Aspiring himbo

What do you mean he was a small child pushed off a high place?? Xie Lian caught him once and he just??? Decided?? That he would never worship any other god??? Feng Xin and Mu Qing have no idea the full extent of time Hua Cheng spent at Xie Lian's side!! They both have to be like "This fucking child that Xie Lian caught once and then told to live on for him just does?? What?? The fuck??" Like can you even imagine how horrified they are? The entire Cave of Ten Thousand Gods scene is so good, it's too good, it's the peak of comedy in this entire story, it was thought impossible for this height to ever be matched again, bUT IT WAS-

Mei Nianqing is over there thrice as terrified! That boy RUINED the crown prince of Xian Le!! There's no way he isn't thinking that if Xie Lian just had never touched Hua Cheng in the first place, surely everything would have turned out fine, right? And he goes so far as to KISS Xie Lian??!! If Mei Nianqing had any say whatsoever it would be jail for Hua Cheng for eternity for committing the gravest sin of all: seducing a man.

And is it not especially funny just because those three combined have never agreed entirely with each other before??? They have finally joined forces to agree that it's fine if Xie Lian likes men, but it is NOT fine for that man to be Hua Cheng!

I literally laughed so hard I stopped breathing. All three of them are like "This guy's been stalking you for eight hundred years" and Xie Lian's response is basically "Yeah, isn't that so romantic? 🥰"

Xie Lian's blasé attitude towards Hua Cheng's obsession is possibly the funniest aspect of all. He doesn't even care? Like, he realized that all the statues and murals were him and he seemed to have just thought to himself: "Oh, yeah, I am definitely Hua Cheng's beloved one." He seems to find the cave full of covered statues creepy at first, then he figures out it's all Hua Cheng's doing and he literally no longer gives a shit. He thinks it's sweet.

All of Xie Lian's embarrassment stems from Meo Nianqing inadvertently badmouthing Hua Cheng in front of Hua Cheng.

Aside from that, I feel like any and all embarrassment he shows is more that he is very used to being caught doing stupid shit, and so has grown shameless over that, but this is something he's truly invested in, something he really does want to work out. I think he's embarrassed to be caught caring so fervently about someone after being entirely alone for so long. I think a part of him wants to hide away his feelings for Hua Cheng so that no one can ever see them because he's afraid of them being taken away. I think it's the first time in his life that he feels truly wholly selfishly like guarding something with his entire being. He doesn't want to face teasing or mockery after finding something so precious to him.

TLDR: Mu Qing, Feng Xin, and Mei Nianqing have The Funniest Reactions to finding out Hua Cheng's true identity and the depths of his obsession with Xie Lian. Seriously, the first third of book six is my favourite part of the whole series and Mei Nianqing's scene in book seven is just as good, if not a bit shorter.

EXCEPT!!! When Xie Lian tells him to forget him!! It's the only time Hua Cheng is like "I listen to my god religiously, but the silly thing doesn't always say the right thing, so I'll just ignore that one :)" I'm sure Hua Cheng is like "He was just having an off-day :) I'll just worship a liiiitle bit quieter :)"

I love how Hua Cheng is the most loyal, obedient dog of a character who listens to any and all commands except for the ones to leave, which he conveniently forgets to follow. He would destroy the entire world, no questions asked, if Xie Lian asked him, and Xie Lian wouldn't even have to ask nicely. But if Xie Lian says any approximation of "Give up on me," Hua Cheng suddenly is deaf and cannot hear commands, and therefore cannot follow them even a little bit.

Miles to Go

Summary:

"Truthless Recluse was depressed, repressed, wallowing in his own misery in his self-destructing ways. He was hurt, he was different, but he was not entirely broken. There still remained those bits of light, the gentleness to animals and the intrinsic care for other Cookies (excluding Sage, unfortunately) that shone through despite the dark shadows he kept them shrouded in.

But, that didn't mean he could never heal. It didn't mean he couldn't smile again. It didn't mean he wouldn't one day be able to smile at the Sage with that same gentle look. It didn't mean he wouldn't one day cradle something smaller and lesser than him in his arms and accept its affection in turn."

The Sage of Truth attempts to help Truthless Recluse's mental state improve.

"Which ones are we moving? Where would you like them to go?" Sage asked, his tone almost excited as he surveyed the land.

Truthless hesitated again for a brief moment, then sighed.

"Grab one of the stones around this bush, and move it to the side," he explained weakly. "We'll reroute the walkway so that its not in the middle of one."

"Makes sense," Sage said.

He leaned over and brushed the compost off of one of the large, flat stones making up the walkway. He heaved, slowly lifting the rock until it was just barely above the ground. His arms were shaking. He took a wobbly step to the side, then a second one.

Truthless put a hand over his lower face, covering his mouth.

Sage groaned, hefting the stone up a little bit higher, maybe a centimeter, and made it one more step before the stone fell from his grasp. He leaped away from it, hands raised out of fear of it smashing his fingers.

He turned to Truthless and smiled expectantly. "Is that good?"

Truthless remained silent for a moment. He was kind of overwhelmed by how pathetic that display had been. It was, quite frankly, adorable. The stone had barely moved ten centimeters to the side. This was the cutest thing he'd ever seen and he kind of wanted to make Sage lift all of the rocks in the garden just to watch him struggle some more.

"Yes," he eventually said stoically. "That works."

"Are you sure?" Sage asked, entirely innocent and unaware of the evil thoughts lurking within his head. "Do you want me to move it over some more?"