The soft something within his grasp continues struggling and squirming. Even after determining that the unknown in his hand is not a threat to his person, he still continues gripping it, refusing to let go. Only after the white smoke completely disperses does he register when the thing is.
A being the height of an average cloth doll, its plump and pudgy appearance is extremely adorable. Dull green hair with a tiny flower crown adorning its head, the being is clad in tunic and trousers made from tiny leaves, pale bare feet sticking out from beneath the pants' hem. The expression on its face is full of fear, terrified eyes fixed on Huo Zaiyuan, clearly afraid the human will really throttle it to death.
"What on earth are you?" Loosening his hold slightly so the struggling being in his clutch wouldn't suffocate, Huo Zaiyuan flops down to the floor, asking softly.
Hearing Huo Zaiyuan's question, the little person ceases its wriggling for a while, its pair of sparkling bluish-green jade-like eyes stares at the human before shouting. "Creak...wuu..." Its eyebrows draw downwards, then begins waving its arms around, face filled with anxiety as seems to be trying hard in explaining something to Huo Zaiyuan.
If it was anyone else besides Huo Zaiyuan listening to the mouse-like sounds clearly emitting from the little being, they would probably not understand what it is trying to convey. But strangely enough, Huo Zaiyuan understands the non-human words it is speaking in.
The little being claims it is the tree spirit's inner core Huo Zaiyuan picked up and tossed into the space. After absorbing the rich spiritual energy here, it manages to awaken its consciousness. Because it saw Huo Zaiyuan suddenly appearing, it was afraid the human will harm it, so it tried to hide.
"So that's the case." Huo Zaiyuan nods, indicating his acceptance of the explanation as well as why he is able to understand the little being's speech.
The spiritual energy currently residing in his own body originates from this space. Now that the tree spirit also absorbed the energy here, there exists a kind of connection between them, resulting in both parties understanding each other's words even if they didn't speak the same language.
Seeing Huo Zaiyuan's eyes close and not saying a word, the tree spirit becomes worried, afraid that the human will really hurt it. Its small brow wrinkles as though thinking hard about something before it squeaks at Huo Zaiyuan again.
"Eek...creak..." Both arms waving around, the spirit points towards the plantation outside the house.
"Oh? You say you can help me take care of the crops there if I let you stay in this space ah." Staring at the little being, his gaze shifts to the plantation outside and the crops growing there.
Typically, he doesn't take much notice of the plantation within this space. Besides walking through it when he wants to pick some fruits and vegetables, he doesn't really bother caring for them. Fortunately, this space is really miraculous, not allowing the matured crops to yellow or wither. If this was any other ordinary plantation, almost all his crops would be dead by now.
Opening his hand, he releases the little guy. "Then from now on, I'll trouble you with this space."
Having its freedom returned, the tree spirit eventually offers a dazzling smile as it realises Huo Zaiyuan doesn't have the intention to hurt it. Floating up to the human's shoulder, it plants a kiss on Huo Zaiyuna's cheek before squeaking.
"The peach tree in the formation?" Listening to the tree spirit, Huo Zaiyuan is astounded.
According to the spirit, the peach tree planted in the middle of the array contains a large amount of spiritual energy. Each time it matures as bears fruit, the energy within will flow into the fruit, which is why after the peach is plucked, the tree will return to its sapling state. As long as one waters it with spring water, it will grow and bear fruit again.
The fact that this little spirit is able to gain awareness in these ten short days is all thanks to absorbing the energy from the formation.
And here Huo Zaiyuan had always thought the reason that peach tree returns to its sapling state is because it lost its function. Now, he is finally aware that is not the case.
"I understand. Thank you."
"Cheep...scree..." The little spirit waves it hands, now pointing towards the Holy Nine Dragon Spring Pool with a distressed face.
"You are frightened by the immense spiritual force around it?" Huo Zaiyuan's brow furrows slightly, bottom lip protruding as he considers. "Then I will fill a bamboo bucket with some water from that pool and you can use it to water the peach tree. Since you also need to absorb energy, you can take it from the spring water too."
Towards whoever he considers as his own people, Huo Zaiyuan is very generous. As this little spirit is going to help him take care of his space, then it is only right that he properly pampers it.
Receiving Huo Zaiyuan's permission to stay and freely absorb the spiritual energy within, the tree spirit is extremely joyful, wrapping its tiny arms around Huo Zaiyuan's face and kissing his cheek again.