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They left at dawn.
Five people and a tiger.
Ma stood at the gate as they passed. She looked at each of them in turn without speaking. When she reached Wen Dao, she said:
"The third waypoint north of here — do not skip it. The cultivation density there is unlike anything on the lower road. You'll know it by the stone color. Black with white streaks. Natural formation, not constructed."
"How far?"
"Six days at traveling pace. Three at speed." She paused. "Travel at speed."
He nodded.
She looked at the group one more time. Her eyes stayed on Li Qing for a moment. Something passed between them — teacher and student, something completed. Then Ma stepped back inside the gate and it closed.
They walked north.
Li Qing moved with the efficiency of someone who had been preparing for this exact journey. Her pack was compact. Her footwork on the mountain trail was precise — she used the terrain rather than fighting it.
Cai Rong had tripled his food supply. He was philosophical about this.
"Long roads require calories," he said.
"They require judgment about weight distribution," Zhou Jin said.
"Also calories," Cai Rong said.
The Tiger came down from the east ridge as they cleared the mountain's lower reach. It appeared from the tree line without announcement and fell in beside Wen Dao at its usual position — left side, shoulder at chest height.
Li Qing looked at it.
"Does it always walk that close?" she said.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Qi shadow function," he said. "The closer it is, the more our combined signatures are suppressed."
She looked at the Tiger's profile. The Tiger looked at her. Briefly. Then looked forward.
"It's assessing me," she said.
"Probably."
"Did it assess the others?"
"When they joined." He kept walking. "It doesn't disapprove of anyone here."
"How do you know?"
"If it disapproved, it would leave."
She was quiet for a moment.
"That's a meaningful endorsement," she said.
"Or a very low bar."
Cai Rong, from behind: "It's an extremely high bar. I personally spent two weeks trying to impress it."
"Did it work?" Li Qing asked.
"It is present. Which I have decided to interpret generously."
The mountain road descended through two hours of switchbacks before flattening onto a northern plain. The terrain was different here — drier, with long grass and scattered stone outcroppings. The forest was behind them. Ahead: open ground for miles, then a dark line of hills on the horizon.
Good for visibility. Also good for being visible.
He kept the Pale Flame sense extended outward at full range. Nothing hostile in the immediate area. Some cultivation signatures far east — a small settlement, probably Iron Claw Alliance territory based on the location.
They made seventeen miles on the first day. Wen Dao pushed the pace and nobody objected. Even the Tiger maintained the speed without visible effort.
At the second hour past sunset, they made camp in a stone formation that provided three-sided shelter. Cai Rong produced dried provisions with the confidence of someone who had planned this specifically.
Zhou Jin set perimeter. Li Qing began a cultivation session without being asked.
Wen Dao sat with the black book — Broken Dawn's letter — and read the third page again.
The ceiling is not oppression. It is a weight-bearing wall.
He thought about River Stone. She had reached the wall and the wall had answered her. Not destroyed her. Answered.
"You're reading that letter again," Cai Rong said.
"Yes."
"How many times is that?"
"Enough."
"What do you find new each time?"
He thought about it.
"The parts I didn't understand before," he said. "Understanding changes what the same words mean."
Cai Rong chewed dried meat thoughtfully. "That's either very profound or very obvious."
"Both," Wen Dao said.
He closed the book and began his cultivation cycle.
Brief integration bursts. Pale Flame plus Question Fist, two seconds, then suppressed. The rhythm had become automatic over three weeks of practice. The entity's quiet interval gave him space. He used it.
At the third watch, a sound from the east.
He was on his feet before the sound completed.
Two cultivators. Level Three. Moving toward their camp at speed — not sneaking, running. Not hunting. Fleeing.
Behind them, heavier footsteps. Three sets.
Someone was chasing two people directly toward their camp.
He looked at the situation for two seconds.
"Up," he said quietly.
Everyone was already moving.