Quick Travel to the Clouds

Meanwhile, at the place they fled to—the edge of the forest.

When those two piercing, desperate screams abruptly ceased, a deathly silence weighed heavily on the hearts of all the female slaves who were still foraging nearby.

A few of the bolder females, driven by fear and curiosity, cautiously approached the hollow behind the bushes.

The sight before them terrified them.

The two tiger soldiers' large, strong bodies were now twisting and twitching on the ground like skinned snakes, their faces frozen in extreme pain and fear.

Blood, filth, and an indescribable stench filled the air. The oppressive aura that once represented supreme rule was now nothing but a terrifying aura of death.

"Oh my god..." A girl with ram's horns and old whip marks on her face covered her mouth, trying to suppress the urge to vomit.

"They...are dead? Who...killed them?" A deer-tribe girl with spotted ears chattered.

Fear spread like a plague in an instant. After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in chaos.

A group of young female slaves, their eyes still burning with resentment and a hint of fire—the deer girl, the agile antelope girl, and two relatively strong rodents—exchanged glances.

The corpses of the two tiger soldiers seemed to ignite a long-dormant spark in their hearts.

Freedom—the word seems so pale yet so alluring in the face of death.

Escape! Escape this hell! Even if it means dying on the road to freedom!

"Run!" the deer girl shouted, turned sharply, and rushed into the depths of the forest in another direction.

"Hurry up! Otherwise we'll all die!" The antelope girl followed closely behind, even grabbing a sharp-edged stone from the ground in her panic.

The other two quickly followed, disappearing into the forest, their movements clumsy yet resolute. They understood that staying would only lead to the tiger clan's furious retaliation.

However, many more figures remained frozen in place, trembling, their eyes filled with boundless despair.

Several female mammals, each holding a cub, huddled together tightly, the cubs too frightened to utter a sound.

An elderly woman from the tortoise clan, her cloudy eyes brimming with tears, kept shaking her head and muttering to herself:

“Run? Where can we run... The forest is the tigers' territory... They'll tear us apart... There's nowhere to hide, nothing to eat..."

"We...we'll go back and admit our mistakes...maybe then we can live..."

"Go back...at least there's still some food there...I won't die right away..."

They were not cowards, but the reality of survival was more cruel than the tiger clan's whip.

For these slaves who had been kept in captivity for a long time and whose strength had been drained, surviving alone in a primeval forest full of wild beasts, poisonous insects, and complex terrain was almost a certain death sentence.

Going back, though it meant being enslaved again, beaten, or even subjected to more brutal punishment, might not be an immediate end. At least in the familiar slave camp, one would know where to find a few pitiful scraps of food.

Some of the panicked slaves scattered and fled into the forest (though the future was bleak), while others, like a flock of frightened sheep, after a brief period of chaos, were involuntarily driven by fear to begin walking back along the way they came, their steps heavy and their heads turning back every few steps.

They wanted to go back to "report the news," carrying a contradictory fear that bordered on self-destruction.

Unbeknownst to them, an even greater storm was about to descend upon that cold stone neighborhood...

Yun Chu was unaware of the silent division that was taking place at the edge of the forest. She pulled the fox-girl along as they ran through the increasingly dark and deep woods.

The stream and chaotic tracks behind them might buy them some time, but not much. The tiger warriors' hunting prowess was far beyond their comprehension.

The brand on my shoulder is still burning, and every breath feels like swallowing a knife.

The fox-girl beside them seemed to be nearing her physical limit, her steps growing increasingly unsteady. Their food source—the vine basket that held the secret of the deadly poison—had long been lost in their desperate escape, and hunger, like a cold snake, coiled around their stomachs.

The road ahead leads into a dense, inky forest, where what lurks? Unknown beasts? More deadly traps? Or endless despair?

Yun Chu did not turn around.

Survive, only by surviving can we hope to find You and complete the mission...

Yun Chu gripped the fox girl's hand tightly—this cold, trembling hand was now her only companion—and plunged headlong into the even thicker darkness.

Live on... whether the road ahead leads to an abyss or a glimmer of light... you must live on!

The icy stream and rough pebbles jolted Yun Chu out of her near-numb consciousness and temporarily suppressed the burning pain of the brand on her shoulder. She and the fox girl clung to the slippery, moss-covered rocks, panting heavily, each breath feeling like a knife cutting through their throats.

The deathly silence in the forest was like a thick tarpaulin, suffocating one. In the distance, the chilling burps and roars of the tiger soldiers on their deathbed seemed to linger—a death countdown.

"They...they'll find us..." Only now did Yun Chu notice the mud-covered, innocent, and terrified face beneath her orange fur. Her voice trembled like a candle flickering in the wind. "We...we'll kill..."

"Shut up!" Yun Chu interrupted her immediately, her voice even colder than her expression. "If you want to live, don't mention those two words! Now listen to me, let's go!" She dared not rest; the shadow of death almost solidified, hovering above her head.

The escape begins again.

This time, the route was even more difficult. They no longer followed the animal trails, but instead chose places full of thorns, vines, and steep cliffs.

Taking advantage of the rabbit tribe's agility, Yun Chu even forcibly dragged the frail fox girl as she climbed between rock crevices and thick ancient tree branches.

She carefully dealt with all traces behind her: straightened broken branches, smoothed out trampled moss, and swept fallen leaves back to their original places, like a hare being chased by a falcon, using every primitive means to erase her presence.

Hunger gripped his stomach like a cold claw, and the small wicker basket, along with the only bitter rations inside, had long been lost on his desperate journey.

When they were exhausted, they finally made a brief stop in a remote fern valley, where they huddled in a damp tree hollow half-covered by huge mountain vines, and an atmosphere of despair weighed heavily on them.

"I...I'm so hungry I can barely walk..." The fox-girl hugged her knees, her voice trembling with sobs, her body shaking uncontrollably. The continuous high-intensity escape and the fear of the future had exhausted her remaining strength.

Yun Chu was no different. Hunger and exhaustion made her vision blur, and the pain from the brand on her shoulder became sharp again. She leaned against the damp, cold tree trunk, the icy touch bringing her slightly more clarity.

To survive... she had to find food! This thought became the only pillar supporting her nerves.

She could use her spatial dimension, which contained a lot of food, but she dared not reveal it to the fox-girl.

She doesn't dare to gamble!