Gege, are you sure you want to do this?

First time

There were no words. Both started to walk towards the other. A step, another step, each step faster than the last, and then finally, they started running. He ran ahead while tears poured out and fell behind. Xie Lian uttered in his heart: I believed. He believed that this man would die for him again and again, and be reborn for him over and over. Even if he fell into the depths of hell, he would break through the abyss for his 'belief'. Last time, they spent eight hundred years running towards each other. This time, it took only an instant for them to fall into each other's embrance.

The embrace was tight and neither of them let go or loosened for a long time, no words were spoken, only the desperate longing for belonging finally being satiated hung in the air, both feeling the same: they were home at last.

Xie Lian had waited for only a year, and even though he said and convinced himself that this wait made him calmer and more patient, he suddenly concluded that all these thoughts were nonsense, he longed for Hua Cheng as if his very existence depended on his return. Xie Lian absolutely couldn't tell how Hua Cheng was able to wait for eight hundred years, he imagined that maybe not having a heart that ached in his chest from longing was an enabler.

They both knew that a long time had passed since the embrace took shape, but when they finally signaled to part, just so they could look at each other, the feeling was that only a minute had passed.

"Your Highness," Hua Cheng whispered as they leaned their foreheads together, "I said I would never leave you."

Hearing his words, Xie Lian, who was previously crying low while buried in his chest, were now crying staring into the only visible eye, he let out a loud sob, feeling again all the suffering he had gone through in that cave watching the silver butterflies dissipate, but at the same time, a relief as if the weight of a thousand stones had gone off his shoulders.

Hua Cheng did not expect this reaction and again squeezed him tightly, his arms once again pressing him against his chest, "Gege, I'm back. Don't be afraid."

Xie Lian had heard that phrase several times before and in each one of them, his heart always reassured itself because he knew that Hua Cheng would never lie. This time was no exception. Thinking that perhaps it was too shameful for a martial god to let himself be carried away by so many emotions that made his heart lose its rhythm and his breathing become so ragged, he forced himself to calm down.

Xie Lian rebuilt the cottage so that the two of them could spend their time together more comfortably, Hua Cheng should see the results of his efforts. Finally saying his first words, the Crown Prince almost whispered, "San Lang... Hm, I've renovated the cottage, it's much better than the PuQi Shrine, this time the structures are firmer and..." Hua Cheng listened carefully, a hint of a smile forming on his mouth, his eyebrows raised, looking forward to the continuation. His Highness' embarrassment was palpable, and he finally finished, "...would you like to see how it turned out?"

"If gege built it, San Lang sure wants to take a look." The smile could no longer be contained, forming gracefully as it always was. Xie Lian saw that very familiar sight and all the shame he felt evaporated, smiling back, reaching for Hua Cheng's hand and leading him inside the cottage.

It was definitely much larger than the PuQi Shrine, there was enough room in the first room for a large table with several chairs, a worship altar that had the painting San Lang had made right above it on the wall and a stone stove in the corner, all very spacious and with a clear path to and from.

Hua Cheng looked around and saw three doors. He imagined one to be His Highness's room, another a private room to practice the calligraphy he loved so much, but he didn't know what the third one might be. Xie Lian didn't notice his confusion, continuing to detail endlessly how he built the place and how long it took, he spoke of the flowering trees at the entrance, and even though he didn't say they were planted especially for him, Hua Cheng knew. At no time did his smile disappear, and therefore neither did His Highness'.