Chapter 185: Mythical Creatures

Human laughter?

Besides them, how could there be anyone else here?

Hearing faint giggling, Tangmu sprang up, left the campfire and moved to the edge of the camp, watching the dense forest to the east of the camp with caution.

Seeing Tangmu leave, only Aisha remained alone by the campfire.

The lake, emitting a faint white glow, made the scenery even more enchanting, but Aisha had no mood to appreciate it; instead, she felt a sudden fear, so she also stood up, moved to the edge of the camp, stood beside Tangmu and gazed toward the forest.

The two kept silent, listening carefully.

"Chirp~ chirp~." Yet only insects were heard; perhaps… it was an auditory hallucination just now?

"Haha~."

But not long after, faint giggling sounded again from deep within the forest, indicating that the two had not imagined it and that there really were 'people' there.

"Tangmu... what should we do?" Aisha asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Go wake George and the others up," Tangmu said gravely, his gaze fixed on the forest.

"Mm." Aisha nodded lightly, turned back to the camp, and went to wake everyone up.

Although Tangmu's mind is single‑track, that doesn't mean he's stupid.

The self‑illuminating lake and the forest giggling both signal that this area is abnormal; Tangmu is confident in himself, yet he wouldn't heroically go alone to investigate the source of the laughter.

In less than a minute.

"My god? This lake actually glows?"

Tangmu heard Hans exclaim from behind.

Soon, Qiaozhi, Hans, Kelaofu, and Aisha gathered beside Tangmu, just in time to hear the frolicking sounds coming from the forest.

And that frolicking was gradually drawing closer to their camp.

Hearing such commotion, the drowsiness of the three—Qiaozhi, Hans, and Kelaofu—vanished without a trace, and the atmosphere grew much more solemn.

"Everyone." As the leader, Qiaozhi immediately addressed the group:

"Everyone get ready. I'll, Tangmu, and Kelaofu will go into the forest to check. Hans and Aisha, you two stay at the camp; if necessary..."

"Wait!" Before Qiaozhi could finish, Hans raised his hand and interjected: "I think that's inappropriate."

Qiaozhi was not angered by Hans's interruption; instead, he patiently asked, "Do you have any good suggestions, Hans?"

Upon hearing that, everyone looked at Hans.

"I wouldn't call it a suggestion; it's just my movie‑watching insight," Hans said with a serious expression. "You know I like watching movies, especially horror films.

And those low‑brow American horror movies usually have a main cast of five to six college students, you see…"

Hans said this while glancing at everyone, then pointed at the glowing lake surface, and then at the forest path where the laughter originated:

"We are five college students, and we've encountered a strange natural phenomenon; isn't that just like the plot of a low‑brow horror film?

You know, the main reason the characters in horror movies die one after another is because they split up!

When together, numbers give strength; if we separate, we'd just be waiting to be taken down one by one. We're not elite special forces; an individual soldier's quality is even lower than a regular soldier's, so we must not split up."

When Hans finished speaking, everyone, feeling his point was sound, nodded.

"You're absolutely right; we should indeed stay together. Do you have any other suggestions?" Qiaozhi asked again.

Hearing the question, Hans thought for a moment and said, "Kelaofu has a Satellite Phone, and our positioning system is still functional, which means we won't lose contact with the outside world, and we also have weapons for self‑defense.

It's deep night now; fleeing hastily through the forest would be unwise, but we also can't go deeper into the forest to investigate…"

Therefore we should first seek help from outside, then rely on the camp's advantageous terrain and lighting to defend, waiting for whatever is producing the laughter to reveal itself.

"Alright!" Qiaozhi strongly agreed with Hans's proposal and said to Kelaofu:

"Kelaofu, first contact your father and let him know our situation; if your father handles the negotiations, I think the Bulgarian side will dispatch rescue personnel immediately."

"No problem." Kelaofu jogged back to the tent.

"Tangmu, come with me to fetch the guns," Qiaozhi said, then turned toward the tent that stored their instruments and gear.

"Alright!" Tangmu hurriedly followed.

Next.

Kelaofu used the Satellite Phone to call her father, who is far away in London, reporting the discovery of the first Artemis Temple and the strange circumstances, so her father could use his influence to contact the Bulgarian government.

While Kelaofu was speaking with her father, Qiaozhi and Tangmu also took out the three pistols they had brought, along with fewer than a hundred loose bullets.

These students naturally wouldn't come without any weapons; they even dared to come to this virtually uninhabited forest.

Legally acquiring pistols is a bureaucratic nightmare, but that wasn't an issue for Kelaofu.

Finally, Qiaozhi, Tangmu, and Kelaofu each held a pistol, and after evenly distributing all the ammunition, they went to the eastern side of the camp, concentrating their vigilance on the forest to the east.

Aisha and Hans, who lacked any emergency skills, stayed inside the camp to watch the other directions for the three.

Moreover, Hans took out his beloved UM-UD3000, switched to night‑shooting mode, and aimed the camera at the forest that the three—Qiaozhi, Tangmu, and Kelaofu—were watching.

All preparations were complete.

The camp fell back into silence; aside from insect chirps, the increasingly close frolicking noises filled the air, and the five's throats were almost dry with tension.

After a few minutes of agonizing wait, Hans, holding the UM-UD3000, was the first to look through the screen and see which 'people' produced the frolicking sounds.

He saw more than ten slightly larger 'butterflies' playing and tumbling as they fluttered out of the forest into an open area, flying toward the lake that scattered white light.

!!!

Seeing the 'butterflies' clearly, Hans's eyes widened in shock; he could hardly believe that the creature captured by the UM-UD3000 actually existed in real life.

Those 'butterflies' were only a little larger than seagulls, with semi‑transparent, brightly colored butterfly‑like wings, and what shocked Hans was that their bodies were those of human females dressed in proportionate clothing.

Fairies.

Hans knew these were a type of small nymph from Greek mythology; they posed little threat to humans, after all they were so tiny.

Before Hans could finish his warning, the other four also, using the lighting equipment set up around the camp, saw the flock of fairies that had flown out of the forest.

As for the fairies…

The petite face also displayed surprise and confusion.

They flew out of the dense forest, clearly not expecting any humans to appear here.

However, they were only stunned for a moment, then resumed flapping their wings and actively flew toward Qiaozhi, Tangmu and the others.

"KαλωΗΡΘΑΤΕ (Welcome)!"

"Χαρομαιπουσεγνωρζω (Very glad to see you)!"

At the same time, they waved both hands, speaking this Greek‑like language, apparently greeting Qiaozhi and the others.

(End of chapter)