It had been a while since she interacted with other cultivators, so Luan Feixue was somewhat impatient. Still, she knew that she couldn't cause trouble. She knew nothing about the rich woman's background, and she also understood that in this world, a single bad sentence could trace the line between living and dying.
Therefore, instead of lashing out, Luan Feixue took a deep breath and spoke with a calm expression. "Miss, you and I know that this Spirit Stone is too much for that ginseng. If you want me to pay a bit extra because you are taking a loss, fine. But let's be reasonable. Do you think that someone with such a Spirit Stone will have a normal background?"
The woman paused her outstretched hand and became thoughtful. It was true that the girl in front of her looked as if she was about to fall from malnourishment. Still, the light in her eyes told a completely different story. Once you looked closely, you could sense a hint of nobility peeking through the ugly exterior. Not to mention, the facial features had a hint of extraordinariness that couldn't be hidden.
"Hm… You make some sense. Tell me your name and family. Since you say that you might be someone with a powerful background, you should have a surname that I might recognize…" The woman's lips then arched proudly. "By the way, my name is Shen Miao! I am from the Shen family, south of this town."
'Shen family?' Luan Feixue was faintly surprised. While there weren't any high-ranked or powerful nobles, they had some influence and strength over many mortal lands. To say that they were the rulers of the southern mortal region was not an exaggeration.
When she spoke her surname, Shen Miao thought that she would be scared stiff. Still, the only reaction was one of realization and faint surprise. This made her alarms ring. 'She is not scared? Perhaps it is true that she is not that simple…'
Luan Feixue scratched her cheek when she needed to present herself. "Miss Shen, I can't really speak of my surname."
Shen Miao frowned. "Is it because you are a commoner? If you are trying to deceive me and then scam me out of this ginseng, know that there will be repercussions!"
Luan Feixue waved her hands and head. "Misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding, Miss Shen." After pondering for a few moments, she sighed. "Why do you think someone of usually high status would find themselves in my current situation, Miss. I can sense that our cultivation levels are similar, so do you think that someone of your strength, even if they are rogue cultivators, would appear as tattered as I am?"
"You make some sense." Shen Miao commented.
Touching her chin a few times, the woman's lips arched, and she pointed at Luan Feixue with a grin. "I know what to give you. I've been missing a servant for my journey to the [Star Immortal Sect] far north. If you agree to be my servant until then, I will give you the ginseng. What do you think?"
Yasenia hummed in her head. 'Feixue's answer will tell me quite a lot about her personality. I wonder, what will you choose, girl?'
When she heard the proposal, Luan Feixue smiled. Far from being angry, she nodded and spoke cheerfully. "Okay. I can do that, Miss Shen."
The dragoness looked at Feixue and squinted. Still, she didn't feel any reluctance. 'Hoh~? So she accepted. I thought that, being a former princess, she would be opposed to serving others. After all, it's difficult to serve after being in a position of being served since you have memory.'
Shen Miao's smiling face faltered for a second. She poked Luan Feixue's forehead a few times and asked, confused. "Are you okay in the head? Why would you accept it so cheerfully? Can't you see that I am trying to humiliate you?"
Feixue shrugged with a smile. "It doesn't matter. I don't think I can ever fall lower than I've already fallen. Anything is better than staying as I am now."
Shen Miao was silent for a few moments before she placed the ginseng on the table. "Wrap it, shopkeeper. I am buying it."
Luan Feixue's smiling face fell, and she looked at Shen Miao with bitterness. 'Ah… Whatever. It's not like it is a very unique medicine. Sigh…'
Shaking her head, she turned around, ready to walk away, depressed. Yet, when she turned, she heard the voice of the Shen Family woman. "Where are you going? A good servant shouldn't stray far away from her master."
Feixue turned around with a puzzled expression, and she saw Shen Miao look at her haughtily while extending her hand with the wrapped ginseng. "Take it and consider it your first payment. If you work with enough motivation, I wouldn't mind rewarding you with another treasure."
Feixue blinked a few times, confused. As she glanced at the ginseng, she heard the woman's voice. "Why are you spacing out? Are you going to ditch your master after you got what you wanted?"
Despite her tone sounding haughty, Feixue could easily sense that Shen Miao was somewhat tense. 'Puh…' Feixue almost laughed aloud. 'So, she is a pampered miss, but not one with an evil heart.'
Of course, she had tried scamming her, but most people wouldn't lose a chance to make an easy profit. It was not something bad enough to condemn Shen Miao.
"I will follow along then, if you don't mind, Shen Miao."
Shen Miao scrunched her nose. "You are taking quite a few liberties with how you are calling me. Are you sure you were not trying to climb up the branches as soon as we got to know each other?"
"Who knows?" Feixue approached with a smile. "Perhaps you've attracted the attention of a bad person."
"Hmph." Shen Miao humphed and turned to walk, her lips gaining a faint smirk.
Yasenia's voice reached Feixue. 'Not to interrupt or anything. However, are you sure you only want to buy the ginseng in the shop?'
"Ah…" Luan Feixue blinked a few times. "I got carried away because of the atmosphere." With some embarrassment, Feixue coughed and spoke. "Um, Shen Miao. I need to buy some herbs; can you wait a bit?"
The woman's faintly smiling expression crumpled, looking back with a baffled face. Still, seeing the embarrassment in Feixue's face, she couldn't bring herself to be mad or anything. She waved her hand as if shooing away a pest. "Go, go, go. Don't take too long."
So, after returning to the shop, both girls left triumphantly and bought everything they needed. Luan Feixue and Shen Miao began their journey to the [Star Immortal Sect].
While walking, Shen Miao spoke strangely. "So… What's the perfume you are using? It's a sweet, flowery scent, extremely pleasant and easy on the nose. Even if you take a rather big sniff, it doesn't hurt the nose at all."
Feixue blinked, confused. 'Perfume?' But when she heard the description, the utterly gorgeous face of a certain Dragon flashed in her mind. 'Ah. Her scent got stuck to me after she hugged me…'
"Um." Feixue coughed, her face somewhat awkward. "It's not… for sale. I found it by chance and used it a while ago. Who knew that some remnants of that scent were still on me? I didn't even notice."
Hearing her words made Shen Miao look a bit sad for a moment. She really liked that scent. Still, knowing that the scrawny girl seemed awkward, she didn't push the matter. "Speaking of which… What's your name? I have yet to hear it."
"... You can call me Xuefei." She smiled and added. "Those close to me usually call me Feifei."
Shen Miao nodded with a hum, while Yasenia asked her. 'Xuefei? You just changed the order of your name. Isn't that easy to guess for anyone who has more than two neuron connections in their brain?'
"How did that saying go… Sometimes, being closest to the enemy is the safest place!"
Yasenia deadpanned for a moment. Still, she didn't insist and closed her eyes. She was using her link with Feixue to harmonize with the energy in this world faster. It was at least better than being idle in her Beast Pocket. Still, if she wanted to cultivate, she would need to absorb energy from the outside. Otherwise, she might suck Feixue dry without knowing.
While thinking, Yasenia heard the other woman speak. "If you are going to travel with me, you need to change clothes." Her overbearing tone had hints of concern. "I don't care what you've gone through to end up in such a sorry state, but one's health starts from looking good! If you look like a street rat, you'll eventually become one!"
"... Street rat." Feixue laughed twice mirthlessly.
"So! Go buy some clothes, take a bath, and come back! I'll wait for you at the north entrance of the town."
Shen Miao then sped into the distance using her movement technique. Her speed and agility surprised Luan Feixue and Yasenia. "Ho~? She is much stronger than she appears to be. You would have a very hard time winning against her." Yasenia muttered. "She can probably beat you in eight out of ten battles. If it is to the death, you have almost no chance as long as she has one offensive technique refined to half the proficiency of her movement technique."
Luan Feixue pouted. "Aren't you supposed to be my master? Why are you praising another person?"
Amused by her words, Yasenia almost laughed. Still, she managed to answer somewhat seriously. "Knowing one's weaknesses is the first step toward becoming stronger!"
"... You were just bashing me while praising her! What can I learn from that?"
This time, the dragoness really burst out into laughter. "Sorry, sorry. I was just objectively evaluating things. You have better potential… probably."
Luan Feixue sighed and prepared to change her clothes and take a bath. "I should also cut my hair… But I've never done it."
As Feixue took her clothes off, she remembered the dragon hiding in her Beast Pocket and blushed a bit. "Hey… Don't look."
"What's there to see?" Yasenia appeared in front of her with a bath towel around her body. "You are flat as a board compared to me, girl."
The two mountains bouncing in front of her face made Feixue's face turn both black and red. "Y-Y-You! Pervert dragon!"
Yasenia saw the girl jump into the bathtub and followed behind with a smirk.
Seeing the absolutely gorgeous beauty walking into the bath with her, Feixue asked guardedly. "Hey. What are you doing? I am telling you, even if you are beautiful, I like men!"
The dragoness blinked twice. "Well… pasta is straight until it gets wet."
Luan Feixue almost choked on her own saliva at her instantaneous answer. After joking around for a bit, Feixue changed clothes to light purple cultivation clothes, and Yasenia cut her hair and styled it in a braided style. Then, they set off toward where Shen Miao was waiting.