People with little value were treated as expendable. It was a helpless situation, but also a harsh reality. What pained Jiang Cheng even more was that the team ahead of them probably knew this, too. But they had their orders, and they had their duty to fulfill. In essence, these people were just countless brief, miniature versions of the Night Watch who had been kept in the dark.
After walking for about an hour, the woods gradually grew denser, and the path beneath their feet became harder to navigate. The thick layer of leaves softened underfoot, giving them an unsettling sense of instability. Jiang Cheng's steps faltered. A strange sensation rose from deep within him. It was as if... as if he were stepping on a rotting corpse oozing pus.
Before they knew it, they had entered the depths of the woods. The trees grew taller and taller, their canopies blotting out the sky. Less and less light filtered through the gaps in the branches overhead.
"Something's not right. Aren't we supposed to be going down the mountain? Why does it feel like we're heading deeper into it?"
The Fatty pulled his foot from the thick leaves and couldn't help speaking up.
"Something is indeed strange."
Mount Luoyun turned and gestured. The camouflage-clad man who had been wearing earphones came over. "I've confirmed our route with the team up ahead. We're headed in the right direction. Everything's normal. We should be out of this mountain in about an hour."
As they hesitated, someone behind them suddenly spoke, their voice urgent. The entire team stirred, and when they looked in the direction he was pointing, they saw the view in the distance blur as a bank of mist drifted silently toward them.
A middle-aged man wearing glasses and a jungle combat