Chapter 670: Chapter 670: I Won’t Leave Them
However, before her mother could reply, her father suddenly stepped forward from the crowd.
His expression was extremely serious, his roots tensing underneath the snow. This time, he had completely lost his patience with her stubbornness.
"Enough, Hua’er." His voice became deep and heavy.
"Do you have any idea what happened after you suddenly disappeared from the group? We searched for you everywhere! We retraced every single path we had ever travelled. We searched mountain after mountain, forest after forest, risking our lives near beast settlements, but we could not find a single trace of you."
He stepped closer, his shadow falling over her.
"We thought something terrible had happened to you. We thought you had been captured by hunters, or that you had died alone in the winter cold."
"We spent months in absolute agony searching for you. Only with your grandfather’s great help were we finally able to locate a faint trace of your aura today."
"And now, after all that endless effort, you are telling us that you want to abandon your own flesh and blood for a group of dangerous outsiders? Hua, have you completely lost your mind?"
Little Hua’s tears flowed even faster now, her leaves drooping heavily.
She did not know how to answer him. She felt torn apart. On one side was her real family, who had searched for her for months out of love.
On the other side was the Female Master, Stove, and everyone else who had protected and cherished her. How was she supposed to choose between them?
Seeing her daughter crying so pitifully, the mother plant immediately glared at her husband.
"Why are you yelling at her so harshly? She is still a child! Of course she was easily deceived by their sweet words."
Her mother moved closer, extending a soft green vine to gently touch and soothe Little Hua’s trembling leaves.
"Good girl, come home with us now. Once you leave those beastmen behind and return to the deep mountains, you will slowly forget about them. You will eventually understand that we are doing all of this for your own good."
"We are rare spiritual plants, Hua. We cannot expose ourselves to the world. If other beastmen discover what you are, they will hunt you down, capture you, and use you up. We cannot allow that to happen to our daughter."
The surrounding spiritual plants all nodded their heads in deep agreement.
They had spent their entire lives hiding in the shadows of the mountains, terrified of the world. To them, beastmen were the ultimate apex predators.
Trusting them was absolutely impossible.
However, despite her fear, Little Hua suddenly took a step back, pulling her vine out of her mother’s gentle touch. Her leaves were still trembling violently, but this time, her small stem straightened up, and her eyes were fierce and firm.
"No."
The moment the word left her mouth, everyone froze in absolute shock.
Little Hua looked at her mother, then at her father, and finally at her stern grandfather. She shook her leaves with total determination.
"I won’t go."
The entire snowy mountain instantly fell into a dead, stunned silence. Only the howling of the winter wind could be heard.
Little Hua’s tears continued to fall, splashing onto the frozen ground, but she still repeated herself, her tone stubborn and unyielding.
"I won’t go back with the group. They are my family too! I want to stay with the Female Master. I want to stay with Stove and everyone else in the house. No matter what any of you say... I won’t leave them."
"Female Master is really a good person! She loves all kinds of plants. She talks to us every day, she takes care of us, and her spiritual energy is so incredibly warm and soothing! You only need to meet her once, and you will understand. I’m not lying to you! She is really good. In my eyes, she is just like the Forest Mother!"
The moment those sacred words came out of her mouth, the old spiritual plant became absolutely furious.
"What utter nonsense!" he thundered, his gray-green leaves rustling violently as if a storm had just hit them.
"You dare compare a mere beastwoman to the great Forest Mother? Have you completely lost your mind, child? The Forest Mother protects all living things in nature. How can a greedy, selfish beastman ever be compared to her? You have truly been blinded by them!"
Little Hua shrank back in sheer terror, her leaves curling inward as her grandfather’s powerful aura pressed down on her.
However, the old spiritual plant no longer wanted to continue arguing with a brainwashed child.
He turned his stern gaze toward the younger spiritual plants gathered behind him and commanded coldly, "Take her. We are leaving today. We will return to Green Spirit Mountain immediately."
Little Hua froze, her eyes widening in absolute disbelief. Then, she immediately cried out in a panic, "No! I won’t go!"
She turned her stem around and tried to scramble away, attempting to escape into the thick snow.
However, before she could move more than a few inches, several tall spiritual plants stepped forward and completely blocked her path.
One after another, her brothers surrounded her until fifteen of them stood in a tight, unyielding circle.
Every single direction was blocked. Little Hua’s tears flowed even faster, soaking into the snow beneath her roots.
"You all... move away!" she sobbed, waving her tiny vines. "I don’t want to leave! Let me go!"
One of the older spiritual plants let out a heavy sigh, his leaves drooping slightly with sympathy. "Little Hua, stop making trouble. We have to go home now."
Another brother nodded in agreement. "Grandfather is right, little sister. The outside world is far too dangerous for us. You belong with the group. You should stay with us where it’s safe."
Little Hua looked at each of their familiar faces, and her heart hurt badly.
Ever since she had sprouted, these fifteen brothers had always protected her from everything.
Whenever she wanted a specific nutrient or a sweet drop of morning dew, they would forage the mountains to find it for her. Whenever she was in danger from wild animals, they would form a wall to shield her.
She did not want to fight with her precious brothers, but she also absolutely did not want to leave her life in the city.
She thought of Stove, her silly plant husband. She thought of the Female Master’s gentle, warm hands.
She thought of the little fluffy cubs who always giggled and played with her leaves without ever harming her.
Her leaves trembled with deep sorrow. "I don’t want to go. Please... at least let me go back one last time. I just want to tell them goodbye. Okay? I promise I’ll come back to the mountain after that!"
However, nobody in the circle agreed. To the clan elders and her brothers, that was completely impossible.
What if those greedy beastmen captured her? What if she escaped from them again and refused to ever return to the mountains?
Without waiting any longer, several of the stronger brothers extended their long, green vines and wrapped them firmly around her stem.
