Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Chapter 575 Ants

When choosing a cave to spend the night in the deep mountains, the most important thing is that there must be no traces formed in the short term. These traces refer to traces left by wild animals in the mountains, fishy smells, etc.

Jiang Shangxian didn't even have time to wait for Yingzi to take out the handkerchief and spread it on the ground. He dragged his heavy feet a few steps inside and sat down on the hard and cold ground. "Alright, stop working."

Without looking in the mirror, she knew that she looked like the eighteenth generation disciple of the Beggars' Sect.

"It seems to be colder in here than outside, and more humid."

Don't be fooled by her young age, she has rich experience in rural life. You can see her experience when climbing the mountain. Now she is still full of energy cleaning up the deepest part. Her loud voice like a trumpet keeps ordering the guards around: "Brother Lingfeng! Fetch some water!"

"Brother Anfei! Firewood! Get some firewood!"

"Brother Jiubai! Don't sit around idle. I saw some pheasants in the mountains. Go kill a few and bring them back!"

Jiang Shangxian turned her head and silently shrank her body a little, fearing that this girl would assign her some work and she really couldn't do it anymore.

Jiubai didn't catch any pheasants, but he did catch a nest of wild rabbits, which he cleaned up before bringing back. Jiang Shangxian rested for a while and recovered his strength. He took the rabbit meat and started roasting it. Yingzi was so hungry that his stomach was deflated. He sat on the side, swallowing his saliva, and was playing with two green mantises in his hands.

Outside the cave is a knife-like mountain wall, which is densely covered with these green mantises.

Fortunately, it was a mantis. If it was some soft, wriggling insect, Jiang Shangxian would never dare to live here.

"My lady, we have to set off early tomorrow morning. Judging from the marks, Jiulang and the others should have gone quite deep into the cave." The firelight hit Jiubai's face, and he felt a little uneasy in his heart.

Although Jiang Shangxian never complained about being tired, her physical strength was indeed no match for those of hers.

Cui Bianxu and his group were definitely traveling faster than them. Given his personality, he might even travel at night.

"Well, let's get up at 3:00 a.m. and set off early." Jiang Shangxian had no objection and even set the time at three in the morning.

She just couldn't believe that anyone could see her walking with a torch at three in the morning.

At the exact time of Xu, the cave became completely quiet, with only the crackling of burning firewood and the chirping of insects and birds outside, as well as the occasional cries of unknown wild animals and the rustling of branches and leaves in the wind.

At some point, fog started to rise outside, gradually spreading towards the edge of the cave.

The one who was guarding the first half of the night was Jiubai. He sat in front of the fire, facing the cave entrance, his eyes motionless, like a leopard ready to pounce, always alert. He seemed to hear some strange noises, as if something was making a non-stop "clicking" sound.

Suddenly, a red ant twice as big as a fingernail appeared in the white fog. It wandered back and forth at the entrance of the cave for a while as if it was passing by. When Jiubai was about to crush it to death, it retreated back into the white fog and disappeared.

This ant was different from ordinary ants in both color and shape, but Jiubai didn't take it seriously.

There have been many strange insects in Lingnan since ancient times. Today, as they traveled along the way, they had seen many strange insects and plants. If it weren't for Jiang Shangxian, he would not have cared about such ants at all.

At the same time, Jiang Shangxian held the box tightly in his arms, and the tentacles on the head of the sleeping male Gu trembled slightly twice.

"Niu Chang, wake up." Just after midnight, Jiubai walked to the person who was guarding the second half of the night and called softly.

They were all human beings, and he was tired too, but he was the main person in charge of this operation, so he could only persevere. At this time, he had almost reached his limit. If he didn't close his eyes and rest for a while, his combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced.

Niu Chang opened his eyes immediately. He was extremely professional. Although his eyes were red, he immediately stood up and nodded, then sat down in the seat where Jiu Bai had just sat without saying a word.

The hour of Chou is right.

The white mist slowly and silently spread half a meter into the cave.

Niu Chang frowned, his ears twitched, his hand holding the long knife tightened, and he stared at the white fog.

For some reason, he seemed to hear some rustling sounds.

But this sound is a little soft, intermittent...

"not good!"

Niu Chang suddenly stood up and kicked a piece of wood at the edge of the fire, shouting, "Everyone get up! Something's happening!"

In such a strange and dangerous environment, no one can sleep soundly.

Almost immediately, everyone, including Jiang Shangxian, climbed up with red eyes.

Jiang Shangxian swore that this was the first sight that made her scalp tingle during this trip, and it scared away all her sleepiness.

In the white mist at the entrance of the cave, a burning piece of wood opened a small hole, and many red ants appeared there. Then, in just a few breaths, the number of those ants increased, and these ants even jumped. The little fire was directly extinguished by the ants that continued to come.

Soon after, more and more red ants emerged from the white mist.

Normally Jiang Shangxian was not afraid of ants, which were small insects that could be crushed to death with just one finger, but the size, color, and number of these red ants were so shocking that her pupils shrank violently in the yellow flames.

Even Yingzi, who had played with mud and bugs since childhood, was dumbfounded: "Ants? How could there be so many big ants?!"

As she spoke, she quickly pulled out two green mantises from a small jar she had woven and threw them forward, muttering anxiously, "What are all those mantises doing out there? Don't they eat ants?"

Given a choice, adult mantises will not eat ants. Only young mantises will eat ants. However, ants will also eat young mantises.

But the knife-cut stone wall outside was covered with mantises, which was obviously the mantises' base camp. These ants just barged in, and the mantises just watched?

Judging from the size of these ants in front of us, it is hard to say who will eat whom among the mantises outside.

Although Jiubai was also frightened by the number of red ants, he still calmly commanded: "Take out all the insect repellent and light more torches!"

"This looks like a Pan Meng Ant..."

Jiang Shangxian was not quite sure. The color of this thing was different from that of the Pan Meng Ant, and its size was also slightly larger.

But she really couldn't think of any other ants in Lingnan Road except the Panmeng ant that could grow to this size and look so ferocious.

"Madam, do you recognize this kind of ants?" Jiubai kept waving the torch in his hand, and the ants were burned with crackling sounds. Seeing that the torch was effective, everyone sprinkled powder with their left hands and held torches in their right hands, trying to drive away these strange ants.