Mike's words were clearly not what the little tree spirit had expected.

It looked at Mike in surprise and then said a little nervously,

"Are you saying that you'll bring me along?"

There was a hint of expectation in its words. Sure enough, it wanted that answer.

Mike smiled.

"Why not?"

He did not hate the little tree spirit. He even had a good impression of it.

The little tree spirit would leave the village when it grew up.

Then it would be killed by the players.

Mike might be able to change the outcome, and it was just a very easy thing for him.

So, as he said.

Why not?

Upon hearing Mike's words, the little tree spirit gradually turned from nervous to excited.

Of course, it desired to go out and take a look in advance. If not because of its weak strength, it might have already left this place.

"Good, good! If it's possible, then take me with you.

"You're right, why not?"

The little tree spirit happily approached Mike.

However, Mike reached out to stop it and reminded.

"I'm sorry. I have to tell you something first.

"I lied to you just now. We won't come back. Even so, do you still want to leave here with us?"

Hearing this, the little tree spirit did not have time to react before the princess became nervous.

She subconsciously squeezed Mike's hand.

She was worried that the little tree spirit would tell the other adult tree spirits about this.

In fact, even if they did not come back, the adult tree spirits had no right to stop them.

As long as they could pass the test, even the young tree spirits could leave the village. This was the rule.

The princess did not fully understand this, so she was worried.

Though Mike did not care about this.

He knew that the little tree spirit must be longing for the outside world.

This would determine his decision.

"No problem!" the little tree spirit nodded, and then added, "If I want to come back, I'll come back myself."

Mike said nothing at its response.

In fact, if the little tree spirit left the Tree Spirit Village, it could not come back alone.

As long as it left Mike, it would be torn to pieces by other players.

After all, killing it would earn EXP points.

The players saw this kind of killing as a very reasonable thing.

Mike knew that if he did not take the little tree spirit away, it would sooner or later die at the hands of the players.

Unless it stayed here, but obviously, the little tree spirit would not remain here.

It was easy for Mike to protect the little tree spirit, and he was willing to do so from the affection he had developed for it during their brief encounter.

However, if it wanted to return later, Mike would not ask it to stay.

It was not good for Mike.

The sense of fulfillment from a good deed was not enough for Mike to spend too much of his energy on one.

He just nodded and took the princess to the depths of the village.

As for the little tree spirit, it did not notice anything wrong and happily followed.

The two of them and the tree came to the center of the village.

(or was it three tree spirits? At least the little tree spirit thought so. XD)

In the center of the village was a very small pond.

The little tree spirit jumped to Mike's side and pointed at the pond.

"If you want to enter the secret realm, you just have to jump in. This is the entrance."

The princess looked at the pond and held Mike's hand tightly again. She said nervously,

"I... I don't know how to swim."

The little tree spirit immediately became proud again.

"Don't worry. This looks like a pond, but there is no water after you enter."

It seemed to like showing off its "wise man" image, which made it feel satisfied.

Mike glanced at the princess, then at the little tree spirit whose height was only at his knees. He smiled and said,

"In that case, let's set off to the outside world!"

With that, he directly jumped into the pond.

The princess was about to say "Wait" but before she could say anything, Mike pulled her in.

Two consecutive "Plop" sounds came from the pond. The little tree spirit excitedly shouted,

"Yes, yes, let's go to the outside world."

Following that, it also jumped in.

Another "Plop" sound.

The Tree Spirit Village regained its peace, leaving only the surface of the pond with layers of ripples.

..

When Mike opened his eyes and sat up, the little tree spirit was already standing beside him.

Meanwhile, the princess was still lying on the ground, not waking up.

When the little tree spirit saw that Mike had woken up, it excitedly jumped around and said,

"Haha, you're awake too. Obviously, I'm in the first place, and you're in second place.

"And she's in the last place. So lame."

Seeing the lively look of the little tree spirit, Mike could not help but laugh. After all, this was his first loss since his rebirth.

"Is this a competition to see who wakes up first? It sounds very interesting."

"That's right, that's right. It's very interesting." the little tree spirit proudly raised its head and echoed.

"Hmm." the princess, who was lying on the side, grunted softly and slowly opened her eyes.

When Mike saw that the princess had woken up, he smiled and said,

"Looks like we were too loud and woke her up."

"Yes, yes, yes. We woke her up."

The princess opened her eyes, and there was a look of confusion in her eyes. She looked at her surroundings and asked,

"Where... is this?"

Mike looked at the little tree spirit teasingly and said,

"We'll have to ask our clever little tree spirit about this."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm very smart." the little tree spirit was happy again, and added, "also, my name is Stone."

"What?" The princess and Mike showed a half-surprised and half-puzzled look at the same time.

"You are clearly a tree spirit, why are you called Stone?"

Stone said with a puzzled face, "Is it strange? I have been called Stone ever since I was born."

Mike and the princess looked at each other and said nothing.

It seemed that the tree spirits had their own style of naming.

"Then, Mr. Stone, what should we do now?"

Mike looked at the surroundings and asked.

There was no water here, but it gave people a feeling of being underwater. The surroundings were hazy green.

"What should we do? I don't know either. It's my first time here."

Stone answered as if it was a matter of course, but there was a bit of disappointment in its tone.

It could no longer maintain the image of knowing all the answers. It had only been a "wise man" for a short period of time.

"Is that so?" Mike stood up with a smile.

"In that case, let's walk forward and take a look. I'm very curious about what's so special about this secret realm."

The princess also stood up, but she did not say anything.

This was because she had been too uneasy after leaving the City of Light. She could only rely on this adventurer in front of her.

On the other hand, the little tree spirit, Stone, was very excited. It shouted loudly,

"Yes, yes, let's walk forward and have a look."