Enchanted To Meet You

TGCF just ended, and I just wanted to cry because I’m going to miss this show for a while until we’re ready for season 2. Good news Season 2 has been announced and is in production so maybe end of this year? Hopefully? One can hope. Anyways because we’re saying goodbye for a while, I decided to focus my review on Hua  Cheng this time. The many ways he has shown up in Season 1, the many encounters he had with Xie Lian who doesn’t even know how long he’s been by his side, the many forms he used to stay and help Xie Lian. In TGCF, Hua Cheng’s appearances in Xie Lian’s life is essential because of his constant devotion and ambition to ensure that Xie Lian is protected, safe and happy. Hua Cheng shows up each time to an oblivious Xie Lian who only has been introduced to the knowledge of one form of him, San Lang in season 1. But what about us the audience, we’ve seen Cheng as a child in the first episode, in the intro, we’ve seen him as San Lang, and we’ve also been introduced slightly to his natural form, the Hua Cheng Ghost King form. So let’s look into it more, how has each state been connected to Xie Lian and what have we been shown or told so far about the building relationship between our ghost king and our god. 

The Different Versions of Hua Cheng

So the first thing we need to break down is the similarities of each of his forms and their different meanings to his character dynamic and arc concerning his and Xie Lian’s love story. So as mentioned before there are three different versions of him we’re introduced to:

The Child: We see him in a desolated state, with bandages surrounding his face, blood and he’s in tears looking forlorn at Xie Lian who also has given up on something throwing away his umbrella and face darkened and walking away, probably to a small shack. We also see this child more importantly connected to our story because he’s the first version of Hua Cheng in our origin of these two’s meeting. He’s saved by Xie Lian who completely stuns him and gives him the meaning to life again. We see snippets of this version of him in flashbacks and in the opening intro because TGCF is a story that is planning to unveil the years of Hua Cheng’s devotion to  Xie Lian, the reasons, the actions made, and the consequences created from it in the past. 

San Lang: Number two we get to see San Lang, he’s the version we spend the most time within season 1, knowing and having suspicions that he’s Hua Cheng. San Lang is a mortal and meant to be a teen; he’s wise for his age, aloof, and sly. And he’s made it an aim to accompany  Xie Lian on his journey to getting followers again. There’s more to San Lang that meets the eye, he has a convoluted back story (which is backshadowing the truth of his past) he tells Xie Lian, and he’s very loyal and protective of Xie Lian. Xie Lian gets to become close to this version of Hua Cheng; this is the version he trusts the most and is the person who becomes someone he cares a lot about unconditionally.

Crimson Rain Sought Flower/ Ghost King the most dangerous and scariest and wealthy demon/devastation ghost in the story.  Xie Lian is first warned away from him because the gods are not on good terms with him. But  Xie Lian can’t help but wonder if he’s more than meets the eye because they meet under a blood rain as bride and groom. Hua Cheng shows up in his real form to guide  Xie Lian to safety. This version shows up again in the Sinner’s pit in the Banyue arc in episode 9. After San Lang jumps in a sacrificial move, Hua Cheng eliminates everybody ruthlessly in the Sinner’s pit and shows up again to fight Pei Xu to protect  Xie Lian in episode 11. This version is the real Hua Cheng, he has one eye, he is cold, ruthless, but also he’s made it clear he wants to protect and is on the lookout for Xie Lian. By the end of season 1, Lian chooses to ignore the rumours and become close with him despite the warnings. 

Age, Status, and Love; The growth of Hua Cheng

The first thing to notice about these versions of Hua Cheng is that they all have a way of shadowing how he’s grown and his journey to Xie Lian. From a child who’s naive and innocent and is traumatised by events in the world, to a teen who is not taken as seriously, is wiser and mature and able to fend for himself, to the Ghost King who is who he is at present, his real self after many years, who is now powerful, in control and older but also not alive.

 And the second thing to notice is the difference of status and wealth depicted with his versions;  as a child even though we aren’t shown the details, we can see that he’s not rich, he’s dressed in rags, and he’s bandaged poorly and looks like he has nothing. As San Lang, he’s able to fend for himself and Xie Lian by collecting scraps and rebuilding their first place together, and with Ghost King, you can tell he’s wealthy, he’s dressed in the finest of robes, silver dangling from everywhere you look, and we know from Ling Wen; he’s affluent. So another observation to notice. 

The last thing to notice with these versions is the one common motif, Xie Lian. Xie Lian is also seen in different versions/ forms to us each time Hua Cheng shows up.

 We see  Xie Lian in the child’s eyes as a prince; golden, lavish and beautiful, he’s dressed in the finest attire but also we see that Lian is the person who flies to save this child from either falling or jumping to his end. (still, we can’t be sure why he was falling), 

But then with San Lang, Xie Lian is undercover as a mortal (though it’s pretty apparent to guess he’s not) without power, followers or any self-esteem (from his comments) and wealth. But with San Lang, Xie Lian is vulnerable and shown to be more lonely and filled with self-deprecation but is determined to protect everyone he comes across, which makes him more self-sacrificial. 

As Ghost King, we see Xie Lian on a mission as a god, untrusting, capable, and very cunning and intuitive, he wears a mask (literally wearing a veil) of happiness, ease,  but he’s alert and ready to defend and knows how to avoid being caught by his enemies. 

Unconditional Devotion; The Love of Hua Cheng

In all versions, Hua Cheng shows us that he has with Xie Lian some kind of devotion and love:

As a child: His eyes light up for the first time, he follows after him (inferred from the intro and episode 1) and watches helplessly as he can’t do anything to protect him at that moment. You can feel the determination, the longing, and the urgency in each scene he’s shown watching after  Xie Lian as Xie Lian gives up on himself. 

As San Lang: He guides and protects Xie Lian, he stays by his side loyally and prevents Xie Lian from getting into harm’s way using information that he knows. You can feel that he knows how Xie Lian is self-sacrificial, and he’s here to protect and keep Xie Lian from being puppeteered or played around by others.

 As Ghost King: He is deadly when it comes to Xie Lian, he kills and destroys and doesn’t waste time with others, he’s also protective of where Xie Lian touches, he doesn’t want him soiled by blood or anything ( using either an umbrella to protect him when they first meet, or cradling him to ensure his foot doesn’t meet the ground). He’s determined to get rid of anything that could hurt Xie Lian or make him suffer, and he does it through violence. 

And even though Xie Lian doesn’t have any recognition of who he is yet in his life, in every version Xie Lian has also shown protection and care for Hua Cheng unconditionally which is embedded in his personality.

 He saves his life as the child, (just like he positively affects other children like Banyue who look up to him), he is determined to protect and make sure San Lang is safe. It terrifies him to think otherwise, and he accepts Hua Cheng unconditionally after realising who he is. 

He also shows awe and intrigue with all things, Hua Cheng, whilst others call him terrifying  Xie Lian says his name suits him because it’s pretty when he sees his butterflies he’s in awe and automatically wants to follow them because they make him feel at ease despite the fact that those butterflies can probably without his knowledge kill and maim. When he notices others may notice who Cheng is at the pit, he’s worried but at ease to see him hidden as San Lang again, and he finally tells him; he doesn’t care who he is because he’s a friend.

 Xie Lian; The Goal of Hua Cheng

For Xie Lian he’s realised there’s unconditional care and like and reliance for Hua Cheng, it’s automatic and he can’t stop feeling safe and at ease with him. Despite his first time meeting San Lang and being suspicious, it took him an ox ride to find out he liked and was intrigued by San Lang even if he was Hua Cheng. He liked how he spoke, he liked his wisdom, and he enjoyed spending time with him. It became natural to rely on his protection, his touch, and his information each journey they went on. 

 And with Hua Cheng in all his versions there’s that unconditional need to protect, devotion and determination to stay by Xie Lian’s side. After all, that’s where this started, him being affected by Xie Lian saving his life. We can guess he took it literally and made it a reality, though now we wonder how he went from a human child to being dead yet a mighty ghost king. 

 In a way we see Hua Cheng show up and start making Xie Lian find reasons for living too. Not that it’s apparent that he doesn’t want to live; that he’s full of self-loathing and self-sacrificial tendencies. Hua Cheng seemed to be as San Lang, one of the first people who showed Xie Lian unconditional loyalty and support despite not seeing himself as deserving of it. Hua Cheng may not be his reason for living, but Hua Cheng is his reason for why he gets to live; many times Hua Cheng’s protection is to keep Xie Lian from being hurt; the snake scorpion venom, the Sinner’s pit, the Pei Xu and snakes, the head on the ground filled with demonic energy and Xuan Ji. Hua Cheng shows up as groom the first time we see him, and he leads Xie Lian to protection to the place he needs to go to know what’s going on with the brides. With his determination, experience (giving Xie Lian information) and power Hua Cheng protects and pushes Xie Lian to keep staying safe and alive knowing someone does not see him as worthless or a misfortune. 

Ghost vs Human: The Disguise of Hua Cheng

It makes you wonder this need of why Hua Cheng does hide in many forms; why does he not make Xie Lian know that they’ve known each other for so long? why does he hide as San Lang and not his true form since Xie Lian doesn’t know who he is, and why does he keep his true form out of sight from Xie Lian. He’s determined to hide his natural form because showing it would lead to opportunities of weakness.

 As we can see from just his child self Hua Cheng was determined to do something, to become more so he could be of help, payback Xie Lian for saving his life, and become his reason to live. So he probably can not let any weakness affect him; he probably has built up protection of himself so no one can reach him so that no one can reach Xie Lian. His aim is to be a safeguard for Xie Lian, an impenetrable, protective and robust protection. People seeing his real form is a lead way to vulnerability and weakness. Him protecting how he looks makes him even more of a scarier person to deal with because you don’t know his real self or strength fully.

 It also gives him a way to be by  Xie Lian’s side without anyone knowing his goals; he does this as San Lang, shows a different version of himself which is more acceptable and less conflicting to be by Xie Lian’s side. A mortal can be seen as a worshiper, a friend and a helper. But a ghost king by a god side is more looked down upon. We see this when Fu Yao and Nan Feng try to uncover who he is. Xie Lian has been warned that he should stay away from Ghost King version, and maybe Hua Cheng also thinks that version should not be known, or seen or met. With how scary and dangerous he seems, (he’s known for his harmful actions, he also took out his own eye as he puts it because of insanity, he has incredibly deadly weapons and he’s someone heaven is terrified of). Hua Cheng may think Xie Lian won’t give him a chance to know him. But of course, he discovers that  Xie Lian doesn’t care about that. 

Ghost King: The Past of Hua Cheng

The different forms of Hua Cheng we see as the audience showcases other assets to his mindset, we’ve seen him weak, vulnerable, and lost without Xie Lian when he was a child, there was a time where he was the most scared of everything,  a time where he probably had no control over whatever he wanted, a time where he was filled with despair and obliqueness, but Xie Lian showed up as a light, the same way Hua Cheng shows up in Xie Lian’s life in season 1 as a guide, they both shift their mindsets and determination to be better and succeed.  

That’s why his growth to becoming Ghost King is fascinating; he’s become the opposite of his childhood self, he’s no longer mortal and human, ( as we see with his other two versions) he’s seen as ruthless and cold to anyone who bothers him or Xie Lian. It’s not an easy feat; it must have taken a lot of pain, and suffering to get to who he is, for him even to become a devastation he would have needed to be filled with resentful energy, this means that he also is someone full of grief and suffering as  Xie Lian who hides his behind his mask of an easygoing and cheerful nature. 

Hua Cheng hides his behind strength and power, they both have scars and secrets hidden needed to uncover to know why they have become this way, but one thing stays for sure, and that’s that Xie Lian and Hua Cheng both become healing to each other from their past scars. Xie Lian becomes Hua Cheng’s sole reason to live, devoting himself to Xie Lian is what’s making him good and not broken. Xie Lian on the other hand, Cheng becomes someone who makes him want to accept himself, Hua Cheng is someone who becomes a healing presence to him, he’s happier, comfortable and safer by his side, and he knows this. Hence, he lets himself be pulled to him, carried and protected by him, he’s shocked by it, but you can see it affects him each time Hua Cheng does something to protect him as San Lang. 

In a world where we are focusing on gods and demons and ghosts, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng seem oddly incompatible; the gods look down on the ghost kings because of their actions and because they’re closer to evil or immoral actions. Xie Lian as a god is meant to be moral, just and higher than others, including mortals, and so being with the most powerful ghost king and slowly falling for him probably isn’t a great idea. What matters now is how long these two have been near each other, how has both the journey of them affected the other, Hua Cheng is entirely devoted to Xie Lian even after his passing and resurrection as a ghost king, and that’s interesting, he has been watching and keeping an eye on Xie Lian who’s oblivious and has more things to focus on than that, Xie Lian has a past which he feels guilt, self-hatred and fear from, it’s slowly being revealed, and it’s fascinating to watch it. 

The Mermaid ~ 1922 ~ Elenore Plaisted Abbott (English illustrator, scenic designer, and painter, 1875-1935)  

TAYLOR SWIFT