"Ahem..."
Su Min's voice made the merchant jump, his stout frame jolting within his fine silk robes. He turned around with a light cough, but the words stuck in his throat as he faced her. He have heard the rumors, of course—whispers of the reclusive healer who had slain the mountain scourge—but seeing her in person still made him freeze for a split second.
Luckily, he was a seasoned man of trade who knew how to handle himself in unpredictable company. He quickly pulled himself together, smoothed the front of his expensive tunic, and coughed again to cover his momentary stumble. A warm, professional smile, honed through years of difficult negotiations, spread across his face.
"I'm the president of the Fuding Merchant Guild," he said. His voice was full of respect, though his eyes remained sharp as they scanned the courtyard. "Word of Fairy Su's recent deeds has reached my ears even in the distant markets, so I came to humbly ask to buy a few things from you."
Su Min looked past him at the servants crowding her courtyard, their figures casting long shadows against the storage huts. They were carrying heavy, iron-bound chests that looked solid enough to hold a king's ransom. A quick sweep of her divine sense told her exactly what lay inside; they were packed full of sparkling silver ingots, neat rows of wealth reflecting the afternoon light.
"And what is it you want?" she asked. Her voice was calm, showing no interest in the display of silver.
"Tiger hide, tiger bones, and tiger tendons," he listed off, his gaze drifting toward the storage ring on her finger. "They're all top-quality materials. The hide and tendons are especially good for making weapons and armor that can resist spiritual erosion."
Su Min thought for a moment, the silence stretching between them. "I still have a use for the hide and tendons. As for the bones, I have already refined seventy percent of them into marrow essence." She paused then, a glint of mischief dancing in her eyes. "But there's one other thing you might want."
With that, she casually walked to the back of the room, her movements fluid as she pretended to fetch something from the shadows, before tossing a heavy, barbed object onto the ground in front of the group. It landed with a dull, fleshy thud.
"This..."
The moment they saw the massive, grotesque thing, the whole courtyard went dead silent. Everyone stared, their eyes wide with a mixture of shock and morbid curiosity. They looked at each other, hardly believing what they were seeing—the sheer scale of the organ was beyond anything they had imagined.
"It's enormous!" one servant finally whispered in awe, his voice cracking. "Unbelievable! I have heard His Highness the Prince has been having trouble with—ahem—his stamina lately. This would be a priceless treasure. It's sure to fix his..."
"Be careful with that!" the merchant warned, sensing the jagged edges, but he was too late.
"Ouch! Damn it!" the servant yelped, shaking his hand as he pulled it away. A thin line of blood was already blooming on his palm. "Even this part of the tiger demon is sharp as a blade! I will give five thousand taels of silver for it!"
"Take it," Su Min said. Her voice was dry with amusement as she watched the merchant's servants scramble. "You do know that cats have barbs there, right? It's completely useless to me. Congratulations. I hope your lord gets his energy back."
"Uh..."
Now it was the merchant's turn to look embarrassed, a fresh scratch on his own cheek proving just how sharp the thing was. Su Min had clearly understood exactly what he was hinting at before. Talking about such things in front of a young woman was, he had to admit, a little awkward.
Su Min herself seemed more annoyed by the clutter than anything else. Who would have thought that even the keratin part of a tiger demon could be as sharp as a knife?
"Here is the payment for this item," the merchant said, quickly getting back to business to hide his discomfort. He waved a hand at his servants. "You there, pack it up. Use the reinforced, padded crates."
His men hurried to secure the goods, wrapping the barbs in thick layers of felt, and they placed another heavy chest in front of Su Min. The iron bands creaked as it settled.
"Tch." She clicked her tongue but didn't say anything else. She already knew what is in it, the weight of the silver recognizable from the sound of the impact.
After that strange little scene was over, the merchant's posture shifted, and he became serious again.
"I have also heard that you once treated Hero Zhao for his poison," he said. His tone was now much more focused, the banter of the previous moment forgotten.
The earlier awkwardness was gone. It's obvious now that the tiger part was just a lucky extra for his collection. He had something much more important to discuss with her today.
"I wouldn't call it treatment," Su Min corrected him, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I just suppressed the poison to keep his meridians from collapsing. To really cure him, he would need proper medicinal pills."
She raised an eyebrow, a little surprised that the president of such a large guild would know the details of her encounter.
"Ah, but you don't see the bigger picture," the merchant insisted, leaning forward. "Hero Zhao's sickness stumped every doctor in the martial world; they were all helpless. But you—you stabilized him without any trouble. Now he is searching the whole country for rare herbs, and our Fuding Guild has gotten many orders from him."
"Is that so?" Su Min was slightly surprised. This merchant guild seemed very well-connected to the currents of the world.
"Hero Zhao is one of the strongest fighters in the land," the merchant went on, "and even he was taken down by a demon poison. But you cured him. Do you know they're calling you the greatest miracle doctor now? It's just that you live in such a remote place. Most injured warriors would die on the way here before they could find you."
"Pfft—" Su Min couldn't help but laugh, the sound echoing in the cluttered courtyard. "Rumors really do get out of hand, don't they?"
"Get to the point," she said, waving a lazy hand. "I'm not some divine healer. My skills aren't even as good as most traveling doctors. If fools come here looking for miracles, they will just leave disappointed."
The merchant gave a quick, respectful nod. "Then I will be direct. I'm here to buy some of the antidote pills you made for Hero Zhao."
"I don't have any," Su Min said, rolling her eyes at his persistence. Without the rare ingredients, how could she make them?
"Don't worry about that," the merchant said smoothly, his voice dropping to a confidential tone. "Hero Zhao has already collected the herbs and is on his way south. He should be here in a week or two. Our guild has also prepared a full set of the ingredients. We just hope that when you make his pills, you will make some extra for us. We will give you the materials and pay another hundred taels for each pill." He paused, then placed a final item in front of her. "Plus this."
It was a waist token made of precious sandalwood, its surface smooth and dark, decorated with delicate gold filigree.
"This is the highest rank VIP token from our guild. If you will ever travel through Great Wei, just show this at any of our branches, and all our medicine stocks are yours to use."
"Hmm."
Su Min looked at the token with amusement, turning it over to feel its weight. It was valuable all by itself.
But more importantly, she recognized it from her own fragmented past.
The original owner of her body had seen a token exactly like this on her father's desk in a time that felt like another life. With those memories, Su Min knew what it really meant in the political landscape.
"The Fuding Merchant Guild, with the 'Fortune' character," she thought to herself. "Everyone thinks it belongs to Prince Fu, but it's really Prince Yong's, isn't it? Well, it doesn't matter right now. I'll take it. No need to cause trouble."
She didn't understand why the emperor had let Prince Yong's son keep the title after the father's failed rebellion, but it was clear that faction was still ambitious.
"You have big plans," she said out loud, smirking at him. "But let me be clear. I will make the antidote pills for you this time. But any future requests for pills are up to me. I'm not your personal pill maker."
"Agreed."
The merchant agreed right away, his expression solemn. His orders were simple: get those detox pills no matter the cost. Powerful people would pay anything to protect their lives. Making friends with Su Min was the main goal. Unless she asked for something completely crazy, he had to agree.
He worked for Prince Yong's faction, though he pretended to serve the useless Prince Fu. The tiger parts were meant for Prince Fu, to make him look good in the eyes of the court. They didn't get those, but the tiger's other part would work just fine. Prince Fu was having certain problems, and this would be the perfect gift to make him happy.
"Here is another one thousand taels of silver," the merchant said, pushing another chest forward. "An advance payment for the pills."
Su Min looked over all the boxes now in her yard and smirked. She figured this man had brought at least ten thousand taels with him. He had hired all those men to rush here, and he still hadn't managed to spend it all. He was clearly a man with deep pockets and even deeper plans.