Chapter 183: The True Temple

The lake's area isn't very large, about the size of four football fields.

But the lake's water is clear enough to see the bottom, and the five university students standing on its southern shore can even spot freshwater fish swimming in the lake.

The shore is dotted with multicolored pebbles, bright green meadow grass and unknown flowers; together with the sun's reflection creating glittering ripples on the lake surface, the students feel this place is an untouched paradise.

Looking toward the lake's northern shore, in the area clinging to a low cliff, they also spot a dilapidated Greek‑style temple.

However, calling it a temple is a stretch; all that remains are a heap of tilted and collapsed marble columns, severely weathered into a ruin.

"Found it! It actually really let us find it!"

"The professor was right! How could a real temple possibly be in Turkey!"

Even though what they discovered is a ruin, the students' emotions remain exuberant and excited, clearly having found what they hoped for.

"Everyone!" At this moment, the leading male student reined in his excitement, slipped his tablet into his satchel, then turned to his classmates and raised his voice:

"Professor Xiersi once warned us that without solid evidence we must not jump to conclusions; don't forget we are Oxford History Department students."

Upon hearing this, the remaining two men and two women also composed themselves.

The leading student looked at the burly classmate carrying the largest hiking pack and said, "Tangmu, the camping is yours."

"No problem!"

The student named Tangmu raised no objection, patted his chest, then left the group toward the lake, scanning the surroundings for the best campsite.

"Aisha." Immediately, the leading male student turned to a female classmate wearing black‑rimmed glasses and freckles on her cheeks, and said:

"Help Tangmu out."

"Okay." Aisha nodded lightly and jogged to keep up with the gradually receding Tangmu.

"Hans, show us your specialty."

The leading male student said the above line to a long‑haired man with an eight‑shaped beard.

"Don't worry, Qiaozhi!" Hans, the man with the eight‑shaped beard, replied half‑sentence to the leading student named Qiaozhi, and before finishing, took a small camcorder from the bag hanging in front of him.

He turned on the camcorder, pointed the lens at Qiaozhi and continued laughing, "UM‑UD3000, Umbrella Digital product, quality absolutely guaranteed! Perfectly showcases Qiaozhi's handsomeness."

Hans said this while swiveling the camera toward the female classmate standing beside Qiaozhi, who had a brown ponytail, slightly full lips, and an excellent figure, and said:

"And also the elegant bearing of our friend and boss, Miss Kelaofu."

"Be serious... Hans." Qiaozhi gave a helpless chuckle.

Then Qiaozhi looked at Kelaofu beside him and said, "Let's go, Kelaofu."

"Alright."

The five then split into three groups.

Tangmu and Aisha walked around the lake searching for a suitable campsite, while Qiaozhi and Kelaofu headed toward the temple ruins.

Hans acted as the photographer, recording the lake, cliffs, forest, and their classmates, planning to edit it into a documentary after returning.

Qiaozhi and Kelaofu bypassed the lake and arrived at the northern shore, walking beneath a cliff that formed a ninety‑degree angle.

As they approached the ruins ahead, Qiaozhi looked up at the cliff, estimating the top to be about fifty meters above the ground.

However, he wasn't a geography student; after a glance, he stopped focusing on the cliff and, together with Kelaofu, reached the edge of the temple ruins.

From the lake's southern shore, Qiaozhi thought the temple's scale was considerable; after close‑up observation at the edge, he believed that if the temple weren't a ruin, it could certainly be listed as one of the "Ancient World Wonders."

The two ascended the steps and arrived on the temple's platform.

Kelaofu first set her backpack aside, took a small camera from her waist pouch, snapped photos while walking toward the interior of the temple.

Qiaozhi, however, walked toward a standing, sturdy stone column.

Upon close inspection, he found that it would take three people like him to encircle the column, whose height was roughly twenty meters.

Qiaozhi moved away from that column and entered the temple; a rough count showed more than thirty columns still standing on both sides.

Including the collapsed and fallen columns, he guessed the temple's original scale featured at least a hundred columns, and imagined its grandeur when first built…

"Ah."

Qiaozhi couldn't help shaking his head with a sigh; after all, people can no longer admire the temple's most glorious, most magnificent side backed against the cliff.

After a brief moment, Qiaozhi set aside his sigh, put down his backpack, and continued with Kelaofu to search the ruins for any noteworthy details or items.

Soon after.

Tangmu and Aisha also arrived beside the temple ruins.

After selecting for nearly half an hour, they finally chose the campsite on the flat, spacious northern shore, which also suited their research.

Soon, the strong Tangmu set up a basic layout for the camp.

Seeing this, Qiaozhi and Kelaofu grabbed their backpacks and left the temple, intending to help set up the camp first and, after lunch, study together with everyone.

Hans, who was in charge of filming, also came over, briefly recorded the camp setup as a memento, then put away his camcorder and joined the building team.

With the five's joint effort, the camp with three tents was completed.

The largest tent housed the three men; one of the other two was occupied by the two women; the final one stored their professional equipment and supplies.

At this moment, the blazing sun at the zenith began to tilt westward.

At the center of the camp.

The five gathered around the campfire, seated on their folding chairs, gazing at the serene scenery, enjoying instant meals.

It has been a full four days since they left the bustling city, entered the scarcely trodden forest, and arrived at this lake and temple untouched by modern civilization.

Their luck has been good; they haven't gotten lost nor encountered famished large predators.

"Hey, Qiaozhi!"

Tangmu placed the biodegradable instant‑meal container into the nearby paper bag for trash, then asked the seated Qiaozhi:

"How's it going? Did you and Kelaofu find anything useful? Is this the temple the professor mentioned?"

As the words fell, Hans and Aisha both wore expectant looks, directing their gazes toward Qiaozhi and Kelaofu.

"Cough." Qiaozhi let out a light cough as he took a sip of water, set his water bottle on the ground, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand while scanning the group, then nodded gravely and said:

Based on my and Kelaofu's initial speculation, this is very likely the first Artemis temple.

"Ha ha!" Having been affirmed, Tangmu burst into laughter, slapping his thigh as he said, "I told you, the one in Turkey is fake!"

(End of chapter)