The little figure in red thought she had been exceedingly careful while following her, but she had still been discovered in the end.
"Why are you following me?" Su Jiu's voice was cool and clear.
"Why are you following A Jiu?" the Snow Sprite demanded through gritted teeth. Even the Wind Spirit and Little Pearl beside it grew wary.
The little figure in red paid the Snow Sprite and the others no attention. She imitated a human's cupped-fist bow, looking both comical and adorable. "I'm the spirit of a red fir tree. Everyone usually calls me Hong Xiaoshan. You can call me that too.
"Also, your aura feels wonderfully comfortable to me. If possible, I hope you'll let me follow you!"
"No!"
"You can't!"
"Absolutely not!"
The Snow Sprite, Little Pearl, and the Wind Spirit crossed their arms before their chests in turn, their faces fierce, as though they would tear the Red Fir Tree Spirit apart with their bare hands if Su Jiu dared nod.
Su Jiu chuckled, but still spoke seriously to the tree spirit. "We're outsiders, so we're bound to leave this place. If you follow me, you'll have to leave your true body behind. As far as I know, nature spirits like you can't stay away from their true bodies for too long, can they?"
The Red Fir Tree Spirit clearly had never considered such seemingly profound questions.
She lowered her head and kicked at a clod of earth, apparently thinking. The long red hair spilling down her back swayed along with her gently rocking body.
"Can't I take my true body with me?"
Su Jiu shook her head. "Putting aside whether your true body can even move, let's talk about you. I imagine you've lived in these woods for a long time?"
"It's been over