Morning arrived with a cool breeze drifting through the valley.
The Little Fairy Doctor was already awake.
By the time Xiao Feng stepped outside, she had finished drying several bundles of medicinal herbs beneath the morning sun.
Without looking up, she said,
“You’re late.”
Xiao Feng glanced at the sky.
“The sun barely came up.”
“Exactly.”
“Half the work is already done.”
He laughed.
“So this is how healers treat their assistants?”
“I never said you were my assistant.”
“You’ve been carrying baskets for three days.”
“That sounds close enough.”
A faint smile appeared on her face.
It disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
After breakfast, the two entered the forest once more.
This time, their destination wasn’t a dangerous cliff or a hidden valley.
It was an ordinary meadow where medicinal herbs grew in abundance.
The Little Fairy Doctor crouched beside a small white flower.
“See this?”
Xiao Feng nodded.
“Moon Dew Grass.”
“It looks ordinary.”
“It is.”
She carefully dug around its roots.
“But if you pull it out carelessly, the medicinal properties disappear within minutes.”
She handed him a small wooden shovel.
“Your turn.”
Xiao Feng copied her movements.
Slowly.
Patiently.
The soil remained intact.
The roots came out without damage.
She examined it before giving a small nod.
“Not bad.”
“I had a good teacher.”
“I’ve only taught you for three days.”
“Still counts.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You really enjoy talking.”
By noon, both baskets were nearly full.
As they prepared to leave, voices echoed from deeper within the forest.
Several mercenaries emerged carrying a large magical beast on a wooden pole.
Fresh blood dripped onto the ground.
The group immediately brightened upon seeing the Little Fairy Doctor.
“Doctor!”
“Perfect timing.”
Their leader stepped forward.
“Could you take a look at Old Zhao?”
Another man removed his glove.
His hand was swollen nearly twice its normal size.
The Little Fairy Doctor frowned.
“What bit him?”
“We didn’t see it.”
She examined the puncture marks.
“Snake.”
“A venomous one.”
The mercenaries exchanged uneasy looks.
“Is it serious?”
“It will be if you keep standing there.”
Without hesitation, she opened her medicine box.
Her movements remained calm despite the growing concern around her.
She cleaned the wound.
Applied crushed herbs.
Prepared an antidote.
Finally, she looked at Xiao Feng.
“Hold his arm.”
He stepped forward immediately.
Old Zhao gritted his teeth as she made a small incision to draw out the poisoned blood.
Within minutes, the swelling began to slow.
The mercenaries released collective sighs of relief.
“You saved him again.”
She simply shook her head.
“He came early enough.”
“Another hour…”
She didn’t finish the sentence.
She didn’t need to.
The leader reached for his money pouch.
Before he could open it, another mercenary whispered,
“Boss…”
“We’re almost out of gold.”
The man’s expression stiffened.
Their recent hunt had gone badly.
Most of what they earned would be spent replacing damaged equipment.
He hesitated before speaking.
“Doctor…”
“We…”
The Little Fairy Doctor already understood.
She closed her medicine box.
“Pay me next time.”
Silence.
The mercenaries looked at one another.
“…Really?”
“You’ve said that before.”
“And you eventually paid.”
The leader lowered his head.
“We won’t forget this.”
“I know.”
As the group disappeared into the forest, Xiao Feng finally asked,
“How often does that happen?”
She answered without much thought.
“Quite often.”
“And if they never return?” New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
“They usually do.”
“But if they don’t…”
She adjusted the basket on her back.
“…then they probably needed the money more than I did.”
The answer lingered in Xiao Feng’s mind for the rest of the journey.
When they returned to the cabin, he noticed something he hadn’t paid attention to before.
The shelves.
There were dozens of medicine bottles.
Bundles of herbs.
Bandages.
Rare ingredients.
Everything required money to obtain.
Yet judging from today’s events…
She wasn’t earning much at all.
After dinner, curiosity finally got the better of him.
“Can I ask you something?”
She looked up from sorting herbs.
“Go ahead.”
“Do you have any savings?”
She blinked.
Then laughed softly.
“I did.”
“…Did?”
She pointed toward the medicine cabinet.
“That’s where they went.”
Xiao Feng understood immediately.
Every coin she earned eventually became medicine.
Medicine that was often given away.
She wasn’t poor because patients refused to pay.
She was poor because she kept buying supplies for the next patient.
He suddenly remembered something from his previous life.
Readers often described the Little Fairy Doctor as kind.
That word never quite captured it.
Kindness was helping someone once.
This…
This was a way of life.
Late that night, Xiao Feng sat outside alone.
The mountain breeze carried the scent of fresh herbs.
He looked toward the softly lit cabin.
There was a reason people trusted her.
Not because she was the strongest.
Not because she charged the least.
But because everyone knew the same thing.
If they reached her alive…
She would do everything she could to save them.
No questions asked.
A quiet sigh escaped him.
“The original story…”
“…was far too cruel to someone like you.”
His voice disappeared into the night.
The Little Fairy Doctor never heard it.
Inside the cabin, she was already asleep, preparing to wake before sunrise and do the same work all over again.