#ghost fire hua cheng

[luriart]

Crimson Rain Sought Flower, Hua Cheng

[dilpickle]

“I’m sorry. Forget me.”

“I won’t forget. Your Highness, I am forever your most devoted believer.”

“…I’ve already lost all my believers. Believing in me won’t do you any good, it might even bring disaster. Do you know? Even my friend has left me.”

“I won’t.”

“You will.”

“Believe me, Your Highness.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He no longer believed anyone, and he no longer believed in himself either.

[hualianskid]

“To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you, the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is you, and not the state of you.”

I believe Hua Cheng came to understand this after the fall of XianLe!

When Xie Lian saved Hong Hong er, he was still just a kid. He didn’t see Xie Lian as a person, but rather his prince or his god, and mainly his savior. This savior of his, in his eyes, was a light that couldn’t be extinguished, an invincible hero (which is expected from a little boy’s perspective). It’s after the fall of XianLe that Hua Cheng probably truly realizes that while his prince is still very much a light, his light, that light could absolutely dim. The illusion faded, and he finally realized: the crown prince of XianLe, the darling of the heavens, his highness who pleased the gods, and the one who saved him is not invincible. His god, now brutally exposed as Xie Lian, also needs protection.

Ghost fire Hua Cheng is when his motive was solidified, since.. he gently tells Xie Lian himself. I’m not a detective. But then “Wu Ming” comes along, and the fact that he sticks around while Xie Lian constantly berates him is the ultimate proof that Hua Cheng only sees Xie Lian now, whether he is a prince, a calamity, or an omen of misfortune. Seeing Xie Lian as “his savior” does not change through his growth, though. It only evolves into something deeper, “his beloved.”

but that’s just me idk

[rynnerie]

Xie Lian and the Ghost Fire

[trans-hua-cheng-agenda]

I love this scene 🥺

[white-flower-blooming]

･⁕𓈒࣪✨️∴｡* ･ﾟ *｡✨️･･ *ﾟ*･｡･ﾟ🌙｡·*･｡ ﾟ*ﾟ✨️*.｡◍࣪ 𓈒

[ladyhavilliard]

“To watch with your own eyes your beloved be trampled and ridiculed, yet be unable to do anything. That's the worst suffering in the world.”

[benevolenterrancy]

I'm reading bk6 and have just met ghostfire!Hua Cheng. i am enamoured...

feng xin and mu qing are trying to be supportive of xie lian's bizarre new castle but they're drawing the line at the evil little fire demon that seems to hate absolutely everyone except xie lian

[budd-ie]

Actually what I love most about hualian is that by the time of "if you don't know what to live for then live for me" they had already had many meetings and moments together, and while that one moment may have solidified his resolve and his purpose, it may have never actually come to that point had xie lian not caught him from the wall, had he not saved him from qi rong, had he not told qi rong off and punished him, had he not stood up for him every time someone spoke against him, had he not held him so warmly, had he not talked to him so gently, had not reassured him so genuinely, had he not protected him time and time again, yknow? Ever since they met they kept meeting by chance and it might have even felt like Xie Lian was looking out for him specifically, even if it was just a coincidence and he would have done it for anyone else. Hong-er is crazy enough to do whatever he wants on a whim, but this wasn't like a split second decision Xie Lian was already like a lifeline to him at this point, and he took his chance and asked his question to a statue in a shrine he may have never cared about had they never met. He may not have really expected an answer and was just asking with a last desperate hope to find any reason to keep going on, but he got an answer from that one and only person in the world who he would ever trust. That trust was built stronger every single time they met and it all led up to that point. If hong-er had asked that question without the pretext of their previous meetings, would he still devote his life? Maybe, but it's not easy to say yes definitely. If it had been anyone else, would they also devote their life? That's also entirely possible, but it wasn't anybody else. It's three parts fate and seven parts courage, and again, Hong-er is crazy enough to do whatever he wants on a whim, so he chose life with the rest of his courage. In short, when we say their story is so specific to them, I really do believe that it could quite literally only happen to them specifically and no one else given their situation. If Xie Lian didn't have such a strong sense of justice and love of all people, if hong-er wasn't so desperate, reactive, or strong-willed, if either of them weren't just so damn stubborn, I honestly think none of these events could play out the same way and/or be as impactful on them. It really couldn't have been just any crown prince and any beggar kid, it could really have only been them.

[lazycranberrydoodles]

every time he steps into the kitchen he invents a new health code violation

follow for more. whatever this is

[sandumilfshou]

hua cheng giving purpose and meaning and stability to the weak little ghost fires that find their way to ghost city, placing them carefully in street lamps and strung lanterns, where they can provide their light for the people around them, a safe place for them to stay, and if they want, a little home to slowly grow stronger in so they may one day have the ability to cultivate back into a physical form, or simply make themselves of use until they feel they can move on.

a light going out in ghost city is always noticed, and always celebrated, either way

[backpackingspace]

....do we think xie lian knows everything jun wu did to him because like. I doubt it. When you're being psychologically tortured and reality is breaking around you, you don't remember a lot of it.

[myheartismadeofstars]

Just thought about a soulmate au where XL and MQ both are very rare people who have two soulmates: (each other and their respective lovers) in this one after you meet your soulmate your skin is connected. If you draw on your skin, your soulmate can see it, if your soulmate is injured they feel an echo of pain... XL is so excited when he meets MQ and they turn out to be soulmates! (imagine this being a major factor in him helping MQ to cultivate!! So they can become immortal together 🥺) MQ however is horrified to realize that he has two soulmates, and desperately hides it because people with two soulmates are considered duplicitous traitors. He hates FX because his life would have been perfect if he wasn't also bound to FX!! If only it was just XL!! Every time they fight, they end up with identical bruises (yes XL gets bruises from this too, FX curses MQ for hurting Dianxia with his aggressive behaviour)

The day after the parade where Hong-er and XL meet, more bruises start appearing on him for no apparent reason, bruises that MQ doesn't match.

Hong-er doesn't realize XL is his Literal Actual Soulmate until later, because he's always hurt. In fact I think it isn't until... probably the Land of the Tender incident that HC learns "of fuck, my soulmate is my god!" (trying to think of the first time XL gets hurt or something that HC wouldn't be able to explain away)

so during The Separation, MQ could write or draw on himself to communicate with XL, but not without outing himself as FX's soulmate too. HC probably does try to communicate with XL multiple times....but he doesn't want to have a one-sided conversation with MQ either.... but both of them can FEEL him, not where he is...but HOW he is (Coffin Time would be horrific for both of them because they feel this constant dull pain that fades in and out for a CENTURY)

poor FX probably knows he's Bound but can't for the life of him figure out who it is. Sometimes he'll get random things, and he'd know his soulmate is immortal (or a ghost) because it continues for centuries, but he's just... trying to find out who they are...(and doesn't know how to tell them that he's in love with MQ)

[radiantmists]

NO dont touch him! do not be interested in him!! leave that poor helpless thing alone!!!

[illuminatingsceadugenga]

I made a post a couple days ago about wanting a fic where Xie Lian realizes he was Wu Ming’s beloved after Book 4 but honestly after rereading the last bit of Book 4 ive realized that. Honestly i kind of wonder if a part of xie lian DID know that. Or the failure to realize it on his part was the result of his excellent Selective Thinking skills... a refusal to believe he could be loved... because uhhhhhhh............ its really something to write out a scene where xie lian puts together that wu ming was the ghost fire in the temple only to double-check the book and realize BWX outright tells Xie Lian Wu Ming became a wrath ghost specifically from witnessing his torture in the temple

[crimsonmonsoon]

My Qi Rong enthusiasm still grows