# 345
Chapter 345: The Worker Ant’s Hunt
Lin Qiye and the other two exchanged glances. “So?”
“For an ant colony, the workers haul every scrap of food back to the nest. Only after the queen has eaten do they touch what’s left. Since this worker set out on an empty stomach, it means… their pantry is probably bare.”
Lin Qiye’s brows knitted as the implication hit him.
Baili Pangpang, still lost, scratched his head. “And then?”
“If the nest has run out of food, the workers will tear the forest apart searching for more. The moment the queen starves, the entire colony dies.” Lin Qiye spoke slowly.
“And this is an uninhabited virgin forest. To feed the whole tribe, the ants have to keep pushing outward, widening their hunting ground…
“That’s why we bumped into a worker only minutes after entering the woods. The first reported sighting of the creature was still two hours away by foot.”
Cao Yuan frowned. “You’re saying they’ll head toward the towns?”
“Not necessarily.” An Qingyu shook his head. “Expanding the search radius doesn’t mean they’re all marching city-ward. The nest is somewhere deep inside this vast forest. Even if they spread in a perfect circle, the odds of their path intersecting a town are still low.”
“But the chance exists—and it’s not small.” Lin Qiye glanced at the dead worker. “We picked a route at random and immediately ran into one. Unless we’re outrageously lucky, the colony must have an enormous number of foragers.”
“Then the families living on the forest edge are in danger,” Baili Pangpang said, face paling.
“Good news: only a handful of homes lie on the outskirts of Anta County, and the nearest city center is dozens of kilometers off. Short-term, the threat is limited.”
Lin Qiye drew a long breath. “Of course, that’s only if we find the nest and kill the queen fast. Wait too long and the situation explodes.”
Baili Pangpang looked around the endless trees and sighed. “This forest is huge. Who knows how long it’ll take us to stumble on the nest…”
Silence fell.
Their original plan had been to spend half a month combing the woods, but the ants weren’t going to wait.
Lin Qiye’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Next time we meet a worker, let it live…”
“Why?” Baili Pangpang blinked.
Staring up at the black sky, Lin Qiye murmured, “I have a theory I want to test.”
…
Outside the forest.
A few decrepit houses dotted the dark wilderness; lonely windows glowed, pushing back a little of the night.
On a muddy path in front of one shack, an old man wrapped in thick coats hunched against the wind, leading a little girl by the hand. They stopped at the last house. Sickly light leaked through the glass of an old sliding metal door, four red paper characters pasted on it:
—Happy Inn.
The paper had faded almost to white; cobwebs veiled the corners. The man grasped the door and heaved it sideways, forcing a gap just wide enough for a person. Rusted metal screeched along its track, warm air rushing out.
He let the girl enter first, then followed, pulling the door shut.
Behind a battered wooden table, an elderly woman looked up. “Checkout by noon tomorrow. Late fees apply.”
“Understood, understood.”
The old man nodded and led the girl up a dusty staircase to the second floor. The entire ��inn” held only three rooms; the landlady lived in the tiny ground-floor cubby.
Shabby or not, the place had heat, and that was enough. The girl flung off her coat and collapsed on the bed, exhausted.
The grandfather peeled off gloves and hat, glanced around, and said, “Tingting, rest. I’ll fetch some hot water.”
She murmured assent.
He stepped out, pulled the door closed, and started downstairs—only to hear the window explode.
CRASH—!!
A shrill scream followed.
The old man and the landlady froze; then the grandfather bolted up the stairs.
“Tingting! What’s wrong?!”
He shoved the door open and froze again.
Frigid wind poured through the shattered window; yellowed curtains flapped. Glass shards littered the floor; the bed frame lay in splinters. The girl was gone.
He rushed to the window. In the dim edge of the light, a blood-red giant ant scuttled toward the forest, the unconscious child sprawled across its back.
“Tingting!!”
Without hesitation the old man leapt out. The drop was short; he rolled, scrambled up, but the ant and its burden had already vanished into the dark.
He shouted her name into the wailing wind. No answer.
The fifty-something grandfather stood trembling, white hair whipping, blood trickling from glass-slashed knuckles…
Clenching his teeth, he spun and ran into the freezing darkness.
…
Twenty minutes later.
Anta County Forestry Station.
A frantic hammering on the door jolted Li Deyang from sleep.