Far behind Ling Jian and his group were seven to eight others proceeding forward in a fan shape. While their speed was praiseworthy, compared to Ling Jian and company, the group could be considered like tortoises crawling.
But their work was more important.
They were tasked to scrutinize the area, finding possible routes that would allow the army, horses, and logistics to pass by easily. With precipitous cliffs along the journey, as well as accumulated snow almost half the height of a person and the snow flurries that blocked out most of their vision, such work was incredibly dangerous. Thus their responsibility was all the greater! A slight miscalculation and this would cause irreparable damage to the thousands of troops when they fell into the abyss...
Every one of them had on a long rope in their hands, such that if they misstepped and fell into a ravine, then their teammates would be able to use the rope to pull them back to safety...
