Hearing this, Pip found it couldn't argue. After all, they really did look a lot like winter gourds.
Thinking about it, Pip spoke up. "That's true. My clan does look a lot like winter gourds."
At this point, Pip felt the need to emphasize a point.
It continued, "Ma'am, to be clear, we only *look* like winter gourds; we're not the edible kind. We are the Shadowmist Clan, a type of Earth Spirit. The ancestor of our line was born from the coalescence of the world's dark earth energy. That's why we have no direct relation to winter gourds whatsoever." This was also why its clan was so skilled at farming—it was an innate talent.
In her human form, Vermilion was a beautiful young woman dressed in red. She had shed her former youthful immaturity and now, as an adult, possessed a tall, slender, and curvaceous figure that radiated a sense of power and explosive strength.
