The air outside the maze carried a different weight. After hours of silence, tension, and the constant gnaw of danger at their heels, the open expanse seemed almost unreal. The sky stretched wide and pale, washed with the faint blush of a setting sun, and the breeze that passed carried the mingled scents of dust, sweat, and the faint sweetness of roasted skewers drifting from makeshift stalls nearby.
Feng Jiao Xue dragged Mo Tianze toward a quieter corner, away from the thickest clusters of contestants who were either boasting loudly about their victory or nursing hidden injuries under lowered gazes. She preferred distance. Noise unsettled her too many voices, too many unknown hands reaching close, but she allowed Tianze to follow without resistance, the boy's fox ears twitching lightly as if to catch every sound in the restless crowd.
