A little spinoff idea to my pet AU where Xie Lian and Hua Cheng meet before Xie Lian’s third ascension:
So before they met, Xie Lian fell into the hands of a group of demons, who (getting wind of Hua Cheng’s obsession with him but completely misunderstanding its nature) torture him horribly. Of course Hua Cheng does his best to nurse him back to health, but it’s a long process, even after the physical injuries are long gone.
Point is, even after he’s finally able to go outside and function around people again, Xie Lian takes to wearing a heavier veil on his hat and an extra one on his face. He’s not actively trying to hide his identity, it’s just that this barrier provides him with some sense of isolation and safety, fragile as it is.
Also, he can’t always talk. Since he can’t predict which day will be verbal and which nonverbal, he doesn’t bother talking out loud to strangers even when he technically could, but uses the spiritual energy he got from Hua Cheng to write in the air instead.
…All of which, quite unintentionally on his part, gives him a massive air of mystery.
So here is this strange, intriguing figure, wrapped in airy but impenetrable white, roaming the land and helping where they can, but always, always returning to Ghost City, to Hua Cheng’s side. Who could this be? Gossip is rising, imaginations run wild…
An underling? No way, Crimson Rain dotes too much on them. Is it even a man or a woman? Who could say in those robes… A lover? Must be! Ohh but what kind of peerless beauty could have captured the heart of the fierce Ghost King?
Speculations are getting more and more outlandish and over the top… And reach the ears of General Pei, famous conaisseur of beauties.
Interest piqued, Pei Ming - who never quite knew what was good for him when it came to pretty women - decides that costs what costs, he will get a glimpse, and maybe more.
