Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 125: Can’t Dig It Out

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Can’t Dig It Out

When they woke up the next day, without checking their notes, they couldn’t remember the exact count of the days, but it was surely around twenty days. It was unexpected for them to spend so much time here, but today they would likely find the target. This thought filled them with excitement.

Not just Gu Fan, but Professor Luo, Teacher Liu, Qin Jia, Xu Haowen -- all archaeology-focused people felt profoundly trilled, wishing they could sprout wings to tackle the journey.

"Alright, let’s move." Even Ouyang Jin was excited about the likelihood of discovering the ancient city of Qian Ye today. Perhaps this discovery would boost his career, or he might even make a name for himself or even start his own travel agency, as he had imagined.

Everyone set off, embarking on this most critical day of the journey. If they could uncover the ruins of the ancient city of Qian Ye, undisturbed for thousands of years, the sense of accomplishment would be immeasurable.

Everyone dreamt about how uncovering the ancient city of Qian Ye might transform their lives dramatically, filled with an infectious sense of motivation and urgency as they quickened their pace, hoping to make even a half-day’s journey significantly shorter and thus reap the fruits of their labor sooner.

However, reality proved otherwise. After walking at an increased pace for three hours, they found themselves in the expanse of the desert, with a sense of directionlessness engulfing them.

Du Jun repeatedly consulted the map, raising eyebrows as if a problem befell them.

Gu Fan instantly followed up with a question: "How are we doing? We should be almost there, right?"

"It’s not that we’re almost there; based on my estimates, it should be in this area." After saying that, Ouyang Jin dismounted his camel and headed to a sand dune, binoculars in hand. He scanned the surroundings, then headed toward another dune, searching for any trace of the ancient city.

Everyone seemed to realize that the situation hadn’t been as smooth as imagined. The ancient city of Qian Ye wasn’t so easy to find. They were all at a loss when they saw Ouyang Jin return, his face showing signs of helplessness.

Professor Luo stepped forward to comfort: "Young man, don’t pressure yourself too much. We have time, we can take our time looking."

"I know, but I worry..." Ouyang Jin scratched his head in frustration after saying this.

At this moment, Su Hui said, "Are you perhaps worried that the Qianye Country has turned into ruins like that small town, buried by the sand?"

Ouyang Jin nodded in response: "When we arrived, we sighted a well buried by sand. This indicates something that we all understand."

Indeed, they all understood. It would be hard to find the Qianye Country without more than a shovel. Even if they knew Qianye Country was beneath their feet, they couldn’t excavate it.

However, Lu Yi didn’t dwell on impractical ideas. Instead, he said, "Whether it’s underneath or not, we’ll know once we dig." After saying this, Lu Yi started to dig earnestly.

Gu Fan nodded, "Exactly, even if we can’t dig out all of Qianye Country, if we can find something that helps us establish the location, it’s worth it. Worst case, we bring in more people to help since we have the map."

Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that finding even a small trace of Qianye Country would help confirm the location. Wouldn’t they be able to dig it out and study it in the future? With this thought, their spirits revived and all nodded in agreement, looking at Lu Yi with supportive glances.

After Lu Yi had been digging for a while, panting heavily, everyone looked at him with keen interest. He couldn’t help but complain, "You guys are so unkind! Do you want me to dig all by myself?"

Jie quickly retorted, "No, of course not. We won’t leave you to do all the hard work yourself. Do we seem like those kinds of people?"

Lin Xi also added, "We’re just not sure who should go next, you keep digging. As soon as we decide who is going to relieve you, you can rest."

"Bah! I don’t believe a word you say." After saying this, Lu Yi immediately passed the shovel to Jie.

"Alright, alright, I’ll take up the mantle." As Jie prepared to start digging, Gu Fan said, "Don’t dig in the same spot. Change the location."

"Okay!" Jie immediately picked up the shovel and started digging at a spot a hundred steps away.

Witnessing this, Ouyang Jin nodded, "I can only confirm one thing right now, the ancient city of Qian Ye is in this area. Digging in multiple places increases the chances of finding the city in the shortest amount of time."

Su Hui, however, had a different opinion, "If we had dug a bit deeper at the spot where Lu Yi was digging, we might have found what we were looking for. Now that we’ve moved, we could have potentially missed it."

Hearing these two opinions, Gu Fan pondered, yes, giving up too easily resulted in failure, and not knowing how to adapt could also lead to failure-— how to strike a balance between these two?

Soon Gu Fan came up with a good idea. First, he decided to take the spot Lu Yi unearthed as a center and drew a circle with a radius of 100 steps. Then they would try to excavate in four directions—east, south, west, and north—of this circle. If the excavation still yielded nothing, they would enlarge the radius to 200 steps and dig in eight directions of this new circle. If the excavation area exceeded the limit set by Ouyang Jin, they would return to the previously excavated sites and dig deeper.

Everyone found this method acceptable, though it would be extremely time-consuming. Jaime dug, followed by Xu Haowen, and went on to Du Jun, with Gu Fan taking the last turn. As a result, they discovered nothing of value after a whole half day digging at each of the four points on the first circle.

Performing physical work in the desert was pure torture. Everyone was exhausted and looked like they could collapse at any moment. They were all city folks and were struggling to keep up with the laborious endeavor.

As the sun began to set, Gu Fan spoke, "Archaeology is a grand undertaking. All grand endeavors require patience. I suggest we call it a day and continue the digging tomorrow."

Everyone nodded in agreement, thinking his proposal seemed reasonable.

According to Ouyang Jin’s calculations, it would take five days of hard riding to reach the known water source from their present location. As long as they reserved enough water for their return journey over these five days, the remaining water would suffice for them for seven days. In other words, if they didn’t find anything after digging for six days, they would have to start their return journey immediately.

Six days was the limit. With the first day over, they resumed their digging with renewed spirit on the second day—a bigger circle with eight excavation points. They dug from dawn until dusk, each place was dug deep. Everyone worked hard, sweating buckets and nobody was caught slacking. Despite all that, they found no scattered remains of any city.

They found nothing on the first day, the second day, and disappointment began to set in. They didn’t hold high hopes for the third day.

As they expected, the third day turned out to be the same, causing everyone to wonder if they were digging in the wrong place. Even Ouyang Jin, who had been so certain before, dreaded that his judgement might be flawed, causing their strenuous digging to be a waste of three days’ worth of energy.

Gu Fan also started to ponder. If Qianye Country were buried too deep in the desert, it might be impossible to dig it out with their manpower alone. He must come up with an alternative.

Being females, Su Hui, Lin Xi, and Qin Jia were not required to dig and were taken special care of. However, seeing everyone else in such low spirits due to the lack of discovery, they too felt an unease.

After three days of continual digging and zero discoveries, morale had hit rock bottom, Gu Fan wanted to say something to rally the team, but he wasn’t able to. He sensed that the team’s low spirits were not just because of the time and energy wasted over those two days, they were also well aware that the remaining days would likely be the same.

That’s human nature. They can hold on and work hard when they see a potential reward. The hardest thing is to keep pushing when they can’t see a clear goal on the horizon.

By the evening, everyone was tired and needed to rest. Their morale was low after three fruitless days of digging. Professor Luo, who had initially come with a determination to succeed no matter the cost, felt particularly disheartened!

Silently, Ouyang Jin bore the weight of this failure. As the guide, he knew he bore a huge responsibility. Yet, no one blamed him because he had already done his best.

Everyone ate a simple meal. In truth, nobody had much of an appetite. Despite all the risks they had taken to get to this point, they were now faced with the distinct possibility of having to call it a fruitless endeavor.

After thinking for a while, Gu Fan finally broke the silence, "If we still don’t find anything tomorrow, we need to change our method and look for new ways."

Du Jun was the first one to sigh, "Are there any new methods left? If there were, we wouldn’t have kept digging for three days and still be planning to dig on the fourth."

Many were looking at Gu Fan expectantly, hoping he had a good idea that would end this endless digging.

"Yes, there is, but its chances are slim. That’s why I need you all to dig for the fourth day. Only when I reach the point where I have to give up, will I take the risk," said Gu Fan in a grave tone, as if he were about to place a bet.

That’s right, according to Ouyang Jin, they needed to leave the desert after four more days of gritting and bearing it, regardless of whether they discovered anything. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have enough water to reach the next water source-

Of this last time, Gu Fan planned to spend one day on continuous digging, and the rest of the three days searching for another route. Whether this route even existed remained a question mark.

Ouyang Jin had no pressure. If they didn’t find anything, that was okay. As long as they managed time well and left enough water for everyone to retreat, they could charge back after finding and replenishing a new water source. He told Gu Fan to feel liberated to voice any idea.

Even Teacher Luo fully supported Gu Fan. He told Gu Fan not to worry about food and water. If they conserved a bit, it could even last a longer time.