The three of them walked along the mountain path, carrying their lanterns. The surroundings were pitch-black, and the weather was so cold that even the ground was frozen. The steps along the mountain path were almost fully covered in pure white snow, making it basically impossible to discern the shape of the step itself. It was only under the faint yellow light of the lanterns that one could vaguely see a few of the markers for the mountain path. It was extremely hard to move forward; every step taken left an imprint that was half a foot deep in the snow.
The sky was empty of both the stars and the moon, leaving a lead-like layer of clouds. In the forest on either side of the mountain path, there were no sounds from any of the insects. The only thing one could hear was the cold whistle of the wind.
Today's job was clearly going to be much more difficult than before. Even just bringing water up the mountain was not going to be an easy task.
