Diaphanous | Hua Cheng X Reader X Xie Lian

Prologue: A Man From The Sky?

The chirp of birds filled the air as the sun was high in the sky, trees blocking the light from being too harsh. Inside the forest sat a young girl, hidden away in the shade provided by the tall giants. She rested with a rabbit sitting in her lap, gently petting its soft fur. Every now and then a bird would fly up to her, landing on her shoulder, chirping at her. She would then also reply with her own words, holding a conversation with the tiny creature.

Even predatory animals such as wolves, which roamed the forest with vicious intent would stroll up to the girl, nuzzling into her side, no sign of going to attack. It was so quiet and peaceful, the wolf didn't even dare try to attack the rabbit at all, it just slept, its head resting in the girl's lap as she began to pet it also.

Suddenly the sound of leaves moving sounded through the air. The wolf snaps up alert, while the rabbit scurries off, and the bird flies away, leaving the girl sitting confused as to the noise. There was no wind to cause the leaves to shift, plus it was coming from above.

"Go" She whispers to the wolf, dismissing it from her side. With hesitance the wolf does as it was told, disappearing into the bushes.

Glancing up above her, the leaves continued to shift, this time at a faster rate as whatever it was was falling fast. She hops out of the way, hiding herself behind a tree as a person landed on the ground, quite graceful, yet clumsily.

He was very handsome in her eyes. The man was clad in layers and layers of white robes as his long brown hair had flown around him, making him seem so angelic. He turns around to observe his surroundings, a frown settling on his face. The girl shifts backwards to make a silent escape, yet the bushes around her shake at the slight wind, catching the attention of the man.

The girl had mentally cursed to herself for not being more cautious as the man had taken a step to the direction of the noise. Hearing his footsteps approaching, she lifts the bottom of her hanfu and makes a run for it. She can hear a quick 'Hey wait!' and the sound of something zipping in the air as something wraps around her wrist tugging her backwards. She gasps stumbling over her feet prepared to fall backwards.

Hands placed themselves on her shoulders, steadying her from falling as her head hit itself against the chest of the man from before. She quickly shakes him off and turns to face him bewildered. He was so calm for someone who was just chasing her, yet she didn't feel he had any malicious intent, the only problem...she hasn't seen another human in years, let alone interacted with one.

"May I ask where I am?" The girl had to do a double take, his voice sounded like melting honey, it was sweet and gentle yet deep enough to know that he was actually a he. She shifts her gaze to her arm as the thing around it releases itself and moves back to the arm of the man before her.

"The forest of course" She replies, her voice low. If it were windy, the wind would have taken the words with it, leaving the man to wonder what she had said but thankfully the wind was not blowing and he heard her perfectly.

"Which forest?" He asked. She tilts her head, furrowing her eyebrows.

"A forest" She replies. He trails over her features to see any trace of her messing with him, yet she wasn't. Plus, why was a young girl such as herself out in the woods alone? He wouldn't know.

"Where do you live?" She purses her lips together looking around the area. She turns behind her and lifts her arm, the sleeve of her clothes shifting down her arm as it raises upward. Through a small clearing in the trees, was a wooden home high above the ground. A makeshift ladder hung from below, making it clear that was the entrance.

"Up there. I know the forest like the back of my hand" She drops her arm finally looking at the man before her, gazing into his brown eyes as he looks back at her. "Are you lost?"

"I would suppose so" He chuckles.

"Where are you headed?" She asks. He looks upward for a split second then down at her once again.

"The North"

She nods her head as she places her index finger on her bottom lip, her eyebrows furrowing as her eyes seem to wander the area. She snaps her fingers as she looks back at him.

"I know the way, but it may take a few days if you don't mind" She replies, shifting to start leading him. He nods his head stepping beside her.

"How come you live in the forest?" The boy asks. The girl kicks a rock, her hands behind her back as she skips over the branches. The boy took note of her bare feet as she continued to step forward.

"I just woke up here one day" Her gaze turns towards the sky, covered by the greenery above. She releases a giggle at her memory "The animals were really nice and helped me live for a while. They even brought me clothes!"

"Oh!" She hops over a branch once again spinning on her heel to face him once again. Her lips turn upwards as she closes her eyes, he could've sworn the light around her grew brighter "I'm (Y/N) by the way. Han (Y/N)"

"You don't have to tell me your name though" She turns back to the path they were headed after a long moment of silence "You seem trustworthy enough so I don't mind"

Her arms begin to swing by her side as she walks. (Y/N) had assumed he wasn't going to tell her his name especially after the silence, but her mind had already wandered.

Their ears perk up at the sound of tree branches snapping other than their own, followed by a howl. The sound came closer as the man stepped in front of the girl holding an arm out. A wolf appears from behind the tree running towards the two. The man prepares to attack but (Y/N) gently places a hand on his arm moving it down. The wolf jumps at the girl, landing at her feet as it whimpers, avoiding landing on a paw.

She kneels by its side, taking notice of its paw. A frown makes its way to her face as she quickly stands up and moves around collecting two of the thickest branches she could find. She sits back down and grabs the wolf's paw gently. She reaches into her hanfu where a stray piece of fabric was pulled out. She tore a piece of it and wrapped it around the two branches, held gently against its leg.

After she had finished tying the fabric she stood up patting the wolf on the head.

"You have to be more careful" She scolds the creature, who only lowers its ears, looking down. She sighs shaking her head as she smiles "Try not to do it again"

She ruffles its fur around its ears. In response it licks her hand and she giggles, her eyes lighting up as it begins to run away, the pain lessened thanks to her care. She turns back to face the man with a shy smile "Sorry about that...they do that a lot."

"It's alright," He looks at the direction the wolf left as a bird flies around the two, leaving the girl to laugh once more. "They seem to really like you"

"As far as I know they helped me and I do the same, I hope they would still like me," She laughs.

He smiles at her personality from what he observed, which reminded him of a puppy, or an innocent child. "My name is Xie Lian"

Her eyes light up once more as she looks up at him with a childlike grin, fitting how he thought her personality would. "Well Xie Lian! It's time to get you up to the North!"

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A/N: Hello! Welcome to the story. I wish to put the warning up now that, after the bridegroom arc, it will touch on heavy topics (most of the time implied), if you cannot stomach things easily, I wouldn't recommend continuing after the bridegroom arc. Although a lot of it is implied, I do apologize but I plan to touch on such heavy topics for awareness, that stuff like it does indeed exist
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Also I did see another author of a Hua Cheng X Reader getting hate (not on this app...I think AO3...but I don't use that) because of portraying Hua Cheng as falling for a female, but it worries me for reactions of this content, so please understand this is from my own imagination, I don't mean to offend or trigger anyone.