Do You Think I'm Lying to You?

Faced with the girl's bewildered and aggrieved retort, Li Changsheng showed no trace of mockery. Instead, the casualness from his earlier small talk faded away.

His expression was calm and serious as he looked at the girl before him and slowly asked, "Why do you set up a stall to sell vegetables?"

Those seven simple words landed lightly by her ear, yet they instantly froze Jiang Nannan, who had been chattering away in explanation.

Her clear almond-shaped eyes went slightly blank. The confusion, helplessness, and bitter amusement that had filled her heart moments ago were all scattered by this abrupt question.

She stared blankly at the handsome features of the young man before her, unable to react for a moment.

The street remained as bustling as ever. Footsteps of passersby, vendors' cries, and idle conversations intertwined without end.

Yet Jiang Nannan's world seemed to have suddenly fallen silent.

She had known the hardships of poverty since childhood. Her father had died early, leaving only her and her gravely ill mother to depend on one another. She had shouldered the burden of supporting their family from a young age.

Setting up a vegetable stall, living frugally, and running everywhere to earn money had long become a habit carved into her bones.

She had never imagined that someone would ask her such a simple yet unfamiliar question.

After a long while, the girl gently pressed her pale lips together, and all the confusion left her face.

A faint weariness and bitterness appeared in her eyes. Her voice was soft and sweet, yet it carried an unmistakable heaviness as she answered honestly, "My mother is seriously ill and has been bedridden for years. She needs a great deal of money for medicine and treatment. Our home is already bare to the walls, with no other means of making a living. I can only go into the mountains every day to gather wild vegetables, sell them at a stall, and save money to treat my mother."

Every word was plain, yet every sentence was heartbreaking.

She did not exaggerate her suffering or seek sympathy. She merely recounted her most difficult circumstances.

Li Changsheng nodded slightly upon hearing this, his expression remaining calm.

There was no pity and no surprise. He simply asked again, fixated on his original question. "So, do you have money on you?"

Jiang Nannan was completely stunned.

Her brows furrowed gently, and her long eyelashes trembled without cease. The confusion in her heart nearly spilled over.

She truly could not understand this seemingly unrelated conversation and hesitantly asked in a low voice, "What does that have to do with whether I have money?"

She simply could not figure out what her having money or not had to do with this unfamiliar young man or his sudden question.

Li Changsheng answered, "It naturally has a great deal to do with it. If you have money, then I can help you completely cure your mother's chronic illness."

He said it lightly, as though curing an illness that had plagued someone for years and left even professional healing-type Soul Masters helpless was no more difficult than lifting a hand.

Others might have thought him arrogantly boastful, but Li Changsheng was fully confident.

Though he did not know exactly what illness Jiang Nannan's mother had, that was not important.

Since even the Black Tortoise Divine Pill of the Profound Nether Sect could cure her, there was no need to mention the life divine power contained within the Life Ancient Tree.

It was no exaggeration to say that even if it were the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, the power of life's origin could rapidly heal the injuries within her body, let alone a mortal's wounds or illness.

A God King who controlled the origin of life across the heavens was no joke.

It was merely that this Goddess God King was not skilled in battle.

That did not mean she was helpless or lacked ability.

The instant his words fell, the air suddenly went still.

Jiang Nannan's pupils contracted sharply, and her clear almond-shaped eyes widened round.

Her exquisite, stunningly beautiful face was instantly filled with utter shock and disbelief.

A breeze swept through the parasol trees by the roadside, stirring her golden hair.

Specks of sunlight fell across her stunned face, making those clear eyes appear all the more lost and dazed.

Had she heard wrong?

This unfamiliar younger boy, who looked one or two years younger than she was, had actually said he could cure her mother's incurable illness of many years?

The despair and helplessness of so many years surged into her heart at once, making her mind tremble.

To treat her mother's illness, she had visited every pharmacy large and small in Heaven Dou City, sought treatment from several low-level healing-type Soul Masters, and spent all her savings, only to receive the same result every time.

Her mother's body had been weak for too many years, her organs depleted, and the root of her illness had long sunk deep into her bones.

Ordinary medicine could only barely sustain her life and ease her suffering. It could not eradicate the illness at all.

Every physician and Soul Master had declared it incurable. No matter how much money was spent, recovery was nearly impossible.

Yet now, a youth whose childishness had not yet faded, whose build was still slender, had casually claimed that he could cure her completely!

If the one speaking had been a white-haired, highly respected high-level Soul Master, or some reclusive renowned physician, she might have felt a measure of hope and been willing to believe it.

But the person before her was merely a half-grown boy.

Although his temperament was clean and pleasant, he did not look imposing in the slightest. No matter how she looked at him, he did not resemble an expert with miraculous medical skills capable of reversing a chronic illness.

The immense disparity instantly filled Jiang Nannan's heart with crushing disappointment.

The faint thread of hope that had just arisen was extinguished by reality in an instant.

She took a deep breath. The shock in her eyes slowly faded, leaving only helplessness and bitterness. Shaking her head gently, she said with weary persuasion, "Little brother, don't joke around with your sister."

"My mother's illness has left even professional healing-type Soul Masters helpless. It can only be barely maintained with medicine. You're still young, so it's normal that you don't understand such things. I need to hurry and sell these vegetables, then go home to brew medicine for my mother. I really don't have time to play around with you."

She merely thought that he was a playful young boy, casually bragging and joking, unknowingly touching upon her deepest obsession.

Li Changsheng did not grow angry upon hearing this. He merely raised his eyes and asked calmly, "Do you think I'm teasing you?"

The youth's voice was clear and calm. It lacked the impetuousness of someone his age and instead carried a steady certainty, as though he had seen through the ways of the world.

Before Jiang Nannan could answer, Li Changsheng slowly raised his right hand.

His fair, slender palm unfolded in the air, his posture casual and composed.

In the next instant, brilliant, gentle emerald light suddenly blossomed from his palm!

Threads of misty, flowing radiance swirled and danced as an incomparably pure aura of life instantly swept in every direction.

It was not the ordinary glow of a soul skill formed from the soul power of the Douluo Continent, nor did it possess soul power's fiery sharpness.

There was only vast, gentle, boundless vitality, like all things reviving in spring, like withered wood blooming anew. It was so pure that it contained not the slightest impurity—the origin life divine power that creatures of the lower realm could never touch in their lifetimes!

Warm, soft green light lingered around his palm, and wisps of vitality drifted on the wind, falling upon the vegetables around them.

What had merely been fresh vegetables instantly became even more lush and verdant, brimming with vitality.

Jiang Nannan, standing directly opposite him, was the closest person to that power.

In an instant, a warm, refreshing aura enveloped her entire body.

The exhaustion in her limbs and bones, along with the soreness from days of running about and tending her stall, quietly vanished in that moment.

Her body and mind, previously tense and aching, suddenly relaxed. She felt completely at ease, filled from head to toe with a lively strength she had never experienced before.

Jiang Nannan was utterly dumbfounded.