The slender, handsome young man stepped onto the pale stone stairs. Rainwater streamed down them like a river as he climbed, one step at a time.
Amid the torrential rain and gathering fog, he seemed to see three figures standing at the top of the stairs, smiling and waving at him.
"Dad, Mom, and my brother... wait for me..."
Xue Tingtao closed his eyes, took a deep breath of the mountain air, and lifted his head as he walked toward his parents' and brother's graves.
"Manager, our goal isn't the Puzzle Piece Fragment or the hunt. We only need one ghost. Just one. Remember that!"
Wei Guang gently tugged at his coat and reminded him in a low voice amid the downpour.
His keen instincts had already picked up something unusual, but it certainly wasn't coming solely from the ghosts on Tianming Mountain.
There were also... the four people walking ahead.
Ji Li leaned on his cane, his footing slightly unsteady in the torrential rain, yet he walked at the very front of the group.
He wore a dark raincoat that nearly blended into the surrounding gloom, his figure indistinct within the fog.
The time reached 5:40, the appointed start of the hunt.
No sound came from Hou Guisheng over the communicator. Instead, an unfamiliar man feigned composure and gave the signal to begin.
"Manager Ji, we're ready. It's just that Manager Hou... left midway..."
Receiving the signal, Ji Li stopped on the stairs and turned to look down at those behind him.
He saw Fang Shenyan, Xiao Qian Duyue, Mei Sheng, Xue Tingtao, Wei Guang, and the ten frightened employees of the Fourth Branch.
And at the far end of the fog, by the white ceremonial arch at the foot of Tianming Mountain, the slightly plump man with golden