First-Round Disaster
"Why won't this rain ever stop..."
Hou Guisheng wore a long raincoat. He raised a hand to brush droplets from his sleeve and exhaled a stream of smoke.
The pungent smell of nicotine mixed with rainwater and mud, making the world he breathed in unbearably filthy.
"Manager Hou, it's about time. We should get moving."
The long-haired young man beside him, his hair tied into a braid, carried an exaggeratedly shaped scythe and reminded him in a low voice.
Behind them, figures crouched at the foot of the mountain straightened one after another, forming a long line in the shadows.
Hou Guisheng swung his army-green shoulder bag behind him, discreetly dropped a White Rabbit Candy at his feet, took a deep drag, and became the first to climb from the foot of the mountain.
Tianming Mountain was more than just a cemetery. The cemetery only occupied the southeastern part of the mountain; the other two sides were actually desolate wilderness. As the highest point in Shanming City, and even the tallest peak in the Hujiang Region, its abandonment and eventual conversion into a cemetery were historical leftovers.
But anyone who knew Tianming Mountain understood that it was far from a simple cemetery. Its situation was extremely complicated.
The cemetery lay on the southeastern side, which was also the main route up the mountain. To the north and west were sheer cliffs no human could climb.
And the direction Hou Guisheng was leading Branch No. 3 now was East Mountain, east of the southeast side.
The road was muddy beyond belief, and the forest terrain was rugged and difficult. Hou Guisheng's rain boots were caked in sludge, and each time he lifted a leg, his next step became heavier.
They had abandoned the main entrance beneath the white archway