Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 280: Everyone Has Their Own Thoughts

Chapter 280: Chapter 280: Everyone Has Their Own Thoughts

"That’s the spirit. Young people should face difficulties head-on, only then can they conquer the world." Old man Tian’s teaching seemed quite unexpected, prompting Gu Fan to murmured to Su Hui, who was next to him, "What’s wrong with this old man? Initially, he firmly refused, but after going into the room, his attitude took a complete 180-degree turn. Now he’s encouraging us to come here."

Su Hui was also puzzled, "Isn’t it said that women are fickle? How come this old man is the same, could it have something to do with his eccentric behavior."

Old man Tian seemed to have overheard something, his eyebrows furrowed, his eyes conveying an ominous intensity, "What are you two talking about?"

Gu Fan hurriedly explained, "We were just saying how right you are, old man. We young people really should venture out into the world; otherwise, we’d be too sheltered to ever make it in society."

At this moment, Ning Qi posed a question, "So, what’s your planned route for this trip?"

A planned route? Everyone turned their eyes towards old man Tian, hoping for a cogent answer. However, he was quite calm, retorting with his own question, "And what is your route?"

The supervising staff member said casually, "We haven’t decided yet. We’ll play it by ear."

"We haven’t decided either. We’ll also make it up as we go along." Old man Tian’s words caught Ning Qi’s group off guard, but Gu Fan sensed a strategic probing taking place between the two sides.

Ouyang Jin had already spread a map of the area, then pointed and explained, "We are currently in this little cabin shown on the map. In this forest, there are many other cabins available for lodging, each one half a day’s journey apart. Our route is from one cabin to the next."

"Oh, is that so?" Gu Fan, Su Hui, and others finally understood, they then carefully studied the map and found two cabins nearest to their current location. If everyone set off tomorrow, choosing the same next stop would mean sharing the same route.

Gu Fan had a hunch that Ning Qi wanted to know old man Tian’s route out of ulterior motives, seemingly not wanting to follow the same route as him. Old man Tian, it seemed, saw through this, and thus refused to disclose his route.

To verify this, Gu Fan guessed that Ning Qi’s group would set off a bit later the following day, waiting until old man Tian had set a clear direction with his group before they made their move.

At this time, old man Tian asked, "According to the rules, hunting can only be conducted with groups of more than ten people. You guys only have five guns. If you run into a pack of wolves, you wouldn’t stand a chance."

"No problem, I’m a good shot. I can do the work of three people." Hu Bo seemed quite confident, retorting, "You guys only have these simple weapons. If you run into a pack of wolves, it’s even more dangerous for you."

This statement was somewhat provocative. Su Hui couldn’t stand him, for some reason, whenever she saw Hu Bo boasting, she felt like giving him a piece of her mind.

Just as Su Hui was about to say something, she was interrupted by Hu Bo, "Do you guys know that wolves act as a pack? They know how to cooperate and encircle their enemies. Perhaps you have some experience dealing with wolves, but it’s far from enough."

Hearing this, it was clear that Hu Bo was a veteran, seemingly the leader of their group. Ning Qi also looked quite admiring of him.

Seeing that Su Hui was losing her patience, Gu Fan quickly stepped in to defuse the situation, "Thanks for the advice, we’ll take heed."

The supervising staff also stepped in to ease the tension, "Alright, enough about this. Since we all have our own choices, we’ll see where fate takes us. After today, tomorrow we’ll go our separate ways, you go your way, I go mine, we wish each other the best. So let’s cherish this rare chance encounter."

After hearing this, it made sense to everyone — there was no need to be so contentious over this. On second thought, while Hu Bo may have been a bit abrasive, he did make sense.

By mealtime, everyone shared their food. When comparing to Ning Qi, the wealthy heiress, their rations seemed rather meager. Ning Qi generously shared her more appetizing food with everyone, saying, "It’s destiny that our paths crossed. If we run into each other after parting ways tomorrow, it means we are deeply connected by fate. If that happens, we can exchange contact information then."

Gu Fan thought this plan was feasible, and he proactively started a friendly chat with Ning Qi. As their conversation grew livelier, they couldn’t help but laugh from time to time, giving them the appearance of the male and female lead characters of the story.

It seemed that Gu Fan and Ning Qi were getting along quite well; while this didn’t bother Gu Fan, Deng Wenming and Deng Wenli seemed quite displeased. To put it bluntly, they both admired Ning Qi and were jealous of how close she and Gu Fan were getting.

After everyone had had their fill, and night fell, they all prepared to sleep. However, to be on the safe side, each group assigned someone to keep watch during the night. While their cabin was close to the edge of the forest, wild animals occasionally roamed the area. Better safe than sorry.

Space was limited in the cabin. Everyone lay down on the floor, burrowing into their sleeping bags. Gu Fan and Hu Bo were in charge of watching over the group for the first half of the night. To avoid disturbing the others’ sleep, they kept quiet.

Gu Fan kept a regular check on the outside through the window while Hu Bo only occasionally did so. From this alone, one could tell the level of responsibility each populated. The matter that concerned everyone’s safety left no room for negligence in Gu Fan’s mind.

When the night grew deep and silent, Ning Qi woke up. She promptly sat up and decided to keep Hu Bo company on his watch. When she saw how bright the moon was outside, she expressed a desire to go out and admire it, asking Hu Bo to accompany her on a stroll.

While Gu Fan found this unusual, he did not object. As long as they didn’t leave the compound, there should be no threat.

Just as Ning Qi and Hu Bo stepped out, they glanced back, ensuring that Gu Fan was not following them and that their conversation wouldn’t be overheard. Only then did they let their guard down.

"What should we do if these people choose the same route as us tomorrow? Wouldn’t that cause us trouble?" Ning Qi furrowed her brows, seemingly very uneasy.

Hu Bo nodded and voiced his concern, "Don’t you find these people a bit strange? This area is highly dangerous, yet they insist on coming here. I believe their purpose is not as simple as it seems, they may be here to..."

Ning Qi made a gesture for quiet, "Let’s wait till tomorrow and see which way they go. If they take a different route than ours, that would be ideal. If not, then we’ll just take one step at a time."

"That might work, but I’m afraid if we ’take one step at a time’, we might end up finding out that our routes are completely identical. That will be the biggest problem." What Hu Bo said was exactly what Ning Qi feared. So, she had no choice but to consider a plan in case such a scenario occurred.