Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 294: The Strange Forest

Chapter 294: Chapter 294: The Strange Forest

Awakened by the urgent shout, Gu Fan stirred, and so did everyone else. The first sight that greeted them was Deng Wenli’s panicked state. Then, they saw the cabin door wide open, letting a blizzard blow in.

"Oh my God, what’s going on?" Lu Yi, who was closest, quickly shut the door.

Deng Wenli turned for help: "Everyone, I don’t know what happened. My brother and I were on watch when I heard a strange sound. Then my brother suddenly glazed over and walked out, not responding to my calls."

Seeing Deng Wenli’s desperate anguish, everyone felt a chill. They turned to the supervisors, only to see their faces pale with fear.

"It can’t be?! We’ve just heard a story, a rumor, and it happens this quickly?" Everyone’s hearts sank, their bodies tensed up involuntarily.

Gu Fan hurried to the window to see what was going on, but the blizzard obscured his view.

"What should we do now, should we go out and search for him?" Ning Qi asked.

"With this weather, at this late hour, I’m afraid..." Hu Bo voiced out everyone’s fear, especially now that the rumor seemed to be more than just a rumor, who would dare go out and search?

Su Hui frowned, "We must search as quickly as possible, or we won’t be able to find him."

Hearing this, Deng Wenli pleaded for everyone to take action.

However, Ning Qi voiced an insensitive remark: "It’s not that we don’t want to search, but I worry that if Deng Wenming isn’t found, those of us who go out to search might not come back either."

Hearing this, everyone was filled with fear, reluctant to venture out, unsure of what had happened to Deng Wenming.

Gu Fan gritted his teeth, "I’m not overly righteous or responsible, but we shouldn’t abandon any of our comrades. If we abandon Deng Wenming today, it’s highly likely that one of us will be abandoned by the team tomorrow. I don’t think any of us want to be abandoned by the team."

"Alright, I understand, you’re going out to search for Deng Wenming. Count me in." Su Hui supported Gu Fan, and so did the rest of the team, although Ning Qi and Hu Bo seemed reluctant. It was their own teammates who were in trouble here.

"Time is of essence, we need to act now." Gu Fan suggested they split into three groups.

The first group comprised of Deng Wenli, Kang Rong, Zhuo Hang, Xu Haowen, and Ouyang Jin. They would stay behind in case Deng Wenming returned.

The second group, Gu Fan, Ning Qi, the supervisors, and Lu Yi, would search in one direction.

The third group, old man Tian, Hu Bo, Su Hui, and An Jie, would search in another direction.

The risk of venturing out in the blizzard at night was high, especially when they were scattered. But they had no other choice. Gu Fan clenched his teeth, feeling a fear greater than facing a big boss, a fear of the unknown.

He had to figure out what had happened to Deng Wenming, whether it had anything to do with that rumor. Otherwise, what had happened to Deng Wenming might happen to others as well.

Advancing in the blizzard, they could feel the stinging wind like sharp blades, but they kept moving forward. The darkness and the blizzard made it impossible to see clearly in spite of their flashlights.

Ning Qi and the supervisors trailed behind, constantly shifting their guns, afraid that something dangerous might pop out.

Lu Yi, who walked the last, couldn’t help but remark, "My God, finding someone in this weather is harder than ascending to heaven. This forest is so big, where shall we search?"

"Look for footprints; it would be good enough if we can find footprints," Gu Fan replied, bending down to look. The snowstorm was heavy and the footprints Deng Wenming left while leaving the cabin had been completely hidden. Hence, Gu Fan and his team had to try their best.

Lu Yi couldn’t help but comment further, "If we had rushed out to search when something happened to Deng Wenming, maybe we would have been able to follow his footprints, but now..."

Gu Fan responded, "You can’t blame everyone. I was also frightened and hesitant at that time. We were all sleeping and needed to get dressed, and also discuss our actions, which caused a significant delay."

"That’s true. We didn’t know what was going on, one can’t just rashly rush out!" Ning Qi agreed with the argument, this made her feel a little less guilty.

In fact, Gu Fan had deliberately made this statement. After Deng Wenming’s mishap, Ning Qi and Hu Bo were the most hesitant and least willing to search. And Deng Wenming was their comrade who they had brought along. In the end, it was Gu Fan’s insistence that made Ning Qi and Hu Bo reluctantly join the search.

If Gu Fan had blamed Deng Wenming’s disappearance on Ning Qi and Hu Bo’s negligence, it would have created a rift and a crisis within the team. Therefore, Gu Fan claimed that it was the entire team’s responsibility, to alleviate Ning Qi and Hu Bo’s guilt.

After a long search, there was still no sign of a human figure or any trace. Gu Fan listened carefully, knowing that they had agreed with Su Hui’s group to fire a flare if they found anything.

"Nothing, nothing at all. Where on earth could Deng Wenming have gone?" Gu Fan was anxious. Not only because the longer they searched, the lesser the chance of finding him, but also because the weather and the darkness posed risks to everyone.

"We’ll search a while longer. If there’s still no sign of him, we’ll return immediately," Ning Qi suggested. Hu Bo nodded in agreement, and both Gu Fan and Lu Yi casually concurred.

Lu Yi walked up to Gu Fan, and with a subtle look, let him know that Ning Qi and Hu Bo didn’t seem to take their teammate’s safety seriously. The individuals who were hesitant about coming out in the first place to look were them, after a while of searching, they started to become uneasy about their own safety and wanted to return, it was them too.

At that moment, both Gu Fan and Lu Yi felt relieved that they weren’t aligned with Ning Qi. They were surrounded by trust-worthy companions.

After some more searching, Gu Fan looked at the time and thought it should be enough. Just as he prepared to return under Ning Qi’s second proposal, he spotted footprints.

"Fire the flare." After saying this, Gu Fan continued to follow the footprints.

Ning Qi still showed hesitation, "Gu Fan, we’re far from the cabin now. If we keep going further, I’m afraid we’ll get lost."

"Don’t worry. Su Hui and their team will catch up when they see the flare. If we’re not back after a while, our team at the cabin will fire a flare too, so there’s no need to worry about getting lost. The most important thing right now is to find him," said Gu Fan as he continued walking. He was not particularly invested in saving Deng Wenming. He just wanted to figure out what happened to Deng Wenming, prevent similar incidents from happening, and not have the team cowed by fear due to mysterious disappearances.

"Are you coming or not? If you’re scared, feel free to go back." Lu Yi fired the flare and began to follow Gu Fan closely.