Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 155: The Sacrifice Begins

Chapter 155: Chapter 155: The Sacrifice Begins

This was a large room, with the townsfolk bringing in lamps to illuminate the place. They began to hustle and bustle about, setting up and arranging twelve coffins in twelve distinct positions.

Lin Xi and Professor Luo were bound and placed in a corner. They watched the townsfolk busying themselves but had no idea what they were planning.

Upon careful observation, Lin Xi noticed characters corresponding to the twelve Chinese zodiac hours - Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai - at the places where the twelve coffins were set up.

Lin Xi naturally thought of the secret chamber inside the mountain of the ancient town that also depicted the twelve hours. If her guess was correct, then the layout here should also include a Tai Chi diagram.

As expected, Lin Xi found a Tai Chi diagram at the center of the room. It resembled the secret chamber within the mountain of the ancient town. No, more precisely, the arrangement of the secret chamber was similar to this room.

At that moment, Du Jun approached and casually glanced at Lin Xi. To her surprise, he naturally started to greet the townsfolk, instantly revealing to her the fact that Du Jun was in league with the townsfolk.

"Bastard!" Lin Xi gritted her teeth, filled with worry and uncertainty about what their captors might do next.

Du Jun spoke with the townsfolk for some time. Lin Xi couldn’t hear clearly from her position, but she caught the word "sacrifice," which filled her with worry and confusion. If this time they planned to sacrifice twelve classmates, then what was the previous sacrifice in the secret chamber of the mountain?

Lin Xi glanced at the floor and found many intricate designs that resembled a formation. She realized that they truly intended to conduct a sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Professor Luo’s attention was fixated on the wall behind him. It was adorned with numerous incomprehensible ancient inscriptions. Many of the characters had been lost to time, and Professor Luo could only understand the gist of it.

"How is it, Professor Luo? Does it say anything about how to escape?" Lin Xi hurriedly asked, clutching at any shred of hope.

Professor Luo shook his head: "I can only understand parts of it. It mentions something about a demon’s imminent arrival, Queen Qianye making preparations, and an incomplete sacrifice. It also says that pursuing immortality isn’t the best way."

"I don’t understand at all. Does this mean we can’t escape?" Lin Xi looked discouraged. Meanwhile, Professor Luo was still engrossed in the inscriptions on the wall, possibly containing the reason behind the dissolution of the ancient Qianye kingdom.

Unaffected by the grim situation, Professor Luo studied the wall closely and with growing excitement.

Du Jun walked over and couldn’t help but admire, "Indeed, only Professor Luo can decipher the inscriptions on the wall. Inviting you here was a wise decision."

"Is this your method of invitation?" Professor Luo sneered, clearly displeased.

"I apologize. We knew you wouldn’t willingly accompany us, so we had to resort to this. Now, I’ll have your bindings removed." After uttering these words, Du Jun snapped his fingers, and the townsfolk moved in to untie Professor Luo and Lin Xi, freeing their movements.

As soon as she was untied, Lin Xi slapped Du Jun across his face and called him a traitor.

"Well said, and well hit," Du Jun stroked his red cheek without the slightest hint of annoyance, rather looking pleased. He then turned to Professor Luo and asked, "Professor, could you share what you’ve discovered? We would be interested in studying it together."

Professor Luo gave a faint smile before countering, "How about you tell us your plans instead? Are you seriously considering sacrificing twelve students to achieve immortality?"

In response, Du Jun shrugged. "We’ve waited a millennium for this chance. We must fulfill our mission."

Lin Xi hurriedly asked, "What happens after the sacrifice? What will become of the twelve students?"

Du Jun’s face darkened, and he offered a bitter smile, "I’m not certain, to be honest. Perhaps they will be fine, or perhaps..."

Hearing this, Lin Xi felt a chill. "They are not strangers to you, they’re your classmates; your fellow members from the Dance Club. Could you really bear such a thing?"

Du Jun smiled indifferently, brimming with contempt and coldness. "If they were just ordinary classmates, this obligation that has been carried by our generations wouldn’t make me give them up."

"What mission? What will happen after the sacrifice?" Lin Xi asked, anxious. She remembered Gu Fan suspecting that twelve students were required for the sacrifice. If anything happened to one of them, Lin Xi could very well be the substitute.

"I’ll stop beating around the bush. Just watch and see." Having said that, Du Jun walked away and then yelled, "Get to work!"

The people of the ancient town began to get busy again, standing up the coffins one by one. Then they opened the coffin lids. Inside them were the twelve missing classmates, right? The first to disappear, Zhao Rui, and the last one, Yang Xinran, were all there.

However, they were all in a state of unconsciousness, and it was unknown what the townspeople had done to them. While Lin Xi was worried about her classmates, she was also relieved that she had narrowly escaped ending up like them.

"Gu Fan, where are you!" Lin Xi’s only hope now was that her boyfriend could come to her rescue. But judging by the situation, the place was filled with townspeople. How could Gu Fan break in all by himself?

Du Jun walked to the middle, stepping on the Yin-Yang Tai Chi Diagram, squishing it down just like what he did back in the secret room. It turns out that everything was part of his plan, and the secret room was not accidentally discovered.

But what happened next left Lin Xi puzzled. Because last time in the secret room, after Du Jun stepped on the Yin-Yang Tai Chi Diagram, the mechanism above the secret room was activated, allowing moonlight to shine down. However, they were currently buried beneath the desert, where outside light couldn’t possibly penetrate.

All Du Jun said was, "The last sacrifice, with the help of moonlight, was half complete. This time we’ll make it thorough."

This made Lin Xi understands why the sacrifice had to be carried out in two stages. Without moonlight, the sacrifice could not be conducted, thus another location with moonlight was chosen to complete part of the ritual.

Under everyone’s gaze, Du Jun proceeded to the next step. He smashed a blue bottle in his hands onto the ground, the blue liquid spilled onto the Yin-Yang Tai Chi Diagram, which became activated as if it were alive - blue light radiated from the diagram, spreading along the patterns of the ground.

Not only did the blue light spread over the ground patterns, but it also permeated the texts on the walls, the twelve coffins, and the patterns on the ceiling. The entire room was filled with blue light.

The people of the ancient town began to chant in a circle around Du Jun. Each round of their chant-like incantations intensified the luminosity of the blue light. One could even see the blue light agitation and movement, as though something was awakening.

"No way, it’s real." Professor Luo, though experienced and knowledgeable, was stunned by the scene he was witnessing for the first time.

Lin Xi watched the blue light converging on her, feeling terrified. What on earth was going on? But she had nowhere to seek shelter as the blue light was omnipresent in the room—under her feet, above her head, and all around her.

With the progression of time, Du Jun’s chants became more and more triumphant, whereas the twelve classmates began to tremble, with agony reflecting on their faces, as though something was being drawn out of their bodies.

Lin Xi was extremely worried about her classmates’ safety, but there was nothing she, a weak girl, could do besides pacing anxiously.

More and more townspeople entered, circling around Du Jun. Their chants grew louder and louder, until they seemed to be using all of their strength. Their voices grew to a deafening level.

At this moment, the Yin-Yang Tai Chi Diagram on the floor opened up. With the activation of the mechanism, a stone tablet was revealed. Du Jun quickly examined the text on it and became ecstatic. He continued to chant according to the script, and so did the townspeople, all working towards the same purpose.

Professor Luo watched with furrowed brows. "Could it be what I guessed before, that they are all trying to gain the power of immortality."

"Looking at how hard they’re trying, it seems to be true," Lin Xi gave rise to a thought of despair. At this point, she felt completely helpless.

"Sorry, everyone, we really tried our best." Just when Lin Xi had given up all hope, she suddenly heard screams from outside. It seemed someone was forcing their way in.

Du Jun also noticed this and furrowed his brows. He knew the sacrifice wouldn’t be completed easily. Gu Fan and the others had come.

With his well-trained skills and two combative comrades, Gu Fan fended off the outside guards. Then he, Lu Yi, and Jie broke in. As soon as they saw the scene inside, they were immediately shocked.

Lu Yi let out a sigh: "My god, this seems like overkill, don’t you think it’s a waste."

Gu Fan didn’t say anything but glared coldly at Du Jun. Then he spotted Lin Xi in the corner. Seeing Lin Xi was all right, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Fan then quickly scanned the room and noticed the twelve upright coffins. Inside them were their missing classmates who seemed to be in pain, presumably from some mistreatment.

Gu Fan wasn’t sure what had happened or why the room was filled with blue light, but the pressure from the gazes of more than a hundred townspeople was indeed unsettling.

Jie showed a look of deep regret: "Du Jun, I didn’t expect you to really collude with them to harm our classmates. How much reward did they give you?"