[ hua cheng, by now, knows rinne well enough to know that he's not entirely all right. it just wasn't his place to push, not until rinne brought it up himself. even this comment, this intimation, isn't a confession in itself—but still, hua cheng nods. they're just doing what they have to, in order to survive; hua cheng can't blame rinne for not being okay about it. ]

In our world, there was one being capable of harnessing gege's power. Another ghost king, a calamity called White No-Face. We killed him, but the battle drained me of all my power and fractured my soul into countless pieces. It took nearly a year for me to put myself back together again.

[ so rinne can perhaps understand why hua cheng isn't eager to dive headlong into another battle with something else powerful enough to do the same. ]