Upon noticing that the Mushroom spirit was talking to someone behind him, the chubby child immediately turned around to face the intruder. Then unexpectedly so, it wasn't Ben Mo who leapt into Li Meirong's arms, but rather, the chubby radish boy himself!
"Master!"
The boy with curls like seaweed had all but forgotten his ardent task and had instantly forsaken the mushroom, dashing to Li Meirong with big watery eyes and nearly knocking away the unsuspecting fox cub who stood in his path.
Despite his small build, the boy's heavy weight and lightning speed were enough to knock down Li Meirong onto the damp soil without even a moment for her to get out of harm's way. Luckily, she landed on her butt, with the radish boy's grubby arms grasping her snugly around the neck.
"Master left for too long!" The boy wept in anguish, his tone sounding strangely familiar.
Still in a state of confusion, Li Meirong found herself patting the radish boy's soft plump back as she groaned in discomfort, struggling to support the child's weight with one arm.
"I'm sorry I did… I'm sorry, please stop crying. There, there..." She tried to calm him down, speaking softly in a soothing tone. Seeing as the boy seemed harmless enough, she figured it would be best to pacify him first and foremost.
He sobbed a few times and mumbled, "It's because of that stupid mortal! Ever since he barged into Master's life, Master has all but forgotten about Chou!"
"A stupid mortal? Well if you mean who I think you mean, you don't have to worry about him anymo-" Li Meirong suddenly stopped speaking, she practically choked on her own words midway through the speech and blinked a few times before shrieking in wonderment, "C-chou?!"
How could this be?! Her silly Plant Spirit was a pitcher plant, not a human child.
Listening to Li Meirong's obvious tone of disbelief, Chou distanced himself a tad bit in order to stare directly at her face with deliberate accusation. His big dark eyes shined like ripe grapes under the sunlight as he pointed one short finger straight at her nose, "Who did Master think Chou was? Humph!"
"But you're… You're a baby. A human looking baby!" Li Meirong still couldn't come to terms with the changes that Chou had undergone, she used both her arms to lift the child higher up in the air, examining him from all sides. There were no vines nor roots or any other such plant-like features, only his hair gave Chou's otherworldly identity away… She had never seen a person with locks that look like wet leaves before...
"Isn't Master proud? Chou is so powerful now!" Chou smirked triumphantly, flexing one fatty arm as though he was displaying a magnificently muscular bicep.
'Ahem…' Ben Mo coughed rather awkwardly and tried to gain his odd master's attention, swaying his mushroom cap left and right, 'This is all well and good, but this crazy radish just tried to kill me! What about that important little fact, huh?!'