Jared halted. With a whisper, he told the little fire unicorn to mask its presence. Together they melted into the bramble’s shadow, inching forward until a gap in the thorns framed the scene like a secret window.

A broad, bowl-shaped hollow stretched beyond the thicket. There, five cultivators in identical black robes hunted two fugitives.

Golden thread at each sleeve embroidered a warped demon skull-icon of the Infinite Soul Demon Sect-gnashing as though devouring souls.

The quarry were beast-folk, not full humans.

The male stood nearly ten feet tall, bronze skin striped with faint tiger markings. A king’s sigil blazed on his brow. He wielded a door-wide axe, every sweep roaring with sovereign ferocity.

Beside him, a lithe huntress moved with panther grace. Wheat-brown skin, wild beauty, eyes of vertical amber slits. A ring-banded leopard tail flicked behind her.

Twin daggers flashed in her hands like falling stars. Their auras were strong yet disciplined-cultivated beast energy, not the mindless rage of forest fiends.