Dawn did not bring warmth.
Mist curled low through the forest, clinging to bark and stone as if reluctant to leave. Birds remained silent. Even the insects seemed to sense that something in the balance of the world had shifted.
Feng Lihan stood at the cave entrance, eyes fixed on the horizon where pale light bled through the trees.
He hadn't imagined it.
That ripple—faint but unmistakable—had brushed against his perception just before sunrise. Not an attack.
Not yet.
A probe.
Behind him, Lin Yue stirred.
He sat up slowly, fingers pressing against his chest, as if reassuring himself that his heart was still there—still beating steadily.
"You felt it too," Feng Lihan said without turning.
Lin Yue looked at him, startled. "…Yes."
Silence stretched between them.
Mo Shan emerged from the shadows, his expression grim. "Snake Clan technique," he said. "Long-range life-sense grazing. They didn't lock on—but they were close enough to taste him."
Lin Yue's fingers curled into the blanket. "So it wasn't a dream."
"No," Feng Lihan replied. "It was a warning."
"Or a test," Mo Shan added.
Lin Yue swallowed. "What do they want from me?"
The question hung in the air—heavy, fragile.
Feng Lihan finally turned. His gaze was steady, but there was something sharpened beneath it, an edge that hadn't been there before.
"They want what you can do," he said. "And what you are."
Lin Yue exhaled slowly. "Golden life-element."
Mo Shan laughed softly, without humor. "If that was all, you'd already be in chains."
Lin Yue looked up at him.
"They want leverage," Mo Shan continued. "They want you visible. Desired. Protected by many—but owned by none."
Feng Lihan stepped closer.
"Once you're formally under my protection," he said calmly, "no one will touch you."
Mo Shan glanced at Lin Yue and nodded. "Yes. Don't worry. We're here."
Lin Yue hesitated—then nodded. "Yes."
Mo Shan let out a breath. "Six-star breakthrough wasn't enough. I need to break through too."
Feng Lihan's answer was unhurried. "They're waiting."
"Waiting for what?" Lin Yue asked.
"For the child," Feng Lihan said evenly. "They want our child. That's why they're only watching. They won't attack yet."
"They've already noticed you," he continued. "Slowing down only gives them time to plan."
Lin Yue's voice lowered. "What about the Demon Lord?"
Feng Lihan's eyes darkened slightly. "He's injured," he said. "His core was damaged by light-element energy. He won't recover soon."
Feng Lihan stepped even closer.
Close enough that Lin Yue could feel the steady heat of his presence, hear the certainty in his breathing.
"I've been a target my entire life," Feng Lihan said quietly. "This changes nothing."
That wasn't true.
They all knew it.
But Lin Yue nodded anyway.
Feng Lihan placed a hand on Lin Yue's shoulder.
"I know," you are scared. " But don't worry we'll make sure no one takes you from us."
Far away, within unseen territories, eyes continued to open.
Across the Beast World, a single thought spread—slow, inevitable, unstoppable.