Lin Qiye and the other three looked at each other, "So?"
"For the ant colony, the worker ants will carry all the collected food back to the nest, and only after the queen has finished eating, will they eat the remaining parts. Since this worker ant came out to hunt on an empty stomach, that is to say
...They may have run out of food."
Lin Qiye seemed to realize something and frowned slightly.
Baili Pangpang on the side was still confused, "What then?"
"If the food in the nest is exhausted, these worker ants will definitely search for food around frantically. Otherwise, once the queen ants starve to death, the entire colony will be destroyed." Lin Qiye said slowly,
"And here is an uninhabited virgin forest. If these worker ants want to obtain enough food to feed the entire group, they can only continue to explore the periphery and expand the scope of hunting...
"This is also the reason why we encountered worker ants not long after we entered the forest. You should know that this place is still a full two hours away from the place where we first witnessed the 'mystery'."
Cao Yuan frowned and said, "You mean, these worker ants will go towards the town?"
"Not necessarily." An Qingyu shook his head, "Expanding the search range does not mean that they all move to the town. Their nest should be deep in the vast virgin forest. Even if they expand outward in a large circle, it may not be possible.
It happens to be heading towards the town."
"But it's still possible, and the probability is not small." Lin Qiye glanced at the corpses of worker ants on the ground, "After all, we just randomly chose a route and bumped into one, ruling out the possibility that we were lucky...
It can only show that this giant ant colony has a very large base of worker ants."
"Wouldn't those families on the edge of the town be in danger?" Baili Pangpang's face changed slightly.
"The good news is that there are very few homes near the virgin forest on the edge of Anta County, and it is at least dozens of kilometers away from the nearest city center. There should not be much impact in the short term."
Lin Qiye took a deep breath, "Of course, the premise is that we can find their nest as soon as possible and kill the queen ant. If this continues, the situation will become really serious."
Baili Pangpang looked around and sighed helplessly, "This forest is so big, we don't know how long it will take us to find their nest..."
Everyone suddenly fell into silence.
The biggest problem now is to find the ant nest in this vast forest. According to Lin Qiye's plan, they had to explore the forest for at least half a month before they could find the location of the ant nest. However,
Judging from the current situation, they don't have so much time.
At this moment, Lin Qiye seemed to remember something, and a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes.
"Next time, if we encounter a worker ant again, let's spare its life..."
"Why?" Baili Pangpang asked in confusion.
Lin Qiye looked up at the black sky above his head, wondering what he was thinking, "I have an idea that I want to test."
…
Outside the primeval forest.
In the darkness, a few old houses were scattered in the open wilderness, with little lights shining through the windows, slightly dispersing the surrounding night.
On the muddy path in front of the old house, the old man was wrapped in thick clothes, huddled up, holding the little girl's hand and walking forward against the cold wind, and finally stopped in front of an old house on the edge.
Pale light shines through the glass of the old-fashioned metal sliding door, and four large characters are pasted on the surface of the glass with red paper cutouts.
——Happy Hotel.
The color of the paper-cut has faded almost to white due to aging, and the corners of the wall in front of the door are full of spider silk, making it look very old.
The old man took the little girl to the metal sliding door, grabbed the handle, and pushed the sliding door to one side with difficulty, leaving a gap big enough for one person to pass through.
The aging metal rubbed against the rails, making a harsh creaking sound. As the sliding door was pushed open, a blast of warm air rushed in.
The old man stepped aside and let the little girl go in first, then he went in and pushed the door closed.
The old lady sitting behind a broken wooden table looked up at them and said slowly, "Check out before twelve o'clock tomorrow morning. If you are late, you will be charged extra."
"I know, I know."
The old man nodded and led the little girl up the dusty stairs toward the second floor.
It's said to be a hotel, but in fact, there are only three rooms on the two floors, and the small room on the first floor is where the old lady at the "front desk" lives.
Although the facilities are a bit rudimentary, the old man doesn't seem to care. As long as there is heating, they can sleep anywhere.
The two walked into the room, and the little girl took off her coat and threw herself directly on the bed. After running around all day, she was already exhausted.
The old man took off his gloves and hat, looked around the room, and said, "Tingting, you have a rest first. Grandpa will go down and get you some hot water."
The little girl hummed.
The old man closed the door and walked downstairs. Just as he was about to ask the old lady at the front desk for a pot of hot water, the sound of the window breaking suddenly came from the second floor.
boom--!!
The next moment, the little girl's piercing scream came from upstairs.
The old man and the old lady were stunned at the same time. The former quickly reacted and ran up the stairs quickly.
"Tingting! What's wrong, Tingting!!"
He pushed open the door suddenly and froze on the spot.
The cold night wind blew in through the broken windows, and the yellowed curtains on both sides flew. The floor in the house was covered with broken glass. The entire bed was smashed into several pieces, and the little girl who was originally lying on the bed
Has long since disappeared.
The old man rushed into the house, ran to the window and looked out. Not far away, at the edge of the dim light, a blood-red giant ant was carrying the unconscious little girl, crawling rapidly towards the forest.
.
"Tingting!!" The old man shouted and jumped out of the window desperately.
Fortunately, the windows on the second floor were not high, and the old man's body was strong. He rolled half a circle on the ground and then struggled to get up. However, when he raised his head, the giant ant and the little girl's figure...
It has long since disappeared without a trace.
He widened his eyes and shouted the little girl's name loudly, but the only response was the whimpering sound of the wind...
This man in his fifties stood in the cold wind, his mouth wide open, his gray hair blown flying, and streams of blood dripping from the back of his hands cut by glass shards...
He gritted his teeth, turned around quickly, and ran towards the darkness on the other side against the biting cold wind.
…
Twenty minutes later.
Anta County Forestry Bureau.
A rapid and heavy knock on the door woke Li Deyang from his sleep.