Translator: CinderTL
The mountain path was damp. Each step sank a few inches into the muddy ground. The Black-Faced Man, wielding a mountain-splitting axe, led the way, clearing a path for the group.
The forest was dense, with tall, broad canopies that only allowed half the sky to peek through. The surroundings were eerily silent.
It felt as though no other living creatures existed in the forest besides them.
Even before entering the tunnel, the group sensed an unsettling aura lingering around them.
A restless, uneasy scent hung in the air, as if foreshadowing an impending event.
"Doctor," Fatty, burdened with a large backpack, leaned over. "There's no path here at all. You don't really believe what Luo He said, do you? Something about him just doesn't feel right."
He worried they were being manipulated by Luo He, especially since they had been tricked into coming here in the first place. This place could easily be a trap.
"I don't know about traps, but the path should be fine," Huai Yi said, panting heavily. A large flashlight hung from his waist, swaying with each step. "I checked the phone map earlier. Once we cross this mountain, the mine is just a short distance away."
In truth, there were originally two easier paths leading to the mine, but according to Luo He, they had been sealed off.
Chen Qiang remained silent and grim-faced throughout the journey. During the earlier introductions, he had noticed that Jiang Cheng had used his real name instead of his usual alias.
This discovery sent a chill down his spine.
Based on his understanding of Jiang Cheng, the man likely had no intention of letting anyone other than their own group leave the mine alive.
Luo He, Fu Fu, and Zhao Xingguo—the three who had plotted against them—were probably doomed to die here.
Chen Qiang felt no resentment toward Jiang Cheng for this. On the contrary, it only strengthened his resolve to follow him.
The journey was quiet, punctuated only by the muddy crunch of their footsteps and occasional hushed conversations.
It wasn't until they had crossed the mountain and descended to a relatively flat mid-slope that the group at the front suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Huai Yi asked, approaching Linghu Yong, who was squatting on the ground.
Though squatting, Linghu Yong's eyes darted around, filled with vigilance. "Someone was here recently."
"How did you know?" Huai Yi glanced around. The ground was covered in mud mixed with fallen leaves, showing no obvious signs of disturbance.
"My father was a hunter. He taught me some methods for erasing footprints in the forest," Linghu Yong explained.
This forest was eerily silent, as if dead. It was unlikely any hunters would venture here, and more importantly, whoever had come had carefully erased their tracks.
This was worth pondering.
"Can you tell how many people were here?" Jiang Cheng stepped forward. He, too, saw nothing unusual, but since Linghu Yong had spoken up, he must have had good reason.
The May Platform Incident in Grey Stone Town had been upgraded to a Class B Supernatural event. Anyone daring to wade into such dangerous waters wouldn't be ordinary.
"It's hard to say exactly, but definitely more than a few," Linghu Yong replied. He walked a few steps forward, pushing aside a thick patch of weeds. "Look here. These grasses have been knocked down by people passing through, but the last person in the group carefully stood them back up."
"They deliberately avoided open spaces, fearing they'd leave footprints."
"We'll need at least a dozen people," Linghu Yong concluded, his gaze fixed on the ground.
"Could it be the group that went missing last time?" Fatty asked, blinking.
"No," Linghu Yong replied, brushing his hand across the grass. "The tracks are fresh, as if they just passed through here."
Anyone entering the Mountain at this time, deliberately avoiding the main paths and choosing secluded trails, had only one likely objective: the mine.
Another group had entered the Mountain, and they were a sizable force.
"Let's speed up."
But before anyone could move, Linghu Yong called them to a halt. He seemed to have noticed something and slowly approached a small mound of earth.
The mound was about twenty meters away, hidden behind a large tree surrounded by moss.
Suddenly, Linghu Yong stumbled, then fell forward as a net spread across the ground sprang up, trapping him inside.
"Ambush!"
Several menacing men emerged from behind the mound, while others rushed toward them from the opposite side.
Within twenty seconds, they were completely surrounded.
To their surprise, the people surrounding them weren't strangers. They were the residents of Grey Stone Town. Among those who had caught up from behind, several faces looked familiar.
There were about twenty people in total. Besides seven or eight burly men, most were elderly.
But don't underestimate these old men. Their exposed arms were tanned with bronze muscles, and they wielded various weapons with murderous intent in their eyes.
They carried pitchforks, cleavers, even advanced mountain axes and professional mountaineering tools like ice axes.
The townspeople's attire was also peculiar. The ambushers who had been hiding behind the earthen mound had worn professional gear. Now, up close, they realized it was a low tent covered with camouflage netting and a layer of fallen leaves for concealment.
"Looks like we stumbled into a black shop," the Black-Faced Strongman said, raising his mountain axe without a hint of fear.
Though outnumbered, as long as the enemy didn't have guns, the outcome remained uncertain.
"What's going on?" Fatty asked in surprise. "Is the whole town a black shop? Or are they trying to silence us for discovering their secret gold mining operation?"
The villagers' gear clearly wasn't their own. It was likely stripped from previous climbers or campers.
Living people wouldn't willingly hand over their equipment, but corpses were much easier to deal with.
Tension filled the air.
"Who are you?" A man in his early forties stepped forward from the crowd, gripping a black mountain cleaver that glinted ominously in the dim light. "What are you doing in the back mountains?"
"If I said I was here for tourism, you wouldn't believe me," Jiang Cheng replied, his eyes narrowed but unafraid. "I heard there's a gold mine in the back mountains, and I'm here to try my luck."
A look of confirmation flashed in the man's eyes. "Put down your weapons. I'll escort you down the mountain. This isn't a place for you."
"Hey, you think we're fools?" Fatty shouted, waving his hiking pole. "If we put down our weapons, you'll let us go? More likely you'll kill us all and bury us in the mountains!"
"No, as long as you come down the mountain and explain your purpose here to the police, we won't harm you," the man insisted.
"Where did you get that badge on your shoulder?" Luo He suddenly spoke, breaking his long silence.
The man in charge was wearing a camouflage jacket. A black object, resembling an ID card, peeked out from beneath the jacket's shoulder.
When the man pulled out the card, Zhao Xingguo, Huai Yi, and the others' expressions immediately changed.
The card was small but felt substantial. It was entirely black, with a striking gold emblem emblazoned on its surface.
"Night Watcher?" Huai Yi gasped.
(End of the Chapter)
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