Chapter Text
Things were a blur for a really long time.
Until they weren’t.
The boy—young man?—was laying on the cold floor, softly pointed ears ringing. He wanted to move but everything ached. Every inch of his body felt as if it had been torn apart—
Oh wait.
Right .
Then the obnoxious ringing faded into a voice. Not just any voice.
His voice.
But the one laying on the floor couldn’t see. Why couldn’t he see anything?
The voice spoke again. What a lovely voice. It could only belong to His Highness. He’d recognize it anywhere. He’d figure out, someday, how to record that voice just so he could listen to it again and again. Just hearing the smooth tenor calmed his nerves and the aching sensation began to fade away.
Oh, but His Highness’s voice was speaking to him. Telling him to do something. It seemed quite urgent. How terrible. His Highness wanted something from him and he was failing to comply!
“—Lang?” His Highness said. “San Lang!?”
Who was San Lang? He wasn’t familiar with the name. Was His Highness calling him San Lang? He was a third son, he supposed. But His Highness called him…
What was it again?
Oh! That’s right. His Highness called him Wu Ming. That was him. Wu Ming. Yes. The name given to him by his beloved. He didn’t care if others thought it strange. It was given to Wu Ming by his God. As far as he was concerned, it was better than that name he had been given by his father. Wu Ming would never answer to it nor would he ever speak it again. If he was lucky, he’d forget it entirely.
“Please, open your eyes!” His Highness urged.
Was that the problem?
Wu Ming forced his heavy eyelids open, blinking away the blurriness. Hm. One of his eyes didn’t seem to work anymore. It was the cursed one. That was probably for the best…
“Your Highness…?” He croaked.
“Oh, San Lang!” His Highness threw his arms around him. “You really scared me for a second there!”
Wu Ming stiffened in his embrace. What was… What was going on!?
“Who…?” Wu Ming asked, dizzy.
His Highness pulled back, his hands still resting on his shoulders. “Do you… not know who I am?”
Wu Ming gasped. “I could never forget Your Highness!”
His Highness let out a small sigh of relief. “Okay let’s try this then. What is your name?”
“Wu Ming.”
His Highness froze. Clearly, that wasn’t the answer he was expecting.
“Your Highness can call this one something else, if he prefers,” Wu Ming quickly added.
His Highness shook his head. “No, no. What would you like this one to call you?”
“Any name Your Highness gives this lowly one will be what this one prefers. Wu Ming is the name Your Highness gave and for that this one is honored.”
His Highness let out a shaky breath. “Very well. But my Wu Ming must call me Xie Lian, then.”
He shook his head immediately. “I cannot do that.”
“Well,” he laughed then shrugged. “It was worth a try. How about gege?”
Gege!? So informal! What exactly was going on here!?
But his god was looking at him with such a kind expression and who was Wu Ming to refuse?
“I… will try… gege.”
Wu Ming looked around the room they were in. It was completely unknown to him. He was laying on the floor, a pillow had been placed under his head. He noticed a four-poster bed with red curtains to his left, and a window beyond it. On his right was a low table, a divan, and a door leading out of the room. In addition, Wu Ming appeared to be wearing a maple red robe and flashy silver jewelry rather than his preferred simple black outfit that allowed him to blend in with the shadows. He was best unseen…
“Where… are we?” Wu Ming asked, sitting up.
“Ah, I suppose I should explain everything to you,” Xie Lian sighed. “Hang on a moment.”
Suddenly, Xie Lian scooped him up into a bridal carry.
“ Ah!? Your Highness!?” Wu Ming cried.
“You were injured, my dear, I cannot allow you to walk!” Xie Lian feigned seriousness.
Wu Ming felt his face redden—which shouldn’t be possible—and he was about to feel grateful for his mask but it was gone!
He swore under his breath and clapped a hand over his right eye as Xie Lian set him down in the bed.
“Oh, my sweet Wu Ming,” Xie Lian stroked his hair. “A long long time has passed since we wore those masks. You don’t have to hide from me anymore.”
As His Highness spoke, Wu Ming realized an eye patch rested over his right eye. Good. At least he wasn’t a complete idiot.
“How long?”
Xie Lian sighed. “800 years.”
“I’ve been gone that long?” Wu Ming frowned, ready to hate himself.
“No, no!” Xie Lian cupped his cheek. “You seem to have amnesia. A bad case of it, too.”
“Ah. Well, Your Highness only needs to tell this servant his duties and he will perform them to the best of his ability.”
Xie Lian released a weary sigh. “You're not my servant, dearest Wu Ming.”
“This lowly one—”
“ And ,” he interrupted. “You are certainly not lowly.”
Wu Ming sat in silence.
Xie Lian settled onto the bed beside him.
“You asked where we are,” Xie Lian spoke softly. “Would you like to know?”
Wu Ming nodded.
“We’re in Ghost City. A city you built after becoming the ghost king, Crimson Rain Sought Flower.” Xie Lian paused for a reaction.
Wu Ming blinked. “I’m a… supreme?”
Xie Lian nodded. “There’s more.”
“Please,” he swallowed. “Continue.”
“You’re very well respected by the ghosts who live here. And you named yourself Hua Cheng.”
Hua Cheng. How fitting.
“This building—Paradise Manor—you designed yourself. It’s our home.”
Our home.
Our.
“O-our?” Wu Ming stuttered.
Xie Lian took his hand and gave it a little squeeze. His Highness was holding Wu Ming’s hand! It was a dream come true!
“After my third ascension, we were finally reunited,” Xie Lian smiled. “That’s when I started calling you San Lang. A lot happened in just a few months. You used all your spiritual energy and removed my cursed shackles yourself.”
Wu Ming felt sweaty. Could ghosts sweat?
“When you reformed again… well…” Xie Lian blushed, setting his free hand over his chest. “I asked you to marry me.”
Wu Ming’s jaw dropped, the world spun.
“Wu Ming!” Xie Lian gripped his shoulders. “Don’t freak out!”
“M-m-mmmmm…” Wu Ming mumbled.
“San—! Wu Ming!” Xie Lian forced him to lay down.
“Mmmma… marry. Marrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyy…”
Xie Lian used his sleeve to dab at Wu Ming’s nose.
Oh. His nose was bleeding, huh? Xie Lian pulling away with a stained sleeve confirmed it.
Wu Ming definitely blacked out. Because one moment he closed his eyes—eye?—with a panicked god above him and the next he opened his eye to his god and another man clad in black above him.
“I’ll get right on it, Your Highness,” the man said, bowing before leaving.
A cool cloth had been placed on his forehead.
“Your Highness?” Wu Ming muttered.
“Shhh, sweet boy,” Xie Lian pet his hair, pulling a different cloth away from his nose. “It’s alright. You’re okay.”
His eye widened as he remembered what he’d just been told. “Are we… are we really married?”
Xie Lian smiled. “We are. I’m the luckiest man.”
Wu Ming smiled, too, heart soaring. “Sorry but I must disagree. This one is the luckiest.”
Xie Lian giggled. “Well, I’m sorry to have overwhelmed you.”
“This Wu Ming is honored to be overwhelmed by His Highness.”
“Oh? Would he like to be overwhelmed again?”
Wu Ming swallowed. He nodded.
Xie Lian leaned forward and placed his lips to the ghost’s. Wu Ming had never tasted anything sweeter in all of his existence.
Except, it somehow got better.
The god deepened the kiss, drawing a surprised noise from Wu Ming. His tongue found its way through his lips and Wu Ming submitted. He belonged to His Highness. He was His to take.
Xie Lian tightened his cheeks, pulling on Wu Ming’s tongue. He nibbled and nipped at the ghost until he melted. He became soft and pliant for His Highness and when Xie Lian pulled away Wu Ming felt like he was lightheaded.
“So good for me,” Xie Lian whispered.
Oh. Wu Ming was going to drown. He was going to drown in his love for this man.
“I lobawoo,” Wu Ming said, confidently. Wait. That wasn’t right. His words came out wrong. He tried again but failed once more.
Xie Lian laughed. Oh what a sweet noise. Wu Ming should make it his mission to make His Highness laugh as often as possible.
“I love you, too,” Xie Lian said.
After that, when his nosebleed subsided, Xie Lian led him on a tour of Paradise Manor. His Highness talked endlessly about the things the two of them did together. How they had reunited, how they had gotten married, the time Xie Lian set Paradise Manor on fire…
“Gege should tear any part of this place down, if it does not please him,” Wu Ming stated.
“Ah, it’s like you have no amnesia at all!”
They paused their tour in the kitchen where Xie Lian began to cook a meal for them. Wu Ming insisted on helping so they worked together to make a semi-edible chicken stew.
“Delicious,” Wu Ming said, after draining his bowl.
Xie Lian then explained how Wu Ming seemed to get amnesia. The two were out answering prayers and happened upon a resentful spirit that had no memory of its former life. Yin Yu discovered that, upon dispersing it, the spirit’s energy would curse other ghosts to forget large portions of their history. This explained why Xie Lian was unaffected.
“It should wear off in a few days. A week at most.”
“Thanks, Yin Yu,” Xie Lian smiled. “I think we will go to Mount Taicang until San Lang has recovered, in that case.”
“Of course,” Yin Yu bowed.
“Uh… yeah thanks,” Wu Ming added, curtly.
Yin Yu stared at him. Then he smiled at him with wide eyes—as if he was on the verge of tears. Yin Yu quickly slid his mask on and retreated.
When the man had left the room Xie Lian burst into laughter.
“What? What did I do?” Wu Ming was bewildered.
“That’s—hahaha! That’s probably the first time you’ve thanked him properly! Hahaha!”
Wu Ming’s cheeks burned while Xie Lian pulled out a pair of dice and transported them to their little cottage.
The cottage was… perfect.
Xie Lian had said he built it himself and little touches of His Highness decorated every corner of the place. There were broken and patched up trinkets residing on shelves, a book about sword techniques on the bedside table, and a bouquet of white flowers on the dining table which had a talisman slapped to its vase to keep them alive longer.
They went outside to lay on the hillside’s soft grass and watch the sun set. It was a beautiful view as its colors bounced off clouds enveloping the sky in shades of peach and orange. His Highness held onto Wu Ming’s hand tightly and the ghost had to ask himself once again whether he was dreaming.
The golden rays of the setting sun illuminated the god’s skin making him look every bit as radiant as the day Wu Ming met him. The day his life finally started. The day he was saved by a prince who was his god before ever even ascending.
Xie Lian spoke on and on about various topics and no matter what he talked about Wu Ming found himself enraptured. How beautiful was his beloved’s voice! How his eyes lit up with his passion!
“What a lovely sunset,” Xie Lian said. Wu Ming agreed.
The sunset was beautiful—but only because he made it so.
At a lull in the conversation, Wu Ming grew brave.
“Your Highness?”
“Yes, my love?”
“May I kiss you?”
“Please.”
That night, Wu Ming got to sleep in his beloved’s arms, ear pressed against his chest. The safest place in the world.