Chapter Text
It took three years, three long, long years.
Xie Lian finally left Mount Tonglu.
He felt… Strange. No, strange wasn't the word.
He felt… Powerful .
He felt strong again. Much stronger than when he was the brilliant Flower Crowned Martial God.
The absence of the cursed handcuffs certainly made a big difference. When Xie Lian finally emerged from the furnace, the sheer pressure of spiritual energy he felt in his body broke through both of his cursed shackles, granting him back access to his divine powers.
The cultivation method he developed with Wu Ming certainly helped a lot, his new strength felt intense in his veins, making him light with so much power.
The almost dizzying sensation that spread throughout his body as he was able to feel his spiritual power again was exciting, especially since Xie Lian finally, finally, could hear Wu Ming again.
That absolute strength that came from the faith of his most devoted believer, from his only love.
It was warm, comforting, and Xie Lian hoped that Wu Ming could feel that too about Xie Lian's own faith in him.
The sky under Mount Tonglu finally opened, dawn broke, but everything around was deathly silent. There were no animals in that cursed place, and every conscious existence became strength for Xie Lian.
Ruoye fidgeted on his wrist, causing the new ghost king to break into a soft smile.
“I miss you too.” - He missed Wu Ming, he missed his husband so much in those long years he spent fighting and building his strength. Being forged like the new calamity in the oven.
Xie Lian paused slightly, a shiver running through his body and a light blush rising to his face. Ruoye bowed a little, worried, but soon Xie Lian shook his head and continued walking, returning to the cave of ten thousand gods, full of statues made by his beloved. Bowing softly before the statues on the altar, just because he thought Wu Ming deserved it. Your Wu Ming deserved all good things.
He bowed to the statues that stood as he had previously left them, before the altar of his god. Your husband. The god that Xie Lian believed in the most.
He was ready.
“I’m coming, Wu Ming.” - The ghost king promised, hands together in a prayer.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was three years… Interesting.
Much longer and more drawn out than Wu Ming would have liked. And he could easily classify those years as being terrible for not being able to be with His Highness most of the time (or all of the time, unfortunately for him).
Although… It wasn't as bad as he expected it to be.
He kept trying to break the barrier around Mount Tonglu, ignoring those shocked idiots who kept trying to get answers out of him.
Wu Ming only responded as he saw fit, largely reaffirming how much he was Dianxia's husband , how much he stuck with Dianxia, and that Dianxia loved him as much as he loved him.
Even though inside Wu Ming was combusting for saying such things, thinking of himself as being so shameless, the anger at not being able to go directly to his love, coupled with the constant irritation of those two trashes was not good for the temperament of Wu Ming.
His missing eye occasionally glowed. There was nothing there, just an empty socket, but it lit up with fire and responded to E-ming (What Wu Ming decided to call his new weapon), and the impact he seemed to have on that stupid barrier was almost satisfying.
If only that stupid thing didn't recover almost immediately!
One useful thing the two idiots finally said when Wu Ming stopped, feeling his god's prayer, was the ability to answer prayers, something Wu Ming tried when he heard his god, but it seemed unanswered. With the two idiots' instructions, Wu Ming focused on this. It wasn't pleasant having to stand still for hours, but it was for a good cause, so the trio made a small camp while Wu Ming concentrated.
It worked, unexpectedly. Not as much as the ghost god expected, but the barrier seemed to be causing interference with his ability to respond. At least it was enough to let your loved one know he was heard.
Xie Lian spoke about Wu Ming's name again, wanting him to use a better name as a god. Something truly his. It was a small topic discussed between the two in recent years, but the most Wu Ming did was ask her husband to call him San Lang.
(Something that definitely made Xie Lian blush beautifully, making Wu Ming incredibly happy. He kissed his shy and sweet husband several times just to hear him sigh his name.)
And of course Wu Ming wouldn't give that name to the two idiots, that was something that only belonged to Dianxia.
Knowing that his god was really well was the best of all, talking to him calmed Wu Ming down a little. Their god was going into the oven, to become a ghost king. Meanwhile, Hua Cheng would continue trying to enter.
“I’m going back to dianxia! I’m going to gege!”
Afterwards, Hua Cheng noticed that his voice was no longer heard, much to his utter frustration.
At least, he noted, he could still hear his husband's prayers.
This barrier stupid… .
Wu Ming took a brief break to regain his strength, frustrated that even with his enormous power (which he noted was unusually powerful for a newly ascended god, even an elemental god), he was unable to open even a single hole in that damn barrier. .
Mu Qing seemed to finally think of something useful, asking if during the entire time Wu Ming and Xie Lian stayed at Mount Tonglu there had been somebody who managed to get out of there, which activated in Wu Ming the memories of those people he and his husband were protecting who somehow ended up inside Mount Tonglu.
How those ordinary people weren't killed before being found by Wu Ming and Xie Lian was a mystery, but Wu Ming remembered that his husband took those people out of Mount Tonglu's territory.
It was only then that Wu Ming finally stopped and actually looked at those two, pondering for a moment about how much he didn't want to have to deal with that useless and traitorous trash, looking at them full of suspicion.
Feng Xin, that annoying idiot, kept insisting that they should be in this together if they were to find and help Dianxia. And even though Wu Ming strongly wanted to discard them and go alone, at this moment… He annoyingly thought that he needed help.
Something that was only admitted in his unconscious mind, but even so very reluctantly.
Wu Ming could send them into some river of lava or bind them with butterfly silk if they became too inconvenient.
Feng Xin, who was certainly the dumbest, but probably the one Wu Ming hated a little less, asked what his name was. They knew that Wu Ming was Dianxia's husband, which definitely meant a lot to the two gods, no matter how reluctant and perplexed they were about everything surrounding the matter.
The ghost hesitated for a while, wondering if he should give them the name his god gave him. Wu Ming had no problem with his name, but he felt (for several very valid reasons) that it would only generate more questions that he definitely didn't want to answer.
So after thinking and delaying responding long enough for Mu Qing to make some unnecessary comment, which made Wu Ming retaliate with his own scathing words, Wu Ming finally chose a name for himself.
One that others could call him, a name that could be feared: Hua Cheng.
The two idiots happily accepted this easily.
Then the reluctant trio began searching for any flaws in the barrier. Something that lasted almost three weeks without success and they only saw a minimal part , why was that heaven forsaken fucking kingdom just huge .
Which means they would have to go all the extent of the kingdom to have a minimal chance of finding the flaw through which Dianxia sent those humans out.
It took almost four months for the two idiots to convince him to return to the Celestial Capital. An entire week in which the three basically lived together all the time . Because somehow the two useless trash were smart enough to realize that Wu Ming wouldn't wait for them, wouldn't stop, or be nice enough that if they left and stopped following him, he would kindly let them know where he was. .
So the two idiots began to take turns at times to accompany Wu Ming, either to sleep - something that Wu Ming, being a ghost, doesn't need, which means it's only a weakness of the two stupid gods - or to eat - which is also something Wu Ming doesn't need, even though he started to reluctantly accept the snacks Feng Xin brought - or complete missions and answer prayers in his territories - which Wu Ming also didn't need to do, why did he just say fuck up to the heavens.
Which meant that Wu Ming started spending periods of time alone with one of the two idiots sometimes.
With Mu Qing it was just an awkward silence, but one that no one was interested in breaking. Both communicating solely to comment on something relevant they had found. Wu Ming spoke very reluctantly and unwillingly, mainly irritated by the presence of that traitorous idiot, but after a while of forced coexistence, Wu Ming was able to at least tolerate him.
A little.
Definitely more than Feng Xin.
Of course, between the two of them, Wu Ming could say that he liked Mu Qing less, of course, but at least Mu Qing was still . Feng Xin didn't.
Feng Xin tried to talk, start a conversation, find out more about what life was like with Xie Lian, how Xie Lian was during these years, or, perhaps one of the worst parts, the clumsy attempts to find out more about Wu Ming himself. Or rather, Hua Cheng.
Not to mention the fights, oh damn, the fights that Mu Qing and Feng Xin Always they had, it was so irritating. Wu Ming remembered what Dianxia told him about his times as a prince with the two idiots, at least he could remember something fondly, thinking that he was in the same situation that his beloved once was.
This gave Hua Cheng the certainty that his husband was too good for this world, because Wu Ming sincerely wanted to stab them both with e-ming and then incinerate them.
So after almost four months, Hua Cheng was convinced to return to that stupid and shiny kingdom, only because at great cost, Mu Qing and Feng Xin convinced him that being fed and rested would help him much more, even if he was a god and a ghost, being well fed could allow him to better access his strength and he would be much more useful to Dianxia alive and strong than dead.
Hua Cheng simply hated agreeing with these two idiots, but feeling the faith of his god coursing through his veins, strengthening him, hearing the words of love whispered in the back of his mind, the ghost god relented. He couldn't neglect himself and make his love sad.
(Hua Cheng wouldn't think this on his own, but after nine years of Xie Lian repeating this and being reminded of these things by the words of the two idiots and the loving prayers his god sent him had some effect, even if Hua Cheng would rather rip his another eye to admit that the pair of idiots helped him with something.)
So they passed the months, Hua Cheng would occasionally take to the heavens as discreetly as he could - not because he was afraid, but simply because he wanted to peace - to eat a little and rest as little as possible, and then return to where I left off.
Hua Cheng reluctantly got used to the irritating presence of the two gods, disliking them but putting up with them as best he could, with strange feelings about not being alone trying to seek out his beloved. The acid jabs he made a point of giving both of them at every opportunity generated the most different reactions, but it was satisfying to see that they both realized that what they did to his highness was wrong .
Of course, Hua Cheng would never forgive them, but that wasn't up to him to do, only his highness.
As much as he didn't like it, Hua Cheng eventually accepted some instruction coming from both. He even had his own fighting style, facing and killing the small monsters that appeared along the way, feeding them e-ming. Hua Cheng trained a lot with His Highness in the years they spent together, and Hua Cheng reluctantly had to admit that it was helpful to have the two idiots who trained together with his husband giving his suggestions. None were as good as his husband at teaching him, but they were still useful tips that Hua Cheng stored away in case he needed them.
(Hua Cheng would rather hug one of them than admit it, of course.)
Hua Cheng didn't have a territory, he didn't take on missions, he ignored any and all contact with the heavens other than the two stooges who accompanied him, but somehow, tales about the Lord Fire Master began to circulate among mortals. (As?)
Tales about the ascended ghost, but who continued searching for his loved one trapped in a ghost world.
About the fire god who was born from a phantom flame, burning everything in his path.
A ghost god who protected ordinary people who were caught on the edge of Mount Tonglu, who didn't ask for anything in return, but only did what he believed was necessary.
The Lord Firemaster, who had no eyes, who carried a cursed scimitar, but whose flames vibrated over his fingers.
And small delays that arose in his search for Dianxia that Hua Cheng didn't know whether he should be ashamed of or not, but that he eventually gave in to doing. Because thanks to these stupid stories, somehow, children… Children started praying to him.
Honestly, Hua Cheng didn't need believers, he didn't need dozens of temples, he didn't need crowds blindly believing in him, even if he wanted to be so strong that crowds would fear him.
But somehow…. Children asked for him.
Hua Cheng knew it wasn't the first option for the first ones who asked, but the calls of desperation from those children stirred something broken and twisted in Hua Cheng that made him actually stop and help.
He sent out his silver butterflies, before going off on his own (leaving the two idiots accompanying him confused by him suddenly leaving, trying to follow him). Hua Cheng helped some children. Abusive parents, stupid adults. That kind of idiocy. Sometimes he gave a little bad advice, but he told them to try to save their lives on their own.
Because if no one was going to save them, they needed to save themselves. And who knows, maybe one day they would be lucky. Why would Hua Cheng, who was cursed at birth, who had the world tell him that he there would be nothing , it achieved.
And in every story told, the difference between an agonizing ending and a hopeful beginning could be a word of comfort. A meaning to life.
Hua Cheng would never offer himself as meaning to anyone's life, but he could offer something else: desire.
Wanting to be stronger. Want to be better. A wicked greed and unbeatable stubbornness that led the useless Hong-hong-er to become Hua Cheng.
And perhaps because of these stupid things, Hua Cheng ended up gaining stories and believers. A strange faith, because most of his young believers asked him for silly things, but also just… talked to him. And when it really was a desperate request, Hua Cheng answered.
The mortal realm was full of stories, usually gods had stories telling of their great deeds in life.
Hua Cheng's great deeds, in his opinion, were done in his death.
Stories that Hua Cheng never asked to be told, but that somehow passed through the mortal realm, making it known as the fourth great tale.
The Princess Who Cut Her Throat.
The General Who Broke His Sword.
The Prince Who Pleased the Gods.
The Ghost Who Took Out His Eye.
(How the story of e-ming's creation became known was something Hua Cheng wanted very know, but it was not a property.)
It was three long damn years, and Hua Cheng showed no sign of giving up on his venture. They had covered about a quarter of the barrier by his calculations (not as accurate as he would have liked), but it could be less. (He doubted it could be more.)
Hua Cheng had just returned from one of his stupid little missions, pulling a street kid from near death, burning alive an old drunk who tried to do who knows what to the child, after slicing him up with his butterflies. ghost. Hua Cheng gave the boy a brief scolding, looking at him with amusement and teasing him.
The boy had a place to return to, it wasn't the best, but it would do. Hua Cheng took him back to his home kingdom, from where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The ghost god did not accompany him to the door of the house, leaving this small job to two of his butterflies, seeing the boy enter a somewhat old betting shop and find a somewhat elderly man, whose evil aura told Hua Cheng that the old man had already died a while ago.
Old Wu cheered up when he welcomed the boy back, scolding him for getting lost.
The stupid boy retorted that it was a stupid bet, and he paid the price for it, but he was only doing what Old Wu had taught him.
Hua Cheng had that strange phrase in his head, laughing to himself that it was interesting.
Money instead of life, and gains instead of shame, huh?
He could understand that. Hua Cheng had been a gambler for a while now. Betting your life to go another day, betting on your stubbornness to continue.
Betting on revealing your face to your loved one, revealing your feelings.
And he won, didn't he?
Hua Cheng gained what could be most precious to him in the entire universe: he gained his husband. The love of your god. Your loved one reciprocating your feelings and being from him .
The bets had to continue, their objective had not yet been achieved. Hua Cheng would continue betting until he got his winnings. He would keep trying, until he was reunited with his husband again.
After this entire excursion, Hua Cheng didn't want to have to listen to those two idiots fighting or saying anything at all for a while. Which meant his current only way to have peace: sleep.
Before taking a nap - he would meditate more than sleep, but it was the same for a ghost - Hua Cheng stood in front of the statue he made of his prince there in the room.
Hua Cheng still made statues of his god, even if he now made them a little smaller so that he could walk around and investigate as he did so, always with something in his hands to shape and create. His rooms in Feng Xin and Mu Qing's palaces both contained several of these small statues made of His Highness.
Among them all, Hua Cheng made a small altar for his prince, praying to him every day.
(It was one of the reasons he ended up giving in to coming to this horrible place so he could rest, but no one would know that.)
“ Dianxia, I couldn’t break the barrier again.” - Hua Cheng said, discouraged by the gentle look of the statue of his god. With a somewhat sad sigh, the ghost god continued telling about what he did, about the things he heard, the boy and the old ghost, like a conversation. He talked about how much he missed Xie Lian, how much he was looking forward to going back to him, to hug and kiss him.
When he finished, Hua Cheng leaned over to the statue, gently pressing his lips against those of his god's statue. The tips of his pointed ears turned pink with boldness, but he felt bold after feeling his husband do the same to Wu Ming's own statue. He just wanted to return the affection!
(And I missed it.)
When the ghost god lay down, trying to relax and concentrate to meditate, Hua Cheng heard something in the back of his mind.
“I’m coming, Wu Ming.” - His god's voice was serene, even affectionate. The meditation was forgotten entirely, with Hua Cheng abruptly sitting up in bed. Dianxia was going? Where? Could… Could Dianxia have left?!
Concentrating on his butterflies, Hua Cheng noticed that the barrier had become thinner?! With a tremor of excitement, trembling that it was just another dream, Hua Cheng made the little butterfly try to fly into the territory of Mount Tonglu.
….He did it!
It had to mean what Hua Cheng thought, it had to be that… That his highness finally came out of the Furnace!
Please let it mean that.
Leaping out of bed like lightning, Hua Cheng thought about using a distance shortening array and heading straight for his butterfly, but a sound…. He noticed a sound coming from outside and ran through the palace, walking without worrying about whether he would be seen or not. The red and black robes passing by like a blur to everyone in Ju Yang's palace.
“HEY! HUA CHENG! WHAT POSSIBLE YOU?” - Feng Xin's scream fell on deaf ears while Hua Cheng just ran as fast as he could. With no choice, the god had to follow the other.
It was either that or I would be left behind, as always. Then, of course, Feng Xin warned Mu Qing through the communication array, running after the retreating figure.
At the same time, screams began to be heard on Martial Avenue, sounds that Hua Cheng ignored, rushing towards the gates. There was no time to lose.
Arriving close to the gates, Hua Cheng saw the Emperor, his huge figure obscuring the ghost god's view, and Hua Cheng wanted to curse him for being in front until…
“Xianle.” - The Celestial Emperor's firm voice sounded a little... Confused? Maybe surprise? Hua Cheng didn't care.
"Majesty." - The voice of the person Hua Cheng wanted to hear most, the one that had been in his ears and in his mind for the past almost three years, that was everything for Hua Cheng… - “Forgive my abrupt entry, but I had to come get what it's mine."
Hua Cheng felt like he could melt with happiness.
The only sign in the Emperor's expression that appeared at such words was when Jun Wu subtly raised his eyebrow.
Finally entering his beloved's field of vision, Hua Cheng was almost bursting into a cloud of butterflies with longing.
“Gege!” - Unhesitatingly passing by the Emperor, ignoring all the gods frightened and shocked by the presence of the Ghost King before them, the newest calamity and the ancient prince of Xianle, Hua Cheng choked back a sob before finally, finally being able to see your husband. A sound of almost crying also came from Xie Lian as they both threw themselves into each other's arms.
"Husband!" - Xie Lian whispered against Wu Ming's chest, holding back the tears that accumulated in the corners of his eyes, laughing with the purest happiness at finding his love again. - “San Lang, I missed you so much…”
The shocked gasps of the surrounding gods fell on deaf ears, perplexed by such boldness from Xie Lian, with Hua Cheng's blatant disrespect just ignoring them as he had always done since ascending.
“I missed you even more, gege…” - Hua Cheng squeezed his husband's body even tighter in his arms, even smaller than him, freeing one hand from the affectionate grip to cradle the side of his lover's face.
Xie Lian smiled at his husband's cold touch, affection and love leaving his features soft and shiny, Hua Cheng leaned in to finally kiss those lips he missed so much.
Feng Xin and Mu Qing, who already knew about the couple, were a little less surprised and horrified by the public and passionate display of affection between the couple, even if Mu Qing was still mumbling something intelligible that Feng Xin barely noticed.
Separating by just a hair's breadth, Xie Lian smiled against his husband's lips, oblivious to the audience, a blush blooming on his face, feeling incredibly happy to be in his beloved's arms.
“Will San Lang give this king the honor of accompanying you? Or will I have to kidnap my husband from heaven?” - Xie Lian asked boldly, hugging the god even tighter in his arms.
“This belongs to Dianxia, always has been and always will be. There is no place for me other than with my husband.” - Hua Cheng said calmly, he did not intend to stay in the heavens without Xie Lian, and his answer without hesitation, even though he knew how much the ghost loved him, still made tears flow from Xie Lian's eyes. - “This place is not worth it, I will always follow Your Highness.” - With another tender kiss, Hua Cheng touched their foreheads, the world around him simply silenced.
“Then let’s get out of here.”
Hua Cheng took his husband in his arms, eliciting a happy laugh from Xie Lian, carrying him bridal style as they jumped together from the gates of the heavens, disappearing into numerous silver butterflies and white flower petals.
The last thing Xie Lian said, looking at the Emperor, hugging his husband's strong shoulders, with a satisfied and passionate smile, and a hard and determined look, was:
“Forgive this king, Your Majesty, but I cannot let the heavens take something that is mine. San Lang belongs to me, and I won’t let him go.” - With a glance at his former assistants and friends, Xie Lian waved briefly, looking at them gratefully, before he and Hua Cheng disappeared, leaving chaos in the skies.
A new calamity was born, The White Flower Stealing Gods, which stole the Lord Fire Master from the heavens after winning his affection.
A couple that no one imagined, between a god and a ghost king.
Xie Lian was happy, he had his husband, and they would build a life together. Finally free from all the shackles that held them back.
Xie Lian greatly respected the Emperor, of course, but the prince could not give up the one who was most precious to him. He learned to be selfish, and San Lang allowed him to be selfish. So well, it wouldn't be wrong for Xie Lian to take the Lord Fire Master out of the heavens.
Xie Lian was just taking what belonged to him. Wu Ming, Hua Cheng, San Lang, no matter his name, that magnificent man belonged to Xie Lian.
It was his, and no one else's.
Unexpectedly, Hua Cheng (at least for himself) actually gained a very large base of worshipers, both among the living and the dead, some making a point of settling in the city that Hua Cheng and Xie Lian created for themselves.
It wasn't a city initially, but people began to approach, some dead, others still very much alive, which led the couple to build that place, a unique city in all three kingdoms.
A city of ghosts.
The home of the Lord Master of Fire and the White Flower Stealing Gods.
And if, a few centuries in the future, when Mount Tonglu opened again, the elemental god of fire entered the furnace to become a ghost king just like his husband, forming the most powerful couple between two ghost king gods, everyone knew who it was treated.