The forest did not feel safe.
Even after the tiger beast had fallen.
Even after the echoes of its roar had long since disappeared into the depths of the mountain.
The silence that followed was not comforting.
It was the kind of silence that watched.
That waited.
That lingered just beyond sight...like something breathing quietly between the trees, unseen but never truly gone.
The wind slipped through the forest in uneven currents, brushing against leaves and branches, carrying faint whispers that never settled into sound. Every shadow felt deeper than it should have been. Every step they had taken still seemed to echo somewhere behind them.
This place...
Did not forgive carelessness.
And it never allowed anyone to feel truly safe.
Jin Yue finished securing the last knot of the tent.
His movements were steady, controlled...just as they always were.
