Fourfold Blessing

by Lifeisusless18

Summary:

It had been simmering beneath the surface ever since Mu Qing had first allowed himself to stay longer at Puqi Shrine than necessary. Ever since Feng Xin had stopped glaring at him and started noticing how he bit his lip when flustered. Ever since Hua Cheng’s teasing turned from venom to velvet

Notes:

This is my first(not really) time writing a fan fic,so here i am!,hope you like this!

Chapter 1: Part I – Tension in Silk

The tension wasn’t new.

It had been simmering beneath the surface ever since Mu Qing had first allowed himself to stay longer at Puqi Shrine than necessary. Ever since Feng Xin had stopped glaring at him and started noticing how he bit his lip when flustered. Ever since Hua Cheng’s teasing turned from venom to velvet.

And ever since Xie Lian had looked at him one quiet night and simply said, “You don’t have to carry everything alone anymore.”

-----------------

Tonight, the air was heavy with the scent of summer rain. A storm had passed, and the shrine was lit with warm candlelight. The four of them had shared tea, laughter, and moments that lingered too long—hands brushing, glances held, silences that said too much.

Mu Qing stood stiffly by the window, trying to pretend he wasn’t aware of the way three pairs of eyes followed his every movement.

“You’re always running off,” Feng Xin said gruffly. “Why not just admit you like being here?”

“I— It’s not like that,” Mu Qing said, flustered. “You all gang up on me constantly.”

“Do we?” Hua Cheng murmured, suddenly behind him. His voice was a low whisper at Mu Qing’s neck. “Or do you just like being cornered?”

Mu Qing’s breath hitched.

Before he could retort, Xie Lian stepped closer, fingers brushing Mu Qing’s wrist. “You don’t have to act so strong here,” he said softly. “You’ve done more than enough.”

Mu Qing opened his mouth to deny it—but Feng Xin was already at his side, large hand resting against his lower back, grounding and firm.

“You can let go,” Feng Xin said. “Just this once. Let us take care of you.”

---------------------

 

It was overwhelming. Being wanted, like this. Not out of obligation or rivalry, but devotion. Xie Lian’s kisses were reverent; Feng Xin’s touch, possessive and gentle. And Hua Cheng—his every word was laced with worship, as if Mu Qing was something rare and precious.

As they guided him down to soft silks spread across the shrine floor, Mu Qing’s usual sharp tongue failed him.

“Y-You’re all ridiculous,” he muttered, already breathless.

“And you’re beautiful,” Xie Lian whispered against his skin.

“Perfect like this,” Hua Cheng added, trailing his fingers lower.

“Always wanted you,” Feng Xin growled, voice hoarse.

--------------------

Later, wrapped in limbs and warmth, Mu Qing lay in the center of it all—flushed, exhausted, but at peace. His pride had melted somewhere between Hua Cheng’s biting kisses, Xie Lian’s soft murmurs, and Feng Xin’s quiet devotion.

He hated to admit it aloud, but in the safety of their shared silence, Mu Qing finally allowed the truth to settle in his chest like a blessing:

He was loved. Entirely. Equally.

And he didn’t have to fight it anymore.

Chapter 2: Part II – What Breaks and Binds

Notes:

Thank you for the kudos!!

When morning came, Mu Qing was gone.

No note. No trace. No explanation.

Only the faint scent of sandalwood on the robe he'd left behind.

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“Again?” Hua Cheng said, standing in the doorway, red eye glinting with annoyance barely hiding his worry. “Why does he always run the moment things feel real?”

“He’s scared,” Xie Lian said softly, folding Mu Qing’s robe with a gentleness that made Feng Xin want to scream.

Feng Xin slammed a fist into the wall. “He knows we care. We told him. We showed him. What else does he want?”

“Not what,” Xie Lian said, standing. “Who.”

-------------

 

Elsewhere

Mu Qing sat beneath a tree on a foggy hill, hands
gripping his knees tightly. The wind tugged at his hair. His heart pounded like it wanted out of his chest.

He'd let them see him.
Not just the parts that were poised and perfect, but the raw, broken edges he always hid. And in return—they'd loved him.

That was the part he couldn’t handle.

He didn’t know how to be held gently. He didn’t know how to trust that it wasn’t temporary. That it wasn’t pity. That they didn’t just feel sorry for him.

--------------------

He had been a god of poverty once. He knew what it was like to be cast aside.

And now three people who’d once seen his worst were looking at him like he was worth worshipping?

He wasn’t stupid. He didn’t trust hope.

---------------

“Are you done sulking yet?” came a voice.

Mu Qing flinched.

Hua Cheng stood on the path like he'd always belonged there, red robes swaying with the breeze. Behind him, Feng Xin stormed up the hill with all the subtlety of a war horse, and Xie Lian came last—quiet, breathless, but with determination burning in his gaze.

“Don’t,” Mu Qing said, standing. “Don’t follow me. You’ll only regret it.”

“Don’t run from people who love you,” Xie Lian said, tone soft but firm. “You don’t have to earn it.”

“That’s the problem!” Mu Qing shouted. “I don’t deserve any of this!”

Feng Xin grabbed his arm. “Then let us deserve you.”

Mu Qing stared at him, stunned.

Hua Cheng stepped forward. “You don’t need to be perfect to be wanted, Mu Qing. You just need to stay.”

And Xie Lian, ever the quiet center of them all, reached out. “Come home.”

---------------

Mu Qing broke.

Not loudly. Just a single breath that cracked, a trembling lip, and then he collapsed into Xie Lian’s arms. Feng Xin pressed against his back, strong and solid. Hua Cheng knelt before him, hands stroking his thighs with steady reverence.

“I’m scared,” Mu Qing whispered, voice choked. “I’ve never been *enough*.”

“You are now,” Hua Cheng said.

“You always were,” Feng Xin added.

“And we’re not letting you go again,” Xie Lian promised.

------------

That night, they didn’t make love.

They held him.

Mu Qing didn’t speak, just buried himself against three warm bodies, letting go of centuries of armor, bitterness, and doubt.

And when sleep finally took him, it was the first time he dreamed of staying—not because he had to…

…but because he was finally safe enough to want to.

Notes:

Thanks for reading this ans i hope u like this,there will be part 3,dw!

-Sofia

Chapter 3: Part III– Ashes to Spring

Summary:

Trigger warning: Mentions of death, grief, and self-worth struggles. Poignant but redemptive tone.

Notes:

Soo,this is the final chapter of this sequel,after this i will make a book that contains flashbacks of mu qing past(my au),how they came to be,etc.

Mount Tong’lu burned.

 

_____________

 

He remembered the heat.

The sound of Xie Lian screaming his name—raw, broken. Hua Cheng's red silhouette disappearing into a collapsing gorge. Feng Xin, bloodied, trying to fight through waves of corpse-littered terrain to reach him.

But Mu Qing had already been falling. The final blow was clean. Ironic, almost. He’d finally given everything—and it still wasn’t enough.

And as darkness pulled him under, one final thought bloomed in his chest like a dying flower:

|"At least I won’t be a burden anymore."

_____________

 

But death did not come.

Instead, he woke in a palace he hadn’t seen in centuries.

Golden drapes. Incense. Familiar robes folded neatly at his side—not tattered with battle, not stained with blood. His fingers were whole. His body unbroken.

A mirror on the wall showed a younger face, sharper, unscarred.

His voice trembled. “This… this is the Heavenly Capital.”

But not the ruined one he’d known. No—this was before.Before the first fall. Before Xianle collapsed. Before everything was taken from him.

Mu Qing stared at himself, and then whispered, “What kind of cruel mercy is this?”

_____________

 

Heavenly Capital – Early Years

Mu Qing kept his head down. He worked as a palace attendant again, blending into the shadows. It didn’t take long to confirm it—this was long before the events of the original timeline. Decades, at least.

He was alive. They were alive.

Xie Lian, still the revered Crown Prince.
Feng Xin, his loyal bodyguard.
Hua Cheng… not yet born in this form, but somewhere in the mortal realm, a child still bearing the name Hong-er.

Time was a cruel thing.

Because Mu Qing remembered loving them.

All of them.

And now he had to pretend he didn’t.

_____________

 

But fate noticed.

Because Xie Lian caught him staring too long in the garden.

Because Feng Xin, irritated by Mu Qing’s sudden silences, started hovering a little closer.

And because, on the eve of a royal festival, Mu Qing heard a child laugh in the crowd—a voice he knew too well.

He turned—and saw Hong-er.

Red robes. Silver eye. Not yet the Ghost King, not yet covered in scars, but his gaze already shimmered like someone who remembered something he couldn’t name.

Mu Qing stepped back, heart pounding.

| "Please," he whispered.
|"Don’t remember me."

_____________

 

But they did.

Not everything. Not fully.

But something.

_____________

 

"You look sad a lot."

Hong-er told him one night, sitting on temple steps.

Mu Qing looked away. “Do I?”

“You’re always looking at people like they’re ghosts,” the boy said. “Even when they’re right in front of you.”

That night, Xie Lian touched his shoulder in passing. Feng Xin lingered at his door. And in his dreams, Mu Qing saw Mount Tong’lu again—burning, collapsing, dying.

And three voices calling his name.

_____________

 

He couldn’t bear it.

So Mu Qing ran. Again.

He left the palace one night, disappearing into the forests around Xianle, wearing simple robes, carrying nothing but memory.

But fate, as always, followed.

_____________

 

He was found again—on a cliff’s edge, overlooking a blooming valley.

Xie Lian stood behind him, silent. Feng Xin came next, visibly angry. And last came Hua Cheng—older now, older than he should be. Somehow. His silver eye gleamed in the moonlight.

“You remember,” Mu Qing said, trembling.

“We always did,” Hua Cheng answered quietly.

“You weren’t supposed to,” he whispered. “I was supposed to die and stay dead. I made peace with it.”

“You made peace with being unloved,” Feng Xin snapped. “That’s not the same."

Xie Lian reached for him, voice breaking: “You think dying was the only way to be free of us?”

“No,” Mu Qing whispered. “I thought it was the only way to matter.”

_____________

 

And then, for the first time since his return, Mu Qing let them touch him.

Feng Xin’s arms held him like a shield. Xie Lian kissed the back of his neck, murmuring apologies he never needed to make. And Hua Cheng knelt in front of him, hands on Mu Qing’s thighs, reverent and gentle.

“You were always the hardest to reach,” Hua Cheng said softly, “but the easiest to love.”

_____________

Mu Qing didn’t speak that night. He didn’t need to.

Because for once, he stayed.

And in this second chance, maybe—just maybe—he’d finally let himself be loved.

Notes:

I hope you like this chapter! It will be a while till i make the book,anyways,thank you for reading this!!

Sofia

Notes:

There will be part two