HuaLian TGCF Oneshots

Hua Cheng and Mt. Tonglu part 1

This is from Hua Cheng's POV, I found the story of how Hua Cheng gouged his eye out on my Tonglu super interesting but the book never goes into it so here we go. Let me know if anyone has a specific chapter they think would be fun to read/write from Hua Cheng's perspective!

Nothing is cannon (except the general idea for the story) but quick gore and graphic description of violence warning. Don't read if you're not comfortable with it.

It was the weakest Hua Cheng had ever felt. How could he fulfill his promise like this? To protect his beloved when he could barely stand on his own two feet.

It had been two weeks since Hua Cheng had entered Mt Tonglu. Only two weeks. His will had never faded or bent once, but he began to grow uneasy as he looked behind him towards the ragged and dirty but very human villagers following him.

They were going too slow. How these humans had stumbled their way into this hell and how they had managed to stay alive until Hua Cheng had found them on the verge of being eaten by a particularly large ghost, he didn't know.

He didn't even know why he was helping them.

Maybe it was because among them lay a boy around 16-17 years old; he had fair skin, brown eyes, and black hair. He looked so much like him it made Hua Cheng's heart hurt.

And so he killed the ghost. And the humans had followed behind him ever since.

The path to the kiln was treacherous. Maybe if he hadn't been on the verge of dissipating, already dizzy from all he had done before, he could confidently protect others and himself as they made their way up. But that wasn't the case.

He knew he needed a weapon; the one he had carried with him had broken when he killed the vicious ghost to save the humans. It really was a stupid move. Could he really afford to be so arrogant here? To believe saving them even mattered when only one could break out of the kiln anyway. It had to be him. He wouldn't accept any other outcome.

Before he started on this dreadful journey he heard of a way. A dangerous and despicable way to forge a powerful weapon; one second to none. But the way required great sacrifice.

At first he considered using the humans that so diligently followed behind him like little sheep. He thought he would do anything to be strong, would cross any line to be of use to his prince. Would that glorious figure up above forgive him if he failed here?

"Hong daozhang".

*little note here that this is how the villagers will address Hua Cheng as I think in this point Hua Cheng hasn't called himself Hua Cheng yet. Although in non dialogue scenes I'll be using his name. Hong meaning red and daozhang meaning cultivator (the humans assume only a cultivator would save them and Hua Cheng doesn't reveal he's a ghost).

"We really can't go on anymore. Can we take a break here?" One of the villagers behind him moaned.

Hua Cheng did not reply but proceeded to lead them into a cave like structure carved into the side of a mountain. The cave went fairly deep and was enough to accommodate all 15 or so people.

The moment they felt it was safe, the villagers collapsed; each of them finding a small portion of the cave to rest in while Hua Cheng stood on guard near the entrance.

He soon found himself deep in thought. While the situation was dire, it was not yet bad enough to where he would need to invoke such a method to forge a weapon. For now he made do with a bamboo stick he picked up along the way. The stick likely wouldn't last long but it was better than his alternative.

They rested in the cave for several hours and the villagers shared what meager rations they brought between themselves; they really wouldn't last much longer without finding more food. Because staying in one place too long with such a large concentration of humans would attract all sorts of evils here, they set off again sooner than they would have liked.

It wasn't long before they came to a split in the path.

Hua Cheng had long since believed in his own luck, but intuition told him that this time neither of the paths forward were incredibly promising.

"Why have we stopped daozhang?" A voice came from behind him.

Hua Cheng moved his body to the side so the voice could see the situation for himself.

"Oh... which way should we go?"

Hua Cheng once again said nothing but began walking towards the left side. If both paths weren't promising, they might as well go randomly and rely on his luck.

The group walked for several more hours, grumbling and complaining the entire way while Hua Cheng ignored them. The path was strangely void of any movement, dead or alive.

They kept walking foreword, stopping occasionally so the humans behind him could catch their breath and refuel. Hua Cheng himself had no need for such things and proceeded to guard the humans as they did what they needed. It wasn't much longer as they walked when goosebumps rapidly spread over Hua Cheng's skin. There was something bad up ahead, he was sure of it.

It was likely that this creature had been the reason for their uneventful journey so far, clearing the path up ahead. But this journey would likely not be peaceful for very long.

Hua Cheng knew if he went with the villagers to meet the creature up ahead, they would most likely be slaughtered or hinder his fight. But he also knew he could not leave them here defenseless.

He thought back to his crown prince. That day in that cave where his highness had looked much different from how Hua Cheng had ever seen him before. His heated breaths and burning skin as Hua Cheng cut a lock of his hair for protection.

As he came back to himself, Hua Cheng asked to borrow a small knife from the villager beside him. He swiftly cut a lock of hair and tied it around the bamboo stick he carried. His ghostly essence was still strong enough to repel most lower beings and would provide some for of protection for when he left.

Hua Cheng turned to face the villagers. "Take this and don't do anything rash. It won't protect you from everything but it should help" he told them.

"But daozhang where are you going?? Why would you leave us??" Cried the boy who looked so much like Xie Lian.

Hua Cheng's cold and inexpressive features softened at the sound of that voice "there is something up ahead that must be dealt with; you would all only get in the way." he replied.

Hua Cheng didn't know why but before he could stop himself he added "I promise I'll come back"

With those words and the tiny knife Hua Cheng still clutched in his hands, he set off towards the dangerous figure up ahead.