As time passed, the little fellow grew more and more expressive. Subtle expressions began appearing on its stiff little face, too. Right now, for instance, it looked aggrieved.
It wanted to see Qiao Ranran looking beautiful, too, but Pei Ling always thought it was in the way. He either tossed it into Guai Guai's mouth or hung it beneath the Wooden House's porch. It had never thought anything was wrong with that. But when Qiao Ranran hid it away and wouldn't let it watch, it felt wronged.
If Pei Ling knew what it was thinking, he would surely tell it that this was called taking an inch and reaching for a mile—or knowing its place. It knew its aggrieved look would get it nowhere with Pei Ling, so it behaved itself around him. It also knew Qiao Ranran would respond to its little moods, which was why it felt free to act aggrieved in front of her. Looked at another way, it felt closer to Qiao Ranran and thought she was easier to "bully."
"Please!" Qiao Ranran poked its little cheek. The wooden cheek had somehow acquired an uncanny softness, as though, if this continued, the little fellow might one day become a real person.
Qiao Ranran handed the Little Wooden Puppet a Poison Pill. She had never imagined she would one day make Poison Pills with her own hands—not to attack anyone, but to feed the Little Wooden Puppet like sweets. Besides absorbing Spiritual Qi to cultivate on its own, the little fellow loved all kinds of poisons and could turn their toxins into its own strength.
"Help your granduncle-master out and stir up a little trouble for those people, all right? Don't kill them. Just make them unable to move. Can you do that?"
The Little Wooden Puppet