Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 269: Burning Bridges After Crossing Them

Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Burning Bridges After Crossing Them

It was officially summer vacation, and Gu Fan was so elated that he was undisguisedly preoccupied. He leaned back on the sofa, legs propped on the coffee table, leisurely watching a sports game while munching away on snacks.

When Su Hui came back, the look on her face was serious, but Gu Fan didn’t notice. He continued to focus on the TV and offhandedly commented, "Sister Su, you’re back from work? Had dinner yet? I’ve already eaten. You’ll have to take care of yourself; you can’t expect a promising young man who will serve his country in the future to starve."

At this comment, Su Hui nearly rolled her eyes and feigned a spiritless response: "Oh."

Gu Fan acted as though he hadn’t heard a thing, almost making Su Hui explode in frustration. How could this man be so dense? It was infuriating.

According to Su Hui’s previous plan, she would pretend to be upset, making Gu Fan worried and keep trying to figure out what was wrong. But Su Hui planned to stay mute and look troubled until Gu Fan’s curiosity was thoroughly piqued, after which she would surprise him.

As it turned out, things didn’t go as planned. When Su Hui entered the room, Gu Fan hardly noticed her. It was as if the television was more interesting than she was, and this left Su Hui greatly disappointed. But Su Hui, unwilling to admit defeat, moved around Gu Fan a bit, pretending to look for something, hoping to catch his attention.

However, Gu Fan’s remark nearly pushed her to the brink: "Sister Su, could you please move a bit? You’re blocking my view of the game."

"Hmph, you just keep on watching your game. It serves you right to be single." After saying this, Su Hui tossed something into Gu Fan’s arms and stormed upstairs.

"What’s her problem? Why is she so angry? Women are truly baffling. What is this?" Gu Fan asked himself these three questions in quick succession as he opened the long box and discovered a map inside. He couldn’t help but wonder if it could be...

Upon unfolding the map, Gu Fan was instantly taken aback – could this be the fourth map?

At this point, he didn’t care about any thrilling sports game. He dashed upstairs and knocked on Su Hui’s door, "Beautiful Sister Su, I’ve come to apologize. That was my bad, I was in the wrong. Can I kneel down and beg your forgiveness? Could you please open the door? You’re the most beautiful, the best, the most understanding, indeed my one and only, Sister Su."

Although Gu Fan wasn’t sure what he had done wrong, he didn’t care anymore; he just wanted Su Hui to calm down.

When Su Hui opened her door, her eyes revealed a dismissive look that made Gu Fan involuntarily shrink a bit. He then forced a smile and waved the map: "Can the amazing and formidable Sister Su tell me where she got this map from?"

"You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Zhuo Hang gave it to me. I think he must be one of the custodians too," Su Hui replied, leaving Gu Fan stunned and impressed. "No way, seriously? What a coincidence!"

At that, Su Hui nodded, "To be honest, I can’t believe such coincidences exist in this world, but it happened just like that. Talk about being lucky, huh?"

"Incredibly lucky!" After taking a moment to process Su Hui’s words, a thought occurred to Gu Fan: "What exactly happened? Sister Su, what did you say to Zhuo Hang?"

With a nonchalant shrug, Su Hui responded, "Nothing really, I just followed your advice and told Zhuo Hang everything. Then he gave me the map."

"Oh, I see. Since Zhuo Hang is also one of the custodians, he would definitely help keep our secret." On looking at the map in his hand, Gu Fan felt excited and thanked Su Hui profusely.

As Su Hui was about to gloat a bit to Gu Fan, he excitedly dashed off and started making a phone call on the way. He relayed the news about the fourth map to Lin Xi and Luo Jingrong, proposing a meeting so they could piece together all four maps.

An hour later, everyone gathered at Luo Jingrong’s factory. Lin Xi brought quite a few people, including Du Jun, Qin Jia. She had two maps from Du Jun and Yuan Cheng.

Luo Jingrong had prepared his map as well. He was more excited than anyone else. He hadn’t expected to witness all four maps assembled together in his lifetime.

After Gu Fan arrived with the new map, everyone’s attention was fixated on him. Their eyes filled with anticipation.

"Sorry for being late; there was a traffic jam outside. Please forgive me." On arriving, Gu Fan noticed Lin Xi’s solemn expression. Luo Jingrong just smiled and nodded, indicating that it was no big deal.

"Alright, let’s get started." At Lin Xi’s suggestion, everyone took out their maps. After piecing them together, they formed a complete map.

In the center of the four maps was a compass. Once the maps were assembled, the compass started spinning as if it were alive, causing everyone to stare in surprise.

Lin Xi didn’t seem too surprised. She placed her hand on the compass and focused on feeling its movements. As the compass spun, more details started appearing on the map. At first, it was just lines and sketches that weren’t recognizable, but over time, more items started taking form.

"My God, it’s actually a map. It looks like a mountain, and there seem to be some words next to it." Those who were close enough squinted to get a better look. It seemed to say ’heavenly timing, geographic advantage, and support of the people’.

Qin Jia looked at it several times, but still didn’t understand: "What does it mean? Can someone explain it to me?"

At those words, everyone fell silent, their eyes turning towards Lin Xi, hoping that she – the reincarnation of Queen Qianye – could shed some light.

Lin Xi calmly said, "If I’m not mistaken, to attain immortal life, we must have ’heavenly timing, geographic advantage, and support of the people’. ’Heavenly timing’ refers to a specific date, which should be the birthdate of a certain person."

Finally understanding, Gu Fan quickly added, "So ’support of the people’ means finding twelve other people who share the same birthday."

Luo Jingrong quickly offered his opinion, "And there’s also the method - the magical array, the mantra, and the prescription."

Not wanting to be left out, Du Jun chimed in, "’Geographic advantage’ must refer to the specified place, which is probably the place revealed on the map."

"Heavenly timing, geographic advantage, people’s support, and the method – we’ve got them all. It seems attaining immortal life is no longer just a dream." Luo Jingrong couldn’t help but laugh. Excitement ignited his eyes.

Lin Xi furrowed her eyebrows slightly, "Thank you Gu Fan for bringing the map. Now you can go home and focus on your studies like a normal person."

"What do you mean? You want to exclude me and go it alone?" When Gu Fan objected, he saw Lin Xi lift a finger and touch his forehead. Before he could grasp what was happening, he suddenly lost consciousness and fell into a faint.