#au transmigration

Dinghai Gusheng Records was a global sensation. It is an Xianxia-based, open-world, Souls-like RPG character-building mobile game that allows the sweatiest of players to fight alongside the randomized, NPC Protector Martial God character. Chen Xing loved this feature, as it allowed the players to experience different story arcs and discover the diverse yet intricately interwoven character arcs. 

And Chen Xing had suddenly found himself transmigrated into the role of the nameless, last Great Exorcist player-insert who is destined to die on his twentieth birthday. Lucky him…

The way he had died? Well, erm… Chen Xing might have accidentally walked right into traffic while he was grinding a dungeon looking for one of the relics that would help him fine-tune his kit with his Protector Martial God, Feng Qianjun, making wisecracks at his side. 

Ack! Curse it all, he fumed internally as he rode in the beautifully crafted carriage. He had been far along in the man’s story arc, too! Blasted Suixing! What sort of fate had he brought upon himself, hit by a bus like some tacky drama his sister would have devoured within a single night? His stomach churned with nerves as the carriage bumped along the path, the modest carriage comfy with the resources that the Minister of Personnel, Lord Xie An, had provided for him. The wind was bitter as it stirred the loose covers, the journey to the city of Xiangyang boring as Chen Xing remained blindfolded. 

He knew what to expect, at least, when he had awoken with the worried face of his NPC Shifu on the Hua Mountain looking down upon his fever-wracked form. Chen Xing had played a few randomized sessions to have the opening lines bring a familiar sense of deja vu. 

“Awaken! Awaken, for only you will be the last and sole Exorcist to save the Divine Land, my dear disciple,” the man’s deep voice had sounded in solemn concern. The cool pulsing Qi helped Chen Xing in correcting his Noob level of Qi manipulation from a nearly deadly Qi deviation. 

An iconic opening line, Chen Xing had to give it to the developers. 

And now, here he was after a year of training montages and struggling with his sixteen-year-old, willowy frame. Was it mind-numbingly fearsome to actually know that he would drop dead once he turned twenty?

…Yes, yes it was. 

Chen Xing had spent many hours arguing with his NPC Shifu. When the man had grown weary and said that Chen Xing’s unrelenting arguing was, “Going to be the death of him,”.... That fateful sentence must have triggered the following death scene, in which Chen Xing was forced to make his way down the mountain and figure things out by himself after going through the proper burial rites for his teacher. 

Finally, the horse's neighs broke him from his thoughts as they came to the agreed-upon drop-off point. Considering the Qin army surrounded much of the city, Chen Xing had to rely upon his luck and sneak into the city to meet with the lord governor. 

Already, Chen Xing was filled with an intrigued excitement as the mechanisms of the game played out before him. The Heart Lamp had whirred and guided him here, a physical thing in the palm of his hand as much as it was a spiritual weight upon his meridians. 

He had dreamed of this location, the images a whirling thing of violence and unknown voices that had sparked Chen Xing’s interest. He didn’t know who this NPC could be, as he wasn’t heading to the outskirts of some small town on the way to Chang’an. During any of his gameplays, he’d never found his way to this war-afflicted town, so anticipation laced through him as he maneuvered his way to the described entrance point. 

In the distance, he could sense the armed forces, their weapons clanking and their voices taunting. When Chen Xing made his way through the entrance, a little shriek left his lips as he was grabbed and hauled into the city. 

“Who are you? State your business!” The guard shouted, his face partially hidden in the shadow of night and the thin fabric of Chen Xing’s blindfold. He almost dropped his metal handwarmer as he was jostled, so he clutched the device close to his chest as he made his case.

“Who grabs this blind one? Xing-er can’t see your face, Gongzi!” Chen Xing yelped, his voice strained as the man’s grip tightened, a face coming close to examine his panicked expression. “I come with the blessings of Xie An, the Minister of Personnel! Please take this humble one to the Lord Governor,” Chen Xing babbled, his voice gaining confidence as he slowly dropped his simpering act. 

The man hummed in consideration before he shouted a confirmation to someone and took Chen Xing by the elbow to bring him before the governor. It was rather rude how the man dragged him, forcing Chen Xing to stumble and nearly run over the snow-slicked stones. 

Once more, he was forced to tighten his grip around his hand-warmer, lest it clatter to the ground. A tsk fell from his lips as he was dragged to a planning room, the doors clattering open as the guard announced that reinforcements had arrived. 

Reinforcements, your mother! What did Chen Xing look like? Some jacked, ‘One-Armed Wolf’ warrior type that could chew a mini boss for breakfast and tackle a final boss by the end of the month?! Chen Xing was only here because the Heart Lamp had led him here– he wasn’t here to fight in any petty, human wars. 

He was going to save the Divine Land from the evil forces of Mara from emerging, which was thousands of times more important than this squabbling. And he told the governor as such and in as polite words as he could muster. Snow crunched underfoot as all of the able-bodied men shuffled and were called to gather in the main pavilion, a guard serving as his escort as he settled into the blind act. 

Only the truly deplorable would mess with the disadvantaged, and Chen Xing would exploit such manners like any other cheat code. 

Standing upon a platform, Chen Xing heard the restless murmurs and footfalls of the gathered soldiers. It felt as though he were standing on a stage in front of his peers, ready to perform the worst rendition of some video game soundtrack on a folding keyboard. Nerves alighted as Chen Xing clasped the heart lamp between his pale hands, standing posed as though he were a fully esteemed exorcist, rather than some Noob imposter. 

‘Quickly, Heart Lamp,’ he urged the softly glowing mechanism in his hands, his fingers grasping tighter to the small metal piece while gasps and awe-stricken silence filled the clearing with the display of power. ‘I call upon thee to reveal the location of the Protector Martial God!’ Chen Xing pleaded, following the correct dialogue as best as he could remember it from the game. 

Seconds stretched, and then a metaphysical light shone in the distance behind his closed eyes. Much like the guiding of magnets, Chen Xing gasped as he felt a pressing sensation rush through him. He knew where he needed to go, and he desperately needed to cross the distance between him and his Protector Martial God. 

His feet moved on their own as he darted past the gathered crowd of soldiers. This guiding light shifted, and then he found himself entering a building, the air warmer than the open skies yet not by much, given how little material was spared for this structure. 

Clearly, the inhabitant’s comfort was nary a thought as Chen Xing’s boots thudded down harsh stone steps. ‘I’m…This is a dungeon, isn’t it?’ He thought in growing trepidation as he ran past cells of cowering and chained men, until he finally came to a stop. 

The figure was shrouded in the overwhelming guiding light of the Heart Lamp for a moment before it faded, revealing a heavily beaten and scraggly-looking man lying on the ground. He looked half-dead, and Chen Xing’s modern sensibilities were startled by this brute display of abuse.

“Open the door,” he demanded to the following Governor and his men, their angered voices crying in outrage at the release of the man lying behind the bars. Chen Xing’s brow furrowed, but then the governor followed through with his demand. 

The transmigrator stepped closer, his hand lifting his blindfold so he could get a better look at this pale figure within the dark recesses of the dungeon. “Hello? Are you still alive?” He quietly asked, his hand moving to shake the unresponsive man, and then he tentatively made to uncover his hidden face. The hair was matted with blood and dirt, and a gasp left him as he was faced with a furrowed yet noticeably handsomer face.

He looked exactly like one of the perfect, male NPC models, save for the scruffy facial hair and bruising around his face. Chen Xing’s gaze lingered upon those features as he tried to place the man’s name. And then it hit him over the head as one of the guard’s drew closer with their lantern, annoyed voices discovering that he had been faking his blindness. 

“Xiang Shu,” Chen Xing quietly breathed out, miffed yet excited as he drew back and ordered for them to be taken to a better room, and for his Protector Martial God to be released from the large chains binding him. 

He ignored the outcries as he sidestepped to allow the governor’s men to follow through with his demand. Soon, he was left alone in a room with Xiang Shu, the condemned and notoriously mysterious NPC, knocked out cold as Chen Xing laid him upon a daybed. 

Chen Xing waivered as he checked the man’s vitals, his free hand moving to grab a revitalization pill from a pouch around his waist. He was never one to spoil any of the media he played or watched, his finger always hovering over the skip button and ready to swipe away from a spoiler-ridden post. For once, he actually felt as though he were truly living in this world, following an unknown plot line and leaving his fate up to Suixing as he was.

It was exciting and oh-so terrifying to think of. Relying upon the man in front of him, a stranger of an NPC who more often than not stayed in the background of the game’s events within his playthroughs.

Everything before this had felt almost like the tutorial stages he was used to, and so he sat with a heavy heart as he tried to press the pill in between those thinned lips. Stubble scraped his fingers as the man’s mouth refused to be parted by his hand. 

Thinking for a moment, Chen Xing placed the pill in a cup of water and brought it into his mouth with a blush. ‘No Homo!’ He internally shouted as he pinched the NPC’s nose, his lips pressing against that stern mouth as he pressed the water into the man’s mouth. 

Once he felt the man open his mouth to intake breath, he released his pinching hold and pressed the water and pill into the man’s mouth. A hand gently touched the man’s throat, waiting for it to constrict and bob as he swallowed the pill. 

Chen Xing leaned back with pinkened cheeks, “You’re lucky you’re rather handsome,” he murmured as he wiped his lips with the back of his sleeve. Sure, it was to save the man, but Chen Xing was shallow enough to admit that he would have been hard-pressed to conduct such intimate life-saving methods if Xiang Shu had been ugly. 

His shallow thoughts were cut short as the guard outside the room informed him that the governor requested his presence. Chen Xing sweated as he was forced to prove his loyalty as he stood on the balcony overlooking the city, the governor’s hand moving to unsheath his blade as he questioned why Chen Xing was trying to release Xiang Shu. 

“Milord,” Chen Xing surprised himself with how calm his voice sounded, considering how much he shook internally at the sight of the man’s fearsome brow and his glinting blade. “Do you believe that immortals and monsters are real? Do you believe me capable of casting magic?” The exorcist charmingly scoffed, casting the man an understanding look as he explained the reality of the world and the purpose of the Heart Lamp. 

He spun the tale of the world’s premise, of the battle between good and evil that the mortals were unaware of as these powers manifested as plagues and wars. Of monsters of legend that were increasingly targeting the common people. 

They stood side by side as Chen Xing recounted this information, unsurprised when this brainless NPC turned to him and scoffed at the absurdity of such things. “You dare waste my time with this elaborate tale?” The governor scoffed, his hand moving to withdraw his blade further, forcing Chen Xing to rely fully upon his dramatics. 

“Milord Governor, please allow me to explain!” He shouted as he held out the Heart Lamp, his Qi and soul energy powering the thing to glow in a bright flash of light. 

“So you are a magician!” The man shouted in bewilderment, his sword lowering as he took in the display of power; the disbelief and hopeful gleam in his eyes made Chen Xing swallow down his amused chuckles. 

“An exorcist,” he corrected, and then he quickly shut down the man’s hopeful thinking of utilizing his power to help defeat the army outside the city walls. “It truly is more of a party trick than anything useful, as it largely just glows every now and again,” he chuckled as the governor gave him a disheartened, disbelieving look. 

“However, whenever the world is on the brink of destruction, the Heart Lamp will guide its wielder to their Protector Martial God to ensure the vanquishing of evil forces. That is why I must find the Protector Martial God and awaken his powers. He must help defend the Divine Land from the Heavenly Demon Mara’s onslaught,” he told the man with a little quirk of his lip. 

Try to do better than that, old man. 

Chen Xing’s little pleased smirk fell from his face as the guard began to inform them of who Xiang Shu was. “He slaughtered two thousand Hu and Han people?!?! How did you select such a person!?” The governor turned to him with the records clenched in his fist, his expression terrifying as he leaned into Chen Xing’s space. 

The transmigrator blanched, his mouth falling open as he was faced with this hidden knowledge about the mysterious Xiang Shu’s character, “How was I supposed to know?! I– I gave him the medicine already, so I unknowingly saved a mass murderer with the blood of thousands upon his hands…” Chen Xing groaned as he swiped the records from the man’s hands. This was even worse than the whiplash that had occurred when Feng Qianjun introduced himself as an assassin.

As someone who had fully 100% one playthrough, he knew all was not as it appeared to be on the surface, given the developer’s love for plot twists. But, surely they didn’t make their player base fight alongside such cold, ilk who would kill thousands of people?

Chen Xing was hesitant to give the man a chance to tell his side of the story, but it would be unjust to prosecute the man without a full display of the evidence against him. There must be a fair trial, Chen Xing decided as he reentered the room. 

He was pulled from his thoughts as the man let out a series of deep coughs, the NPC awakening in an almost perfectly cut opening scene as he opened cool eyes, looked over at Chen Xing’s form in a drowsy gaze. 

‘He seems as OP as those Shu-ge Simps praised him to be,’ Chen Xing thought to himself as he looked over the muscled and beaten frame the man held. It was as though he were looking upon a perfect rendition of man’s physique. 

“I know you are Xiang Shu, but to think, you are of the Hu people?” Chen Xing mumbled in consideration as he tried to parse the in-game political dynamics and tribes. His hand pulled a needle from his healing pouch as he approached the man’s bedside. When he pricked the man’s arm, he was unsurprised to find him poisoned, yet he jolted when the man shifted with a loud grunt. His bleary, narrowed gaze opened to reveal wide, intense eyes that glared at him, his scarred chest showcased under the heavily furred outer robes Chen Xing had lent him. 

It took everything in Chen Xing not to let out a little, “Eep!” at the startling movement, and he flashed the man an anticipatory, small smile. “Hello!” He greeted in an amicable voice, “I’ve fed you a revival pill that will help clear your condition over a night and a majority of a day– so you will be unable to move or speak until you’ve made a full recovery,” Chen Xing explained as he primly folded his arms behind his back and met the man’s gaze. 

“I am the Great Exorcist, Chen Xing, courtesy name Tianchi,” he continued, moving to hesitantly settle on the edge of the man’s bed. The transmigrator couldn’t help with how factual his tone was, as he listed everything he knew to be foundational about this world. “The Heart Lamp has chosen you, Xiang Shu, to act as my Protector Martial God,” Chen Xing told him, his hands moving to settle in his lap as he looked down at the stoic and immobilized man. 

“What you did before doesn’t matter moving forward,” Chen Xing dipped his head, his palms sweating as he felt those eyes pierce his very being. The immobilized man’s doubt and judging aura was nearly physical as he looked upon Chen Xing with a blank yet skeptical look in his cool eyes. 

Though he didn’t speak, Chen Xing strengthened his tone, “If I hadn’t saved you, you would have died along with the city. You should understand that at least, right?” Chen Xing paused in emphasis, his words filling the room with how tense the atmosphere felt, “So, no funny business, eh?” The transmigrator leaned back in satisfaction as the man’s head and gaze turned to the side in an almost nod. 

‘Good,’ Chen Xing thought, almost smugly as the man settled deeper into the bed to rest. ‘Hopefully, he is the right sort who won’t bite the hand that feeds him,’ Chen Xing eyed him consideringly as he moved to lie on the nearby daybed. It wasn’t the comfiest piece of furniture, but the transmigrator couldn’t find much energy to complain, considering how much traveling he had partaken in within the past few months.

A few hours later, he jolted awake as the guards cried out that the Qin army had breached the city walls. Chen Xing pushed up from the daybed with a panicked air, his mouth babbling on about the mechanisms of his fate tied to the Suixing. 

“It’s in your best interest to stick with me! Any unfortunate event that comes my way, the Suixing shines down generous favor upon me so that everything works out in my favor,” he prattled as he tied the man into a roll of blanket, easily binding his immobilized form into something easy to carry. 

From the front of the hall, he heard the Qin soldiers throw open the door in a loud Bam! that made him look up with a furrowed brow. “Spare none in this house! Kill them all!” An officer ordered, and Chen Xing looked downward at the staring man. Thinking quickly, Chen Xing turned Xiang Shu to his side, taking a spare blanket and wrapping it around his neck as he threw the fabric over the rafter. With a touch of qinggong upon the daybed, he had sufficiently made it appear as though he had hung himself right before the men opened the door. 

The men gazed upon the room with crushed hope for slaughter, the door quickly falling closed as they couldn’t find anyone beyond the beaten corpse on the ground and the hanging coward. 

In this maneuver of luck and lightning-fast reflexes, Chen Xing was able to maneuver through the city with a silent Xiang Shu slung over his shoulder. When a wild horse bucked by his shoulder, Chen Xing couldn’t help but jostle the man over his shoulder as he fist-bumped at the OP luck stats that aided his escape. 

With the fire crackling around them and the sound of sword fighting, Chen Xing spoke with a calm confidence that was almost inappropriate for the situation. “Oh, good! We’ll be able to make our escape now that everything has slotted into place, thanks to my luck,” he gloated as he nonchalantly positioned Xiang Shu on the back of the horse like a sack of rice. 

Lifting himself onto the horse, the transmigrator looked at the reins with a moment of consideration. “I’ve never ridden a horse like this before,” he mumbled to himself, loud enough for the man to hear him, “Oh well! How hard can this be?” He laughed, carefree as he grabbed at the reins and gave them a good flick, his heels digging into the horse's side as he fully entrusted Suixing to help guide the animal in his stead. Chen Xing had been a city boy, through and through, and he had transmigrated long after the OG exorcist would have learned horse-riding. It would have been too suspicious for him to ask the man to reteach him such a vital skill. 

And it was going pretty well for him, all things considered. 

“Giddy up!” He chuckled with glee as he spurred the horse on, “Man, what a rush, amirite? How are you feeling by the– FUCK!” Chen Xing shouted in dismay, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head as he looked back at a missing Protector Martial God. “Are you kidding me, Suixing!?” The transmigrator grumbled, cursing himself and the stars for his own stupidity– of course, his luck would only apply to himself. 

He turned the horse around with an inexperienced hand, nearly upending both of them as they skidded across the snow and ash-covered stones. It took a few moments of searching in the dim light, but he was soon able to find the rolled-up man on the ground. 

“There you are! Thank goodness you're safe– speak up next time!” He scolded the immobilized and medically mute man as he firmly tied him to the front of the horse’s saddle. When soldiers came to him, he easily spewed a lie about Xiang Shu being his bedridden father, his thanks ringing out as he was advised to head Southeast away from the Qin forces. 

And then the horse was spooked northbound, because of course it was…

Chen Xing cried out in dismay as he watched the horse kick up flurries of snow as it ran off as though the hounds of hell were chasing after it. Soldiers looked back at him and followed the horse’s absconding form with quirked brows and raised shouts as it went against the flow of traffic. 

“...Are you kidding me?” Chen Xing sighed, his arms raising to the sky as a sense of foreboding stirred in his chest. Much like the competing game, Genshin Impact, Dinghai Fusheng Records was well known for it’s incredulous plot points and meme-worthy video game clips. This scene was just one of many that Chen Xing had seen other players refer to on Weibo…

“Why couldn’t you have given me my Feng-geeeee! Curse you, Suixing!” Chen Xing cried out as he tried to control a cart filled with kerosene, the unknown burden clattering and clanging in the back of the wagon as he tried to hastily untie the horses. The oversized Qin-style helmet fell into his sight, the clips finally snapping free under his knife as the wagon went wayward and crashed into the Qin army. Thankfully, the horses ran off without injury, while the injured Qin soldiers and camp-sitters dove out of the way. 

“This is too much work,” Chen Xing griped as he wheezed and hacked as he made his way from the emblazoned tents and wooden buildings. The helmet and armor clanked as he sidestepped alarmed Qin soldiers that, fortunately, glanced over his trudging form. Begrudgingly, Chen Xing held up the Heart Lamp and requested it to lead him to his downed and wayward Protector Martial God. Thankfully, the light guided him to a nearby courtyard. 

Quickly, Chen Xing jumped over the walls as he made his way through the path of least resistance. A disbelieving laugh fell from his lips as he came upon the stupid sight laid out before him– the horse was unable to exit the courtyard, as the man’s head and legs made it impassable.

The horse clanked and whacked the man against the frames as it tried to flee the scene. Shaking his head, Chen Xing nearly sauntered as he moved to calm the horse, his voice low as he grabbed the reins and steered the panicked creature from forcibly smashing its way through the door. 

“Calm, calm,” he hushed it, his hand brushing over the horse’s mane as he checked the straps keeping the man bound. When he looked at his covered face, Chen Xing weakly smiled as he met the man’s unamused gaze, his face even more scuffed from his adventure. 

“Apologies for that,” Chen Xing huffed, a yawn cracking through his jaw as he guided the horse away from the city. “Blasted thing just ran off like that,” he couldn’t help but chuckle at Xiang Shu’s plight as they walked down the winding path with Xiang Shu lying out like goods. Chen Xing knew better than to try his hand at riding a horse, lest he delay their journey even more with some other bout of misfortune. 

“How do you feel, Protector Shu? Better?” He asked once the sun had lifted, the birds chirping overhead as the next day slowly started around him. Chen Xing felt so tired, despite his enhanced stamina, but he continued for their sake. What he wouldn’t give to have an iced coffee…

The man remained silent, despite nearly twelve hours having passed since he had administered the pill. He pulled them to a stop at an abandoned town, his hands deftly guiding the taller man down from the horse so he could check his wounds. 

Chen Xing conducted a standard examination, his hands unthinkingly lingering upon Xiang Shu’s blank yet handsome features. ‘Those simps weren’t exaggerating about how handsome he is…well built too,’ he thought to himself as his hand drifted toward the man’s heavily scarred abdomen. 

A moment of daydream stirred in Chen Xing’s head as he compared the man to other beautiful and graceful characters from the game. “Hah,” he smiled in delighted remembrance as he thought back to one of his favorite areas– for the lore, of course! “If he were to change his attire, that group of useless scholars in Jiankang who only know how to write love poems would all admit defeat to this peerless face of beauty,” a few sleep-deprived giggles left his lips as he mindlessly poked and prodded the silent man. 

“Ah! Or we could get you all fixed up and proper and visit Fu Jian, the emperor of Qin, given his proclivity toward good-looking men. I heard he has “The World’s Most Beautiful Man” in his harem– Murong Chong!” Chen Xing gossiped, “If we head north to Chang’An, we’ll be able to stun him with your beauty!” The transmigrator plotted, rambling as he supported the man on his knee, a hand absently playing with those long locks of hair. 

His fingers would catch on a tangle, as the man remained silent to his rambling and optimistic change in views. “With your face, it won’t even matter if you're Hu or Han, as long as you’re not wantonly murdering thousands of people–” His words were cut short as the man suddenly hit him in a pressure point, rendering Chen Xing’s vision into a creeping darkness as he was knocked unconscious. 

As suddenly as he fell into this darkness, Chen Xing was ripped from it with the splash of cold water to his face. His vision was obscured by the water clinging to his eyelashes, the world blurry as he coughed and shivered in the cool air. When he was able to see, he jolted as Xiang Shu’s serious expression filled his vision. He was undressed, wrapped in the same blanket and bindings he had placed around the man. 

“Oh, c’mon!” Chen Xing stomped his feet as much as he could, a high blush creeping across his face as his chin was held in the man’s large, calloused hand.