Chapter Text
“Are you serious?”
Hua Cheng felt a headache brewing. It was supposed to be a simple mission. At least, it was on paper. Why are there so many hurdles to get over?
The server who gave him his information looked genuinely apologetic. “Apologies, Daozhang. When the disappearances started, many families started hiding their daughters, not letting them come out. We do not doubt that you wish to help us but –”
“But they’re not risking their lives. I understand.” Hua Cheng settled himself. He chose the form of a young cultivator, to appear more approachable to the mortals. After all, his true form was tall, intimidating.
That, and he’s pretty sure he has a few statues littered about. It would go against the deal if the people recognized him as a god.
Except right now, there was a chance that the deal won’t come to fruition.
The Martial God of Death, Hua Cheng.
A god said to have ascended from a pool of blood and fire, after having spent several years in constant battle. A god said to be the embodiment of Death Itself, with his legendary weapon E-ming, forged from his own eye in a fit of blood fueled rage. A weapon that curses its victims to never heal from the wounds it inflicts.
Crossing swords with him means that you die, and if you somehow survive, you would wish that he killed you, instead.
Hua Cheng’s reputation was revered as much as it was feared.
But the curious thing about Hua Cheng was…he had no memory of his life before ascension. Though he remembered how he ascended, how he obtained his weapon…he couldn’t remember what led him to that constant battle for power. He couldn’t remember what motivated him to become a god.
All he knew was that the other gods left a sour taste in his mouth. He never wanted to be associated with any god, no matter how much they tried to endear themselves to him. At some point, they just gave up.
All he knew was that he never felt comfortable in Heaven, never felt like it was the place he wanted to be, never felt like he had to ascend even after doing so.
All he knew was that he was looking for someone but he can’t remember who.
Clarity came with a conversation with The Earth Master, Ming Yi. He was the only god that didn’t make Hua Cheng’s skin crawl with disgust. He didn’t even know why, Ming Yi just felt different, and from how Ming Yi accepted the quiet company, he didn’t seem to mind it either.
They usually enjoy silence together. Hua Cheng was the only other person Ming Yi could tolerate besides the famously loud Wind Master, but it was one of those days when Hua Cheng woke up from the dream of reaching out to a figure he couldn’t remember, and yet was so important to him that it bothered him.
“...I don’t know who he is.” Hua Cheng disclosed, “but I can’t seem to sit still unless I find him.”
He expected Ming Yi to scoff at him, or to question if the person he’s looking for is still alive considering how many decades – centuries – have passed since then. However, Ming Yi just frowned slightly.
“Perhaps you should look for him.”
Hua Cheng blinked. “ Can I?”
“Well that’s up to you, isn’t it?” Ming Yi shrugged. “How much do you want to find him?”
Very much.
So much that it was all he could think of.
It was with that thought that Hua Cheng went up to Ling Wen to request for him to descend to the mortal realm. Jun Wu is too rigid in his rules, wanting to keep the Heavenly Officials and the Mortals separate, but Ling Wen is bendable.
That, and she is also incredibly scared of him as well. Hua Cheng won’t be surprised if she agreed to this just to get rid of him.
“I can arrange for that…however, you know the rules –”
“Nobody should know I’m a god and I cannot interfere with the destinies of mortals, I know.” Hua Cheng interrupted, crossing his arms. “I’m not stupid.”
“I never said you were.” Ling Wen ducked her head down and scribbled on a scroll. “You may, but in exchange, there is something you’ll need to take care of first. A mission, so to say. If you accomplish it, then we can consider your request as payment.”
Hua Cheng agreed, and took the mission.
A ghost groom terrorizing the north? Sounds easy enough.
“You got it?”
Hua Cheng looked at Ming Yi, who stood with his arms crossed. It appeared that, despite being flippant about it, he waited for Hua Cheng outside the Hall of Ling Wen.
“Yup. Heading down to do a little mission up north in exchange.” Hua Cheng handed the scroll over to Ming Yi to see. Ming Yi huffed, but read through the details, before handing it back. Hua Cheng decided to give the earth master a shit-eating grin. “Aw, are you sad?”
“Idiot.” Ming Yi scoffed. “You owe me . Leaving me up here with Shi Qingxuan.”
“You can always visit once I have my temple set up.” Hua Cheng chuckled. “Though, you pay for your own food.”
“Ugh. Get out of here. I hate you.”
“I’ll miss you too, asshole.”
He’s gotten this far.
Hua Cheng contemplated changing forms. Though he had chosen the form of a young, male cultivator, perhaps he could make up some sort of excuse and change to a woman. It’s annoying that he had already established himself before being told the details of the mission, but it should still be viable –
“Daozhang…”
Before he could stand, a young girl in her early teens approached. She looked out of place amongst the servers, perhaps she was someone with mixed blood, with purple hair and dark eyes. She looked so pale, and Hua Cheng wasn’t sure if it was because he was scaring her or it was natural.
Hua Cheng settled back down. He always did have a soft spot for kids.
“Yes?”
“Daozhang, my laoshi has volunteered to help you, if you were to accept. He’s willing to dress as a bride.”
Hua Cheng blinked.
It made sense, none of the women wish to be a victim to this ghost groom, no matter if there was a cultivator to help them (nevermind a god, but they don’t know that). It was remarkable that a man was willing to be dressed in such a way.
Staying in heaven for a long time, he has seen a lot of men with too much pride.
“I’m sure I can find a way to handle it, myself. I do not wish to force him to –”
“He really doesn’t mind…” She hopped on her heels. “In fact, I think he’s preparing to disguise himself now.”
It must have taken some ungodly amount of courage for this little girl to approach Hua Cheng, and well…he won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. “If so, I swear I will protect your laoshi.”
The little girl opened up her mouth to reply, but seemed to think better of it, before scurrying away, presumably to tell her teacher that Hua Cheng was alright with it. The server returned to refill his tea as he waited.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted the red string on his middle finger, a little thing that he never wanted to remove for unknown reasons, and the strange markings tattooed on his left arm.
By instinct, he pulled up his sleeve to run his thumb on the indecipherable tattoo.
The tattoo was the only marking Hua Cheng had left from his life before godhood.
It was an ugly mark, crudely carved and inked into his veins with an unsteady hand. Clearly done in a throe of desperation and passion, as if it was a last resort to remember something .
He would have admired it more if he could understand the damn thing.
The calligraphy was atrocious at best, even if it was written by his own hand. The loss of his own memory included any understanding of his own handwriting. With how many tens of thousands of characters and combinations there were, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact one was on his arm.
Was it a name? A location? Was it the source of this gaping hole in his heart? Was it his reason for ascension?
He didn’t know.
Still, he ran his thumb along the indecipherable text everyday in the hopes he would remember.
Alongside the red string on his finger, it made him feel tethered to the world.
“Daozhang?”
The voice.
It was just one word but the voice rattled Hua Cheng’s brain. The light masculine voice, with an accent that Hua Cheng couldn’t trace, and an air of authority. It intensified the brewing headache from the stress of the day as his mind tried to match the voice to a face but to no avail. Not with the gaps in his memories.
However, when he turned his head to face the man who spoke, he saw double.
For a moment, he saw a figure in white.
Before his vision cleared and he saw a veiled person in red.
What was that…?
Focus on the mission!
“I believe my student told you I was going to help…?” The man continued.
Right. Teacher dressed as a bride because the women did not want to endanger themselves. Fight the ghost groom. Get permission to stay in the mortal realm.
“Ah, yes, sorry for making you do this.” Hua Cheng stood to bow properly. Even in his young form, he was still a bit taller than the teacher. He had to admit to himself that it was quite impressive. Although slightly broader than an average woman, the man was short and slight, and the wedding robes and veil hid any obvious indicators that it was a man underneath.
He had to admire the teacher, at that moment, for choosing to dress like this.
The man laughed. Puffs of breath moved the veil, but did not reveal anything. “We do what we must to protect others.”
Indeed.
At first, the journey was smooth enough. Hua Cheng took the front, guarding the palanquin while four men carried the fake bride inside. Hua Cheng had to scare off a few bandits on the way, but despite looking so young, his blade is fierce and his aura struck fear in their hearts.
Perks of being a god of Death. Everyone felt like they were close to it when they crossed him.
It started getting bad as they entered the forest. As the sun set, and darkness fell over the land, it became obvious that this place had been gathering resentment for a while. Even the palanquin bearers could feel the shift in the air, as palpable as it was. He could hear them murmuring, could hear the rustle of cloth as they looked to one another.
Hua Cheng sighed. “You may leave, if you wish.”
The men who carried the palanquin immediately dropped it to scurry away. Hua Cheng can’t blame them. They were civilians, after all. This was more than just a ghost groom, it was a forest full of ghouls. Perhaps a result of the ghost groom’s actions.
But…
“We’ll have to continue by foot,” Hua Cheng opened the palanquin. The ‘bride’ did not appear disgruntled at all, instead just calmly sitting down without an ounce of tension in his body, despite being dropped by the other men. “However, you may leave if you wish, it’s getting quite dangerous.”
“But how will Daozhang complete his mission?” The man replied, head tilted slightly to the side.
“I will figure it out. But I don’t wish to endanger civilians.” Hua Cheng extended an arm for him to take. He’s usually more squeamish with physical contact, but this mission had taken a dangerous turn and it was his fault that this civilian was in danger. “Your student will be quite mad at me if anything happened to her laoshi.”
“If I stay,” the man took Hua Cheng’s arm and stepped out of the palanquin, “will you protect me?”
Something about how the man said that rattled in Hua Cheng’s brain. He didn’t drop his arm. That point of contact shot electricity through the god’s veins and he wondered if it was because of the dangerous situation, or something else entirely.
“To the best of my abilities.” He replied, honestly.
The man hummed. “Then, I shall stay.”
The ghouls started coming out not so long after. Hua Cheng didn’t drop the man’s arm. He didn’t have to, not for these level of ghouls.
Even though he can’t remember why he ascended, he remembered how strong he is.
Hua Cheng unsheathed E-ming, and stepped in front of his charge. “Don’t be scared.”
“I’m not.”
E-ming flew through the ghouls, easily dispatching them. Hua Cheng opened up a red parasol – something he also ascended with, but had no idea the origin of – and tilted it over the man to protect him from the splatters of blood. As the number of ghouls increased, Hua Cheng started utilizing the silver butterflies from his vambraces.
The ‘bride’ stood by him, neither flinching nor saying a word.
“Are you scared?” He checked.
“I’m not.” The man repeated, and his voice was steady enough that Hua Cheng knew he was telling the truth. “They’re beautiful.”
Strange to hear that. When he ascended, when the gods found out what the butterflies were capable of, nobody ever called them beautiful. It made him feel proud.
He was distracted for a moment, just a moment to revel in the praise of how this man thought of his butterflies as beautiful, but it was enough as extra resentment poured out from the forest.
Hua Cheng readied himself. It would be close, but he could –
A line of red spider lilies appeared, radiating out from their location.
A crimson sword flew by, and assisted E-ming in dispatching the ghouls.
A white silk appeared, binding and throwing other ghouls around.
“What –” Hua Cheng stared at the field of spider lilies that grew from the ground, which snagged the ghouls that were to attack them, giving E-ming and the red sword ample time to slash them up.
Tracing the silk, Hua Cheng found it was attached to the man beside him.
With a flick of his wrist, the silver butterflies cut through the rest of the ghouls. Hua Cheng instinctively tipped the umbrella more over the man beside him to protect him from the resulting rain.
“You…” Hua Cheng narrowed his eyes.
The man laughed, head tipped back, with small puffs of breath moving the veil.
The white silk disappeared back up the man’s sleeve. The red sword settled itself on the man’s hip. Around them, in a field of blood, Hua Cheng’s silver butterflies settled over the man’s spider lilies.
How strange. Usually, the butterflies were more wary of the items around them, much like how Hua Cheng was.
Who was…?
Hua Cheng turned towards his companion just as a gust of wind blew, the veil lifting up just enough for Hua Cheng to catch a pale face and lips tilted up with a smile. He couldn’t control himself as he lifted the veil, revealing The Most Beautiful Man he had ever seen. Made up lightly, his features were soft and delicate. His lips colored a deep red, turned up into a wide smile, sharp cheekbones, and pale, perfect skin…
His golden eyes were lined with red, and the sight took Hua Cheng’s breath away.
It was just like the moment he first heard the man’s voice. There was a rattling in Hua Cheng’s brain. For a brief moment the image was superimposed with a man in white. One who was wearing a mask –
Hua Cheng’s body started to shake, not from terror or anger, but because he didn’t know what he wanted to do. Seeing the man made him vibrate in his skin. He wanted to grab onto the other man and not let him go. He wanted to kiss the man’s face and whisper words of praise.
He wanted to kneel.
Hua Cheng swallowed and licked his dry lips. It did not escape him how this beautiful man watched the movement with slightly parted lips and hooded eyes.
“Do…” Hua Cheng coughed, and the man grinned at him, those golden eyes crinkling in delight. “Do I know you…?”