Bippity Boppity Bi

And many boops to you Nonny!

Xie Lian picks through the stalls of the marketplace, bowing and smiling to the vendors as they call for him. Five years he’s lived here now, and still they have not bored of him.

They also have not forgotten who he is and what that means – he might as well have a forcefield around him, for how much space he gets in the otherwise crowded and jostling market. He buys a few trinkets, strange little curiosities of little value other than amusement, and overpays for all of them. It had taken a couple of years for him to be comfortable spending Hua Cheng’s money so freely, but eventually the incessant whining and grumbling of “Gege, that’s what it’s there for,” had worn him down. (He really has spoiled his husband terribly.) And anyway, he likes supporting the citizens of Ghost City, and it only bolsters their love for Hua Cheng.

He spots a new stall at the end of an alley and approaches it eagerly, lured by the lovely calligraphy of the signage and the sweetness of the vendor’s smile beneath the veil covering where the top part of her face should be.

“Good evening!” He isn’t entirely sure it is evening; it is always dusk in Ghost City. “You’re new here, aren’t you? Your stall is very beautiful.”

The ghost bows, the rings on a flesh hand clacking against the bones of her other as she presses them together.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Ah, he’d almost hoped for someone who did not know who he was, if only for the break in routine. But the gossips have beat him to the stall, evidently. “Can this lowly servant interest you in any wares?”

He looks over her spread and barely contains the urge to laugh. She sells calligraphy supplies; beautiful kits of brushes and ink and paper in artfully carved and painted wooden boxes. But what nearly makes him laugh aloud is the one that most catches his eye: a set intended for a child. There are characters already printed on the paper in fine translucent lines which can be copied over, and the brushes are short and squat and easy to hold.

He’s almost snickering as he passes her twice the value of the kit in coins.

He’s gotten better at buying gifts.

Is it just me or is Xie Lian just a wee bit thirsty over Pei Ming at the start of volume 2? 🤣

"This martial god looked to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, graceful in his demeanor but resolute in his actions. Looking at his face, Xie Lian thought he was even more attractive than that statue he'd seen at Mount Yujun. It was the kind of handsomeness that could steal hearts, very much the charming type."

and then a page later,

"Many indecent love stories had him starring as the main male lead, and if it wasn't for Xie Lian's method of cultivation that demanded purity of body and of mind, he probably would have read a few of those books just out of curiosity."

ALSO SIDENOTE, "It had to be said that, although similar in sentiment, such a title was definitely more fortunate than Feng Xin's unwarranted title of 'Tremendous Masculinity'" Unwarranted? Unwarranted, Xie Lian?? Cackling to myself over the Xianle trio probably sharing ye olde ancient shower rooms and changing in the same spaces as teens and Xie Lian 800 years later like "nah, Feng Xin's dick isn't that big."

headcanon that transmasc Xie Lian gave himself magical top surgery but not magical bottom surgery because having neither titties nor a penis makes him the most aerodynamic martial god he can possibly be send tweet

I didn't really get where people were coming from shipping Feng Xin and Xie Lian on my first read-through (already starting my second so we'll see if it hits me this time haha) but the donghua is making it really easy to see Xie Lian as having been Feng Xin's first love who he has never stopped caring about. Mu Qing is such a tsundere but Feng Xin is just a blustery himbo who very clearly cares and I'm finding I really like him (especially now that I've sorted out who's who even in the disguises 😅)

clicked from a cooking video to an amv and youtube gave me a perfect Xie Lian mood

Further thoughts on Xie Lian being hilariously terrible with kids: he seems to have no concept of how impressionable children are, so he keeps giving these grand motivational speeches to them and then moving on unaware that he's leaving a trail of kids in his wake who think he is The Most Wise and Correct.

Some kid: that amazing person gave me a reason to live and provided the backbone for my entire worldview!

*cut to Xie Lian rummaging through the dumpster behind the ancient Chinese equivalent of an Arby's*