Work Text
After he made sure that the person beside him had fallen asleep, Hua Cheng got up, careful with his movements. He opened his storage ring and took out a brush, ink, and a paper and got to work.After eight hundred years, the image of the Flower Crown Martial God was embedded in his soul. So deep, he could draw a portrait with his eyes closed and still put the minute details at the exact place.But Hua Cheng was not just drawing something for his own collection anymore. He did not dare take off his concentration from the paper. His hand waved the brush with grace, producing an elegant picture.Why, yes, His Highness was the epitome of elegance so this faithful follower couldn’t be careless.But after a few minutes, he gave in to temptation and snuck a peek. Eight hundred years of pining and chasing around, now His Highness was finally by his side, safe.Even after hundreds of years, this person never changed.His finger reached out to brush a stray hair strand on Xie Lian’s face. He did it as light as possible, as if afraid to taint the other’s snow-white skin. This person had always been pure and beautiful.But while these gave him a fragile look, Hua Cheng knew how resilient this person could be. The world could drag him down and stomp on his body, but Xie Lian would not relent. This world could try, but they would never succeed in bringing down his spirit.And Hua Cheng would never let them succeed. He would crush them down first before they could even lay a finger on Xie Lian.As he gripped his brush tighter, blotches of ink splashed on the paper. This brought him back from his thoughts. Hua Cheng replaced it with a new one and worked on the portrait again, not allowing himself to be distracted this time.Once he’s satisfied with his work, he put it up and admired it. Pretty good if he said so.
But the real person can’t be compared.
His gaze wandered back to the sleeping figure. At this point, Xie Lian turned on his side, facing Hua Cheng.His skills could never catch up to the grace and beauty of this person. But that didn’t discourage Hua Cheng. It made him want to practice more, to learn more. To draw until he memorized every nook and cranny of Xie Lian’s body and to capture all the changes of his expressions.Inspired, he got another stack of papers and brought out his drawing materials once again. He needed to get all and master Xie Lian’s sleeping figure.It’s going to be a long night...