thinking about how the cave of ten thousand statues, after being presented with the evidence of hua cheng’s devotion, his possible obsession, xie lian’s groundbreaking choice is to return hua cheng’s faith in him.
like, xie lian has just been presented with the BIGGEST red flag ever. this person, this ghost king who has inserted himself into xie lian’s life, has carved thousands of statues of his face, of him, in excruciating detail. that’s insane. that’s obsessive. that’s terrifying. after seeing this, xie lian would be totally justified in running away from hua cheng.
and hua cheng knows this, too. that’s why he tried to cover up all the statues. he’s resigned to xie lian’s reaction, only mildly attempting to avoid the subject to delay the inevitable rejection.
but when xie lian gets the chance to speak, in defiance of all common sense, he chooses hua cheng.
in any other story, blind trust like that would be a big red flag (even if danmei might find it sexy anyway).
but it works here, because it is the culmination of hualian’s relationship throughout the novel. everything that they have done together has built a bridge of trust between them. despite both having centuries of baggage and secrets they are keeping from each other, hua cheng has shown over and over again that he is worthy of xie lian’s trust. he has kept every promise, stayed true to his word, always put xie lian first. the novel has gone out of its way to show that hua cheng has earned xie lian’s trust .
so, on xie lian’s part, this is his chance to choose hua cheng back. to believe him. to see an ugly side of him, and stick by him, let him explain, and believe in his worthiness. to have faith in him.
this is the moment that solidifies their relationship. the moment where xie lian commits to this as much as hua cheng has. it’s a while before xie lian is confident calling it love, but from this point on they’re securely together. and that’s on good relationship building babey. god they make me ill.
