The rain kept falling without end. Dawn came late, about an hour after it usually did. A layer of mist hung over the forest below the peak and the trees stood in a fog, full of mystery and a certain primitiveness. 

Up on the huge rock, Xia Lei watched the forest down below; he was on high alert. The rain and the mist affected his vision. His left eye could see up to 4,000 metres under normal circumstances but he could only see about 1,000 metres now.  

A mass of rock sat under the peak, with no vegetation. The wind also dispersed the fog in time, otherwise Ahn Suhyeong’s men could have sneaked close under its cover. Close combat was something he definitely couldn’t take. 

Next to him, Jiang Ruyi was still asleep. She had stayed up with him right before dawn, till she could not hold on anymore. The periods of anxiousness and tiredness from climbing the...