# 349
Chapter 349 – Sharing the Same Cloak
A shrill screech tore through the silent night.
The giant ant, a girl on its back, charged straight at Lin Qiye, who was holding a steak.
Clang—!!
Two Straight Blades lying on a nearby table unsheathed themselves with a soft cry and shot toward the onrushing ant like lightning.
At the same moment, Lin Qiye slowly lowered the arm he’d raised and murmured,
“Arrive like thunder that swallows wrath, depart like rivers and seas that hold clear light!”
Crack—!
Dense arcs of electricity suddenly crawled over the two blades spinning in mid-air. Their speed spiked; in a flash of blue fire they crossed the crimson giant.
Blue sparks danced in the air. Under Lin Qiye’s control the blades tilted slightly downward, edges slicing precisely through the roots of the ant’s six legs.
In an instant six severed limbs flew up, splattering green blood.
Legless, the ant slammed to the ground and skidded forward on inertia. The second blade whirled back, shearing off the forelimb that had pinned the girl.
A patch of darkness stained the nearby rocking chair, lifting it into the air. It glided beneath the falling girl, caught her gently, spun half a circle, and rocked to a stop.
Deprived of every weapon, the ant tumbled across the dirt and rolled, wailing, to a halt at Lin Qiye’s feet.
Clack—!
The two blades slid back into their sheaths.
Lin Qiye looked down at the crippled insect, smiled, and took a bite of his steak, chewing unhurriedly.
Without the advantage of surprise, the ant could not survive even a single move from him.
“What’s going on?!”
Baili Pangpang, who had been baking pizza in the rear, rushed over and froze at the sight.
An Qingyu and Cao Yuan had also heard the commotion and stepped out of their tents.
“Nothing serious. We finally caught one alive.” Lin Qiye rose from his rocking chair, coffee in hand, and crouched beside the ant. A ribbon of absolute darkness oozed from his shadow and began devouring the creature’s body.
[Starry-Night Dancer] granted more than enhanced physique in darkness; it let him communicate with nocturnal creatures. Strictly speaking, ants straddled the line between diurnal and nocturnal, but after Lin Qiye broke into the River Realm his communicative power had grown strong enough that, paired with [Darkest God’s Ruins], it verged on outright mental domination.
When the darkness reached the ant’s head, the dying monster convulsed again, shrieking so sharply the trees shook.
“Too noisy.” Lin Qiye frowned and glanced at An Qingyu. “Can you shut it up?”
An Qingyu nodded, produced a scalpel, and let a gray glint flash across his eyes. After a moment’s analysis he slid the blade into a precise spot in the ant’s brain. The screech cut off; the ant could no longer make a sound.
As the darkness in Lin Qiye’s eyes thickened, the ant thrashed harder, banging its head against the earth with dull thuds.
A few minutes later Lin Qiye’s brows lifted. The darkness receded; he stood and looked off into the distance.
“I know the general direction,” he said calmly.
“General direction…” An Qingyu frowned. “Good enough. It’ll save us a lot of time.”
“For now, only the general direction,” Lin Qiye added, glancing at the motionless ant. “If I possess its mind every so often, we can keep adjusting course until it leads us straight to the nest.”
Baili Pangpang’s eyes lit up. “So we’ve got a way to find the queen?”
“Exactly.”
Lin Qiye walked to the unconscious girl and swept her with mental power, his expression easing.
“That’s the kid from the train,” Cao Yuan said, puzzled. “What’s she doing here?”
“The ant brought her,” Lin Qiye replied. He peeled off his down jacket, then a fleece as well, layering both over the thinly-clad child, leaving himself in only a black shirt.
“She must’ve been at the forest edge when a hunting worker ant grabbed her. Lucky she fainted—if she’d struggled, the ant would’ve killed her first.”
Baili Pangpang studied the girl and exhaled. “Good thing we ran into her, or…”
“It also means the workers’ hunting radius is expanding,” Lin Qiye said grimly. “We’re running out of time.”
“What do we do with her?” Cao Yuan asked. “Take her to the queen’s nest?”
Lin Qiye hesitated. Anta County was too far; backtracking would burn twelve precious hours. The longer they delayed, the worse the ant chaos in town would get. They couldn’t afford to turn back.
“Bring her for now,” he decided. “When we’re near the nest I’ll have someone stay outside with her.”
“Someone?” Baili Pangpang blinked. “Out here in the wild?”
“I have my ways.”
Finding help was easy: the asylum had plenty of orderlies. Any one of them could guard the girl. If only summoned helpers didn’t have to stay close, Li Yifei could escort her home right now.
“Wait!” Baili Pangpang suddenly dashed to the tent. “The pizza’s almost done. She’ll be starving when she wakes—let’s bring it.”
While he busied himself, Cao Yuan walked over and hoisted the girl onto his back. Among the four of them, he was the one who couldn’t fight freely; the child would be safest with him.
An Qingyu watched, then shrugged off his own down jacket and held it out to Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye blinked.
“I’ve modified my body—frost genes. I don’t feel cold.” An Qingyu smiled. “Perhaps this is what they call… sharing the same cloak?”