Even if someone asked it what it was, it would have no idea.
It could not move or "speak." It had only recently begun to sense the outside world. As for that earlier look of "disdain," it had not actually moved at all. It had merely sent out a thought, and Qiao Ranran had picked it up.
In fact, even if Qiao Ranran stuck a silver needle into it, it could not react.
Its first glimmer of awareness had come from Qiao Ranran's silver needle. Whenever she infused it with spiritual power, she seemed to infuse something else as well. From what it had since learned, that something was probably a kind of vitality, and it had given it sentience.
Each time Qiao Ranran used her silver needle on the Little Wooden Puppet, its mind grew clearer. The more it understood, the more it knew. But another force inside the puppet suppressed it, firmly holding back its growth even as it grew stronger. It could sense the outside world, yet it could not control the puppet's body, move, or convey its thoughts to anyone.
Today was the first time Qiao Ranran had sensed its "disdain." If it could, it would have told her that it was not disdain. "Uneasy" would be closer. She had leaned in so close that it felt pressured.
When the Little Wooden Puppet gave no response, Qiao Ranran said nothing more. Her main reason for taking it out was to check the toxicity inside it again. The toxicity had always been quiet, stirring only when something happened to Pei Ling, so she had to seize those chances to sense how it changed.
Pei Ling was at a critical point now, and she wondered whether the Little Wooden Puppet might change too.
By now, Qiao Ranran could