The moment she heard movement, Xu Zhi became alert. Doggie took on the size of an ordinary hunting wolf and stayed by her side. In the jungle, Xiao Zhen seemed no longer restricted by the narrow mountain path and could fly again, though the air still seemed to impose some limit, preventing it from flying too high.
Little One quietly coiled around her wrist. Little Aberration poked a withered branch out of her pocket, looking like nothing more than an unremarkable ornament. Flames coursed through Xu Zhi's body, while Kitty had long since leaped onto a branch, silently waiting for whoever was ahead to reveal themselves.
At first glance, Xu Zhi seemed to have only a terrifyingly fierce wolf beside her. No one would know that numerous Familiars actually surrounded her in silence, ready to make anyone who entered her sight die without a burial place at a single command from Xu Zhi.
Soon, a figure appeared before Xu Zhi. It was a middle-aged woman. Coincidentally, she too wore a Light Institute uniform, and surprise appeared on her face the instant she saw Xu Zhi.
Only then did Xu Zhi realize that she had merely heard the woman moving and had not sensed her arrival in advance. At first, she had assumed the other woman possessed some method of concealing her aura, but after seeing her surprised expression, she realized that perhaps this jungle simply prevented them from detecting distant people through supernatural auras too early.
Though both wore Light Institute uniforms, neither Xu Zhi nor the middle-aged woman spoke immediately. Xu Zhi was observing because she did not know what this jungle contained or what the woman intended to do. Yet as she watched the woman's expression, she found her strangely wary, as if Xu Zhi were some terrifying