Stop pretending, the fake heiress is actually a master of metaphysics.

Hu Die nodded solemnly and carefully put the pill away.

She waved to Shen Nian: "Then I'll be going now!"

It seems she's doing well in the Xuanmen Guild.

Shen Nian composed herself and reached out to open the bag of medicinal herbs that the fox had brought.

A unique fragrance of herbs instantly filled the air.

Each of the medicinal herbs here has been used for at least a hundred years, and many of them are now only found in ancient books or prescriptions.

Only foxes, being naturally clever and mischievous, could find these herbs deep in the mountains.

Shen Nian casually picked up a century-old ginseng.

But upon touching the ginseng's slender roots, a faint whimper was heard: "It hurts so much..."

Shen Nian's expression slowly froze.

She examined the ginseng carefully and asked, "Was it you who spoke?"

"Of course it is I, the Great King, who is speaking, you ignorant humans!"

Shen Nian saw the ginseng spirit's two tentacles twitch, like a human raising an eyebrow.

Shen Nian: ...

Didn't we agree that supernatural beings wouldn't be allowed after the founding of the People's Republic of China?

Why are they all running towards her?

Did Hu Die not notice anything amiss when she dug it out of the mountains and brought it here?

The ginseng spirit grumbled and struggled to break free from Shen Nian's grasp, climbing up her wrist and shoulder. Its few thin roots supported its relatively large body, making it look somewhat comical.

Shen Nian chuckled and said, "Are you really a ginseng? Or a radish spirit?"

The ginseng spirit clearly knew Shen Nian wasn't being kind, and angrily slapped her face with its ginseng whiskers: "Human, how dare you be so disrespectful to our unit!"

Shen Nian teased it deliberately, "So, your medicine must be very effective, right?"

The radish spirit—no, the ginseng spirit—stuck two non-existent whiskers to its waist: "Of course! I am the King of Ginseng! How dare those mortals compare to me?"

"That would be wonderful. How about I slice you up right now and process you into dried ginseng?"

Ginseng essence:…

Ginseng Essence:! ! !

This is murderous ginseng! Aa ...

It glanced warily at Shen Nian—if it truly had eyes—and quickly jumped off her: "Bad guy! If it weren't for your profound spiritual energy, I would have run away long ago, and wouldn't be staying here!"

Shen Nian raised her eyebrows, thinking to herself, "So it's because they're jealous of her spiritual energy."

"Just kidding, since you've already become a spirit, I won't use you in medicine."

Who knows, I might have to take it to the Mystic Guild again to record a spirit rune.

This butterfly...

Shen Nian pressed her temples, thinking helplessly.

When the ginseng heard that she wouldn't eat it, it immediately became smug again: "Hmph, good to know."

"Oh right, I'm starving! The spiritual energy outside is so thin, I'm practically starving to death!"

The spiritual energy in the deep mountains is always more concentrated than in human cities. In addition, the mountains are rich in the fresh air of plants, which is also very beneficial to wood-attribute spirits or cultivators.

Shen Nian pondered for a moment and said, "I can have the fox send you back."

These naturally occurring little monsters are not suited to living in human cities.

The ginseng spirit's beard perked up, "No! This place is so much fun! I don't want to go back to the mountains!"

He's still a rebellious little monster.

Shen Nian said, "I don't support people who freeload. See that fox? All she has to do for me is collect medicinal herbs. What can you do?"

"I...I...my beard can cure diseases!"

After struggling for a long time, the little ginseng finally managed to squeeze out this sentence.

"You can't eat me, but my beard will grow back, so I can reluctantly share some with you."

Those ginseng tendrils are actually the physical manifestations of its cultivation. Although they cannot bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded, they are basically enough to cure all diseases.

"So generous?"

Shen Nian thought to herself, "Another innocent and naive little sprite who doesn't understand the wickedness of human nature."

Seemingly sensing what she was thinking, the little ginseng snorted, "I'm not that stupid."

It couldn't explain why, but Shen Nian gave it a sense of familiarity.

Before arriving at Tiannan Mountain, it followed Hu Die because there was a trace of Shen Nian's aura on her body—otherwise, it would have grown legs and run away long ago.

Upon arriving at Tiannan Mountain, they discovered that the true owner of that aura was actually Shen Nian.

"Do you have a human form?"

Shen Nian asked.

"Of course there are."

The little ginseng spirit grumbled, "But I'm too hungry right now to take on human form."

Shen Nian: ...

She picked up the ginseng spirit and went to the small vegetable garden behind the mountain, where she buried it in the most spiritually rich spot of the array.

He also dried and processed other medicinal herbs for future use.

After finishing all this, Shen Nian was just about to check the talisman that Gu Yuncheng had drawn yesterday when she received a call from an unknown number.

...Is it Song Daiqing and her family, or Shen Leyao's family?

Judging by the timeline, the Shen family should be close to bankruptcy by now.

And the ghost following Shen Leyao...

Thinking of this, Shen Nian still pressed the answer button.

However, the voice that came from the other end of the phone was a woman that Shen Nian didn't recognize at all.

She was timid and seemed quite young.

"Shen...Shen Nian, is that you?"

"Yes, that's me. Who are you?"

"I'm Qi Sisi, Shen Nian. Don't you remember me? We were deskmates in high school."

Desk mate?

Shen Nian recalled for a moment.

It seems there is such a person.

Shen Nian's high school deskmate was a rather frail and malnourished girl.

It is said that her family was very poor, but because of her excellent grades, she was admitted to the private high school that Shen Nian and Shen Leyao attended.

Given her status, it would naturally be difficult for her to integrate into the circle of young masters and ladies; logically, she would easily be bullied by them.

Fortunately, Shen Nian's presence diverted most of the firepower.

Shen Leyao sees Shen Nian as a thorn in her side, so naturally she wouldn't bother bullying a poor student anymore.

So Qi Sisi's life was relatively peaceful during her three years of high school.

Her own family was not well-off, so of course she didn't dare to help Shen Nian. She watched coldly as her deskmate Shen Nian was bullied, truly embodying the spirit of ignoring everything else and focusing solely on her studies.

However, there was one exception.

That time, when Shen Nian was locked in the toilet by Shen Leyao and doused with cold water, and no one was allowed to open the door for her, it was Qi Sisi who couldn't bear it and secretly ran in to open the door for her.

Thinking of this, Shen Nian's tone remained polite: "I remember. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Um, I was in a car accident and I'm in the hospital now. Could you come see me?"

"I am not a doctor."

Shen Nian said calmly, "If you're injured, just rest. My presence won't make any difference. Besides, I don't think our relationship is that good."

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then a trembling voice said, "Please...please, Shen Nian, just consider it a thank you for helping you at school, okay?"

Shen Nian pinched the bridge of her nose: "Where are you?"

Knowing that Shen Nian was willing to come, Qi Sisi quickly recited a string of addresses and the door number of the ward.

After hanging up the phone, she glanced cautiously at the person on the other end and said, "Shen Nian is willing to come. I've done what you asked me to do, so what about my mother's job..."

Standing opposite her were Shen Yuhui, Madam Chen Yaqin, and Shen Leyao lying on the bed.

Chen Yaqin has been discharged from the hospital, but Shen Dahai still needs to stay in the ward.