"Who's there?" Wuman'er asked in surprise, hurriedly looking around.
Shen Luo looked straight up into the air instead. There was a barely noticeable bend in the red thread attached beneath the Wayfinding Lantern.
As soon as Wuman'er spoke, a slender, palm-sized figure appeared. It was the Leaf Spirit Sprite they had released earlier, half reclining, half sitting on the red thread and weighing it down into a bend.
"It's you! Why have you come back...?" Wuman'er asked, pleasantly surprised.
"This little one never left. She's been hiding herself and following us all along," Shen Luo said.
"What? I didn't notice a thing," Wuman'er said in astonishment.
"You could detect me?" The Leaf Spirit Sprite was surprised as well.
"Not without concentrating and examining carefully," Shen Luo said.
Only then did Wuman'er realize that, though Shen Luo had seemed calm and relaxed throughout their journey, he had been keeping his divine thought extended ever since they entered Cloud Dream Marsh, carefully watching their surroundings.
"So you saved that Frog Spirit Monster because you knew I was following you?" The Leaf Spirit Sprite rose from the red thread and hovered in midair, her arms folded.
The question was rather baffling. Wuman'er looked at the sprite in confusion.
It took Shen Luo a moment to understand as well, before he laughed despite himself. "I simply lent a hand. Would I really need to do that just to win your favor?"
Only then did Wuman'er understand.
The Leaf Spirit Sprite had mistakenly assumed that Shen Luo had released her earlier and later rescued the Frog Spirit Monster merely to put on a show for her, hoping to gain her favor and achieve some hidden, unspeakable purpose.
Shen Luo's response, however, told her perfectly clearly: she was overthinking it!
The Leaf Spirit Sprite's little face