Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 1278: Taking Personal Action

Chapter 1278: Chapter 1278: Taking Personal Action

Everyone, following Gu Fan’s suggestion, jogged to the lake and then walked along its edge until they successfully met up with the long-waiting Gu Fan—and not a single person went mad again.

Irina was confused, "What on earth is going on, Gu Fan?"

Many people were curious why so many had gone mad upon approaching the lake before, yet now there wasn’t a single mad person.

Gu Fan explained it this way, "Organization X only told us that drinking the lake water would turn us into stone statues but didn’t mention that getting close to the water could drive people mad. So, I infer that they haven’t experienced people suddenly going mad, which means..."

Su Hui helped him continue, "Which means, it’s not the proximity to the lake water that causes madness, but it’s the forest by the lake that’s truly dangerous."

After this reminder, Lu Yi recalled, "After we went through the forest to this lakeside, none of us were mad at first. But later, when we went back through the forest and stayed there for a while, people started going mad."

Gu Fan nodded, "I suspect that staying in that forest requires some time before one goes mad. If we maintain a normal pace, we can get through that dangerous forest before the madness hits."

"Did you notice that on the way here, there were some trees that looked different from the others we’ve seen? These trees have some strange spots on them," Lin Xi’s statement enlightened everyone.

Gu Fan immediately ran back to check and indeed found those spotted trees, thinking to himself that maybe these were the real culprits behind the madness...

After investigation, it was found that these spotted trees were not many in number but encircled the lake, almost like a barrier.

But Ouyang Jin didn’t understand, "There’s already a lake here that turns people into stone after they drink from it. Why bother with a forest that can drive people mad? Isn’t that superfluous?"

"Because if you go mad, you won’t drink the water and no one will continue forward. Turning into stone means there’s no coming back, but if you go mad, you could still come to your senses. This barrier isn’t there to harm people; it’s either there to save people or not so well-intentioned and merely a warning to others not to go further," Gu Fan’s words left everyone staggered with surprise.

Su Hui also commented, "It seems that this trap was deliberately set, neither wanting people to proceed any further nor to hurt more people."

Lu Yi was puzzled, "If that’s the case, why are there so few spotted trees? As long as we maintain a normal pace, we could safely get past them."

"It’s probably because of a certain reason they couldn’t obtain more spotted trees and could only encircle such a small area. Moreover, even if we maintain our normal pace, if we choose the wrong path, we could still fall victim," said Gu Fan before sighing, "It looks like we’ve let down the person with good intentions since we can only keep moving forward."

Ouyang Jin grew worried, "Beyond here is a place even the vampires can’t return alive from, and Organization X has no intel for us either."

"I know, but do we have a choice?" Gu Fan took a deep breath and then was the first to step forward and walk on.

Lin Xi, Su Hui, and Lu Yi didn’t hesitate to follow, even Irina and the Hunter’s Guild trailed close behind.

"It’s not that I’m scared or not loyal, but business is business. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. I always say risk should be proportional to reward..." before he could finish, Ouyang Jin stopped speaking because he realized that other than himself, everyone else had followed Gu Fan, and the mercenaries were now completely convinced by Gu Fan.

Seeing everyone else had followed, leaving just Ouyang Jin behind, feeling utterly lonely and pitiful, it struck him that there might no longer be a chance for him to raise his price in the future.

"Forget it, forget it, I’ve earned money from you guys a few times already. This time I’ll give you a discount as a token of gratitude to loyal customers," Ouyang Jin found a face-saving reason and hurriedly caught up.

Only after Gu Fan and the rest had left did Mo Yun appear with her group, her brows furrowed with concern.

A vampire flashed a cold smile, "Further ahead is the limit of where we can reach. To date, not a single one has returned alive, not even we of the Xue Clan can manage it."

"No, Gu Fan surely can," Mo Yun was confident about this.

Another vampire grew more somber, "Does it have to do with the relationship to the Destiny Stone? I’ve heard a bit about it."

"Yes, even Xue Wang and Lord Xiong together couldn’t take down Gu Fan, so we believe that Gu Fan can breach the forbidden realm that even we can’t," Mo Yun said, then remembered something else, "You’ve heard about the recent events, right? They precisely show that Gu Fan can return alive from the forbidden realm."

"Now I’ll go notify Xue Wang and Lord Xiong," a vampire said excitedly, then looked up at the dark sky, "Heaven is helping us, the Dark Primitive Mountain forest is dominated by cloudy weather, and it’s particularly drizzly these days, convenient for our movement."

"There’s no need to inform them; we are already here," said Lord Xiong as Xue Wang arrived with a large retinue, pride on their faces.

Mo Yun smiled slightly, "You came without understanding the situation, which shows you both have great confidence in Gu Fan and believe he can definitely accomplish it."

To that, Xue Wang nodded, "Yes, previously I was annoyed that Gu Fan had the Destiny Stone Body Guard, which made him invulnerable to us, but now I find that trait of his rather admirable."

Lord Xiong also added, "Regardless of what extent Gu Fan achieves, in the end, he will have to compromise with us because we have something he needs to compromise over."

"What are you referring to?" Mo Yun guessed some of it and couldn’t help but laugh.

Then Mo Yun thought of something else, "Wasn’t there talk of unusual events recently, about a mysterious masked person approaching Dark City? You two are going out together, aren’t you worried someone will seize the opportunity?"

"Don’t worry, I’ve arranged everything. That’s why the vampire warriors have all returned to Dark City, and now with Xue Jun in command, Dark City is an impregnable fortress," Xue Wang said, but there was still a hint of concern in his eyes, as if he was not one hundred percent certain.

In truth, Xue Wang and Lord Xiong did not dismiss guarding against the mysterious masked person, but uncovering the secrets of the forbidden land was more beneficial for them. So they chose to come here to see how Gu Fan was faring.

Mo Yun looked back inadvertently towards Dark City and felt a bit uneasy. She had a sense that something was about to happen.