Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 141: The Path to Survival

Chapter 141: Chapter 141: The Path to Survival

The method worked, although Gu Fan and his companions’ climbing speed was less than ideal, the pursuing ogres were even slower. The gap widened bit by bit, offering Gu Fan and his group some hope.

However, this hope dimmed as their phone’s battery warning flashed that they were now down to only ten percent. Their hearts turned cold. They all knew that once the phone battery ran out, in the lack of enough light, with the climbing speed of the ogres, catching up would be a breeze for them.

"We can’t just sit here, we must climb faster." With this statement, Lu Yi sped up his ascent. As they climbed higher, the surface became less smooth, allowing them to climb faster.

Suddenly, a few drops of liquid dripped onto Du Jun’s hand from above. It didn’t feel like water; it was slimy, like a slug, and quite unpleasant. "What is this stuff?" Du Jun muttered.

When Du Jun looked up and shone his light on it, he got the shock of his life. There perched an ogre, its limbs deeply embedded in the wall, upside-down, its mouth full of sharp teeth slowly opening, eager to devour fresh flesh.

Ogres were pursuing from below and now one blocking them from above. The situation was precarious. The worst part was they only had one phone left for lighting, and its battery was almost dead.

"What do we do! What do we do! They’re here!" Xu Haowen cried out. The ogre above seemed to get impatient and just coughed down. Like a gecko, they could climb up walls and walk on ceilings effortlessly. The ogre was already close to Xu Haowen.

"Damn it, stop fooling around!" Scared out of his wits, Xu Haowen started heading back down, his arm narrowly avoiding being caught, leaving behind long claw marks on the wall.

With a lack of ample lighting, they had no idea how many ogres had descended from above. Gu Fan and his group were stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no clear direction, as the danger was creeping closer.

"Go down, go down!" Gu Fan bellowed. He decided to gamble. Since the phone was running out of battery, it was best to focus the light on the creatures below, to slow their movements.

Gu Fan retreated downwards, delivering a strong kick to a disoriented ogre due to the blinding light below him that knocked it into the underground river.

"You’ve got to be kidding!". Others watched in amazement at Gu Fan’s action. Although it was extremely risky, they had no other choice but to follow Gu Fan’s example and kicked any ogre they bumped into on the way down.

While these ogres had their eyes closed, they seemed to be suffering greatly under the light, which clearly had a significant impact on them. Maybe this was one of the ogre’s few weaknesses.

At this point, the ogre above leaped at them without the deterrence of the light. However, Lu Yi raised his shield, and the ogre hit it head-on. The rebound force made the ogre tumble down from mid-air, hitting and knocking a few more ogres along the way, dropping them together into the underground river.

This minor victory did not grant Gu Fan and his team relief as there were still many ogres around. Lu Yi’s shield wouldn’t hold out much longer against them. Adding to the worry was that the phone battery was down to only five percent.

If they didn’t come up with a solution quickly, when the phone battery runs out, they would be totally vulnerable to the ogres from above and below and their failure would be imminent.

Meanwhile, the ogres below, bearing the discomfort of the strong light, began to wave their claws, tearing Gu Fan and others’ pants. One of them almost grabbed Xu Haowen’s ankle by a hair’s breadth, scaring him out of his wits.

"We only have three percent battery left!" Lu Yi shouted in desperation. At the same time, raising his shield high, he could feel the intensifying attack by the ogres’ claws from above. He was worried that his shield would be torn into pieces in the very next moment.

Without a care, an ogre pounced downward, landing right on Gu Fan. Unable to withstand the impact, Gu Fan and the ogre both fell, hitting several other ogres along the way. As a result, Gu Fan and four ogres plummeted downhill and crashed into the underground river.

The good news was that the ogres couldn’t swim and posed no danger in the water, struggling hard to remain afloat. The bad news was that Gu Fan got swept away by the water. Luckily, in his state of panic, one of Gu Fan’s hands grabbed onto a rock at the edge, stopping him from being swept too far downstream, or he would’ve been isolated from his teammates.

Using the dwindling light, Gu Fan struggled against the current to get back to his previous location. He then started climbing once again. The phone light had dimmed significantly, indicating that the battery was about to die. Also, the light was not as blinding as before.

Gu Fan saw several ogres blocking the way ahead. They hadn’t noticed him climbing back up from below which gave Gu Fan a chance to take advantage.

"I’m going for it!" There was no choice but to risk it now. Gu Fan targeted one ogre, directly grabbed onto its body, used it as a stepping stone to climb up further. Once he got past it, he kicked the ogre down swiftly. His quick and precise movement was a result of his rigorous training.

Thanks to his agility and element of surprise, Gu Fan managed to climb back up while knocking down three ogres into the river. Alas, he couldn’t stop all the ogres.

At the same time, under an ogre’s relentless chase, both Xu Haowen’s feet were in the air. Desperately, he clung onto the ogre’s arm

The ogre did not pursue Xu Haowen, instead, its hands and feet clung tightly to the stone wall, not daring to move. It knew that any abrupt movement, any pull from Xu Haowen or gravity, would cause it to fall into the underground river, a situation that it wanted to avoid badly due to its poor swimming ability.

"Hold on!" Gu Fan shouted encouragingly as he continued to climb further up. All of a sudden, he felt a hollow spot on the stone wall. It seemed like an entrance. He was overjoyed and quickly signaled the others to come over.

"Seriously? Even if we don’t climb to the top, we’ve found a way out." Lu Yi cheered and quickly approached Gu Fan. That’s when he noticed a tunnel in the stone wall, right at the midsection of the well.

"God is finally on our side, thank heavens." Lu Yi wanted to rush in, but Gu Fan stopped him indicating for Du Jun to hand over the electric baton.

Seeing this, Lu Yi instantly realized what Gu Fan planned to do — to confirm whether the newly discovered tunnel was safe.

As Gu Fan took the electric baton from Du Jun, he briskly vaulted into the tunnel, thrusting the baton forward. Instantly, strange cries echoed from the darkness of the tunnel before an ogre fell out from the dark tunnel.

"Good lord, Gu Fan, that was impressive." Lu Yi and Du Jun arrived at the tunnel, relieved to finally see a route to safety.

Xu Haowen, still clinging to the ogre’s arm and suspended in the air, watched as the creature lost its grip and fell, carrying him along with it.

Gu Fan, with his sharp eyes and quick instincts, caught Xu Haowen’s hand in the split second as he fell. He almost lost his balance due to the enormous downward pull, nearly falling into the underground river himself.

Despite catching him, Gu Fan was unable to arrest the fall immediately due to the weight of a grown man combined with the speed of the fall. His half body was about to dip down.

Just then, Lu Yi rushed forward, catching hold of Gu Fan. He pulled with all his might, shouting, "Du Jun, what are you waiting for, quick!"

"Right, coming now!" Du Jun, typically reluctant to participate in anything strenuous, quickly grabbed Gu Fan’s foot sensing the urgency, retreating and pulling backward.

Through the combined efforts of Lu Yi and Du Jun, they managed to pull Gu Fan back up. Then with mutual cooperation, they also managed to pull up Xu Haowen, just as the mobile’s flashlight ran out of power due to an exhausted battery.

"Damn, what now?" Xu Haowen, looking around in the pitch black, realised the only effective weapon against the ogres was no longer available. They were now at the mercy of the beasts.

Gu Fan then said, "The tunnel is too narrow for us to stand up straight, we will need to crouch. Same goes for the ogres. Lu Yi, use your shield to cover our back, you know what I mean."

"Got it!" Lu Yi hastily lifted his shield, blocking the entrance. There were gaps, but they were too small for an ogre to squeeze through.

In Lu Yi’s bag was a hand-cranked charger. He handed it over to Xu Haowen to charge their makeshift cell phone for light, so they could proceed.

Regarding Gu Fan and Du Jun, they were closely watching the other end of the tunnel. Since they had already encountered one ogre in the tunnel, chances were there could be more. Hence, Du Jun was continually thrusting his electric baton forward using the faint sparks coming from it to see if any ogres were approaching.

The tunnel they had climbed up from was actually a well used for drawing water, and another secret tunnel had been dug into its side. Gu Fan speculated that this was the work of people who wanted to draw water without being noticed.

If this was indeed the palace grounds, the well must have been dug on Queen Qianye’s orders. The lower class population, in order to access water and gain independence, might have dug this secret tunnel under the watchful eye of Queen Qianye, to draw water secretly.

Just as Gu Fan was pondering this, he heard a series of clanging sounds, followed by an urgent cry from Lu Yi, "The ogres are attacking! Come up with something, quick!"

Low growls, frantic clawing sounds, the desperate attempts of the ogre to squeeze through the gap was alarming. If even one ogre managed to get through, it would pose a significant threat.

However, Gu Fan remained calm and collected, took the electric baton from Du Jun, and placed it on the shield in Lu Yi’s hand. As he pressed the button, the growling stopped abruptly, replaced by several strange cries, culminating with the sound of something dropping into the underground river.

Since Lu Yi was holding the shield, he felt the shock from the electric baton, causing his whole body to convulse. Had he been able to speak, he would certainly have accused Gu Fan of injuring his ally. He felt offended.