TGCF one shot: HuaLian duel, maple leaves vs white blossoms

A duel...maple leaves and white blossoms

Scents of fall were in the air...

Mixed in was the pleasing scent of incense and flower arrangements. Mid- autumn festival was almost here and Puqi Shrine was bustling again with inhabitants from all three realms in associated preparations.

Xie Lian's devotees from Puqi village were all over the place as usual, and of course Hua Cheng was glued to Xie Lian's side, but there were three Heavenly Officials in the courtyard as well, each wearing a different expression. Feng Xin looked irritated, Mu Qing's eyes were about to fall off his head from all the eye-rolling. Both of them were seething after another of their nonsensical rounds, having blown off part of Puqi Shrine's roof this time. And while they both looked like they had other places to be than someplace with Hua Cheng in it, of course they had to fix what they broke so were hauling wood around. Qi Ying was the third element, and everyone knew he loved to fight for no reason. Of course, he sorely missed out on joining the other two's brawl – because Xie Lian requested he stay out of it, and who could say no to him – so was reduced to chopping wood for the other two idiots to haul and fix the blown roof.

Xie Lian was overseeing the whole thing – the chirpy villagers, his childish best friends who were now tossing barbs at each other even as they fixed his blown roof (snark was all they could do as they were banned by him from further fighting today), and some of the kids from the village who always tagged behind him asking for stories and such, and handing out food as the host as well.
Hua Cheng lounged by – he was just there to enjoy Xie Lian's company as always. He sat by Xie Lian, happily chewing on a blade of grass and gazing at Xie Lian while the latter tried to impart some moral-based story to the kids. He had done his duty earlier, helping with the cooking and cleanup and such, and was now ordered by Xie Lian to sit down – and of course he obediently sat down with Xie Lian and the kids in the shade of one of the trees in the courtyard. His sole, self-appointed task for the rest of the evening was staring at Xie Lian. Halfway through Xie Lian's narration however, Hua Cheng's concentration was disturbed by the two on the roof, and he clicked his tongue in mild irritation. "Gege, these two -" he had a mind to knock those two off. "So noisy."

"It's okay, San Lang, they promised they won't spar anymore today," he soothed. "They just came to invite me for the Mid-Autumn festival banquet."

Hua Cheng wasn't so convinced. He shrugged and gave a look that said, so invite and go. Of course he wouldn't say anything more if Xie Lian wanted them around and would tolerate the idiots for his Dianxia.

"Daozhang gege, why were those two fighting earlier?" One of the kids piped up.
"Eh, they weren't, um," Xie Lian laughed, trying to cover up with a cough. Bad lessons to kids, fighting over nonsense. "Ah, it was more, well, entertainment for the evening. You people don't fight, okay, it's not the answer to all things," he sighed.
"They have style," another of the kids supplied. "They look so ccol fighting."
Xie Lian laughed again. Of course they looked cool fighting, they were martial gods after all.
"Can you fight like that?" Next question.
"I told you, not fighting-" he began half-heartedly, then sighed. No point explaining what everyone saw clearly.
Hua Cheng snickered. "He's way better than those two."
"Really? Can we see, can we see?" a cacophony of demands, like they were singing, turned to Xie Lian.
"Well, I can, but no, I mean, not fighting for no reason," he slapped a hand on his forehead. If one had friends like those two...
Hua Cheng laughed again. "Gege, never mind fighting Iike those idiots, you are magnificent with anything, you know it." He for one, was always down for a demonstration of Xie Lian's skills.
Xie Lian knew his own abilities, but still the tips of his ears blushed a little. "You are biased," he murmured.
"What about you, can you also fight like Daozhang gege?" the kids turned to Hua Cheng. "Can we see?"
Hua Cheng looked at Xie Lian, who was slightly alarmed. "I don't want to fight him," Xie Lian blurted out. One, he didn't want to hurt his San Lang even by accident, and two, their sparring always ended one way and he didn't want an audience for that. His cheeks were hot now, and Hua Cheng laughed under his breath as though he had read his mind, which made Xie Lian's cheeks burn hotter.
"Fine, fine, but it's not a fight, okay? Just for entertainment," he said half to the kids, half to Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng smiled at him, all innocent and obedient.