Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 691: Advancing in the Dark

Chapter 691: Chapter 691: Advancing in the Dark

No one knew how much time had passed. Over what felt like a long period, everyone had been swimming forwards incessantly. One by one, the lights extinguished and darkness progressively enveloped them. The darkness was so intense; it gave everyone the illusion that they were running out of oxygen.

When the last light died out, they were completely engulfed by an infinite darkness. There was no way to see what lay ahead, and there was no route to turn back either. All they could do was steel themselves and move forward.

Everyone tried their best to feel their way against the walls and floor as they moved forward. In their hearts, they prayed a thousand, ten thousand times, hoping for a safe path ahead.

Gu Fan felt a slight tremor in his body, and everyone else felt a wave of fear too. They had no idea if they would make it out or what lay ahead.

Just then, one of the pirates felt something touch him. At first, he disregarded it, assuming it to be an accident by one of the others. However, after the same thing happened several times, he began to get annoyed.

"Who’s that?" the pirate muttered quietly before grabbing the thing touching him. The moment he touched it, a chill ran down his spine. The touch was not of human flesh, but instead felt like a tongue.

A blue glow suddenly lit up their surroundings, revealing transparent bag-like creatures clinging to the walls. They were positioned slightly above everyone’s height, which is why no one had bumped into them while swimming.

These bag-like creatures, in addition to emitting a blue bioluminescence, extended several tentacles from their bags. One of them quickly wrapped around the pirate’s arm and slowly pulled him towards the structure.

The pirate panicked, trying to break free, but he was not strong enough. His arm was locked in, and the tentacles were coiling tighter and tighter around him.

The others rushed to help, but the appearance of more tentacles frightened them off.

Gu Fan looked up at the many bag-like creatures overhead, each extending at least ten tentacles stretching out as if looking for prey. It seemed like they were hunting.

Gu Fan immediately lay flat, barely avoiding getting caught by the tentacles. The others did the same.

The situation of the initial pirate was dire. His one arm was entirely engulfed inside the bag, and the creature was ferociously chomping at it.

The pirate struggled wildly, kicking out with his legs, but it was no use. His frantic movements indicated his increasing desperation.

His comrades grabbed his legs, attempting to pull him back, but it was too late. His head was sucked into the creature’s bag too. He disappeared by sections, his upper body, then his entire form, as the beast devoured him whole.

Everyone looked on, pallor spreading across their faces. They hunched over as they moved forward, distancing themselves from those tentacles as much as possible, afraid of meeting the same fate as the pirate.

The blue glow emitted by these bag-like creatures conveniently lighted their path. In these unfortunate circumstances, it was a small bit of good fortune. If they had been left in complete darkness, they would be defenseless and, one by one, would have been consumed.

Slowly and cautiously, everyone swam past them, away from the threatening things. Taking a breath of relief as the darkness fell around them once again.

"My goodness, this is too intense." Lu Yi wished he could wipe his cold sweat away before continuing to move forward.

After swimming a little further, they noticed some small flickering lights up ahead. These lights strangely moved around, two at a time.

"Those aren’t lights. They’re eyes." Gu Fan was the first one to realise this, but he couldn’t raise an alarm.

Indeed, a group of five mermaids was passing by. Their eyes, adjusted to the dark, spotted Gu Fan and the others, so they eagerly swam towards them.

Soon everyone realised that the small lights were actually the eyes of the mermaids. Seeing the enemy approach, they all turned heel to flee, disregarding what was behind them.

The mermaids didn’t hesitate to charge at them, forming a united assault that knocked Gu Fan and the others off their feet, stirring up chaos in the darkness.

"What the heck, caught between a rock and a hard place!" Gu Fan privately cursed as a mermaid snatched his ankle, attempting to drag him away.

Under normal circumstances, Gu Fan would be completely helpless in the water. However, several tentacles wrapped around his arms pulling him back.

The blue bioluminescence lit up once again. Apparently, without noticing, they had swum back into the territory of the bag-like creatures during their escape.

The bag-like creatures extended their tentacles again, capturing humans and mermaids alike, pulling everyone into their bags with all their might.

The situation had changed. The mermaids were also stuck in a dangerous situation and abandoned the pursuit of Gu Fan and his companions. However, Gu Fan and his group were in trouble too as many of them had been ensnared by the tentacles.

When a mermaid got swallowed into the bag, the others let out shrieks of fury. In no time, a dozen more mermaids charged from both directions, likely intending to rescue their companion.

The situation descended into chaos. A three-way fight ensued, with Gu Fan being tugged by the tentacles on one side and the mermaids on the other, in a veritable bind. He couldn’t see a good outcome from either side winning.

At this moment, another mermaid attacked and as two of them grabbed Gu Fan’s legs, their combined strength exceeded the tentacles’ grip, forcing them to let go.

Just as it seemed that Gu Fan would end up in the hands of the mermaids, another tentacle wrapped around one of the mermaids, wanting to pull it away.

With no other choice, the mermaids had to let go of Gu Fan to deal with the new threat, giving him a narrow escape.

"My goodness, Lin Xi, where are you?" Gu Fan searched in all directions, but everything was too chaotic. If they were not fighting the mermaids, they were working together with them against the bag-like creatures.

A mermaid was accidentally ensnared, first its tail was swallowed, followed by its upper body, and finally only its arms and head remained outside, pleading for help.

The other mermaids rushed to her aid, but it was too late; the mermaid was fully consumed.

Knowing that mermaids were not easy prey, since they couldn’t save their companion, they decided to make the bag-like creatures pay the price. They used their hands to tear apart the bags, avenging their fellow mermaid.

However, the tentacles of other bag-like creatures glowed and ensnared the mermaids, after all, this was their territory.