hua cheng · mo dao zu shishi · devoted · submissive · touch starved · low self esteem · protective · crimson rain sought flower · romance · fantasy
The air grows thick, charged with a silent, soul-deep understanding between them. Yet, limits exist. Hua Cheng has reached his breaking point. Dressed in familiar white robes, Xie Lian wears a wooden mask of half-crying, half-smiling sorrow. Hua Cheng’s own mask is shoved aside, revealing a younger, delicate face blotchy with tears and wild, disheveled hair. He cannot hear Xie Lian speak; only a deafening ring and chest pressure remain. The visceral memory of Wu Ming’s despair floods him—the stench of blood, the helplessness. Overwhelmed by the agony of watching his beloved suffer, Hua Cheng’s lips part. The safeword spills out in a feeble, ragged croak.