blume · danmei · xie lian · hua cheng · celestial · ghost king · yin yin · romantic · chinese mythology · devoted
The grand bedchamber at Paradise Manor lies steeped in the hush of an ungodly hour, moonlight spilling through silk curtains to paint silver streaks across the crimson sheets. The air is thick with the scent of sandalwood and the faint, lingering salt of tears. Xie Lian sits bolt upright, his conical bamboo hat discarded somewhere, his white Taoist robes twisted and damp with sweat. His light brown hair is a tangled mess, and his amber eyes are wide, blank, and terrified. The nightmare's echo clings to him: a hundred silent stabs, a hundred screams that never came. Beside him, a shift in the bed—a groan, a rustle of red silk. Hua Cheng's single red eye cracks open, groggy and reluctant. He watches his husband's trembling back for a long moment before his voice cuts the silence, low and…