago, he hasn’t heard from the older man since he left the company. He’d been too embarrassed to reach out, not wanting to take advantage of Jun Wu’s generosity and kindness. “It’s been too long, Xianle,” Jun Wu says now, a gentle reprimand. Wiping his fingers on his jeans absently, Xie Lian brushes his hair back from his face with his other hand. Hearing Jun Wu’s even voice, always so elegant and controlled, makes him suddenly conscious of his dirty jeans cuffed at his ankles, his fraying gardening hat and dirt-smeared cheeks. “Ah, I’m sorry,” he says. “It has been a long time.” “I had hoped to hear from you during these years,” Jun Wu says. There’s a hint of chastisement in his tone, but worse than that is the concern, the disappointment. During his brief time in the company, Xie Lian had known nothing but kindness and support from Jun Wu. He’d been spoiled by it—though no one had quite been willing to point it out so bluntly. Early on, Jun Wu had noticed his promise and taken Xie Lian under his wing. Such treatment was a rare gift, not to be spoiled on someone unworthy. Even at the end, Jun Wu had made sure Xie Lian had his phone number and urged Xie Lian to call him—when he was settled, if he needed any help, just to let him know that Xie Lian was still alive and out there. Guilt twists Xie Lian’s stomach, makes it ache abruptly. “I’m sorry,” he says again, more quietly. “I meant to call, it just—” He falters, unsure of how to continue. Is it even true that he meant to call? Hadn’t he just stuffed Jun Wu’s number into a jacket pocket and never looked at it again? He hunches in with his arm wrapped around his stomach, fingers pinching hard into the skin along his side. His fingers squeeze the flesh there until his guilt is mixed with a familiar queasiness. He’s glad Jun Wu can’t see him abruptly, not just for the clothes he’s wearing but because of how he looks as well. Over the years, he’s grown thicker and broader—filling out with bulkier muscles from hauling heavy boxes and furniture at his various jobs and with a squishier layer over top so that his abs are only visible if he flexes. He certainly couldn’t wear the costumes that were tailored to his shape for performances. “A lot happened,” he finishes. “Xianle needn’t apologize so much,” Jun Wu says gently. “I only worried about your wellbeing.” Chewing on his bottom lip, Xie Lian resists the urge to say sorry again. Jun Wu really is too compassionate, always so understanding. “It would be good to see you again,” Jun Wu says after a quiet moment. “Mm,” Xie Lian mumbles. He can’t shake the uneasiness that’s settled deep in his belly, making his own skin feel strange and uncomfortable to him. He doesn’t think so much about his body anymore usually; some part of him is aware that he hasn’t always had a healthy relationship with it and so he’s tried, in the last few years, to be more patient, a little gentler. Still, there are—moments. “Think about it,” Jun Wu says. “You could come take class or observe. I would be glad to see you, Xianle.” He hangs up after Xie Lian mumbles out a noncommittal noise that’s neither agreement nor dismissal and they say goodbye. Immediately, the pop music Xie Lian had been listening to floods back in, and he flinches, fumbling as he tries to hit the pause button. His hand is too clumsy, and he tugs the earbuds out entirely instead. Dropping them on his lap, he bows over and forces himself to breathe. He’s fine. He’s fine. The sun is warm on his shoulders, the ground presses steadily against his knees. He is sitting in the garden at Puqi Community Center, he doesn’t have rehearsals or cameras waiting, he can wear his baggy jeans with the ragged holes and his baggy t-shirt. Still, his breath comes too quickly as if it can’t quite escape his chest, and his stomach squeezes with a familiar, ugly urge to vomit. He doesn’t—he never has, but there were times standing in his dressing room or alone in his apartment when he would think maybe. Just to try. To see if it helped. Jun Wu always seemed to catch on, another way he always looked out for Xie Lian. He’s the one who told Xie Lian how stomach acid can eat away the enamel on one’s teeth, dissolve the pretty white smile the cameras loved. Better to be mindful about what went in in the first place and how it balanced with training and exercise. He was always going out of his way to help Xie Lian, guide him gently into a promising future. No one could ever say that Jun Wu hadn’t tried his best for Xie Lian. Pressing the heels of his palms into his eyebrow ridge, Xie Lian draws in a stuttering breath and forces himself to slowly unbend. He picks up the earbuds mechanically, turns off his phone. Any more surprises and he really might be sick. He turns back to the kale and digs his fingers into the earth, closing tight around the dandelion base and tugging. The roots cling, stubborn, but another yank brings them shivering into the light, finely furred in dark soil. Tossing it to the side, he reaches for the next and buries his thoughts among the weeds.

[wolffyluna]

Fic Writer Meme

 I was tagged by @thou-breath-of-autumns-being and @eldritch-elrics. Answers under the cut.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

135

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

387198

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

There’s 22 of them, using a sensible-ish count. There’s Age of Sigmar, MCU, Dragon Age, Dragonshield (yes, the card sleeves), Dungeons and Dragons, Fire Emblem Awakening, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Guild Wars 2, Warhammer 40k, Heaven Will Be Mine, We Know The Devil, Keychain of Creation, Overwatch, Revolutionary Girl Utena, The Adventure Zone, The Magnus Archives, Silmarillion, Undertale, Voltron, TGCF, MDZS, Nirvana in Fire

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

‘The Heat Talking’ - Overwatch omegaverse. It’s popularity is very explicable :P.

‘A Stained Glass Variation of The Truth’ - Xianle Trio sickfic, featuring Mu Qing have a lot of feelings about looking after Xie Lian. This is one of the ones where I look at it’s popularity and go “[nods] my audience has Good Taste.”

‘Let Bastion Say ‘Fuck’‘ - Overwatch crackfic. I wrote for Overwatch a while ago. Those fics are very much not my best work. And Yet.

‘though shadows fall’ - TGCF HuaLian post nightmare hurt/comfort. (which reminds me, I should really write some HuaLian post nightmare hurt/comfort where Hua Cheng is the one who has a nightmare.)

‘All That Can Be Done’ - Overwatch Genyatta angst featuring Zenyatta dying of a God AI virus.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to, I really do, but... if I reply, the comment no longer shows up on the ao3 homepage. I do intend to reply, but the lure of having comments on my homepage wins out most times.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Probably either ‘All That Can Be Done’, the aforementioned fic where Zenyatta dies of a God AI virus and gets killed by Genji, or ‘Always Neater In Morality Plays’ where Sazed successfully poisons and kills Taako.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t really write much crossover fanfiction?

...Though I am right now doing an rp featuring a character from a historical tv show set in the Tang dynasty accidentally time travelling into an AU version of the Handmaid’s Tale, so, uh, that’s probably the wildest crossover I’ve been involved in.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes. I’ve received a few “you’re characterisation is bad and you should feel bad” and “how dare you write something to your tastes and not my tastes!”

‘Always Neater In Morality Plays’ got a... bad reaction. Including a popular blogger vague posting about in a way that made it obvious exactly what fic it is and how grody they found it. They may not have linked the fic directly, but, uh, everyone knew. (And I may have also sent an ill-advised ask along the lines of ‘you have the right to vagueblog whatever fic you like, but for the love of peace could you at least check who is following you, so you don’t put ‘oh god, isn’t this fic the creepiest thing ever?’ straight onto the dash of the author?”  And also a chunk of the TAZ fandom blocked me*.

And then several years later I found out ‘snuff’ meant something different than what I thought it meant (I thought it just meant ‘focus on major character death!) which added an embarassing glace cherry on top of that sundae of bad.

*This became sort of funny when some of these people got into the Magnus Archives. “Oh, so you draw the line at graphic depictions of poisoning, but someone exploding into a shower of worms is fine???”

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do, yes. As for what kind-- well, my ao3 exists and is a relatively comprehensive survey.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nooooot to my knowledge?

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but if anyone wants to-- [makes ‘call me’ gesture].

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, not yet. I’d be potentially interested in doing one, maybe one of those ones where one person writes one chapter and then another person writes the next. At the moment I have a friend who is also interested in maybe doing that, we just don’t currently align on fandoms.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

[whine] Don’t make me choose between my babies!

14. What’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

‘A Shattered Angel And A Broken Fist’. It was one of the earlier fics I wrote, back before I learned that if I wanted to write something long, I needed to have an idea of how it was going to end. I lost momentum and now... I honestly have no clue what should happen next? I have re-read and gone “yep, some stuff should happen. Not sure what stuff.” So while a lot of people like it and it would be nice to finish, its probably not happening.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm, I think I’m reasonably good at dialogue? I’m honestly not sure what my strengths are. I don’t mean this in a low self confidence way, more that I know I don’t have an outside perspective on my writing, and like a fish, I’m not super aware of the water I’m swimming in.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have a bad habit of people have conversation in Blank Windowless Voids of No Description.

I also have a less bad habit of trying to fill those voids with a) geology and b) Australian fauna and flora. This causes problems when the pov character has no reason to know geology, and the story is not set in Australia.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I am one of those people who pretty much only speaks English, except for the a bit of “Je m’appelle Wolffy. Le chat est petit.” So I don’t write dialogue in other languages. Too much risk of embarrassing error, for not much gain, when you can just use italics or something.

I do have a lot of thoughts about translation conventions in fic where the characters would not be speaking English, and things like whether to live honoriffics. The thoughts are a bit unformed, but mostly revolve around being consistent at least within a fic (no characters being “Your Highness” in one paragraph and “dianxia” the next), trying to avoid the affect you sometimes find in anime fics were every third word is in Japanese, and also trying to maintain character voice. (I occaisionally have moments of “yes, there is an English translation for what this character calls this other character, but it’s not what they canonically say and it’s going to bother me deeply if I only use English.”)

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Depending on how you define ‘fandom’ and how you draw the line between historical fiction and historical rpf, my first fandom was the Bagoas fandom. Not the Bagoas what followed Alexander the Great around, no, the vizier who was around before him.

...I was like twelve at the time, just to make this weirder.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

[whines harder] don’t make me pick between my babies!

[stiltonbasket]

Xichen as Lord Mercy and his first meeting with Xie Lian?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25648546

Three days before the summer solstice, Xie Lian meets an amnesiac god of healing in the streets of Puji Village.

The first time Xie Lian met the new Lord Mercy, the two of them had been summoned to the same house; Xie Lian in his capacity as the guardian of children, and Lord Mercy as the most powerful god of healing the heavens had ever seen. A child in Puqi Village had fallen ill, and her mother lit one stick of incense to Xie Lian and one for the deity currently kneeling at the little girl’s side, reassuring her parents that she would be perfectly well again after drinking the panacea he brought along.

“It seems I wasn’t needed this time,” Xie Lian says with a soft laugh, after he and Lord Mercy say their goodbyes and leave the cobbler’s cottage behind them. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Lord Mercy.”

Lord Mercy smiles and bows to him. “Taizi dianxia would have done just as well, in my place.”

Xie Lian studies the other god’s back as they walk back up the road together, neither with any clear idea of where they might be going; Xie Lian can return to his husband and two baby daughters at Paradise Manor with a toss of the dice in his pocket, of course, so he he doesn’t need to walk anywhere, but Lord Mercy doesn’t seem to have anything to do just now—so where could he be going, when his home is in the upper courts with the rest of the heavenly officials?

“Lord Mercy?” he ventures. “Where are you...do you have any more prayers to fulfill, after this?”

“Not at present, dianxia, but the work of a healing official is never done. I expect to have another within the next two shichen, at most.”

He must have prayers spoken in his name night and day, Xie Lian thinks; and with good reason, because Xie Lian can tell that Lord Mercy is quite possibly the most powerful deity he has ever met, save for perhaps Jun Wu in his prime. Most gods look human in their primary forms, but Lord Mercy looks more like a celestial prince from the books Xie Lian used to read in his childhood than anything else—his skin seems to throw off a faint silver glow even in the full light of day, and his features are so very beautiful that they surpass even Shi Qingxuan after a visit to the cosmetics lounge in one wing of San Lang’s manor, with large brown eyes like a doe’s and a fine, soft nose and forehead, paired with a long veil of thick black hair which Lord Mercy wears completely unbound, for some reason. Even Hua Cheng has the one thin braid tied off with Xie Lian’s red earring, but Lord Mercy’s hair falls freely down his back without so much as a ribbon to keep it in place. 

And then, of course, there are Lord Mercy’s fine robes, which glitter under the morning sun like garments fashioned from pure starlight, which lingers in the folds of his gown whenever he stirs, or takes a step. He carries his healing instrument in one hand, the famous cracked-ice Liebing—which is actually made of a piece of cracked ice, harder than diamond and so sweet to the ear that the sick child they tended in the village fell straight into a soothing, restoring sleep the moment she first heard it. 

His mellow companion is a very powerful god indeed, and not for the first time, Xie Lian wonders where he could have come from, or why no one in the heavens seems to know anything about him. 

“You needn’t call me by my old title, you know,” he says, after a brief lull. “The kingdom I was to rule has been gone these past eight centuries, and no one really calls me dianxia except for my husband now. And he was from Xian Le, too, so I went by that name when he first met me.”

“Then what shall I call Your Highness instead?” Lord Mercy returns, slowing his pace so that Xie Lian catches a fleeting glimpse of his feet—which are both bare, oddly enough, though completely unstained by the soft yellow dust of the road. “Taizi dianxia was the name I was given when I was told there was a second heavenly official who might answer the cobbler’s prayer for his child.”

“My given name is good enough. Call me Xie Lian,” Xie Lian suggests. “Hardly anyone uses it in my presence, only when conversing about me.”

Lord Mercy frowns at him, just barely. “In the clan where I came from, gossip was strictly forbidden, especially unkind gossip. You ought not to be slighted so, Xie Lian.”

And then he stops short in the middle of the street and bows to Xie Lian again, with a strange look of remorse on his noble face that draws Xie Lian to a halt, too. “But I have no given name to give you in exchange, I am afraid. Lord Mercy is the only name I know, and in all likelihood the only name I will ever know again.”

Xie Lian blinks. “How can such a thing be? Was it a memory-stealing demon? I fell prey to one many years ago, but I managed to regain my memories when I defeated the beast—perhaps a party could be sent out to recover yours, too?”

“Oh, nothing so serious as that,” the other god assures him, with a warm note in his voice that reminds Xie Lian very much of his mother, and the way he would cuddle down in her lap when he was very small and wanted to be fussed over after a bad dream. “I was told that when I ascended, I requested the Mistress of Dreams to wipe many of my memories, and keep them on my behalf. I retained my knowledge of my family, of my uncle and my brother and my brother’s husband, and my children and grandchildren...but it seems that I knew a great deal of grief in that life, though I was dearly loved, and left much of it behind. 

“The memories are there if I should ever want them again, but I chose to abandon even my own name, so I suppose there must have been a good reason for it. I wish I could offer you a better explanation, but that is all I know.”

“Oh, you mustn’t worry,” Xie Lian hurries to say, patting Lord Mercy’s arm. “We all have things from our pasts that we wish to forget, don’t we? Goodness knows I do, and so does my husband, and even Shi Qingxuan—though I suppose you wouldn’t know Qingxuan, unless you’ve been back to the heavens recently.”

Lord Mercy considers for a moment. “Is she the Lady Wind Master, the one who ascended a second time after being cast down? I saw her briefly in Ling Wen’s palace, though I have not returned to the upper courts since.”

“Yes, that’s Qingxuan! You ought to go to him if you’re ever in trouble, you know—he is one of the dearest friends I’ve ever had, and loyal to a fault.”

Xie Lian would have said more about Shi Qingxuan and her many virtues, if only because Lord Mercy looks in desperate need of a good friend, and Shi Qingxuan always likes making new ones, even though she spends most of her time with the Blood Sword Master Nie Mingjue, these days—but then the two dice in his pocket light up in a wordless message from his husband, which probably means that one of the children needs him back at Paradise Manor. 

“My San Lang has sent a message, so I must go back to the Ghost Realm,” he says, laughing shyly as Lord Mercy gives him a knowing glance and a little parting wave. “We have two little ones, you know, and they always cry when I leave them behind at home for too long.”

Lord Mercy considers him for a moment, and then smiles again. 

“Your third baby is quite strong, you know,” he calls, just as Xie Lian picks the dice up and tosses them onto the ground. “I can feel her all the way from here—she will be as healthy and sound as anyone could wish, when she is born.”

Xie Lian feels his cheeks burn scarlet at the mention of the precious little soul-fire currently nestled under his heart, but he lifts his hand to wave back, all the same. 

“Thank you, Lord Mercy!” Xie Lian shouts, just before the enchanted dice whisk him back to his family. “Let’s meet again soon, all right?”

(His companion disappears too quickly for Xie Lian to hear his answer, but he thinks he knows what it must be, all the same.)

[mousehole5000]

tgcf lb the fourth chapter 23 - 33

“hmmm looks like theres people in the fertilizer. i shan’t say a word” ok king of minding your business i guess

oh looks like it has a long tongue. oh i dont care for that at all

The build of their bodies were similar, and atop their shoulders, all of them carried cudgels that were densely covered in sharp wolf teeth. It created an illusion that a pack of wolves had transformed into people. attack of the furries? okay.

It was easy to comprehend after thinking about it. This person had been buried in the desert sand for fifty to sixty years. The flesh of his body had long been transformed into nutrients for those Kindred Moon Herbs. He had been entirely consumed until the only thing remaining was a mere skeleton. when this book isnt being very funny its being very grim!!! yikes!! also this was an episode of hannibal 

Ke Mo definitely had never heard someone ask to go first in this place. His eyes widened and looked like bells as he asked in astonishment, “You want to go first? For what reason??” Xie Lian naturally couldn’t reply and say it was because he wasn’t scared. Thus, he chose an answer that conformed with the norms of society. “General, these are merely innocent merchants just passing through. They even have a child amongst them.” - love watching the immortals trying to act like humans. would have been funny if xie lian had just hit em with “well i cant die so its chill”

That young man had crossed his arms. With an indifferent gaze, he thoughtfully sized up the deep Sinners’ Pit.　　 A bad premonition sprung up unbidden in Xie Lian’s heart. “San Lang?”　　 When he heard Xie Lian call him, San Lang turned his head. He smiled faintly and said, “Everything’s fine.” - edgy bastard lets go

What Ke Mo had been cursing was, “It’s this slut again!” - me when a corpse gets up and knocks all my soldiers into the sinner’s pit what a relatable reaction

oh now im switching translations here we go

does hua cheng just straight up transform in the darkness? edgy bastard. also  hualian having their little discussion while ke mo keeps trying to attack im still amused by these kinds of shenanigans

banyue guoshi ma’am your backstory.... rough. im on your side im sure you had your reasons

why do the soldiers keep her up near the top of the pit of death if she keeps getting up and knocking them all in? am i missing something? or are they just that dumb/dead fjdf;adjsf

fu yao: y’all alive? lmk. if not ill guess ill go back to the the merchants who totally promised to stay put in the circle. in case its not clear i do not care what happens to said merchants.

hua xie... of course thats the fucking name he picked. also looks like that wasnt so much a parallel being drawn between xie lian and the general as it was the same exact line

fasdlkfjsldfdsf god xie lian really has a hard time. you help some orphans, you try to keep people from dying, you try to save an orphan and you trip and get trampled but you cant die so you wake up in a river full of corpses and just float away. actually tbh i really appreciate him as an immortal character this is the shit i like to see. love xie lian ready to defend himself from the slander of being completely flattened. he was only mostly flattened

cunty vibes so strong all the wildlife in a 10 foot radius just chuck up the deuces and split

ITS RAINING SCORPION SNAKES. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO PUSH A REVEAL. love that the umbrella is just always on hand

okay i guess fucking. everyone is here now why not. we’re all in a hole covered in scorpions and everyone knows each other but not everyone is admitting it but we know. we know. still not 100% sure what is going wrt pei su/pei ming/general pei/pei junior im a bit confused idk

okay i cant explain it but im attached to him now.

i like banyue. i feel like theres going to be a few background female characters i really like but im not so sure theyll get a lot of development. wind master come back you and your lady friend i would like to know more of you. anyway fuck this pei guy(s?). also they just put banyue in a jar? fair enough

is xie lian another mc who cant cook? so much so that everyone who knows him just leaves if he offers? love that for him

okay we’ve got ONE identity admitted. i liked how casual it was. i wonder if hc was waiting for this bc yeah he was not subtle i feel like he definitely wanted xie lian to know. if he didnt then bruh. get lessons in how to act human please

screaming. no words. cant wait to meet him. and hua cheng please keep up the good work. i love that now we’re just. sitting. chatting. chilling. okay.

yeah it makes sense that hes an immortal i think you would have to take this attitude after 800 years

this authors note about not writing ugly characters.... fjkdalfdjfa obviously i dont think holding beauty as such high standard is good it warps our views and values etc etc but also i would expect nothing less from a story like this. yes we know everyone is going to be beautiful theyre immortal and beautiful and young forever

lmao at exile being a temporary banishment for crimes.... yeah that sounds about right tbh. rich elite fuckers

oh good we haven’t forgotten about human face disease boy. im wondering when we’re going to find out how important he will be bc he clearly matters otherwise he’d have been resolved already also yeah how tf does he have that disease that sure sounds like an issue

i dont like him. pei ming i also wish you to die of syphilis. also of fucking COURSE xie lian’s cultivation method doesnt let him read dirty books

im just saving this because its funny

okay lang qianqiu i see you falling asleep at the meeting. i like you already but you are not above suspicion. actually you know what i suspect you already. crown prince of the kingdom that conquered xianle? idk if youre good or bad but you know something i learned this lesson from beloved morally grey huaisang

okay last comment for this post. mxtx’s little authors note about everyone being straight except for hualian but you can make up headcanons as long as you dont split hualian up fjdlfakdj. i just find it silly to write a story thats so clearly for an audience that understands shipping and ships often and say not to split a specific couple up but i mean to be fair i kind of get it that sentiment as an author and not wanting people to do certain things with your work, although again i think its silly

i guess the point of this note is just to be clear that no one else is going to get together so no one argues about it and i dont actually know much about how this was published but it seems like it was serialized so i can see why that would be an issue. personally i dont really care for knowing stuff like that ahead of time but i know a lot of people do and it seems to be thing in other cnovels ive seen to know whos going to get together as far as major characters are concerned i guess thats part of the draw and i guess i kind of get it

not sure how much other romance will be in this but also i think its kind of ridiculous to be like “these are the only two gay characters” in a cast that just keeps growing but whatever shes really leaving that work up to the readers to make it happen which they’ll do anyways so whatever. also there had to be at least one of the 33 officials who fought hua cheng who thought he was hot. theres no way that didnt happen

[hamliet]

The Faces Under Bai WuXiang’s Mask

Or, dissecting Bai WuXiang. I’m not going to get into whose face is actually under BWX’s mask (there aren’t spoilers in this meta), or into Lang Ying, but I instead want to talk about Bai WuXiang’s foiling with primarily Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, but also a bit of He Xuan and Qi Rong (fitting as BWX and the latter three are the Four Great Calamities). 

Anyways. Mount TongLu. 

The funny thing about Mu Qing and Feng Xin’s horror over Hua Cheng’s love for Xie Lian is that they think he’s a demon stalking Xie Lian with the intent of harming him. 

Feng Xin was practically getting chills looking through those murals, “My fucking god… who the hell is he? He’s been watching you since eight hundred years ago?! And he is still, even now? What the fuck! This is terrifying! Is he bewitched? What the hell does he want? Normal worshippers won’t even do this much, just what the hell does he want??”

And Hua Cheng has loved Xie Lian and lived for him for 800 years. Yet, while there is a demon stalking Xie Lian for 800 years, it is not Hua Cheng but Bai WuXiang.

Bai WuXiang’s obsession with Xie Lian seems to be that he wants Xie Lian to become exactly like him, as a sort of forced empathy (I’m sensing a pattern among MXTX villains: see here for He Xuan and here for MDZS’s Xue Yang). I’m curious to see where this develops. Bai WuXiang seems to recognize Xie Lian’s terror and understand it, even, and he wants to see it drive Xie Lian into the same kind of crying/laughing despair that governs him. 

White No-Face lifted his face to look at his eyes, and he said warmly, “Your highness, I think, you might have misunderstood. There certainly will be a Supreme who will emerge from this kiln, but, it won’t be me. It would be you.” ...

“Do you remember this cry-smiling mask?” White No-Face asked, “It suits you.” ...

Then, without giving him a chance to protest, that tragically pale cry-smiling mask melted with the infinite darkness as it was heavily pressed onto Xie Lian’s face.

This is, of course, a crucial difference when compared with how Hua Cheng sees Xie Lian. He never forces Xie Lian to do anything, and accompanies him even when he doesn’t want Xie Lian to make a particular choice. In other words, Hua Cheng gets real empathy and what it’s like, that it doesn’t mean becoming exactly like someone or agreeing all the time, but walking with them. 

Xie Lian softly sighed a breath of relief and forced a smile, “Nothing, it’s just, in these past years, how I passed my earlier days wasn’t the prettiest sight, it was all muddled and very much a failure. I just thought if you had witnessed it it wouldn’t be good.”

Hua Cheng laughed, “How could that be?”

Xie Lian however, didn’t laugh at all, “It’s not a joke, it really was quite the failure.”

Hearing this, Hua Cheng withdrew his smile and turned solemn, “That’s okay too. Didn’t your highness already say it yourself?”

“Me?” Xie Lian was confused, “What did I say?”

Hua Cheng recited languidly, “To me, the one standing in infinite glory is you, the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is you, and not the state of you.”

Bai WuXiang doesn’t understand this perspective at all. He tells Xie Lian, regarding Hua Cheng:

“it’s probably for the best that he doesn’t come in. Otherwise, even if he doesn’t think so now, later when he sees the state of you, who knows if he’ll still want to be with you.”

He’s preying on Xie Lian’s worst insecurities, the ones he mentioned earlier: that he’s a failure, that he’s trash. I’m pretty sure this is actually what Bai WuXiang thinks of himself: that he’s a failure, and no one wants to be with him (well, I mean, look at you BWX...) 

We see these fears of being inherently bad in Hua Cheng as a little boy. Everyone seems to believe this about him, especially when the priest tells his fortune:

The Head Priest wiped his sweat and suddenly backed a mile away, “Your highness, you really picked up something you shouldn’t have up the mountain! That small child is toxic! His sign is borne of the most ominous star, the Star of Solitude*, destined to bring misfortune and destruction, the kind that evil loves the most. Whoever touches him will have misfortune befall upon them, whoever gets close will lose their lives!”

... Seeing that everyone was avoiding him like he was a poisonous snake, that child was shocked and started thrashing even harder, biting and screaming, “I’m not! I’M NOT!! I’M NOT!!!!”

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped him around the waist, encircling his small form. A voice came from above his head, “You’re not. I know you’re not. Don’t cry, now. I know you’re not.”

That young child pressed his lips closed tightly, grabbing on to that pair of snow-white sleeves around his waist with a death grip, forced himself to hold back for a long time but in the end he still couldn’t. A stream of tears suddenly rolled down from that round, black eye, and he burst out crying.

Xie Lian embraced him from behind and reiterated firmly, “It not you. It’s not your fault.”

This scene was also paralleled recently in the confession scene in 177, where Xie Lian hugs Hua Cheng from behind to confirm he loves him. But what Hua Cheng fears is being alone because he brings misfortune to the people he loves. He doesn’t want to be alone. Connection, as we’ll see, is vitally important to staying alive and to staying connected to humanity--whether mortal, god, or demon--in TGCF. He even asks Xie Lian in the confession scene not to tell him, because he’s so afraid of being rejected, yet Xie Lian embraces him instead. 

i’m not in pain at all

When Hua Cheng is wondering what to live for, thinking he has nothing, Xie Lian tells him to live for him until he finds another reason to live for himself. This scene again emphasizes the importance of connection and the importance of empathy in connection as well, that a god would speak to a lone, desperate mortal worshipper. Live for their connection. The problem is that Hua Cheng needs to extend some of that love to himself too (like, he’s still drawing himself as exceedingly ugly in his art), but I think that comes through allowing himself to be loved by Xie Lian. So he’s on that path. 

There’s another aspect to the BWX and Hua Cheng foiling that makes me slightly uncomfortable to discuss, but it’s there so let’s discuss it. Hua Cheng’s murals that so panicked Mu Qing and Feng Xin were pretty obviously, er, erotic (the ultimate self-insert real person fanartist; Hua Cheng and Dante could get along). Bai WuXiang is definitely giving off some... creeper vibes. 

The next second, his hair was grabbed, forcibly yanked back then bashed into the ground!

His ears were ringing, his nose and mouth were filled with the astringence of blood, and his head concussed.

It was a while later before Xie Lian felt a hand pull his head out from the shattered ground, and a voice came from above, “So sad, so pitiful.”

Xie Lian choked out a mouthful of blood. White No-Face said, “Every time I meet your highness, you always look like this. Makes one ache. Makes one excited.”

It could just be the translation, but given BWX’s foiling with Hua Cheng, the scene two chapters earlier where Mu Qing and Fen Xin clearly think Hua Cheng is going to harm Xie Lian sexually and Hua Cheng assures him he has no such intentions (not that Xie Lian thought he would), plus what we know of Xie Lian’s utter commitment to abstinence does make me think that Bai WuXiang knows what he’s doing and is doing it to distress Xie Lian. I don’t think MXTX will take it very far (ie I don’t think anything will actually happen in a literal sense), thankfully, but I do think something metaphorically along those lines (ie something humiliating that denies Xie Lian humanity in a sense other than that one, BUT metaphorical is not the same thing) might have happened in the past.

There’s also the fact that Bai WuXiang slamming Xie Lian’s face into the ground and demanding he be like him at the ending of book 3, right before we dive into the past, is a reversal of the scene at the ending of book 1 right before we dive into the past, where Xie Lian slams Qi Rong’s face into the ground because he can’t get him to stop possessing an innocent father. Additionally, in this scene Qi Rong tells Xie Lian something similar to what BWX tells Xie Lian, except Xie Lian is the one in power then:

Xie Lian’s breathing was becoming more laboured, his head dizzy, his body shaking, his hands itching to crush Qi Rong’s skull, but he couldn’t do it. Qi Rong spread his hands, “Hahahaha cousin crown prince, what a failure, what an absolute failure!”

Xie Lian picked him off the ground, raised his fists and rained punch after punch on Qi Rong’s face, yelling with each punch, “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”

Yet, the more enraged he got, the happier Qi Rong became. To be able to drag the both of them to the same hell, Qi Rong was filled with rapture, his eyes shone brightly, “See! There’s your true face! Cousin crown prince, who knows you better than me in this world? You might look like a pathetic, drowned dog that anyone can trample now, but I know. You’re still proud on the inside; you couldn’t stand anyone calling you a failure! You must hate me for calling you a failure! Have I stabbed your heart enough to bleed? Hurry! Come! Or are you gonna tell me loudly that this body is innocent, so you won’t kill me in order to spare him? Come! Show me what you’ll do!”

It’s the same sort of temptation, except BWX has the spiritual power on his side whereas Qi Rong didn’t. Kill me, and become like me. If Xie Lian doesn’t give up, if he stands by his morals even though they’re being challenged because honestly his morals are kind of all he has at certain moments, then they themselves will be condemned, as they already know they are. But they want someone to empathize with them, to understand them. Qi Rong spent his childhood looking up to Xie Lian, wanting to be like him, and now he wants Xie Lian to be like him. He’s still a child, despite being an 800-year-old demon. I have hope Qi Rong will be able to grow a bit through being a parental figure for GuZi, I don’t really for BWX because I find him a terrifying baddie whom I love and despise at the same time. 

What sets Xie Lian apart though, the whole reason Qi Rong loved him so much in the first place, the reason Hua Cheng fell in love with him, the reason He Xuan grew close with Shi Qing Xuan, is because Xie Lian can empathize. He has a sense of wonder about the world, and he doesn’t see himself as better than anyone. He’s naive and yes, proud in some ways, but when his priests tried to kick out a child because the child had a bad fortune, he protected that child. He dove off the ceremonial cart to save a falling child. He knows he failed epically to save Xian Le from falling, to save innocents from dying, but not for lack of trying. 

He Xuan also tried to force Shi Qing Xuan and Shi Wu Du to understand his pain in losing all his loved ones. It backfired, and now He Xuan has lost the one person he still had. (I don’t think SQX is dead, but I doubt he is in a good state.) The meta I referenced earlier is entirely about this, and as @beneaththebrim wrote here, the whole Black Water arc “is a tragic mirror of the main plot.”

The faces under Bai WuXiang’s mask could easily be any of these characters, but they aren’t because they’re able to connect currently. Qi Rong has a genuine connection to Xie Lian, as twisted and torn as it is, and is developing one with GuZi. He Xuan is likely finding out that revenge on Shi Wu Du didn’t bring him the peace he wants, didn’t bring his loved ones back, and irreparably hurt the one person who loved him (Shi Qing Xuan). Hua Cheng and Xie Lian, of course, love each other, and through each others’ love, are hopefully starting, ever so slowly, to learn to love and value themselves too (Hua Cheng you don’t value yourself enough). 

Bai WuXiang is likely terrified of facing the reality that he is alone (and if he doesn’t have the human face disease or some remnant thereof since he’s the mastermind behind it and it’s symbolic of society corrupting & also of loneliness, I’ll be shocked). So no matter how many faces he has in actuality, it’s really only his face under that mask, and that’s what he’s terrified of. 

[hua-lian]

Hello , so um I want to request something I hope its not too much , can you maybe translate some interesting parts of that chapter where MQ ,FX XL gets to HC cave and find the statues and HC gives(?)XL a red string on his finger , and can you tell me what chapter that is ? , thanks , anx sorry if its a bother

MASSIVE SPOILERS

first of all, you have low standard if you’re asking me for translations HAHAHAHAHA

okay so the chapter that HC gives XL the red string is chapter 158, and only from chapter 173 onwards did XL, HC, MQ and FX get to HC’s cave, and I would argue the interesting parts is the whole thing but I can’t translate that without taking a year so I compromised and put summaries in between translations in [brackets]

warning, this is one hell of a long post because I don’t know how to use google docs

Red string part (Chapter 158)

Xie Lian was contemplating whether he should smash the stone wall to see what was behind, when he heard Hua Cheng: “Gege, give me your hand.”

Xie Lian: “???”

Even though he was confused, he still relented and gave his hand to Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng gently held his hand, putting his hand in his palm, his other hand covering, as if he was putting something on him. Xie Lian’s heart jumped faster, and he held his breath for a moment, at once, he raised his hand, and questioned: “This is?”

On his right hand’s third finger was a fine red string, which was what Hua Cheng put on him. Additionally, this red string continuously extended, connected to Hua Cheng’s own finger���s red string.

Hua Cheng raised his hand, showing the two’s identical butterfly knot, smiling as he said: “Tied together.”

Hearing this, Xie Lian’s face heated up, quickly he rubbed his face twice, afraid Hua Cheng could detect his unusually quick heartbeat, laughing as he said: “San Lang this is a form of magic?”

“En.” Hua Cheng slightly straightened his expression, putting down his hand, he said, “Even though we won’t leave each other on our own, we can’t guarantee there will be no outside forces. This string won’t snap, and won’t be short. Unless the other was gone, otherwise, we can definitely follow the string to find the other person.”

Xie Lian said: “Gone, meaning?”

Hua Cheng said: “Dying, or vanishing into thin air. If the string is unbroken, it means the other person is fine.”

Chapter 173

[HC and XL fall into HC’s Ten-Thousand Gods Cave, and as they continue walking XL sees a lot of different types of statues, all with their faces covered.]

Some was fully covered, extremely unusual. Xie Lian found it weird, wanting to pull down one statue’s gauze and see its face, but behind him Hua Cheng said: “Gege, I suggest you don’t.”

Xie Lian turned his head back, questioningly asked: “Why? I feel that these god statues are a little weird.”

Hua Cheng walked forward, and said: “Because it’s weird, it’s best if you don’t. Since these faces are covered, there must be a reason why. The head is where the spiritual energy assembles, if the cover is removed, allowing these weird god statues to assemble the spiritual energy, who knows what might happen. Gege, didn’t you want to find your two footmen? Since we haven’t found them, it’s best not to touch them (god statues) so as to avoid side issues.”

His words were mysterious and confusing, but it was not without reason, in the case of removing the face gauze, awakening whatever these god statues had, that would not be any fun at all. Xie Lian thought for a bit, deciding to put down his hand, and said: “I’m just a little curious as to who the god is.”

Hua Cheng, playing it down, said: “This place is Wu Yong’s national border, perhaps it’s Wu Yong’s crown prince’s god statue, not strange at all.”

Xie Lian: “I’m afraid it’s not.”

Hua Cheng said: “Eh? How can one be sure?”

Xie Lian faced him, and said: “From the murals we saw on the way here, Wu Yong’s crown prince and Wu Yong Nation’s people’s clothes, compared to these god statue’s dress style, it’s not the same. Therefore, I’m afraid that these god statues and Wu Yong’s crown prince are unrelated. Additionally, it’s possible they weren’t made by the hands of Wu Yong’s people.”

Hua Cheng laughed and said: “Really? Gege is really meticulous.”

Xie Lian also laughed, and said: “No, no. Only that the style of these god statues, whatever craft labor, clothes, or the streamline and details of the clothes, all seems to have a more modern style. For example……the style of Xian Le Nation.”

Hua Cheng raised a brow, and said: “It seems, gege has a rather deep knowledge of this aspect.”

Xie Lian said: “Where, where. It’s only that I’ve seen too many god statues, sooner or later I’ll be more perceptive.”

Even though he didn’t know why, but he kept feeling, from just now till now, Hua Cheng was a little off. After talking to this point, he seemed to be faintly nervous.

[XL decided to listen to HC, and not touch the statues, then they come across a path split into 2, and XL questions why HC immediately goes to the right if he claims he doesn’t know the place. HC makes up nonsense, saying he’s more lucky so he randomly picked the right side. XL then hears voices from the left path, and heads there despite HC calling him back. It’s MQ and FX, stuck in a hole. HC did not follow him.]

Chapter 174

[XL jumps into the hole, HC comes and brings him out, XL brings MQ and FX out of the hole. XL, MQ, and FX spend the whole chapter talking, generally about how XL knew MQ and FX were FY and NF all along.]

Chapter 175

[As they continue walking, MQ tries to touch one of the statues, and HC immediately holds a sword towards him, and reluctantly MQ relents after a standoff. Suddenly, MQ and FX grab XL and runs away from HC, and MQ mentions that the red bead XL had lost long ago was found again, and it’s the red bead in HC’s hair. XL is in disbelief, and MQ takes off a veil covering a statue’s face, and it’s XL’s face. All the statues are of him, made by HC. They then see some murals, and it’s all drawn by HC, one being Pleased God XL saving small HC, one being HC holding an umbrella over a white flower, and FX and MQ are horrified to realize that HC’s been watching XL all this time.]

Feng Xin was simply absolutely terrified, and said: “What kind of person is this? Staring at you from 800 years till now?! Still staying with you until today? Fuck me! This is too horrifying! Is he possessed?! What does he want? Ordinary believers completely would not do this kind of thing, what does he want?!”

Mu Qing said: “There’s a plot……There definitely must be a plot! Quickly continue looking, a clue can definitely be found here!”

Xie Lian was already shocked stupid, staring at the small red boy on the wall, he hadn’t reacted yet, he only felt that there was much he hadn’t forgotten, but he had not cared to remember all the messy and confusing things which were all fighting to appear first in Xie Lian’s head, when the two beside him starting making noise. He shivered once, and asked: “What happened now?”

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were standing in front of a stone wall, as if they had seen some kind of terrible thing. On seeing that he wanted to walk over, Feng Xin quickly turned and pushed him back, and said: “Don’t fucking look!”

Xie Lian: “? What is it? What thing? Why can’t I see it?”

Mu Qing’s face also darkened, and he said: “……Don’t see it. It’s nothing worth looking at, quickly run!”

The two of them grabbed an arm, once again rushing towards a path. Dragged by them, Xie Lian said: “What are you two doing? I still have not seen the entirety of the murals?!” 

Feng Xin ran and angrily said: “No use looking! You can’t see that kind of thing! Fuck, honestly! I really have never seen this kind of fucking thing before! This kind of person!!!”

Xie Lian was confused: “You have never see what before? What’s did San Lang do?”

Mu Qing scolded: “Still calling him San Lang, stop calling him that! It’s too late to run! From now on don’t approach him! He’s not normal, he’s sick, he’s a lunatic!!!”

Xie Lian couldn’t listen to it anymore, and said: “Why are you two scolding like that? Didn’t I say, not everyone who’s not normal is bad?”

Feng Xin said: “Stop asking! I don’t know! He’s entirely different from us! He’s sick! Towards you, he……he……”

Xie Lian said: “Towards me what?”

One wants to return, the other two want to pull, the three of them were locked in a stalemate, suddenly a cold voice came from their front, and said: “Didn’t I say before, once at other’s domain, don’t touch their things randomly? Otherwise, whatever happens next, it’s hard to say.”

The three of them stiffened, turning their heads. They could only see a red figure in front of them. Hua Cheng was leaning against a stone wall, blocking their way.

Chapter 176

[They run again, and XL says he wants to ask HC about the statues and murals instead, and MQ and FX, obviously, refuses, and they both think XL is too trusting of HC. MQ puts a tally (talisman?) on him which makes him obey and prevents him from being able to speak. HC appears again.]

Feng Xin and Mu Qing instantly backed a distance. Hua Cheng did not look at them, his eye moving to one side, taking a step towards Xie Lian. Feng Xin and Mu Qing reacted when they saw who he was heading towards, quickly putting Xie Lian behind them, and said in unison: “Don’t come over!”

Hua Cheng’s expression darkened.

If this was a normal day, whoever dared to tell Seeking Flowers in Blood Rain not to come over, he would completely not care about these words, it would be weird if he didn’t laughed and purposefully headed over, but this time, he instead seemed as if he was a little afraid, not daring to act rashly, halting his footsteps.

A while later, he then slowly said: “What is the meaning of this?”

This tone seemed calm. Feng Xin instead said directly: “There’s no need to act anymore, this place has always been your nest. We have already seen these god statues, and those drawings of yours, we have seen it all!”

Hua Cheng was blocking them, hearing this, the hand behind his back trembled, two finger unconsciously curled up.

“……” He slowly drooped, and weakly said, “His Highness, has also seen?”

This tone was very low, even though this manner of speaking was nothing exciting, it was a little hoarse, clearly unusual. Xie Lian thought: “I have not!”

Actually, he didn’t see a lot, however, at this moment he couldn’t speak nor move, honestly only able lean against the stone wall in the corner, as if he was hiding behind the two, afraid to come out to face Hua Cheng, and unwilling to talk to him. Feng Xin drew his bow, and said: “Correct. Whatever…thoughts you have, we are clear. With respect to you as a Ghost King, if you still have some respect and dignity, please do not come close to His Highness the Crown Prince anymore.”

[HC, angered, fights them, and traps them in cocoon silk, then MQ says he was the one who drove HC out of the military, and then HC tells them to admit if the thing they were talking about before was true or not. MQ shouts for XL to run away, XL runs and falls down pretty much immediately.]

Xie Lian’s hands and feet were tightly bound by white thread, lying on the ground, his black hair and white sleeves scattered, his bamboo hat having fallen aside. Hua Cheng slowly turned towards him, pausing for a long time, he headed towards him. Having walked only a few steps, Feng Xin couldn’t control himself and said: “Hua Cheng!”

Hua Cheng paused in his steps, slowly inclining his head.

Feng Xin summoned up his courage to say: “You…You let go of His Highness! He’s already so miserable. Towards him, don’t……” 

Hua Cheng didn’t say a thing, walking to Xie Lian’s side, bending his knees for a bit, he picked him up.

[HC carries him and leaves, and MQ bites the silk aggressively.]

Chapter 177 (Confession!!!)

[HC carries him away, his hands stiff, and HC then notices the tally MQ had put on XL, preventing him from speaking.]

Xie Lian’s organs were in disarray, the effect of the Obey Talisman on his back starting to fade away, he moved his leg with force, letting out a “Ah.” Even though it looked like a dying fish futilely fighting its last battle and letting out a protest without any deterrence, Hua Cheng still stiffened, instantly retracting his hand, and said: “I will not!”

Seeming as if he thought his voice was too loud, and was afraid to startle Xie Lian, Hua Cheng took a few steps back, lightening his tone, and said, lowly: “Your Highness, I will not do anything. You…don’t have to be afraid.”

[XL is injured, which he hadn’t realized until HC was taking off his clothes and helping him (?), MQ and FX come again, but it turns out they were fake, and Bai Wuxiang had been pretending to be them.]

here’s a link to a translation for the confession!!