1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 543 The end of science is theology
Every time Ronan went to the forest, he could tell these students something new and interesting.

They either told the Lourmaran handicraft cooperative that they had received some important customers, or that tourists had done something hilarious in Lourmaran. There was nothing else to talk about except for the delicious food in the restaurant that they had never even heard of.

But what these students could tell Ronan was either the dry agricultural knowledge taught in university classrooms or the headache-inducing experimental data—who would want to listen to that?

They don't even have the desire to share.

The 'mysterious' forest stories passed down orally by senior students seem to be the only thing they can offer.

So, Ronan was going to spend the night in the forest with everyone, and the students were overjoyed, excitedly surrounding him in the very center of the line.

After Ronan finished recounting the interesting events that had occurred in Lourmaran over the past few days, someone else took the initiative to tell him a mysterious story.

It was already dark, and we had entered the forest, making it a perfect time to tell a story.

"Ronan, do you know Rabem?" The young man in Elden's group was named Antoine. Because Elden and Ronan were close, he was also quite familiar with Ronan and stayed by Ronan's side all night.

Ronan thought for a moment and said truthfully:

"Have not heard."

Antoine lowered his voice, creating an immersive listening environment:

"In the forests of Luberon, there is an ancient legend about 'Labem,' which is said to be a huge creature that resembles a wolf or hyena, with scales covering its fur and eyes that glow yellow in the dark. It moves silently and only appears at night. According to records, Labem has lived for at least 1000 years."

Ronan turned to Antoine and asked:

"How many kinds of 'ancient creatures' live in the forests of Luberon? This is already the thirteenth ancient monster I've heard of that has lived for thousands or hundreds of years. Don't they fight each other since they all live in this area?"

The only female student in the group, a girl named Ophelia, said to Ronan:
"They could be many kinds, or they could be one kind. For example, the first person to see it might name it Labem, and then another person might see it and name it 'Hertabela' and go to the village to spread the story of 'Hertabela', but they are actually the same thing."

“But Getabella has red eyes, I remember,” Ronan said seriously. “They can’t be the same thing.”

Ophelia shrugged:

"Maybe I'm seeing things? In the dark, the difference between yellow and red isn't that great."

“But Getabella didn’t have a tail,” Ronan recalled. “Ottovan said Labem did have a tail.”

"It's also possible you're mistaken; it's all at night—"

Antoine called a halt to Ronan and Ophelia's 'academic discussion':
"I'm talking about Bellam!"

Ladies and gentlemen, what does this have to do with Getafe?
Can you please not use that dirty stuff from experiments here?
unlucky!!
“Oh, okay, okay,” Ronan reassured the flustered Antoine. “But you said Labem moves silently, so how was it detected?”

Ronan wasn't initially so serious about it.

But these students talked about far too many mysterious creatures.

Following the principle of memorizing what he hears, Ronan hoped to remember all the characteristics of each creature and find an opportunity to tell the farmers in Lourmaran about them.

These guys used to tell Ronan tales of Provence's "countryside legends," but now he can actually come up with something.

Antoine pressed himself against Ronan's back and breathed into his ear:

"Labem is very curious. It will definitely come over to take a look when it sees someone. It will silently stick to a person's back and make a low panting sound, like this."

Ronan left the prankster Antoine, saying disdainfully:
"It seems that Labem doesn't intentionally harm people and is a kind creature. On the contrary, you, Antoine, are much more evil than it. Get out of here and stay away from me."

Antoine grinned smugly, revealing the cunning of someone who had succeeded in his scheme.

“Although Labem rarely attacks people unprovoked, doesn’t that unknown fear and the feeling of being watched from the shadows make one uneasy? Ronan, imagine it—”

His flashlight shone erratically in the darkness:
"Here, here, here, or here... there's something staring at you!"

The students work in the field year-round, and what they fear is not the terrifying creatures in the forest, but the monotonous and boring days!
But today, the fun begins.

Everyone strained their ears, hoping to hear Ronan's terrified pleas for mercy or his nervous, muttered curses.

But this benefactor seems to be not only 'well-educated', but also quite bold.

Ronan wasn't absorbed in the story of the Black Forest at all; he was eagerly looking around.
"Didn't you say there were huge swarms of fireflies? Where are they?"

"Girls don't have that kind of perverse sense of humor," Ophelia said in a 'teacher's' tone.
"There is no water source or humidity near Lourmaran, so there will be no fireflies in this forest."

"No fireflies?" Ronan said angrily. "But Elden said he sees swarms of fireflies every day and relies on them to light his way to the toilet at night!"

Another student laughed and said:
"You believe Elden's words? He also said that when he went to the forest to do experiments, he saw mycelium beckoning to him. That was just a hallucination of a research student who was endlessly tortured before he died."

"Is there anything else?" Ronan asked, trying to compose himself. "Something that can't be seen during the day or outside the forest. Don't let me come all this way for nothing."

Hiking in the forest late at night is an experience I'll probably never have again in my life.

Antoine suddenly cleared his throat and answered quickly:

"Of course there is, it's right ahead."

After saying that, he shone his flashlight on the boys around him a few times:

"Don't worry, Ronan, you'll definitely be amazed today."

Ronan was no stranger to the forest; in fact, he was quite familiar with it.

For several months after the start of the truffle harvesting season, he spent several days a week in the forest.

But he was unfamiliar with the forest in the darkness.

Moreover, they entered the forest with a purpose, their eyes and heads were entirely focused on searching for the target host tree.

But this time there were seven or eight people going into the forest, and each of them knew more about the forest than Ronan.

No need to find the way, no need to look for signs, and no need to worry about anything. Just follow in the footsteps of the person in front of you. In this way, you can relax your mind and body, allowing your body's senses to expand infinitely and feel the charm of nature.

The first organ to start working was the ear.

Ronan discovers a grand symphony unfolding in the Black Forest.

The chirping of cicadas is the main melody, the chirping of crickets is the high register, the hooting of owls is the low register, the sounds of those unknown animals are the percussion, and the sound of the breeze passing through pine needles and oak leaves is the beautiful background chord.

Ronan really wanted to record this beautiful symphony and take it back to listen to.

Isn't this what later became known as 'white noise'?

But it must be the high-end version. The second organ to move is the nose.

Due to the system, Ronan's nose is more sensitive than that of ordinary people.

In his daily life, he can detect many subtle smells. Perhaps because this organ is too sensitive, his brain has activated an automatic switch, so Ronan doesn't pay attention to what he smells all the time, unless he smells something very stimulating or very pleasant.

The forest at this moment undoubtedly smells wonderful.

During the day, the ground is baked by the sun for a long time, and the forest is filled with the rich aroma of wild thyme, rosemary and lavender.

It smells nice, but it's too strong.

The air in the Luberon Forest at night is cool and fragrant. As the temperature cools down at night, it becomes more tranquil and lingering. After smelling it for a while, your body, which has been tense all day, will naturally relax.

Ronan completely relaxed his body and mind, enjoying the gift the 'Black Forest' had given him.

Just as he was enjoying himself, he was suddenly surprised to find that all the lights around him had gone out, and the students who had been chattering all the way had all fallen silent.

"Why are the lights off?" Ronan stopped in his tracks.

Antoine's tense voice came from the darkness:
“The markers we made when we came here are gone. We probably encountered ‘Kamis’ and can’t go any further.”

Ronan had heard different students tell many versions of the 'Kamis' story, and each version was pretty much the same.

'Kamis' is a legendary sprite that lives in the forests of Luberon. It is timid but loves to play pranks.

In the forest at night, they would confuse travelers by moving stones on the forest paths or changing the position of trees.

In this era without GPS navigation, people relied mainly on memory and road signs to enter and exit the forest. Legend has it that if you feel lost in the forest at night and the scenery around you looks 'strange', for example, you clearly remember passing a strangely shaped tree, but now it appears on the other side of you, or you can't quite put your finger on what's 'strange' but just feel that the surroundings are weird—then it is very likely that 'Kamis' is playing a trick on you.

At this point, continuing forward is a bad choice.

The best way is to sit down and calmly wait for a while. If that doesn't work, try wearing your clothes inside out; this should break the fairy's magic.

The students sat down on the spot as if by unspoken agreement, and Ronan obediently joined them.

In those days, the inhabitants of Luberon were very ignorant and superstitious; for example, more than half of Ronan's friends firmly believed that 'Talaskoy' was real.

Oh, by the way, just a quick note.

Tarasque is the monster Ronan had Henry write on a standee to prevent tourists from entering his private property—a monster with six legs, a bull's chest, a spiky tortoise shell, horse ears, an old man's face, and a scaly tail.

Although those sitting around him at this moment were not residents of Luberon, but a group of scientists, it is well known that the end of science is theology.

So this is nothing unusual.

With the light source turned off, it was pitch black all around at first, and it would be a lie to say I wasn't scared at all.

But Ronan felt a sense of excitement tonight, like he was back in his school days, going on an 'adventure' with his classmates. Although he was nervous and scared, he was also very excited and looking forward to it.

Excited by the 'encounters' along the way, and looking forward to everything that follows.

After sitting quietly in the dark for a few minutes, my eyes adjusted to the new environment, and my 'dark vision' gradually kicked in—the moonlight outlined the silver contours of the trees and paths, and the world transformed from a black-and-white television into a high-definition silent film, revealing a different kind of beauty.

Ronan saw unidentified birds resting in the trees, a few ants crawling onto Ophelia's shirt, and bright stars faintly visible between the trees, untouched by any light pollution.

“You guys think—” Ronan tilted his head back, “that Camis’s pranks on humans were meant to make those who come and go in a hurry stop, slow down, and really appreciate the beauty of the forest?”

Antoine, 'clueless about romance,' said:
All I know is that if we can't break this spell, we'll have to spend the night here.

He turned his head and said in one direction:

“Maguire, Echolas, go check if the road signs have appeared. We’ve been out for too long today and it’s well past the time we should be heading back. We can’t afford to delay any longer; we must get back to camp immediately.”

The two students responded and groped their way ahead to find the marker.

In the realm of occult knowledge, Ophelia was clearly more knowledgeable than the others, and she reassured everyone:
“We can try wearing our clothes inside out, or we can gather together and sing some old nursery rhymes. There’s always a way.”

“Oops—” Antoine made a strange sound, drawing everyone’s attention. “But even if we can break 'Kamis's' magic, it seems we’ve encountered a new problem. Look over there!”

As if by magic, a solitary, flickering blue light ignited in the dark forest, and no one noticed when it appeared.

Ophelia exclaimed in surprise:
"It's the forest witch's campfire!"

Legend has it that deep in the forests of Luberon lived an ancient witch.

She is not a symbol of evil, but a guardian of the forest, associated with ancient Druidism.

On the night of the full moon or during certain ancient Celtic festivals, such as the summer solstice and Samhain, this witch would light a blue bonfire in a forest clearing and communicate with the spirits of nature.

If you are accidentally bumped into, be sure to leave the witch's territory carefully.

Legend has it that if you are caught by her, you will forget the way home and she will not let you go until dawn. The 'victim' will only feel that he or she had a strange dream.

Ophelia seemed to recall the whole story about the witch, and covered her mouth in horror, afraid of disturbing her and being captured.

"It's no use, run!" Antoine grabbed Ronan's arm. "Quick, get out of here first."

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift Ronan up.

Ronan simply looked up and asked seriously:

"If you encounter a witch, you have to run, but if you encounter Camis, you can't move. So who is stronger between the two?"

Should we run or stay?
Antoine, the 'mastermind', almost burst out laughing.

Thinking to himself, "What time is it? Ronan is still thinking about these questions."

He pretended to be scared and said:
"Let's leave the witch's territory and find a way to break Camis's magic elsewhere!"

Ronan was about to get up when suddenly, heavy footsteps and the sound of metal clashing came from the darkness directly in front of them.

The sound was getting closer and closer, and it sounded quite fast.

Ronan felt the hand on his arm instantly turn icy cold, and then a distorted sound erupted in his ear:

"Damn it, I only had Maguire and Echolas ignite a little bit of phosphorus!"

The next second, Antoine grabbed Ronan's arm and dragged him away with all his might:
"Quick, Ronan! We've encountered the ghost army of the Roman legions! This time it's for real!!"

(End of this chapter)