Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 133: Underground River

Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Underground River

Truthfully, nobody could predict what would happen next. They were outnumbered and outplayed, and Gu Fan felt that they were like lambs walking into a den of tigers. The odds of triumph were slight, but they had decided to put up a fight, no matter what.

As Gu Fan was contemplating the various possible scenarios, he suddenly heard Lu Yi say in a bitter tone, "Hey Lin beauty, we are about to descend into a battle and we have no idea about our fates. My only regret is the two hundred dollars you owe me. Can you pay me back now?"

To everyone’s surprise, Lin Xi gave the impression that she had no intention of returning the money, "Lu Yi, it’s not that I don’t want to pay you back. If all of us safely return, I will not only give you two hundred, but even five hundred yuan. So, from now on, you’d better pray to the heavens and God."

There was nothing Lu Yi could do about Lin Xi’s refusal to pay him back, and he didn’t want to pick a fight with her, so he went to Gu Fan to complain about his unreasonable girlfriend.

Lu Yi even whispered to Gu Fan, "Bro, next time you get a room with Lin Xi, don’t mind if I don’t lend you the sponsorship fee."

Gu Fan was rendered speechless after hearing this. How could Lu Yi still be worried about the two hundred yuan at such a critical moment?

Before setting off, Du Jun came to inform Gu Fan that the bronze key had disappeared, probably taken when their belongings were searched.

Lu Yi was stunned after hearing this, "What? Gu Fan, you gave the key to Du Jun to safeguard. I thought you gave it to Jie."

Jie was also confused, "I thought it was with Lu Yi. I didn’t realize you were capable of such unpredictable moves, Gu Fan."

Originally, after Gu Fan had used that key to open a secret room in the Foreign Culture Museum and found a map, he decided not to keep the key and the map together. He announced that he would choose a person to guard the key. Everybody had expected that Gu Fan would ask a trusted ally to safeguard the key—it would, probably, be either Lu Yi or Jie. They hadn’t entered the secret room on the mountain and weren’t likely to be kidnapped, so they were the most suitable choices. However, against all expectations, Gu Fan asked Du Jun to keep it.

His unexpected move caught everybody off guard, providing them an opportunity to retaliate. But in the end, Du Jun failed to protect the key.

But that didn’t matter now. Their immediate priority was to catch up with that group of people, protect the historical artifacts, and rescue the twelve missing schoolmates. Although the trend indicated a higher probability of failure, everyone understood this and, therefore, morale wasn’t high before setting off.

After a one-hour rest, they finally set off. Everyone packed food, water, bandages, medical supplies, and useful weapons in their backpacks.

The rubber rafts were lifted and everyone stepped into the blown-open mountain cave. They had not expected that the gang would inadvertently blast open a tunnel. Everyone moved slowly along the tunnel, using flashlights for illumination.

The pitch-black environment, the steepening incline of the tunnel, and the faint sound of flowing water indicated that they were not far from the underground river.

Gu Fan and Ouyang Jin took the lead in scouting and providing light. They had to give immediate warnings if they discovered something unusual as it would be dangerous for all. They were under immense pressure, with one hand tightly gripping the flashlight and the other tightly holding a weapon, clueless about potential enemies ahead.

Gu Fan thought that since they had left fifty people outside as guards, there was no need to have guards inside the cave as well. He believed that all of them had left the cave.

After walking for around fifteen minutes, they finally reached the end of the tunnel. A river about twenty meters wide was slowly flowing and judging by the direction of the current, it seemed to be heading towards Qianye Country.

Initially, there was a path beside the underground river, but as they continued walking, the path became narrower. Left with no choice, they put the rubber rafts into the river. Since the current was downstream, this saved them a lot of effort.

Ouyang Jing, Du Jun, Jie, and Qin Jia set off in the first raft. As Ouyang Jing was the guide, and Du Jun relied heavily on him, they proactively offered to go first. Du Jun even had the audacity to glance contemptuously at Gu Fan, as if to say, "What you think, Gu Fan? I’m brave enough to ride in the first raft, I have more guts than you."

Gu Fan didn’t care. He, Lin Xi, and Lu Yi got into the second raft and closely followed the first one. There was no need for them to compete to be first or second. Being first didn’t necessarily mean bravery, and being second didn’t mean cowardice.

Considering Professor Luo’s old age and for better protection, Su Hui was left in the third raft along with Teacher Liu and Xu Haowen.

The three ladies in the group were split among the rafts, each with sufficient protection. Though Su Hui was a woman, she was capable enough to protect others, so she was assigned the responsibility of protecting Professor Luo. Everyone agreed with this arrangement.

However, recently, after witnessing the brave performance of Gu Fan and his companions, Teacher Liu, as their senior, felt rather inadequate. Being protected by younger ones was an affront to his dignity as a middle-aged man. Therefore, he made a silent vow to fight if any trouble broke out.

Xu Haowen shared the same sentiment. It seemed that whenever a problem arose, it was Gu Fan and his gang that stepped up to the plate. When they had first embarked on the journey, Xu Haowen believed that these archaeological amateurs would slow them down. Now, it seemed as though he was the one dragging everyone else down.

Their method of progress was simple. The person at the bow of the rubber raft was in charge of the lighting, whilst the rest of them controlled the direction of the raft. Everyone had to move downstream slowly and patiently, haste would serve them no purpose.

At that moment, they could not help but to speculate about the whereabouts of their enemies and whether they had located the capital of Qian Ye Country. Why had they sent twelve students to this place? Was it to complete a sacrifice? And if the sacrifice was successful, would they be granted the power of eternal youth?

"Can there truly be a power of eternal life in this world? It seems like the people in that ancient town wanted eternal life as well." Gu Fan understood the allure of the fountain of youth, a quest many ancient emperors had embarked on.

The river flowed slowly, ensuring a steady progression which helped everyone’s unease from intensifying. However, all of them knew that enemies could pop out at any moment.

Using their flashlights meant alerting their enemies of their arrival. Without the flashlight, they felt insecure. Gu Fan had to weigh the pros and cons carefully. After a rough calculation, he figured that their enemies must have started their journey at least half a day before them.

Since they were traveling through an underground river, Ouyang Jin could not ascertain their location and if they were nearing the capital of Qian Ye Country. Thus, Gu Fan believed that once they had been traveling for eight hours, they should turn off all their flashlights to prevent their enemies from knowing their location.

In Gu Fan’s view, they had eight hours to get used to maneuvering the rubber raft in darkness. However, he knew this would be a big challenge, so he ended up rejecting his own proposition. That meant their luck and responsiveness would be determining factors. Upon seeing a light ahead, they would immediately turn off their flashlights to avoid being found by the enemy. Whether they discovered the enemy first or they were discovered could create entirely different outcomes.

At this moment, Lu Yi couldn’t help but say: "Although it’s not ideal, if the strange fish we encountered last time could assist us in dealing with a bunch of enemies..."

Upon hearing this, no one accused Lu Yi of being selfish. From the start, everyone believed the only chance of defeating their enemies was if they encountered various hardships on their journey, causing their numbers to dwindle, leaving behind easy pickings for Gu Fan and his team to capitalize on.

However, after drifting for almost four hours, everyone was constantly on edge, yet they saw no trace of any battles. It seemed that their enemies had had a smooth journey.

Lu Yi couldn’t help but say: "Are you kidding me? We would have run into trouble by now if it were us. Can their luck seriously be that good?"

"Please shut your bloody doomsayer’s mouth." Gu Fan was worried. What if they really did encounter the fish creature from last time? Their raft couldn’t withstand even a single bite from it.

Realizing his words were detrimental to morale, Lu Yi immediately slapped himself, indicating his mistake.

After seven hours, Ouyang Jin suddenly recalled something. He dipped his finger into the water and tasted it. His face immediately grimaced. Turning to everyone else, he said, "This water tastes similar to that of the oasis. You all know what that means."

"Could not be clearer, thanks for the heads-up." A grim-faced Lu Yi replied: "The rubber raft is insulated, it’s up to your electric rod now, Du Jun."

Hearing that, Du Jun gripped the electric rod in his hand even more tightly, as though it was his last lifeline.

Surprisingly, Lu Yi suggested: "Why don’t you try sticking the rod in the water now, Du Jun? We can see if there is any danger below, and test the durability of the raft."

"Alright, let me try that." Du Jun did as suggested, and immediately caused a commotion under the water as numerous fish floated to the surface.

There was nothing unusual about the presence of fish, but upon closer inspection of its features, everyone gasped in recognition. It was none other than the strange creature they encountered last time at the oasis, only it was much smaller now.

"My gosh, it actually looks quite cute when it’s smaller." The absurdity of Lu Yi’s remark made everyone chuckle in spite of themselves.

"Please don’t tell me you have just jinxed us, Ouyang Jin." Just when everyone had a bad premonition, a series of spine-chilling screams echoed from up ahead. It rang out loudly, causing everyone to tense up. It seemed like the worst-case scenario was unfolding.