Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 111: Day and Night Reversed

Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Day and Night Reversed

On the seventh and eighth days of the journey, Gu Fan and the others decided to rest during the day and travel at night, thereby reducing the risk to its lowest conceivable extent.

After passing these few days in relative peace, however, the irregularity of their sleep patterns was beginning to take a toll. Nobody voiced their grievances, for the eerie sounds echoing from the recorder still haunted their minds.

They knew they couldn’t go on like this – not Lu Yi and Jie, who knew Gu Fan was intent on finding all twelve missing students, nor anyone else. If they kept going, not only would their chances of finding the missing students dwindle, but their own chances of falling into danger would increase. It just wasn’t worth it anymore.

Not only Gu Fan and his group, but also Teacher Liu, Xu Haowen, Qin Jia, had started harboring the idea of retreat - they too, thought of turning back while it was still possible.

They gathered to discuss the options: continue forward or turn back. As expected, the vast majority of the people wanted to return home. Even getting this far proved their courage, so slipping away wouldn’t be a disgrace.

The only ones who hadn’t voiced any opinion were Professor Luo and Du Jun. After a long bout of silence, Professor Luo finally sighed, shaking his head with a wry smile: "You all are young, you have your whole lives ahead of you. There’s no need for you to take risks for an old man like me. I am old and my health diminishes day by day. If I turn back now, there might never be another chance for me to set foot on this land. Despite holding the title of a professor, I have made no significant contributions in my years of studying foreign history and culture. This might be my only chance, hence I must continue ahead."

Everyone fell silent, not sure what to say. Could they really just abandon Professor Luo?

Teacher Liu clenched his jaw and slapped his thigh: "Oh, what the hell. You molded me into the teacher I am, I can’t just abandon you now. I have to go with you."

Xu Haowen and Qin Jia also asserted, "Don’t try to get rid of us, professor. If we retreat at the first sign of danger, then what’s the point of doing archaeology at all? Isn’t that what you always used to tell us?"

Moved by his students’ determination, Professor Luo felt slightly comforted. He then turned his gaze to Gu Fan and the others.

Ouyang Jin expressed indifference. As the guide, he’d go if they went, and he’d go back if they wanted to return.

Gu Fan hesitated. He admired Professor Luo’s spirit and appreciated Teacher Liu, but he knew he had to be rational and not let his emotions take over. Unlike Professor Luo, his goal wasn’t to find Qian Ye and make a grand contribution to archeology, so he didn’t possess the same spirit and courage.

Gu Fan was just trying to find the missing students. This wasn’t about heroics, but responsibility. The safety of Lin Xi, Lu Yi, Jie, Su Hui, and Du Jun weighed on him too. Therefore, Gu Fan contemplated retreat.

Gu Fan sought everyone’s opinion using body language once again. Lin Xi, Lu Yi, and Jie all appeared to want to stop moving forward.

The only exception was Su Hui. With an indifferent expression, she stated, "Listen, I’ve been a criminal police officer for years, and I’ve carried out countless dangerous tasks. You think I’m scared? Don’t consider my feelings. If you guys go, I’ll stick it out with you; if you turn back, I’ll just follow you."

At this point, Du Jun stood up, "Afraid? Look at Professor Luo and our peers, Xu Haowen and Qin Jia. They dare to go. Do we dare to step back?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was a bit taken aback. Logically speaking, the coddled second-generation rich kid Du Jun should’ve been the first to want to return. What had led to this sudden outburst?

Du Jun continued, "Indeed, we might encounter unknown dangers, but we’ve been resting during the day and traveling at night for several days now, and so far, nothing bad has happened. This proves my strategy is effective. If the danger is significantly reduced, why are we still scared to move forward?"

"That... makes sense, but..." Gu Fan felt something was off when he saw Du Jun walk over to Professor Luo with utmost respect, almost as if he was bringing something to his attention. He even said, "I’m a second-generation rich kid. People around me either envy my privileged upbringing or belittle me, saying I’m nothing without my father. I can’t gain media approval apart from my father’s reputation. I’ve always lived in his shadow. So, I want to do something to show people that I can stand on my own, even without my father. That’s why I’m determined to accompany you, Professor Luo, on this archaeological adventure. We will find the Qian Ye ancient city, we will make headlines across the country and even the world. We will definitely make it to the television."

"This..." Professor Luo, looking at Du Jun’s serious demeanor, was taken aback, unsure of what to say.

This was odd to Gu Fan as those words were, in part, prepared by him. He didn’t expect Du Jun to echo them so earnestly, making it seem genuine. What he found even stranger was Du Jun’s sudden enthusiasm. Is he not scared of the danger?

Then Gu Fan caught a derogatory glance from Du Jun, as if he was saying, "What’s the matter, Gu Fan? Are you scared? You who usually talk so brave about finding our missing classmates, are you backing down now?"

Lu Yi and Jie were both frustrated, thinking to themselves, "God, are we really inferior to a pampered, wealthy second-generation kid when it comes to enduring hardship?"

Gu Fan thought for a while, then said, "Fine, I’ll make the decision on behalf of everyone. If we’re going forward, we’re doing so together, and if we decide to turn back, we do so together as well. If there’s danger, we have to face it head-on."

"What, the decision has been made?" Lu Yi and Jie were a bit frightened, but they heard Gu Fan say, "We are already few in number. Going forward and backward at the same time, splitting our forces, do you think that will reduce or increase our risk, can you guarantee there won’t be trouble on the way back?"

Hearing this, Lu Yi and Jie also felt that it made sense. The only way to overcome a crisis was for everyone to pull together. If they separated, things might become more dangerous.

Gu Fan had another deeper consideration - who would the guide follow? Obviously, Ouyang Jin would go with whoever provided the funds. As Du Jun was still keen on going forward, Ouyang Jin was surely pushing forward too.

This conference reaffirmed their commitment to a united front and their determination to move forward. However, another problem arose - the efficiency of traveling at night.

Since they were journeying at night, the darkness made it challenging to discern the direction. Some topographic features can’t be seen clearly, and it was easy to miss them. Ouyang Jin, as the guide, found this headache-inducing.

"Yeah, if we don’t solve this problem, we might inadvertently pass our destination." Professor Luo began considering this issue too, how to effectively travel while minimizing danger.

Gu Fan began flicking through the notes of Ouyang Jin’s father. It recorded that after encountering rocks sharp as thorns, they slightly adjusted their direction, heading south for three days until they found a vast expanse of open land with no hills as far as they could see.

The ancient map, although it shows the locations of the Great Night Country and Qian Ye Ancient County, mapping techniques in those peripheral regions at that time weren’t very precise. It offers a general range and landmarks, but aligning it with a modern, accurate map is challenging.

What Ouyang Jin needed to do now was to painstakingly copy the content of his father’s notes onto the precise modern map. As long as one location from his father’s notes overlapped with the ancient map, that would be the moment to merge the two maps.

This required everyone’s wisdom and collective efforts. More importantly, they needed to closely observe all geographical features seen on the way, and that necessitated traveling during the day.

After some discussion, they decided to return to traveling during the day and resting at night. However, to ensure everyone’s safety, they had to stay awake in turns throughout the night.

Considering the ages of Professor Luo and Teacher Liu, and the fact that keeping late nights would harm the skin of the female members, the responsibility of night watches fell on the sturdy young men.

As for organizing the watches, Gu Fan had a good plan: six young men, divided into two groups. Each team was in charge of either the first half or the second half of the night watch. In a tent where two people slept, one would watch during the first half of the night, and the other during the second.

Simply put, Gu Fan and Lu Yi shared a tent, with Gu Fan on watch for the first half of the night, and Lu Yi for the second. In this way, when they were sleeping, each person would have a tent to himself, ensuring a good night’s sleep, right?

This plan was agreed upon. On the ninth day of their journey, they switched back to traveling during the day and resting at night. However, this sudden change confused Leng Le. What were they up to now?

Leng Le and Hai had been following Gu Fan’s schedule for traveling and resting. When Gu Fan suddenly switched from traveling during the day and resting at night to resting during the day and traveling at night, it caught Leng Le by surprise. However, she didn’t mind after some adjustment.

But a few days later, Gu Fan switched back to traveling during the day. Leng Le was sound asleep when her phone rang. Greasily she got up, cursing Gu Fan while ordering everyone else to get up, hurry up and hit the road.

Not only Leng Le but even Hai found it inexplicable. Now they weren’t worried about anything except the thought that Gu Fan might change his mind and decide to rest during the day and travel at night again. Wasn’t this messing around?

"Kid, you’re really a hard-headed one. You can mess around all you want, but sooner or later, I’ll catch up to you." Leng Le silently vowed, then yawned. She was so sleepy.