Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared-Chapter 140 Darkness Follows

Guided by the light from Lu Yi’s counterfeit phone, Gu Fan, Du Jun, and Xu Haowen tread carefully along the narrow riverbank, one behind the other. Every step feels extraordinarily terrifying. Xu Haowen’s body is even trembling. If another monster fish attacks now, they certainly won’t have the ability to defend themselves.

Gu Fan’s idea is to return to the place where they had previously come ashore, and then make their way back to the palace to rejoin the others. The problem is that they have no sense of direction at the moment, not knowing if the place where they had previously come ashore is ahead or behind them.

After walking for a while, Du Jun expresses a different opinion, "I think we are going the wrong way, we should turn back."

To this, Gu Fan shakes his head, "It’s hard for all of us to say whether we are going in the wrong direction or not. So let’s just go a bit further. If we still can’t find our way, let’s turn back."

With a grave expression, Du Jun counters, "Do you realize what it means to stay here? Every minute, every second, carries risks. Going in the wrong direction will only waste more time."

"I know, you don’t need to remind me. We can’t choose the correct direction, so we have to take a gamble. You think we should go back, I think we should keep going. We disagree, but I won’t force you, and I don’t want you to force me. We can each go our own way." Gu Fan’s indifferent tone implies that he’s not seeking Du Jun’s approval, which infuriates the usually superior-feeling Du Jun.

Having no other choice, Du Jun falls silent. Since Lu Yi, the only light source, is definitely with Gu Fan, Du Jun has no choice but to follow along. This situation is similar to when Du Jun wanted to move forward with Ouyang Jin, the guide, which left Gu Fan and his group with no choice but to follow as well.

However, Du Jun maintains a hostile gaze at Gu Fan, seemingly implying that this matter is far from over. As for Gu Fan, he has no interest in paying it any mind. He is acutely aware of the current situation: if they can’t find their way in the shortest possible time, everyone will be in danger.

Seeing the tense atmosphere between Gu Fan and Du Jun, Xu Haowen quietly interjects, "Sorry to interrupt, but I feel like there’s something following us from behind."

"Oh, come on!" Lu Yi quickly shines the light toward Xu Haowen’s back. Everyone’s nerves are on edge. Upon closer inspection, they notice that there appears to be nothing behind them.

An annoyed Du Jun retorts, "Seriously, at a time like this, please stop frightening us."

"I don’t want to either, but I indeed heard something moving behind us." Xu Haowen’s face turns pale, and even with the aid of the light, he sees nothing when he glances over his shoulder. Nevertheless, he can’t shake the feeling of fear.

Gu Fan replies simply, "Then let me stay at the back. Lu Yi, you keep leading the way, but walk slower."

"Alright!" Lu Yi again directs the light forward and continues on. Du Jun follows second, and Xu Haowen third.

Gu Fan brings up the rear. He is moving slowly, almost crouching on the ground as he takes each step backward while keeping a close eye on the darkness ahead, listening to the sounds around him. He wants to confirm one thing: if Xu Haowen is imagining things.

After only a short while, Gu Fan hears a faint noise. It seems as though something is creeping up from behind, making a scraping sound against the stone wall.

To confirm this, Gu Fan scratches his finger against the stone wall and finds that the sound is indeed similar. Could it be...

Breaking out into a cold sweat, Gu Fan feels his hands and feet turn icy. The worst thing is that he hears a strange sound that he had once heard in the poacher’s recording.

"No way, we can’t be running into it here." Clutching his baton tightly, he stays still, listening to the sound growing closer. Even though everything is pitch-black and nothing can be seen, it’s clear that something is indeed following them.

As his heart beats faster, Gu Fan grits his teeth. Even with his baton in hand, he feels rigid because he does not know what kind of creature he will have to face.

Gu Fan holds his breath, focusing on the sound. Then he hears it—a creature’s breathing. It’s close, even closer now, as if it’s right in front of him.

"Let’s do this!" Gu Fan swings his baton directly into the darkness. Upon impact, there’s a dull sound, indicating a solid hit. Gu Fan’s heart tightens.

A ghastly shriek fills the air, filled with rage, enough to send shivers down one’s spine. Then there’s the sound of something falling into the water. It seems that the creature, in pain, lost its footing and fell into the water.

"What is it, what is it?" Lu Yi quickly shines the light over, directing it into the water. But all they see is a creature thrashing about in the water. Due to the large waves, they can’t make out what it is.

A monstrous fish jumps out of the water, catches hold of the floundering creature and pulls it under. Suddenly, a significant amount of blood gushes out, turning this patch of water red.

"Let’s go!" With just a word from Gu Fan, Lu Yi speedily moved ahead while the others bolted in terror. Just as Xu Haowen had said, real unknown things were following them from behind.

Looking back, even Gu Fan was terrified. They had just been fortunate enough to strike first, throwing that thing into the water, only to stumble upon a monstrous fish. If they had acted just a tad slower, he might have been the one getting dealt with by those things, or even already dragged into the water by the giant fish. So whether Gu Fan’s luck was good or bad, it was truly hard to say.

As they ran, Lu Yi spotted an area ahead where the pathway above wasn’t sealed off but led to a passage. And on the stone wall were hollowed-out sections, where one could grab onto them and climb upwards.

Gu Fan surmised that it could be a well built to gain access to the underground river’s waters- only it seemed to be a rather large well.

"What do we do? Do we climb up?" As Lu Yi posed the question, a strange yell from the depths below answered him, making Du Jun even more anxious: "What are you waiting for? Climb up, quick."

Promptly in action, Lu Yi bit his mobile phone between his teeth and started to climb upwards using the irregularities in the cave wall as leverage. Being first, he had to move quickly so as not to slow down the entire team.

Next was Du Jun and then came Xu Haowen. The further up they climbed, the more crevices and footholds they found. There was no need to keep following behind Lu Yi. In fact, Du Jun was even faster and almost caught up with Lu Yi.

Gu Fan was last. His pace wasn’t slow, but he intentionally maintained a moderate speed, firstly not to overtake the others since he’d said he would bring up the rear and secondly because he deemed it necessary to continue being the rearguard since he had the best skills and abilities among them all.

If at that moment Xu Haowen had been the one bringing up the rear, Gu Fan terror-inducingly thought, they would probably have already been in grave danger. All he could do was pray to the heavens for their safety, so he wouldn’t end up regretting taking up the rearguard and making the ultimate sacrifice for his friends.

"Move quickly, even quicker," Gu Fan inwardly urged. But Lu Yi, Du Jun, and Xu Haowen were becoming slower and slower. After all, they had been climbing for quite a while and their strength was dwindling, making them somewhat unable to carry on. Furthermore, the limited light meant they needed more time to find crevices to clutch onto.

Gu Fan also felt the fatigue but dared not stop. He persevered and moved upwards. Suddenly, he heard a commotion below. Something was clawing at the stone wall. The noise it made was different from theirs when scratching and scaling the wall.

"It’s here, it’s coming again! Hurry up!" Gu Fan roared, urging the others to pick up their pace. At the same time, he attempted to aim a kick backwards and managed to strike something. An ear-piercing scream erupted before he heard the sound of a splash.

"Oh my God, you’ve got to be kidding!" Lu Yi looked down. The mobile phone in his mouth illuminated the area below, allowing him a clear view.

It was a humanoid figure with grey skin, a brutal face, sharp claws and teeth, a pointed head, and eyes that looked like they had been sewn shut. Anyone looking would think it was a demon.

The moment the light hit, the demons seemed unable to withstand it, let out shrill wails and shielded themselves, implying they were afraid of bright light.

"What the hell are these things!" Lu Yi had just finished speaking when Du Jun and Xu Haowen climbed up next to him and said, "Who cares, let’s just get out of here."

But Lu Yi wouldn’t abandon Gu Fan. He intentionally lit the way for Gu Fan, helping him to find more handholds on the stone wall and climb faster.

"I think these are the ogres that attacked the poachers." Gu Fan used all his might to climb to where Lu Yi was and then they continued upwards. But then they ran into a problem: if they wanted to climb upwards, they would need the light to shine upwards. If they did that, the ogres wouldn’t be bothered by the bright light and would chase them ferociously.

If they shone the light on the ogres, it would slow them down. But it would also affect their speed. What was worse, what if the phone’s battery ran out?

This was truly a dilemma. Gu Fan could feel the danger closing in. In front of him were the ogres chasing them persistently, despite the bright light, with their sharp nails able to scratch the stone wall.

Lu Yi swallowed hard, "I really don’t want to end up in the hands of these ogres."

"Believe me, neither do I." Gu Fan thought for a second and then quickly ordered, "Du Jun and Xu Haowen, you go first. Then Lu Yi, give your phone to Du Jun. After that, Du Jun, you light up the bottom to help Lu Yi and me find our way."

"Alright, we’ll do it that way." Du Jun and Xu Haowen struggled to find handholds on the stone wall. Each step they climbed was incredibly challenging.

Once Du Jun and Xu Haowen had made some progress, Lu Yi handed his phone to Du Jun to light up the ogres below, continuing to use the strong light to slow down their chase. Simultaneously, with the use of the light, Lu Yi and Gu Fan started climbing upwards, creating more of a distance between them and the ogres.

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