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itsthatlake · 1 year ago

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Shen Yuan transmigrated as a Spirit Cat AU

Shen Yuan had only just finished processing the fact that he had reincarnated-slash-transmigrated at all after his death, never mind into a cat’s body, when he was forced to confront the equally insane reality that was this new world that he had ended up in.

A place that resembled ancient China, but where people didn’t bat an eye at seeing someone literally flying on a sword. A place where cultivation and immortality were very much real and attainable. A Xianxia world, basically. Like the setting for Proud Immortal Demon’s Way, the novel he had literally died cursing.

Shen Yuan had read enough novels in his life to, upon concluding this was in fact real and not just a very vivid hallucination, make the safe choice to send a very quick but genuinely heartfelt prayer to whatever deities were listening that he hadn’t somehow transmigrated into the world of Proud Immortal Demon’s Way.

God, he really hoped this wasn’t Proud Immortal Demon’s Way.

Anyway.

Getting used to being a cat after a lifetime of opposable thumbs and no tail wasn’t as hard as he imagined it’d be. His body seemed to know how to move even if he didn’t, and the new instincts and different senses were easy enough to get used to.

The hardest aspect of his new life was actually finding food, given how a vast majority of the people from the small village he’d woken up in seemed perfectly happy to ignore or even chase him out no matter how cute he acted. The rest were all small children, who at best could give him some sweets, and the two old ladies that lived a little up the hill and occasionally confused him for their own cat, Baobao.

So, naturally, he had taken to stealing from the bastards that annoyed him the most as a form of payback. They should’ve thought twice before throwing rocks at him if they didn’t want their food stolen. Shen Yuan had gotten pretty good at sneaking in and avoiding traps out of sheer pettiness in recent times.

…Perhaps he had gotten a little too good, actually.

Really, why else would the village chief decide to call for help catching him? Also! How could he have known they’d call a whole-ass cultivator to deal with him?! Wasn’t he just a normal (if smarter than average) cat?! Why were these people calling cultivators to deal with their day-to-day problems?! Wasn’t that just lazy?! Wasn’t it overkill?! What’s up with that?!

Shen Yuan hissed and attempted to scratch the hand that had grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and held him up in the air. The owner of the hand, a cultivator with a truly beautiful face, stared back at him utterly unimpressed.

“Stop that,” the cultivator said.

Shen Yuan hissed at him, but ultimately stopped struggling. He had given a good fight, even managing to scratch the man in the face before he was caught (something he was very proud of, despite the cultivator healing it with his qi almost immediately) but even he knew when to call it quits. He would just have to wait for the man to lower his guard before trying to escape again.

The cultivator huffed, then turned around to inform the village chief of his capture. Shen Yuan sullenly endured the whole song and dance, hissing at any bastard that looked too smug on the way. It was only as they were walking out of the village that the cultivator lifted Shen Yuan up to eye level and stared.

“How did a creature like you even end up in this place?” he suddenly asked, eyes narrowed with a level of suspicion that was, frankly, uncalled for. “Your kind isn’t from this area.”

What kind! What creature! He was just a normal cat! Shen Yuan had seen plenty of them around the village, had gotten into fights with old strays for some food more than once. He had convinced little Baobao to not attack him on sight even!

“I’m taking you back to my sect. Will you attack me if I try to hold you properly?”

Yes, Shen Yuan meowled viciously.

As if he understood anything, the cultivator nodded once and unsheathed his sword. Then he stood on it and took up flight holy fucking shit—

Shen Yuan made an alarmed sound, holding on for dear life the moment the cultivator moved him close to his chest. He sunk his claws deep on the silver robes, not wanting to find out if cats truly had nine lives in this world or if he’d survive a fall this high, and glared viciously at the man.

The cultivator had the gall to look amused.

---

The moment they landed, Shen Yuan wasted no time jumping away. Unfortunately, the man’s reflexes were faster than him and he managed to catch Shen Yuan before his paws could even graze the ground.

Shen Yuan meowled pitifully, turning big sad eyes that had occasionally gotten him free food in his direction. He even heard a number of young kids in the background stop and coo at him.

The man, apparently heartless, only raised an eyebrow.

Shen Yuan sighed and resigned himself to his fate for the foreseeable future. Settling down on the man’s arms (they were unexpectedly comfortable and warm, okay?), he watched idly as people hurried about, barely stopping to bow in the cultivator’s direction and glance curiously at Shen Yuan before continuing on their ways.

Eventually they reached what was definitely some kind of doctor’s office and the cultivator barged in like he owned the place. Shen Yuan could’ve believed that, if it weren’t for the real owner of the office looking up sharply from behind the cluttered desk at their entrance.

“Liu-shixiong!” The poor doctor looked genuinely startled, understandably so, as he reflexively stood up. He hadn’t even seemed to notice Shen Yuan yet. “How may this shidi help you?”

In response, the cultivator —Liu?— shifted Shen Yuan in his arm so he was more visible while still keeping a tight hold on him. Not like there was anywhere for him to run, mind you, seeing as all entrances to the office were firmly shut.

The doctor blinked and adjusted his glasses, peering closely at Shen Yuan.

“Is… that a Colored Claw Spirit Cat?” the doctor asked slowly, and for some reason he looked just as baffled as Shen Yuan abruptly felt.

Excuse me? I’m a what now?

“En,” the cultivator confirmed. “I found him terrorizing a village near Huan Hua Palace. With Lan Qingyi in seclusion, I thought you could give him a check-up.”

‘Terrorizing’ was too strong a word for what he’d been doing, in Shen Yuan’s honest opinion. He was only trying to eat! It was everyone else that overreacted to his presence! Also, Huan Hua Palace? Why did that sound familiar? Did he hear of it somewhere in the village?

“Hmm. I agree that Lan-shijie would be best for this. I don’t think anyone else at her peak has even seen a Colored Claw Spirit Cat in person before, given how rare they are,” the doctor agreed, rummaging through drawers for this and that. “Alright. Set him on the table, please. This shidi will see what he can do.”

“He’ll attack you,” the cultivator warned as he gently set him down on the table, one arm posed to catch him were he to try and get away. Shen Yuan stared at him deadpan. Again, there was nowhere for him to run unless someone were to open the door for him.

The doctor settled a couple of items down on the table next to him and smiled wearily at the cultivator.

“Ah, how much does shixiong know about Spirit Cats?”

“I know they have the capacity to cultivate a human form, as well as achieve immortality. Though it’s extremely rare.”

Shen Yuan… had not known any of that. In fact, up until a couple minutes ago, he was convinced he was just a normal cat. It’s not like he had any other frame of reference to work with here. All the little kids at the village called him a cat and rural villages from Xianxia worlds were hardly overflowing with mirrors. He couldn’t have possibly known if there was anything special about his appearance that gave him away as not-a-normal-cat.

But this… wasn’t this kind of cool actually? He could become an immortal master! And get back his human form! And have opposable thumbs again! God, did he miss those.

Unaware of Shen Yuan’s growing excitement, the doctor nodded at the cultivator’s words.

“Shixiong is correct. Furthermore, Spirit Cats tend to have a level of sentience on par with humans long before acquiring a human form themselves. One can usually tell their age just by how much they’re able to understand, since even young ones are somewhat intelligent. This one certainly seems to understand us just fine. Isn’t that right, esteemed spirit?”

Not expecting to be addressed so suddenly, or at all, Shen Yuan gave the doctor a somewhat startled meow, tail twitching.

“See? This one must be a teenager on the cusp of adulthood. His growth phase must not be long now.”

Growth phase? Shen Yuan wondered, then filed it away for later thought, alongside all that information about Spirit Cats.

The cultivator grunted, eyeing Shen Yuan for a moment before finally stepping back, seemingly deciding that Shen Yuan wasn’t about to run for the hills if he let down his guard. Shen Yuan, no longer worried about acting out of character for a normal cat, pointedly rolled his eyes at him.

An odd noise drew his gaze back to the doctor, who quickly schooled his expression back to a mask of pleasant neutrality.

“Esteemed spirit, this Mu Qingfang will examine you now and narrate what he is doing. Would that be acceptable?”

Shen Yuan meowed an affirmation, something about that sentence tickling at the back of his mind, and the doctor finally got started.

It was only a moment later that the realization hit him in full.

Mu Qingfang, a healer. ‘Liu-shixiong,’ who flew them all the way here and up a mountain. Even the off-handed mention of goddamn Huan Hua Palace.

Oh fuck.

He’s inside of Proud Immortal Demon’s Way.

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Next Chapter.