Chapter Text
Shen Yuan hadn’t expected that, upon death, he would transmigrate into the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way. It had taken him a while to figure this out, what with him waking up systemless in the body of a demon in the Endless Abyss, but eventually he recognized a few of the landmarks and beasts. Not to mention, he had a Zuiyin on his forehead marking him as a Heavenly Demon. A Heavenly Demon! One that was not Luo Binghe! How that was possible, he had no clue, but he was determined to make the best of it.
Seeing as he was basically at the top of the food chain when it came to any part of the realms, Shen Yuan didn’t struggle all that much with navigating and living within the abyss. He knew from reading PIDW how to channel a Heavenly Demon’s energy, and with how many times he had re-read the abyss chapters, he was very familiar with the various creatures that resided within. With his strong healing factor and easily learned control over his blood mites and claws, he had few issues.
Unfortunately, he had no way to leave the Endless Abyss, seeing as it was, well, endless. Sure, he could technically claim Xin Mo, but that was Binghe’s sword! It was his Golden Finger, an important artifact and critical to the plot! He couldn’t mess with that! No, Shen Yuan would settle his butt down in the Endless Abyss and wait for the protagonist to inevitably knock on his door looking for shelter, or maybe knowledge about his kind. Not that Shen Yuan had all that much to give him, but he couldn’t figure out why else another Heavenly Demon would exist within the story.
So, if he was going to be waiting for a while, he was going to need to build a door for the plot to knock upon. Building a house wasn’t something he had done before, but he had the strength of a Heavenly Demon now! It shouldn’t take much to figure it out!
Famous last words. But, after many months, Shen Yuan settled within the Endless Abyss. He made himself a lovely little home, and passed his time researching the flora and fauna he’d obsessed over in his last life. It was all so interesting, and the more he learned, the more he fell in love with the world around him. Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky might have been a huge hack, but the crumbs of worldbuilding he had sprinkled in between horrible papaya were glorious!
It only took coming across one injured demonic beast —one that was a bit more prey-like than predator-like— for Shen Yuan to get hooked on his new hobby. Wildlife rehabilitation! He didn’t have much experience in his last life, unless you count rescuing a kitten from a drain, but with his knowledge and his newfound strength, it wasn’t hard to learn! Being basically impervious and immune to what most creatures could throw at him made things much easier.
It was a day like any other when he came across him. He smelled the blood long before he caught sight of him, following the trail with the expectation of either a new creature to study and rehabilitate or dinner. What, he was a self-taught vet, not a vegetarian! He was a demon; he needed to eat meat once in a while! Although he did prefer to hunt his own food, contributing appropriately to the circle of life and the surrounding ecosystem instead of disrupting it.
Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn’t been a human. The poor thing was dirty and covered in blood, trying and failing to walk on an injured leg. The gleam of a sword caught his eye. Must be a cultivator then. How had he gotten down here though? Was it possible he’d fallen through one of the cracks that occasionally split the earth? Or had he been thrown?
Regardless, it was clear he needed help. If Shen Yuan had smelled him, then so had others, and they would not pass up easy prey. He started his usual calculations, determining if he could approach from downwind to avoid startling him, when he realized what he was doing. This wasn’t an Efflorescent Climbing Rabbit! It was a man! He could just talk to him and tell him he meant no harm and was willing to offer assistance!
Still keeping a respectable distance, he called out, “Hello, do you need help?”
Despite keeping his voice even and friendly, the cultivator spun around with his sword and teeth bared, nearly toppling over in the process. Shen Yuan frowned as he got a better look at the man’s injuries. His arm was hanging limp, likely dislocated, and he was pretty sure those were claw marks gouged into his side. Hopefully not poisoned, but unfortunately, there were few things that weren’t poisonous in the Endless Abyss.
He took a step forward, and was met with a vicious growl and a string of what sounded like words. Except Shen Yuan couldn’t understand him. He stared blankly for a long moment. Shit, was he speaking historically accurate Chinese!? Shen Yuan didn’t know any old Chinese! Everything he knew was modern, and the language had changed a lot over the years!
“I mean you no harm,” He said, making sure to enunciate clearly, raising his hands in a show of peace.
The man furrowed his brow and glared some more, trying so very hard to appear strong and steady despite the fact that he was swaying on his feet. Shen Yuan took another small step forward, and the cultivator stumbled back, snarling and spitting out words that may or may not have been curses.
Well… shit. What does he do now? They didn’t speak the same language, and the guy was clearly frightened of him. Which was actually rather smart of him, given where he was, but still troublesome for him. How was he supposed to get his point across if they couldn’t communicate- wait, what was he thinking? He’d never spoken the same language as the beings he’d helped —minus the rare occasion the creature had a high enough level of sentience to understand him— and he still communicated with them! Humans were just another kind of animal! Should he be thinking about this guy like that, no probably not, but it was fine! He could handle this!
Slowly, glacially, he crouched down, making himself smaller and less menacing. He made meaningless soothing sounds with his tongue, keeping his hands open and relaxed on his knees. The cultivator watched him through narrowed eyes, not giving an inch. Shen Yuan continued with well-practiced patience, slowly shuffling his way closer. Unable to remain upright for so long, the poor thing eventually fell again, this time simply scooting back instead of trying to get to his feet.
It was so obvious that the man was scared, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, body shaking with tremors and pupils constricted to pinpoints. At least Shen Yuan knew he didn’t have a concussion.
“Hey now, it’s alright, see? I’m just going to give you a little tap, nothing harmful- Whoa!”
He reached out once he got close enough, but ended up having to roll out of the way as the place he had just been crouching got stabbed violently. He turned back to see the human breathing even more raggedly as he struggled to pull himself and his sword back from his lunge. When he noticed him looking, he bared his teeth in a defensive snarl.
Alright, not making it easy for him. Understandable. Plan B.
He settled a few paces away, close but not too close, before digging into his bag. Bringing out a little snack he had made, one that was edible for most anything, he made a show of putting one in his mouth and chewing and humming a bit. The human looked at him like he was insane. Ok, ok, no need for the show, got it. Once more he began his slow approach, much to the human’s distress, offering up one of the pieces.
Once more he was forced to dodge, lest he end up impaled. Alright, food was out. And he had the feeling water would go much the same. He sighed. He hadn’t wanted it to come to this, but Plan C it was.
“Are you sure we can’t just talk this out? Or, like, body language this out?”
“Come close again, beast, I dare you! I will not miss a third time!”
“That sounds like a resounding no.”
Sighing mournfully and giving the man his best puppy eyes, Shen Yuan retreated, watching from a safe distance. Heavenly Demon eyes were very useful in situations like this. It took a while longer for the cultivator to believe that he had left, but eventually he slumped back against the wall behind him and let his arm fall.
Moving with all the predatory grace of his new species, Shen Yuan snuck back closer. Not close enough to be noticed, but close enough to get a clear shot. He steadied his aim, waited until the man closed his eyes… shwoop!
The sedative dart hit its mark, making the cultivator jerk and make a desperate scramble to get away. Shen Yuan followed at a distance, watching him get slower and weaker until eventually he collapsed. He always hated having to do that, but some creatures refused to calm down no matter what he did and were too dangerous to hold down by hand. A cultivator, even wounded, could easily fall into that category when sufficiently armed.
The man was still clinging to the last dregs of consciousness as Shen Yuan approached, and he did his best to give him a comforting look. Getting drugged while injured in a dangerous place couldn’t be a fun time.
“It’s alright, I promise I’ll take good care of you. Just sleep now. I’ll bring you somewhere safe.”
Reaching down, he carefully brushed his claws through dirty hair, hoping to give even the slightest bit of comfort. Given the last look of utter terror he was given before the cultivator's eyes shut, he hadn’t succeeded.
Sigh. Oh well. He had work to do. This man needed help, and Shen Yuan was going to give it to him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with him once he was healed, seeing as he was unable to return him to his natural habitat, but he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
Hoisting the man into his arms, being careful of his injuries, Shen Yuan began the trip home with his new patient.