The sound of fluttering wings forced him to cut the exploratory process short and refocus his attention on the situation outside.
After hiding the orb in his inner shirt pocket Hao Xuan looked towards the source of the noise ready to fight but to his disbelief, a familiar little critter was the source of the sound.
It was the Death Moss that had decided to follow after him from the sanctuary. It was leaping through the air with the help of two large leaves on either side that not only kept it afloat but also sent its entire bulbous body hurling forward.
It tried to stop in time but ended up face-planting a couple of meters in front of him.
"O-oh...are you...okay...?"
He didn't even know if it could feel pain but the more important question was-
"What are you doing here? And what happened to you?? Why do you look like that?"
Its previously long and thin stem was now swollen to about five times the original size.