“I’ll take that as a no.” Violet Pill Fairy briefly frowned. “Too bad you won't be able to find them for free. I’ve already scoured every area a thousand li from here for these pretty things, so you’ll just have to hope you can still find some for sale in Golden Aspect City. Or you can buy them from me now. The price will only go up, you know.”

If I were really a dumb kid, I might even believe her.

Little Spring glanced at me worryingly. I shook my head at him and he nodded.

“That’s a lot.”

“Oh? That little and you don’t have it?”

Fuck, was she trying to kill me with her words? Couldn’t she see that the oldest of us was barely nine?

“No,” I choked out.

“That is a shame.” She tapped her finger against her cherry red lips. “And you really-really need them?”

Little Spring nodded seriously.

“Tell you what. Since you two are adorable kids, I’ll give you a special price.” She held up ten fingers. “Only this many spirit stones for each flower.”

Fuck. That’s still ten times the price.

My junior brother glanced at me, worried. I knew that look. He wanted to go ahead and buy them. I shook my head again. I would not fall for her lies. And even if I did have to purchase them at ten times their normal price, I would not buy them from her. She cheated me enough in my past life. Seriously, fuck her.

“We’ll find another herb. It doesn’t have to be these ones,” I said, putting my sword away since this bitch wouldn't kill us and ruin her sweet image.

She chuckled and shook her head. “That is unlikely. It’s very difficult to find a replacement spiritual plant for a pill recipe.”

“If my elder sister says that she can find it, then she will.” I really wanted to hug this cute kid. So much faith in me. Well, he wasn’t wrong. I was that fantastic.

She peered at us and reminisced. “You know, you two remind me a bit of myself when I was younger. I was just a poor branch member of the Viridian Orchid clan and living in near-squalor. Barely able to cultivate. I was worse off than a loose cultivator.”

Wait. Did this bitch assume that we were poor because of our mortal clothes? Okay, so she wasn’t entirely wrong, but she would be!

“I worked hard every day by going into the forest. I risked my life to find natural treasures I could use in my alchemy.” She flipped her straight amethyst hair back over her shoulder and disturbed the fluffy white pill testing beast around her neck. It squirmed a little then went back to pretending to be a scarf. “Though I’m still nowhere near as wealthy as a sect or guild, I’m still very successful. I was even adopted into the main branch.” She winked and gently smoothed Little Spring’s hair. “I’m sure intrepid little herb gatherers like you will be able to make a big profit in the near future.”

She touched her jade ring and took out a single flower. Its condition was okay but it had taken a bit of damage. Technically it could still be used but the chance of the pill succeeding would decrease by fifteen percent.

She handed the glowing flower to Little Spring. “When that day comes, be sure to remember how kind I was, giving you a flower worth a thousand spirit stones, for free. There is no need to hide it. You can tell others I helped you out, too.”

He looked grateful and nodded. I almost threw up more blood.

“You’re a good brother to your sister.”

She waved us off. Her minions must have taken that as the signal since they gathered up their kill and all ran to somewhere else.

I stumbled over to a boulder and sat down. I placed my head in my hands and screamed silently.

“Fairy Lin... Are you okay?”

I considered this young junior brother of mine. “What did you think of that person?”