Chapter Text
Shen Yuan stood back to admire his handiwork. His grand, majestic new home. His safe haven. His—
He sighed.
It looked like absolute trash.
The wooden beams were uneven, the walls had gaps wide enough for a stray chicken to waddle through, and the roof was so lopsided that a strong breeze might send it crashing down. Who would have thought it was so hard to build a house?
Despite going back and forth a few times to get more supplies—things he kept forgetting, because apparently, he wasn’t cut out for this survival nonsense—he was still nowhere near finished. And now, to top it all off, he was down one gold nugget.
At some point, he had just given up negotiating. All those interactions, all the haggling and fake polite smiles—ugh. It had drained him faster than any cultivation battle.
He let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples. Maybe he should’ve just built a cave instead. Or squatted in someone else’s abandoned hut. This was too much work for someone who wasn’t even supposed to be here.
And then, just as he was about to sink into self-pity, he heard the quiet sniffle.
Shen Yuan turned, brows furrowing. There, at the edge of his sad little construction project, stood a girl, small and trembling. She clutched an empty medicine pouch in her hands, her tear-filled eyes darting around uncertainly.
"Hello?" he started eloquently.
The girl flinched but didn’t run. Instead, she sniffled again, voice barely above a whisper. "I-Im sorry Gongzi- I'll leave!" She hurriedly said and got up to run towards the opposite side of where the city was. Shen Yuan blinked, momentarily thrown off by the panicked reaction. "Wait, wait, wait—why are you running that way? The city's that way!"
The little girl didn't stop. If anything, she sped up, her tiny legs kicking up dust as she stumbled toward the trees.
"Oh, for—!" Shen Yuan groaned and took off after her. He wasn't built for chasing after kids! What was this, some sort of karmic punishment? First, his terrible house, then losing money, and now this? "Hey! Stop running!" he called out, exasperated. "I'm not gonna eat you!" That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say, because the girl let out a frightened squeak and tried to go even faster.
Shen Yuan sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and did what he should have done from the start. He used a quick burst of qi to close the distance and caught the back of her collar before she could trip over a rock and break her nose. And woah-we wasn't that super useful! He never used his cultivation skills for something like this- in fact he didn't use them at all! He felt like he enchanted his boots to Swift III!
The girl yelped, her feet leaving the ground for a second before Shen Yuan gently set her down. She immediately curled in on herself, tiny shoulders trembling. "Okay, seriously," he huffed, crouching down to her level. "What's with the running? I didn’t even do anything yet!" The girl hesitated, peeking up at him with wary, teary eyes. "I-I don’t want to cause trouble, Gongzi… You already look busy, and I—" She bit her lip. "People don’t like it when beggars ask for help."
Ah, Shen Yuan almost forgot—the author of this shit-forsaken novel loved tragic backstories. If there was a child, odds were they had already gone through enough suffering to fuel three angst arcs.
He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Don't worry, I don’t have much to my name either," he said dryly, thinking about his lost gold nugget. "What do you need help with?"
The girl hesitated, shifting on her feet. She looked like she wanted to run again but had finally realized that Shen Yuan could catch her with little effort.
"My Granny is sick...The apothecary said my silver wasn’t enough," she mumbled. "I tried to find another one, but they all said the same thing. This is all the money I have Gongzi... Granny said not to waste it on medicine but I won't let her die! I'll do anything!"
Of course. Of course this was happening. The world of Proud Immortal Demon Way truly had no heart.
Of course this was happening. If it wasn’t Shen Yuan getting scammed, it was a poor little girl being turned away for not having enough money. Because why wouldn’t a pitiful, desperate child show up at his doorstep, ready to throw herself into a tragic fate for the sake of her only family? This was exactly the kind of melodramatic nonsense that made him rage-quit novels back in his past life.
The little girl clutched the few coins she had, her hands trembling. "Gongzi, please! I'll do anything! I can work, I can—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there," Shen Yuan cut in, waving a hand. "You’re, what, seven? Eight? What exactly do you think you can do for money? Beat up thugs in an alley?" The girl looked down, biting her lip.
Shen Yuan sighed, and cursed Airplane under his breath, this was all his doing! "Look, kid. First of all, you’re not gonna let anyone die, alright? Don't talk like that. Second—" He squatted down to her level, making sure she was looking at him. "How about we make a deal?"
Her wide eyes blinked at him. "...A deal?"
"Yeah. You tell me all your granny's syndrome, I'll try to help the best I can and you can help me out here to build my hut, no money included. No selling your soul or whatever tragic nonsense you were about to pull, okay?"
The girl hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Okay..." Shen Yuan clapped his hands together. "Great! Now, first things first—what exactly is wrong with your granny? Fever? Coughing up blood? Sudden urge to monologue about her regrets in life?" The girl furrowed her brows, thinking hard. "She’s really weak… She keeps coughing, and sometimes she can't get up for a long time. She said it’s just old age, but it’s getting worse." Shen Yuan hummed, rubbing his chin. "Sounds like something treatable, but definitely not something to ignore." Good thing I actually paid attention to some of the medical lectures in my past life. At least enough to diagnose ‘dying dramatically’ as a problem.
He nodded to himself before turning back to his sad excuse for a hut. "Alright, you help me out here, and I’ll see what I can do about your granny. I can’t promise I’ll have the exact medicine she needs, but I’m not half-bad at brewing some homemade remedies."
The girl’s eyes widened. "You know medicine, Gongzi?"
"Let’s just say I have some knowledge." He wasn’t about to explain that it mostly came from survival instincts, WebMD, and desperately Googling symptoms at 3 AM. The girl hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Okay! I’ll help!"
"Good answer!" Shen Yuan gestured toward the mess of wood and supplies scattered around them. "Now, let’s get started. You ever built a house before?"
The girl shook her head.
"Neither have I," he admitted with a sigh. "But hey, two clueless people working together are better than one, right?" And just like that, he found himself with a tiny, determined assistant. Maybe his hut wouldn’t look as terrible after all.
To his surprise, the girl was a lot more skilled at hammering nails than he ever could have guessed. Her small hands worked with surprising precision, and after a few hours of working together, the structure was starting to look... well, less like an abandoned shack. He had to admit, he was starting to feel a little proud of their progress.
She worked tirelessly, her energy never waning as she hammered and adjusted beams. Shen Yuan, on the other hand, found himself distracted by the odd collection of plants around the hut. He was surprised he recognized all of them! Most were just low Qi flowers usually made and mixed with other flowers of the same kind to boost your meridians, and luckily, there were a few that could help improve your immune system. A couple of them looked particularly useful for treating fevers—exactly what the little girl’s grandmother might need.
"Looks like I’ve hit the jackpot," Shen Yuan muttered to himself, crouching down to examine the plants. He wasn’t exactly an expert in herbalism, but a few plants here and there could make a decent remedy. And if nothing else, they might help me get through the next few weeks of bad meals.
He carefully plucked a few of the plants, making sure not to damage them too much. The girl was still working diligently on the hut, her concentration entirely focused on the task at hand, so Shen Yuan took the opportunity to gather a few more herbs.
After all, the world he was stuck in might not be exactly welcoming, but there were some perks to knowing what to look for.
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the girl’s voice calling out from behind him.
"Gongzi! Gongzi, don’t go that way! Monsters are there!"
Shen Yuan froze, his hand mid-air with a particularly delicate flower.
"Monsters?" he repeated slowly, trying to make sense of her warning.
Well, he already knew this world was filled with monsters, but he didn’t think they’d be this close to a well-populated city. Normally, sect cultivators would keep the area clear of threats—unless, of course, this place wasn’t deemed important enough for their attention. That meant one thing: this city had trouble getting protection from the major sects.
Great. Just another sign that he’d picked a terrible place to set up his new life. Not only was he struggling to build a hut that didn’t look like it had already survived a siege, but now he had to deal with lurking beasts too?
"Gongzi, please don’t go!" the girl pleaded, her voice tight with fear.
Shen Yuan sighed. "Alright, alright. Calm down, I won’t go far." He gave her a reassuring wave before glancing towards the darkened trees. What kind of monster are we dealing with here? It could be a low-level spiritual beast, something that scavenged on the edges of civilization. Or it could be something worse. Knowing this damn novel, it’s definitely something worse.
Still, he wasn’t going to march into a fight blindly. He crouched down, plucking a few of the medicinal herbs and stuffing them into his sleeve. If nothing else, at least he wouldn’t be returning empty-handed. The girl shuffled nervously, watching his every move. "I-If you’re really going… take this!" She held out a small, chipped talisman, clearly old but still carrying faint traces of spiritual energy.
Shen Yuan blinked. "Where did you get this?"
"My granny gave it to me! She said it used to protect our home a long time ago, but it’s really weak now… still, it’s better than nothing!" Shen Yuan hesitated for a moment before taking the talisman. It was probably useless, but rejecting it might scare her even more. He stuffed it into his robes and gave her a thumbs-up. "Alright, I’ll be right back. You stay here and—uh—keep hammering."
She didn’t look convinced, but she nodded. With that, Shen Yuan made his way toward the treeline, careful to keep his steps light. The deeper he walked, the more the air seemed to thicken. The usual sounds of the forest—chirping insects, rustling leaves—had gone completely silent.
Then, he saw it.
A pair of glowing yellow eyes peered at him from between the trees, unblinking. A low, guttural growl filled the air. The creature stepped forward, revealing a hunched, grotesque form covered in jagged fur. Its claws dug into the earth, and its maw parted, revealing too many sharp teeth. Shen Yuan exhaled slowly. "You know," he muttered, eyeing the beast up and down. "I was really hoping this was just a lost dog."
The beast let out a shrill, unnatural screech, its fur bristling as it took another cautious step forward. Shen Yuan, despite himself, couldn't help but admire it.
What a beautiful creature.
Sure, it was snarling at him like he’d personally insulted its ancestors, but the glossy sheen of its jagged fur and the sharp intelligence in its yellow eyes made it clear—this was no mindless beast. If he remembered correctly, this was a Scarred-Claw Wolf.
Juvenile, judging by its smaller frame. Which meant it probably wasn’t out here alone.
Normally, Scarred-Claw Wolves weren’t the worst things to run into. They were semi-spiritual creatures, their packs known to stick to deep forests, avoiding humans whenever possible. As long as you didn’t go anywhere too close to their dens, they weren’t particularly aggressive. In fact, compared to most of the horrors lurking in this world, these things were practically harmless.
So why was this one all the way out here?
The city wasn’t far. If this little guy had wandered this close, it either meant the pack’s territory had been disturbed, or it had gotten lost. Neither option was great.
Still, this was manageable.
"Alright, alright, I’m leaving!" Shen Yuan raised his hands in mock surrender, keeping his movements slow and deliberate. "Just let me take some of these flowers, yeah? You don’t even eat them!" The wolf snarled, lowering its stance as if ready to pounce. Okay, so negotiation might not be working here.
Maybe he could just grab a few and run for it. With the sheer survival instincts he’d honed back in his Scum Villain reading days—fleeing from spoilers, dodging terrible plot twists—he had confidence he could outrun a juvenile wolf. Probably.
No way am I getting mauled by a half-grown puppy.
With a quick, decisive motion, he lunged forward, yanking a handful of the flowers straight out of the ground.
The reaction was instant.
The young Scarred-Claw Wolf let out an enraged yelp, but Shen Yuan was already moving, spinning on his heel and taking off at full speed. He barely registered the ground beneath his feet, leaping over roots and dodging under low-hanging branches with an agility he didn’t know he had. With a quick glance over his shoulder, Shen Yuan was relieved to find that the wolf hadn’t followed him.
Ha! Victory!
Medicine acquired!
The way back was much quicker—probably because he was half-jogging in case the wolf changed its mind and decided to maul him after all. But as he broke through the treeline and into the clearing, he nearly tripped over his own feet at the sight before him.
The hut.
The absolute wreck of a hut he’d left behind.
Except… it wasn’t a wreck anymore.
"What the hell?" Shen Yuan muttered under his breath, eyes darting across the newly reinforced walls, the far sturdier-looking roof, and—was that an actual door?!
That small girl moved fast.
What kind of work did she even do to get those skills? Had he just accidentally hired a construction prodigy? “Hey, kid!" he called out, still staring at his newly upgraded hut in mild disbelief. "Good news, I got the medicine!" A small figure popped out from behind the hut, her wide eyes immediately lighting up at the sight of him. "You really did?!"
"Yeah, yeah, of course." Shen Yuan puffed out his chest,"I’m a man of my word!" The girl stared at him with tears in her eyes, her lips wobbled, and for a terrifying moment, Shen Yuan thought she was about to cry. "Gongzi…" Her voice was soft, wavering. "Thank you so much!"
Shen Yuan tensed. Was she about to cry? Oh no. Oh no, no, no—he was terrible at dealing with crying kids! "Ah—hey, hey, don’t cry!" He waved his hands in a panic, trying to ward off any incoming tears. "Uh—listen! Let me brew this into liquid first, then you can give it to your granny, alright? It might be bitter, though, so prepare for that."
The girl quickly wiped her eyes and nodded, clutching the hammer in her hands tightly. "I don’t care if it’s bitter! As long as Granny gets better, I’ll do anything!"
Ah, this kid is really one of those protagonist types, huh?
Shen Yuan sighed, already moving toward the small makeshift fire pit he’d set up earlier. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. If she doesn’t feel good after taking it, come find me again, got it? No running off and trying to solve everything by yourself like some tragic orphan in a novel."The girl blinked at him, tilting her head. "...But I am an orphan."
Shen Yuan choked.
"Ah."
Right. This was Proud Immortal Demon Way. Everyone had a tragic backstory. Why did I even say that?"...Well, uh. Don’t be too much like one, then," he mumbled, focusing very intently on the pot in front of him. "Now go get me some water. We’re making this medicine properly."
She hesitated for only a second before nodding and hurrying off, determination written all over her face.
Shen Yuan exhaled, rubbing his temples. I need to duct tape my mouth shut. Why the hell did I say that?! He really needed to think before he spoke. With a sigh, he shoved the plants he deemed worthy into the pot, poking at them half-heartedly. He got the fire going again without much effort, the flickering flames licking at the edges of the pot. Now all he had to do was wait for the girl to come back with the water.
Two seconds in, he got impatient.
"Ugh, fine." He cracked his knuckles and sent a small stream of qi into the pot, watching as the liquid immediately began to simmer. Thank you, cultivation cheats. The herbs reacted almost instantly, their medicinal properties unlocking at a much faster rate than normal brewing would allow. Shen Yuan squinted into the pot, watching as the liquid took on a rich, golden hue. Nice. This looks legit!
A rustling noise behind him made him glance up. The girl had returned, a wooden bucket clutched tightly in her small hands. "Gongzi!" she huffed, slightly out of breath. "I got the—" She stopped short, staring at the already-bubbling mixture. Her brows furrowed. "...Huh?" Shen Yuan coughed, quickly hiding his hands behind his back. "Uh, yeah! I, uh, got it started while you were gone. Speed efficiency and all that." She didn’t look convinced. Her big, bright eyes flickered between him and the pot, suspicion clear on her face.
"...You're a doctor, aren't you?"
Shen Yuan nearly choked on his own spit. "What?!"
"Only doctors can make medicine this fast!" she said seriously. What kind of nonsense logic is that?! Shen Yuan forced a smile. "Nope. Not a doctor. Just really good at… cooking?"
She squinted at him.
He squinted back.
The silence stretched.
Finally, she let out a thoughtful hum, nodding to herself. "Okay. That makes sense." Shen Yuan sighed in relief. Dodged a bullet there.
If word got out that there was a doctor outside the city who didn’t ask for money, he’d have desperate patients lining up at his doorstep!
Absolutely not. He just wanted to live quietly. Maybe grow some herbs, build his crappy hut, and not attract the attention of murder-happy cultivators. Was that too much to ask? He looked down at the steaming pot of medicine and realized a small issue—he didn’t have anything to put the liquid in. No bowls, no bottles, no fancy ceramic containers.
"...Uh."
After a moment of deep contemplation, he just handed the now-cooled pot to the girl, brushing his hands off like a true professional. "Trade complete!" he declared. "Make sure to bring the pot back to me, alright?"
The girl stared at the pot, then back at him. "...You don’t have a bowl?"
Shen Yuan winced. "...No."
"...A ladle?"
"...No."
She looked around at his sad little campsite, then at the still somewhat shoddy hut, then back at him with a complicated expression. But without much delay she took the pot and ran off in the right direction this time. Finally some peace, it will take the kid a while to come back with his pot, if she even came back, so he indulged himself in meditation inside the now steady hut, cold air no longer getting between the badly placed walls.
He was now one step closer to his dream life!
He should have never helped the kid out.
Sure, she returned the pot, which was great. The surprise inside of the pot, however, was a neat stack of tableware—bowls, spoons, even a proper ladle. He had to admit, he did need those.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
No, the worst part was the group of people she brought with her.
Two kids. Three adults. All of them kneeling on the ground like he was some aloof immortal descended from the heavens, hands clasped together in desperate prayer.
"Please, Immortal Gongzi!" one of the adults wailed, practically bowing. "I heard from little Lan'er that your medicine worked wonders for her grandmother! We beg of you, please help us too!" Ah so that was the girls name? He will made sure to remember it to his grave!
"Our son has been sick for weeks," another pleaded. "We took him to the apothecary, but they turned us away because we couldn't afford the price!"
"Gongzi, I swear we’ll pay you back however we can! We’ll work, we’ll gather herbs, just please help us!"
Shen Yuan’s eye twitched.
He knew this would happen!
This was exactly why he wanted to lay low! If he kept this up, he was going to become some backwater miracle doctor, and then what? Some powerful sect would hear about him and drag him into their nonsense? He’d become the protagonist’s reluctant master? A walking plot device?
No way!
But then he looked at the kids—frail, barely able to stand straight. The adults, exhausted and desperate. The same kind of people this novel loved to torment for the sake of "world-building."
"Please Gongzi!" Lan'er said tugging as his sleeve, looking at him with fiery eyes. Shen Yuan groaned, rubbing his face. Why am I such a good person? "...Fine," he sighed. "But no kneeling, alright? And don’t go spreading rumors about me, I don’t want more people knocking on my door!"
The group gasped in relief, their eyes lighting up.
"Thank you, Gongzi!"
Shen Yuan sighed again. He should’ve just kept his mouth shut.
Good thing he didn’t have to go back and collect more of those plants near the Scarred-Claw Wolves—he was not in the mood to test his luck with them again. The last batch should be enough for all of them, especially since the kids needed a smaller dose than the adults.
He motioned for them to sit while he went back to his fire pit, setting the pot down and getting to work.
“Alright, listen up,” he said, tossing the herbs into the pot. “This isn’t some magical cure-all, okay? It might help, it might not. Don't be too disappointed if it's not working. Got it?”
“Yes, Gongzi!” they chorused, nodding rapidly like he was delivering the wisdom of the heavens.
The mixture simmered as he carefully infused it with a trickle of qi, watching the color shift to that familiar golden hue. The process was simple enough—his cultivation helped speed things up, but he made sure not to overdo it. If the medicine was too effective, word would spread even faster, and he’d have an actual line of patients forming outside his half-built hut. The little girl—Lan'er—watched him closely, eyes round with curiosity.
“Gongzi,” she piped up, tilting her head, “are you sure you’re not a doctor?”
Shen Yuan groaned, rubbing his face. “Kid, I already told you—”
“But you know so much about medicine,” she interrupted, completely ignoring his protest. “And you brew it so fast! I’ve never seen a normal person do that!”
The other villagers nodded in agreement.Shen Yuan opened his mouth—then closed it. He could try to argue. But at this point, it was a lost cause. "...I just know things," he said, deadpan. As if knowing things wasn't from a Porn with Plot novel.
Lan'er squinted at him.
The adults squinted at him.
The pot bubbled.
Finally, one of them clapped their hands together in realization. “Oh! Gongzi must be a hidden master!”
“Of course! It makes sense now!” another villager exclaimed. “Living outside the city, taking no money for his medicine, using skills beyond mortal comprehension—Gongzi must be an expert in disguise!”
Shen Yuan wanted to die. This just kept getting worse and worse! He stared at the pot, contemplating if he could just drown himself in it. Maybe transmigrate again. Maybe into a normal world where people didn’t look at him like he was a walking legend waiting to be discovered.
He knew already he had dug his grave deeper by helping the other villagers. He can say goodbye to his quiet life in the outskirts of a city.