diff --git a/src/const.ts b/src/const.ts
index 40089a0..a114416 100644
--- a/src/const.ts
+++ b/src/const.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_EXCLUDED_PATH = [
 	"webpack.config.js",
 	"**/*.min.js",
 	"tsconfig.js",
-	"**.test.**",
+	"**/*.test.*",
 	"tests",
 ];
 
diff --git a/src/fs/glob.ts b/src/fs/glob.ts
index 2cfb446..e98b163 100644
--- a/src/fs/glob.ts
+++ b/src/fs/glob.ts
@@ -38,25 +38,23 @@ export function getParser(
 	}
 }
 
-// Build the ignore function for Glob
-export const ignoreFunc = (
-	filePath: Path,
-	excludedPatterns: string[],
-): boolean => {
-	return excludedPatterns.some((exclude) => {
+/**
+ * Classify exclude patterns into directory names (for tree pruning)
+ * and file/glob patterns (for per-file filtering).
+ */
+export function classifyExcludes(excludedPatterns: string[]) {
+	const dirs: string[] = [];
+	const filePatterns: string[] = [];
+	for (const exclude of excludedPatterns) {
 		const type = detectPatternType(exclude);
-		// return true to ignore
-		switch (type) {
-			case "file":
-				return filePath.isNamed(exclude);
-			case "directory":
-				return filePath.relative().includes(exclude);
-			default:
-				// Handle glob patterns using minimatch
-				return minimatch(filePath.relative(), exclude);
+		if (type === "directory") {
+			dirs.push(exclude);
+		} else {
+			filePatterns.push(exclude);
 		}
-	}) as boolean;
-};
+	}
+	return { dirs, filePatterns };
+}
 
 /**
  * Retrieves a list of files based on the provided arguments and patterns.
@@ -66,16 +64,26 @@ export const ignoreFunc = (
  * @return A promise that resolves to an array of file paths.
  */
 export async function getFiles(args: Args, pattern: Patterns): Promise<string[]> {
-	// 1. Create the Glob instance
+	const { dirs, filePatterns } = classifyExcludes(pattern.exclude);
+
 	const g = new Glob(pattern.include, {
 		ignore: {
-			ignored: (p: Path) => ignoreFunc(p, pattern.exclude),
+			// Prune entire directory subtrees — glob won't enter these dirs at all
+			childrenIgnored: (p: Path) => dirs.some((d) => p.isNamed(d)),
+			// Filter individual files by name or glob pattern
+			ignored: (p: Path) =>
+				filePatterns.some((fp) => {
+					const type = detectPatternType(fp);
+					if (type === "file") {
+						return p.isNamed(fp);
+					}
+					return minimatch(p.relative(), fp);
+				}),
 		},
 		nodir: true,
 		cwd: args.paths.cwd,
 		root: args.paths.root ? path.resolve(args.paths.root) : undefined,
 	});
 
-	// 2. Return the walk() promise, which resolves to an array of all file paths
 	return g.walk();
 }
diff --git a/src/parser/tree.ts b/src/parser/tree.ts
index f042440..d37f651 100644
--- a/src/parser/tree.ts
+++ b/src/parser/tree.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,24 @@ function collectComments(node: SyntaxNode): string | undefined {
 	return undefined;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Map of escape characters to their resolved values.
+ * Used by both PHP (encapsed_string) and JS (string) handlers.
+ */
+const escapeMap: Record<string, string> = {
+	'n': '\n',
+	'r': '\r',
+	't': '\t',
+	'f': '\f',
+	'v': '\v',
+	'0': '\0',
+	'\\': '\\',
+	'"': '"',
+	"'": "'",
+	'$': '$',
+	'e': '\x1b',
+};
+
 /**
  * Resolves the actual string value from a tree-sitter node,
  * handling escape sequences in double-quoted strings.
@@ -42,19 +60,9 @@ function resolveStringValue(node: SyntaxNode): string {
 		return node.children
 			.map((child) => {
 				if (child.type === 'escape_sequence') {
-					// Unescape common sequences
-					switch (child.text) {
-						case '\\n': return '\n';
-						case '\\r': return '\r';
-						case '\\t': return '\t';
-						case '\\\\': return '\\';
-						case '\\"': return '"';
-						case '\\$': return '$';
-						case '\\e': return '\x1b';
-						case '\\f': return '\f';
-						case '\\v': return '\v';
-						default: return child.text;
-					}
+					// child.text is e.g. "\\n" — the char after the backslash is the key
+					const ch = child.text.slice(1);
+					return ch in escapeMap ? escapeMap[ch] : child.text;
 				}
 				// Return literal content
 				if (child.type === 'string_content') {
@@ -75,8 +83,18 @@ function resolveStringValue(node: SyntaxNode): string {
 		// Strip surrounding quotes if present
 		if ((text.startsWith("'") && text.endsWith("'")) ||
 			(text.startsWith('"') && text.endsWith('"'))) {
-			// Remove quotes and unescape escaped quotes
-			return text.slice(1, -1).replace(/\\'/g, "'").replace(/\\\\/g, "\\");
+			const isDouble = text.startsWith('"');
+			let inner = text.slice(1, -1);
+			if (isDouble) {
+				// Unescape common escape sequences for double-quoted strings
+				inner = inner.replace(/\\(.)/g, (_match, ch) =>
+					ch in escapeMap ? escapeMap[ch] : _match
+				);
+			} else {
+				// Single-quoted: only unescape \\ and \'
+				inner = inner.replace(/\\'/g, "'").replace(/\\\\/g, "\\");
+			}
+			return inner;
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/utils/common.ts b/src/utils/common.ts
index 6d6b303..ef52ed6 100644
--- a/src/utils/common.ts
+++ b/src/utils/common.ts
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export function detectPatternType(
 	pattern: string,
 ): "file" | "directory" | "glob" {
 	const containsFileExtension = pattern.includes(".");
-	const containsDirectorySeparator = pattern.includes(path.sep);
+	const containsDirectorySeparator = pattern.includes("/");
 
 	if (pattern.includes("*")) {
 		return "glob";