It's especially lucrative to work near a battlefield. Plenty of souls to choose from.
[ ask hua cheng how he knows that. it is indeed a weird choice of lighting for him too, not least of all because he spent many years trapped that way, being used by travelers to illuminate paths ahead of them, out of control of his own fate as long as he was trapped inside that iron cage.
the question gives hua cheng pause, once again, and he considers it as he slowly resumes his sketch. his pencil moves over paper with rhythmic scratching sounds, but the gestures are slower now that he has something on his mind. ]
Yes, [ is what he finally says. ] I knew from childhood that I would die before eighteen. Even then, I had resolved that if I were to die, it would be in service to His Highness, my husband. Once I had achieved that goal, I thought that if I was to be a ghost, I would be a ghost strong enough to—
[ a memory, more sense than image: the hot tang of blood in the air, the sound of xie lian screaming. hua cheng as a ghost fire and his senseless, impotent rage. ]
To protect him. So I became a supreme, and then I became a calamity, because I could never dream of standing at his side if I couldn't protect him from those who would hurt him. And now, no one can stand against me.
no subject
[ ask hua cheng how he knows that. it is indeed a weird choice of lighting for him too, not least of all because he spent many years trapped that way, being used by travelers to illuminate paths ahead of them, out of control of his own fate as long as he was trapped inside that iron cage.
the question gives hua cheng pause, once again, and he considers it as he slowly resumes his sketch. his pencil moves over paper with rhythmic scratching sounds, but the gestures are slower now that he has something on his mind. ]
Yes, [ is what he finally says. ] I knew from childhood that I would die before eighteen. Even then, I had resolved that if I were to die, it would be in service to His Highness, my husband. Once I had achieved that goal, I thought that if I was to be a ghost, I would be a ghost strong enough to—
[ a memory, more sense than image: the hot tang of blood in the air, the sound of xie lian screaming. hua cheng as a ghost fire and his senseless, impotent rage. ]
To protect him. So I became a supreme, and then I became a calamity, because I could never dream of standing at his side if I couldn't protect him from those who would hurt him. And now, no one can stand against me.