Though torrential rain poured outside, Hundred Herbs Hall, Qinglan City's largest pill shop, remained open as usual. Scattered customers browsed the pills they fancied in the main hall. There were not many people, but it was far from deserted.
An idle clerk was watching the customers coming and going. Whenever he spotted a lone customer showing even the slightest interest in buying something, he would immediately step forward and give them a thorough introduction.
"Huh? Where did this little girl come from?"
As his gaze swept across the hall, a little girl caught his attention. She was soaked through by the rain, dressed in shabby clothes and barefoot. Her features were delicate, but her drenched hair hung limply against her face, and there were wounds on her arms and calves, making her look rather bedraggled.
"Little girl, why have you come here? This isn't a place for you to play."
The clerk hurried over to Nie Xiaoyu. Most of Hundred Herbs Hall's customers were distinguished figures from the city, and even those in the main hall were no ordinary people. If this dirty little girl of unknown origin offended any customer here and they decided to make an issue of it, the manager would hold the clerk accountable.
"Uncle, I'm not here to play. I'm here to buy pills."
Before Nie Xiaoyu had even entered, the grandeur of Hundred Herbs Hall had stunned her. This was her first time leaving the slums in the north of the city. She had asked countless people along the way how to get here, and only then had she finally found this place that could save her father.
After entering, the even more magnificent interior and the dazzling counters steeped in pill fragrance left Nie Xiaoyu even more at a loss. The adults passing around her were all clad in fine silk and brocade, draped in gold and silver, while her own ragged appearance was clearly utterly out of place here.
"Huh? Little girl, stop joking around. Come outside with Uncle. You can't afford the pills here."
Hearing that the little girl before him had come to buy pills, the clerk froze for a moment, then gave a wry smile. Clearly, he did not believe Nie Xiaoyu. The lowest-grade pills sold by Hundred Herbs Hall were First-Tier Mortal Grade—true pills, not medicine. Even the cheapest Qi Replenishing Pill cost a thousand Cangyun Coins, far beyond what this plainly dressed little girl could afford.
"It's true, Uncle. I want to buy a Jade Screen Immortal Spirit Pill. My father is sick, and only this medicine can save him. Uncle, please sell it to me, okay?"
Seeing the adult before her trying to drive her out, Nie Xiaoyu became so anxious that tears nearly fell. She quickly grabbed the clerk's arm and begged to buy the miraculous medicine Uncle Fu had said could save her father.
"Haha? Little girl, you even know about the Jade Screen Immortal Spirit Pill? Then do you know how much one costs? Ten thousand Cangyun Coins! It's a Third-Tier Mortal Grade pill. All right, Uncle has plenty to do. Hurry home and stop lingering here."
The clerk waved her off and turned to leave. This sent Nie Xiaoyu into a panic. Though she was terrified and desperate, she could not give up as long as there was a chance to save her father's life.
"Ow! Where did this wild little brat come from? You're filthy! You splashed water all over me!"
Trying to catch up to the clerk, Nie Xiaoyu panicked and lost her way, colliding head-on with a young woman in splendid clothes who was passing by. Her small body was already undernourished, and the impact knocked her straight to the floor. Yet the first one to cry out was the girl glittering with jewels.
The girl's shrill cry immediately drew everyone's attention. Most of those present were children of wealthy households, and as they looked at the shabbily dressed Nie Xiaoyu, they began pointing and whispering.
"How did they let a scavenger into this place?"
"Exactly. Could she be here to steal? Hurry and check whether anyone's jewelry is missing."
The commotion in the hall soon brought down the manager, who had been overseeing things on the second floor. He hurried to the splendidly dressed girl who refused to let the matter go and bowed repeatedly.
"Miss Wang, what has made you so angry? Oh my, you are one of our honored guests. Why didn't you notify me before coming? I could have received you properly."
The manager had actually noticed Nie Xiaoyu the instant he arrived. Seeing the timid little girl standing there, terrified and at a complete loss, he had already understood roughly what had happened. Though pity rose in his heart, he could not afford to offend these wealthy customers. He quickly invited the richly dressed girl upstairs to rest in a private room, while secretly signaling to the clerk beside him to take Nie Xiaoyu away at once.
"Uncle, I want to buy medicine—a Jade Screen Immortal Spirit Pill. Can you sell it to me?"
The manager had only taken a few steps while leading the richly dressed girl away when a clear shout behind him stopped him in his tracks. He turned back in astonishment. It was that little girl. Her large eyes stared bravely at him, her small chest rising and falling as though she had made an enormous decision.
"I know this medicine is very expensive. I don't have money, but I can sell myself to you in exchange for it. I'll work for you for the rest of my life. Please, save my father. Xiaoyu will kowtow to you."
Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, the frail little girl dropped to her knees with a thud, then desperately began kowtowing to the manager before her. The sound of her head striking the floor again and again made even the manager, who knew the whole story, feel a sharp ache in his heart.
"How ridiculous. A little scavenger actually wants to buy pills? If you have no money, then get out. If you want to sell yourself, go sell yourself at Twin Phoenix Tower. But with that scrawny body of yours, Twin Phoenix Tower probably wouldn't even bother buying you. After all, no one would choose a snot-nosed little girl like you."
The richly dressed girl, who had already been led away by the manager, burst out laughing when she heard Nie Xiaoyu's words, as if she had heard the greatest joke in the world. Then she remembered how the dress she had specially chosen had been smeared with filthy water by this dirty girl from goodness knew where. Malice welled up in her heart, and she pointed at Nie Xiaoyu as a stream of vicious insults poured from her mouth.
Nie Xiaoyu watched the girl before her, dressed in gorgeous clothes and adorned with gold and silver jewelry, hurl one filthy insult after another at her. More frightening still, so many adults in the crowd were also pointing at her. Even as a child, she could clearly feel the disgust and contempt in their eyes.
Even the manager of Hundred Herbs Hall struggled visibly for a moment before turning his face away, allowing the richly dressed girl to grow ever more vicious in her abuse.
At that moment, the swelling pain on her forehead, the scrapes on her arms, and the chill seeping from her soaked clothes were nothing compared to the enormous wound in her heart. What was wrong with these adults? Why were they cursing her like this? This was nothing like what her father and mother had told her, nothing like the neighbors, uncles, and aunties she had known since childhood.
The crowd before Nie Xiaoyu's eyes gradually began to change. The finely made-up women and young ladies, along with the handsome young masters attended by servants, all twisted their faces into horrifying expressions, surrounding her like ferocious demons and monstrous fiends. Gradually, she found herself unable to breathe.
"Shut up, all of you!"
A furious roar rang out, wrenching Nie Xiaoyu from her boundless terror. When she turned around, she saw a boy no more than twelve or thirteen standing behind her, accompanied by an elderly servant. He wore ice-blue silk of the finest quality, its snow-white trim embroidered with elegant bamboo leaves complementing the creamy white jade hairpin atop his head. One glance was enough to tell that he, too, came from a wealthy household.
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