Weird thing happened.  I went to a pillager outpost and had 3 cats with me.  I was killed and when I got into proximity of the outpost, the cats warped to my position, and I took off.  I went a few hundred blocks, and seen the pillagers had caught up with me.  That's not normal pathfinding.  But, I went further and forgot about them and didn't think anything of it...just a weird event.  Then, later on, the same pillagers show up homing in on, what I thought, was me.

It was when I made the 3 cats sit and I went somewhere that the pillagers that were following me went off in their own directions as if they weren't ever after anything or even a group of pillagers...they spread out...so I guess those pillagers really wanted those cats huh...

To reproduce, tame some cats, go to a pillager outpost and run away from pillager until they kill you.  Respawn, run until your cats warp back to you, you'll see the pillagers chasing after you from that great distance like they're chasing your cats.  Then, go farther and father away and then sit and wait for them.  They'll eventually catch up.  It's weird.