Chapter 2: Meeting My Sister

Reid Quinny looked at her, baffled. "Miss, I don't understand what you mean." The girl's cheeks flushed. Then, as if she had decided to just throw caution to the wind, she blurted, "Ugh, fine, I'll say it straight. Can your water do what those… strength pills do?" "Strength pills? What are those?" Reid Quinny had spent three thousand years in the Celestial Realm. He genuinely had never heard of such a pill. When she saw the blank look on his face, she had no choice but to be even more blunt. "I mean after you drink it, it makes a man… really powerful in that area!" Only then did Reid Quinny understand. His gaze on her turned strange. *I stayed in the Celestial Realm for three thousand years, but only three years passed on Earth. Girls these days were already this bold?* He couldn't help thinking. *She's barely in her early twenties. Her boyfriend should be in his prime, full of vigor. And she still isn't satisfied?* Catching that odd look, the beautiful girl's face reddened all the way to her neck. "Hey! Not me… It's not what you think! I'm asking for a friend!" Reid Quinny smiled. "It's fine. I used to have a friend too. Every time he asked me for a Kidney-Nourishing Pill, he also said it was 'for a friend.'" "You… are you selling or not?" The girl bristled, embarrassed and angry, like her lie had been exposed on the spot. Reid Quinny didn't want the first customer he'd finally gotten to run off. "Of course I'm selling. What you described, in my eyes, is simply a deficiency of yang energy." "People are born as a pure, flawless Innate Spiritual Body. As they grow, they absorb all sorts of acquired impurities. Add exhaustion and overindulgence, and all kinds of illnesses appear." "But the root of every illness is the same. The Innate Spiritual Energy inside the body gets severely depleted. Replenish the Spiritual Energy, and naturally, every ailment disappears." The girl listened in a haze, half understanding, half lost, but it sounded like it made a weird kind of sense. Reid Quinny could tell she didn't truly grasp a word. After a moment's thought, he switched tactics. "Have you been dealing with insomnia and restless dreams lately?" She froze. "Yeah. How did you know?" Reid Quinny handed her a bottle. "Drink it. You'll feel energized right away." Suspicion clouded her face, but she took it and sipped a little. In an instant, her eyes sharpened, as if a fog had been swept from her mind. "It really works!" "How much do you sell it for?" She sounded tempted. Reid Quinny knew she still didn't believe him. She was only trying it on a whim. If her friend came over and talked her out of it, she would definitely back out. He didn't want his only… customer to slip away, so he decided to play it mysterious. "Sorry. My Celestial Spring Water is only sold to those with fate." The girl blinked her big eyes at him and laughed. "You're interesting. Then tell me, what counts as 'those with fate'?" Reid Quinny replied, "Anyone who believes me." She thought for a moment, then a trace of resolve surfaced in her expression. "Fine. I believe you." "Say it. How much for one bottle?" Reid Quinny answered calmly, "Two thousand a bottle. Half off if you buy in a bundle." Two thousand! Why didn't he just rob her? The girl suddenly felt like this didn't sound very reliable, especially that line about a bundle being half off. "Piper, what are you doing?" A girl in a red dress walked over, her high heels clicking, click, click, click against the ground. Her features were delicate, her skin pale. She wore her hair in a high ponytail and carried the same black Chanel bag as the girl in white. She was beautiful too, but her aura was completely different. There was a crisp, heroic sharpness to her, the kind of striking confidence that looked right at home on someone from a military family. She leaned close to the girl in white and whispered, "No way, Piper Warth. You're seriously buying this?" Piper Warth gave her a small, embarrassed smile. The truth was, she had a reason she couldn't bring herself to say out loud for coming to a street stall to buy some miracle "power water." So she grabbed a random excuse. "My mom hasn't been well lately. We've seen so many famous doctors and none of them can do anything. As her daughter, I want to do something for her." Aubriella Looske said urgently, "This isn't being filial. This is panicking and trusting any quack you see!" She pulled Piper Warth aside and lowered her voice. "Look at him. He's, what, seventeen or eighteen? Younger than us. And he's dressed in some weird costume, trying to stand out on purpose. He screams seasoned con artist." "And his water is obviously tap water in a plastic bottle. It's not even full. There's zero hygiene or safety." "If you buy it, would you even dare let your mom drink it?" "A scam this low-level can only fool someone like you, with… well, you know." She didn't have the nerve to say the last word in front of a man, so she swallowed it. Still, her eyes flicked toward Piper Warth's chest, full of envy and jealousy. Passersby shook their heads and snickered. "That girl's pretty, but she's not too bright." "Seriously. What year is it? She actually believes there's something that can cure everything." "If there were, what would we need hospitals for?" "I think her friend's right. She's… you know." Piper Warth's face burned. She shot Aubriella Looske a fierce glare. "Could you watch your mouth?" "I know he's probably a scammer, but I still want to try." Determination settled over her features. "Even if there's only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I'm willing to take it!" Aubriella Looske looked like she wanted to shake her. "Fine. I'm done. If you want to buy it, buy it. It's not like you're short on money. Consider it charity." Piper Warth lifted her skirt neatly and crouched again in front of Reid Quinny's stall, every bit the refined young lady. "I'll take this bottle, but I didn't bring that much cash. Can I transfer it to you with my phone?" Reid Quinny still didn't have money for a phone, but he couldn't say that. If she realized he didn't even own one, this hard-won deal might fall apart. Keeping his expression steady, he asked, "How much cash do you have on you?" Piper Warth opened her bag and checked. "A little over five hundred… Aubriella, give me the cash you have on you!" Aubriella Looske glared at Reid Quinny, her eyes full of warning. Reluctantly, she opened her bag and pulled out a stack of bills. "Here. I only brought a little over five hundred too." Piper Warth straightened the bills and handed them to Reid Quinny. "Sorry. Between the two of us, we only have about a thousand in cash. How about you wait a bit? I'll go to a nearby bank and withdraw more." "No need." Reid Quinny nodded as if it were only natural. "Since you're someone with fate, I'll sell it to you at half price." "And these two bottles are a gift." "Goodbye." He took the money, turned, and walked off, vanishing into the crowd in moments. Piper Warth and Aubriella Looske stood there, stunned. "Piper, you definitely got scammed! That bastard… I'm going after him!" Aubriella Looske hiked up her skirt, ready to chase. "Aubriella, forget it. It's only about a thousand dollars." Piper Warth grabbed her arm and stared in the direction Reid Quinny had disappeared, a self-mocking smile tugging at her lips. Aubriella Looske rolled her eyes. "So you know you got played!" "Hmph. If you'd listened, you wouldn't have insisted on being a sucker." Piper Warth didn't answer. The moment he insisted on cash only, she had already suspected she was being fooled. But even if there was the slightest hope, she still wanted to try. After getting the money, Reid Quinny went to a carrier shop and bought a phone. Then he grabbed a set of sportswear and changed his hairstyle to something more ordinary. If he was going to live in the Homelands for a while, his Celestial Realm getup was far too eye-catching. He found a small restaurant and ate, then finally headed home. A little over a thousand dollars would keep him afloat for a while. That night, Reid Quinny continued cultivating at home. He didn't know how much time passed before he heard a soft click at the door, as if someone was unlocking it with a key. On the balcony, Reid Quinny opened his eyes. In his vision, the pitch-black room brightened as if it were daytime. In the darkness, a small figure slipped into the apartment. She locked the door behind her and sagged against it, gulping air in ragged breaths. A moment later, hurried footsteps pounded outside. Then came a storm of knocking. Thud, thud, thud, thud… As soon as it stopped, a vicious voice barked through the door. "Open up! I know you're in there. Get out here!" "Not opening? Fine. There's no food or water in there. Let's see how long you can last!" "Wuwu…" The small figure pressed a hand over her mouth, muffling a low, trembling sob. "Who are you? Why do you have a key to my place?" Reid Quinny appeared in the living room without a sound. He looked at the small figure's back and asked evenly. It was a girl, dressed in rags, like a little beggar. "Who… who's there?" Terror shook her voice. Reid Quinny saw her whole body trembling. He lifted a finger. A thread of spiritual energy struck the light switch. Click! The living room flooded with light. The sudden brightness made the girl squeeze her eyes shut. After a few seconds, she slowly opened them again. When she saw Reid Quinny, her eyes widened, disbelief crashing over her face. "Brother… is that you? Is it really you? You're finally back!" "Wuwu…"