[Behind the mask, there's a hint of lowered eyelids as the spirit watches the two, then squints at their lanterns in something like disgust before turning their gaze to the forest floor. They scrape in the snow until a pine cone shows itself, which they place beside a small sapling.]

y̸o̶u̴ ̷s̵e̴e̷ ̸t̷h̶i̴s̴

[Those green eyes focus sharply as it holds up the cone first, then drops it and points to the scrawny little two-foot pine. One, a seed; the other half-grown. Once the spirit seems certain that Pudding and Cao Pi understand that connection, it wraps those long backwards fingers around the sapling and tears it out of the soil, brings it to their mouth, and shreds off the bark in one long pull through very sharp teeth, then drops the sapling to the ground and spits out sap and plant matter.]

̵n̸o̷t̵ ̸h̴a̴v̷e̶ ̶s̷e̴v̷e̸n̷-̷e̵y̴e̷s̵ ̵g̵r̴o̷w̷ ̷t̴o̷ ̸c̷o̵m̸m̷a̶n̸d̸

[They take what remains of the sapling and break it a few times in their hands for good measure as they incline their masked face toward the nearest tree. Then, using a snapped shard of wood to point, the spirit gestures to itself.]

̴t̶h̴i̵s̶ ̷f̶o̵l̶l̵o̷w̸ ̵n̸o̸ ̵r̶u̴l̴e̵ ̵b̵u̴t̴ ̶t̷h̴i̶s̵

̵̺̀ș̷͋o̸̦̒m̷̞͊e̴̼͋ ̵̼̊ȃ̷̢ĺ̶̨l̶͓̓ ̴͚͐a̴͉͘g̶͚̉ȑ̷̪ë̸̹́ẻ̵̱,̶̯̀ ̸͇̒ẃ̶͉e̶͍̊ ̸̞͋s̵͔̍t̷͓͊ỏ̷̝p̴̩͑ ̴̗̽ṱ̸̔h̶̻͂í̵͇s̶͚͊ ̷̟̃ḇ̷̈́ẽ̶̟f̶̰́ô̸͔r̴̫͆e̴̞͂ ̵͉͆b̶̲̂ẽ̵̳c̶̦̕o̷̲̕m̵̢̒e̷̮̚

[Another sharp nod at the tree]

e̶͖͎̲̐̓n̶͙̜̜̾͆d̵̥͚̓͂̂̃ ̵̨̨̙͖͎̆̆̀̐͐ͅỏ̴̯̾͛́̍f̷̭̱͔͉̓̏͊͂̎ ̴̞̲̓̓̓̈̑͜a̴̡̭̒̇l̴̢̦͕̟͙̓̈́̈́͝l̸̜͖̼̫͛͗͒ ̴̻͙̎̓̓̎̅̉l̵̙͋͌̓͘͝ï̷͉̍̎̕̕͠g̶̺̉̀̎͝͠h̸̼̤͈̃́̑̈́ẗ̴̪̟͙͒̈͝