Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 428: Beware of Strangers

Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Beware of Strangers

Indeed, the reason Du Jun could secure such high-end accommodations was not because he was wealthy or a member of any kind. It was because he owned the hotel. Therefore, Du Jun was now sitting inside the surveillance room, eyes glued to the screen. He would alert Gu Fan instantly once he detected any suspicious individuals.

Qin Jia couldn’t help but chime in, "It’s indeed bold of Lin Xi to expose his whereabouts knowing full well the trouble at hand. Fearless, indeed."

Du Jun grimaced, "Lin Xi might not have taken this person named Qian Ying seriously at all. If I were Lin Xi, given that Shennv Xuanhui has already sought us out, we might as well face them head on."

At this moment, the surveillance screen showed Gu Fan pulling Lin Xi aside. Gu Fan was clearly questioning Lin Xi over the risky move.

Looping in apology, Lin Xi said, "I’m sorry, Gu Fan. I know I was a bit reckless this time but I was thinking, why did only Qian Ying target me the last time? Where is their elder sister? If she’s not here and we only have Qian Ying to contend with, I must seize this chance to defeat her."

Upon hearing this, Gu Fan understood his reasoning. It was hard to deal with Shennv Xuanhui, and breaking them down individually would be ideal.

"Alright, let’s figure this out together. We’ll surely overcome tonight’s hurdle. I have Du Jun stationed in the surveillance room, while Lu Yi and Jie are on the lookout. We don’t know how Ning Qi and Qian Ying are going to attack us; all we can do is defend ourselves." Gu Fan spoke, his face clearly denoting stress. He, too, was unsure of the outcome.

"Don’t worry, we can handle Qian Ying. If we can’t even do that..." Lin Xi left the sentence hanging but his implication was clear. If one Qian Ying had them falling flat, then they might just surrender when dealing with more formidable opponents like Qian Feng who crushed even the boss in defeat.

Afterwards, Gu Fan and Lin Xi returned to their seats, albeit without Lu Yi and Jie. Gu Fan explained it off as the two boys running off to play games; there were important missions to complete.

With four members of their jovial crew missing, their table was a little silent, but it didn’t matter. Everyone was engaged in conversation and laughter. Lin Xi’s convincing act of speaking a lot and having fun with Zhang Yang, as if completely oblivious to who he was, added to the joyous atmosphere.

Quietly, Gu Fan asked Gu Ling who was seated nearby, "Ling, do you have any strange feelings?"

"Strange feelings!" She pondered and shook her head, "No, not at all. What makes you ask me this, brother?"

"Nothing, just checking on you." Gu Fan feigned indifference but received a dubious glance from Gu Ling.

Gu Fan felt a bit uneasy and dared not meet Gu Ling’s probing eyes. He covertly considered whether it was appropriate to utilize Gu Ling’s special skills in case of an emergency, seeing as she was able to pinpoint Qian Ying’s location last time.

Gu Fan gauged that the time it would take Ning Qi to leave her place and reach this hotel would be at least half an hour. In all probability, Ning Qi and Qian Ying would be arriving soon.

According to Lin Xi, Qian Ying’s power was to control humans’ consciousness, and she couldn’t be interrupted while casting her spell. Put simply, the first step of Qian Ying’s power was to control an individual through eye contact and physical touch. The second step was to find a quiet place, concentrate on her spell, and have the controlled person obey her will.

If Gu Fan were to guess Qian Ying’s move, she wouldn’t directly approach Lin Xi after arriving as that would leave her disoriented by Lin Xi. Instead, she’d control passersby and then find a safe, hidden place to cast her spell, leading the controlled people towards Lin Xi.

"Wait, if she controls passersby, Lu Yi and Jie could get into trouble." Gu Fan fretted, regretting the decision to keep Lu Yi and Jie casually stationed outside.

At that time, Lu Yi was wandering the streets, scrutiny each car parked by the roadside. The hunt felt like finding a needle in a haystack and yielded no results. "Why can’t we live peaceful lives," he lamented, when suddenly a beautiful girl appeared with a map, seemingly trying to find her way.

"This face, this figure, absolute high grade!" Lu Yi couldn’t help but comment and found himself stealing glances. How wonderful it’d be, he pondered, if such a woman were his girlfriend.

To his surprise, the girl caught his gaze but didn’t avoid it. Instead, she came towards him with a map and asked for direction, "Excuse me, is the parade tonight nearby?"

"Oh, you’re here for the parade too." Out of the goodness of his heart, Lu Yi pointed out the direction to the girl, who thanked him and extended her hand in friendship.

Seeing the girl proactively motioning for a handshake made Lu Yi, who hadn’t held a girl’s hand before, feel his heart skip a beat. He had misgivings, but a voice inside him said that the girl had taken the first step, he shouldn’t hesitate.

Just as Lu Yi was about to extend his hand, a sudden realization made him hold back awkwardly and laugh off the situation. "It’s something I should do anyway. You should hurry up and go, or else you might miss the parade."

The girl appeared slightly taken aback, as if surprised that Lu Yi would decline a handshake from a beauty like her. Nonetheless, she responded with a reserved, polite smile and went on her way.

Watching her leave, Lu Yi silently regretted his action. If his overthinking cost him a chance at an interaction with such a beauty, he was to blame.

"Gu Fan, all this for you, buddy." With a sense of dejection, Lu Yi continued to walk towards the corner of the street, sighing all the way, when he noticed something odd. People were walking down the streets, but some were stiff, standing in one place, seemingly aimless.

Baffled by this, Lu Yi wasn’t watchful and accidentally bumped into someone. His first instinct was to apologize, but to his surprise, the person seemed completely oblivious to him, standing frozen, eyes trained across the street, akin to treating Lu Yi as if he was just air.